The reason I started watching Instagram Stories was because of Busy Philipps. The reason I started doing my own Instagram Stories was because of Busy Philipps. And now Busy is getting the New Yorker ‘Persons of Interest’ treatment. Yes, I found out about this on Instagram.
Social media allows you to carefully curate what you want the world to see; there are aspirational influencer elements of brand building and giving a sneak peek into the lives of the rich and the famous mixed in with seeing a friend’s walk to work. Up to 15-second clips that last only 24-hours and can tell you absolutely nothing about what is really going on. And the amount of time you can spend watching and skipping through these videos/photos and Boomerangs (which I mostly despise, despite doing some on the odd occasion) can feel infinite. Just don’t hit the ‘Watch All’ option.
Snapchat did it first, but I found it mostly impenetrable and this is the first time an app has made me feel old. I downloaded and deleted in the space of a day.
The above photo was chosen after I came across this tweet, which is definitely on brand.
I was also always going to be susceptible to certain celebs using this format and while January Jones is still queen of Insta comments and captions, Busy had my heart in an instant with her almost daily updates. There’s the “Hey guys” greeting that adds an extra level of familiarity and because of where they take place there is a certain level of intimacy; in her bedroom, car, kitchen, while walking down the street, working out, in a restaurant.
The “Just Like Us” vibe isn’t restricted to location and the way Busy talks about her anxiety, frustrations, her skin—I too am a picker—and career ups and downs, the shit that is going on in the world and eating habits is also #highlyrelatable. See also the way she talks about the TV she watches including old reruns of Friends.
But the joy of Busy’s Stories also comes from getting access to places we are not so likely to experience; the bathroom at an award show, working on a movie set or making a music video. When else am I going to hear Michelle Williams jokingly swear after losing out on the Oscar to Viola Davis? The familiar is tangled up in the glamorous and while I have never been to the Golden Globes, I have been locked out of my house in the rain after a night out.
Busy is incredibly popular on Instagram for a lot of the reasons and if this is the 15-second equivalent to a sitcom then there is one regular guest star who I am always thrilled to see. This connection goes back almost twenty years—yeah now I really feel old—and the occasional appearance by Busy’s bestie, Michelle Williams, is an instant nostalgia trip that also points to how some relationships in Hollywood are forever.
I’ve written at length about hair influences and how much I heart this power couple and the pair couldn’t be more different when it comes to their social media habits. For starters, Michelle Williams doesn’t partake and even before personal tragedy, Williams came across as guarded. These appearances lack any kind of pretense; whether during award season or hanging out at a very Dawson’s Creek location, as they reminisce about the actors Williams kissed on the show. Sometimes actors get a little precious about where they got their start and thankfully there is no such BS here. Instead it is tales of smooching.
Between Busy at Lekfit and Gina Rodriguez’s pull up bar—another Stories fave—there is also a better living kind of motivation. Not that I have started either, but I have bought some workout clothes so edging ever so closer to this. I am nothing if not prepared when it comes to having the right outfit.
Plus there are these kind of top notch observations that you can expect as TV costuming intersects with my Insta viewing habits.
And while experiencing my own existential and career related woes there is something comforting and motivating about Busy’s own musings on these subjects. Also seeing her procrastinating when it comes to writing is perhaps the most relatable. She says while picking up her phone to see what is going on elsewhere.
You know, Kim Kelly is my friend and so is Busy.* And now I’m going to go rewatch some Freaks and Geeks and contemplate the pros and cons of buying a mini-trampoline.
*This sounds far creepier than intended
TV Ate My Wardrobe 
I loved this post. I’ve landed here thanks to LEKFit but it contains so much hilarious, yet super realistic info. The most realistic of all, I’d say, is this: “Snapchat did it first, but I found it mostly impenetrable and this is the first time an app has made me feel old. I downloaded and deleted in the space of a day.” This was exactly my experience with Snapchat: downloaded and uninstalled in less than 24 hours’ time 😀