Instagram, in particular, lends itself to the culture of the local foodie. @esleatsicecream, is an example of an account that has tapped in to a very specific audience–ice cream lovers.

How and why did you start @esleatsicecream? 

Whenever I go somewhere new, I look for the ice cream. It’s the way I connect with a place. A few years ago, I started posting a lot of pictures of me eating ice cream from my personal instagram account. Some friends encouraged me to launch a public, ice cream-only page. At first, I was just posting old pictures I had already taken because I had so many. Then, it encouraged me to keep exploring and seeking out ice cream businesses. It was a way to connect with ice cream makers, to connect with friends, to connect with sweetness. I especially love finding people of color-owned and women-owned ice cream shops!

Have you connected with a specific audience, in particular?

I think a lot of my followers are still my friends, and I so appreciate their support! I also have entered the intense and intimidating foodie world on instagram, and there’s SO many people posting their food and everyone has a different angle. I learn from their posts, their engagement and their photos. It makes me want to make sure my posts are interesting and unique.

How do you compose a post? What’s the process? 

It’s taken me a while to find my voice. I’m not a corny person, but I have come off as SO corny and anesthetized on instagram. I had to bring my humor and whimsy to make a post interesting and I try to bring something more interesting visually than just a zoomed in, centered ice cream cone. I like to do my nails, I like to feature my face and friends and animals whenever possible.
But back to writing a post…I have all the details like the date eaten (I feel like I have to be honest about the when of everything) as well as the flavors and location. I’m starting to put more description about my experience and my recommendations. I ultimately would love for people to seek my page out when they’re traveling and find ice cream suggestions by location. I can tell you where good ice cream is in Minneapolis and Cape Town and Oakland and random towns in Westchester! Some friends have already sought out my recommendations and that makes me feel so proud.

What are some other social media influencers who interest you and what do you like about their work? 

Through instagram I connected with @dessertgeek_. I think she takes beautiful, clean and enticing pictures, but I love the tone in her posts (full of whimsy) and how she ends everything with a question to open up a larger discussion. In a completely different tone, I love the creativity and raunchy work of @mouthfeelmagazine, which blends food, memes and the human form in a really unique way. When I scroll past their posts I always pause and look further! Last, I think @infatuation does some great work in their stories especially.

What do you like about instagram as opposed to other social media platforms?

I am loving stories! There’s some real creative storytelling happening.