

INFLUENCE
Matt Silverman
What does it really take to make a living (and an impact) on the Internet today?Join Matt Silverman (who has been covering online culture for 15+ years) in conversation with YouTubers, musicians, podcasters, streamers, journalists, TikTokers and more about turning creativity into a job, building community on ever-changing platforms, and their complex relationships with huge online audiences.INFLUENCE is the relaunch of 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST, a weekly comedy/interview show about fascinating online communities, which ran for 7 years and nearly 300 episodes.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 15, 2020 • 1h 7min
136 THE 2ND-GREATEST PRANK IN PODCAST HISTORY!!!!1!!
Two bad people play a joke on one good and beautiful person.Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PTalk to the hosts (and each other!) in our secret Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 8, 2020 • 1h 6min
135 Cheap Old Houses
Alli and Jen talk with Elizabeth Finkelstein, a preservation expert and the creator of Cheap Old Houses, a wildly popular Instagram account that shows the dream of home ownership may not be as hard as we think, depending on your priorities.Finkelstein explains the inspiration for the account, her love of DIY home repair, the history carried in old houses (and why we should preserve them), the passionate community around Cheap Old Houses, and whether internet-powered jobs can save the middle class from the real estate squeeze.Follow Cheap Old Houses: https://www.instagram.com/cheapoldhouses/Editor's Note: This episode was recorded on April 24, 2020, some weeks before the additional COVID-19 and political developments of May and June. 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST (its hosts, producers, and collaborators) supports Black Lives Matter and the protests for racial justice in the U.S., and we have made personal contributions to the following organizations. We hope you will consider doing the same:The ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/blacklivesmatterThe Bail Project: https://bailproject.org/NAACP Legal Defense Fund :https://www.naacpldf.org/Reclaim the Block: https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home-----------Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 1, 2020 • 1h 24min
134 WeRateDogs (@dog_rates / Matt Nelson)
With more than 14 million followers across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, WeRateDogs is on a mission that everyone on planet Earth can get behind: Rating cute doggos from the internet on a (dubious!) 10-point scale.This blend of adorable dog pics, comedic captions, and obsessive fan-submitted content has catapulted the novelty account (and its creator, Matt Nelson) into a massive online brand, which uses its influence to entertain millions, sell merch, and help dogs in need.Alli and Jen talk with Nelson about the inspiration for the account, how its explosive popularity changed his life, the serious inflation problem in the Dog Rating Economy, that time J.K. Rowling and Lin-Manuel Miranda followed him, why everything's political on Twitter, and his perfect response when Arnold Schwarzenegger asked him to rate his donkeys.You're already following WeRateDogs, so what's the point of even linking? https://twitter.com/dog_ratesSupport 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 25, 2020 • 57min
133 A Group Where We All Pretend to Be Ants in an Ant Colony
Sydney Malloy, one of the group's top "Ant-mins", discusses the Facebook group where people pretend to be ants. They explore the fascination with ants, including their global presence, complex cities, and social behavior. They also touch on linguistic displacement abilities and the concept of a queen in an ant colony. The speakers share their experiences with pretend groups on Facebook and the limitations of other platforms. They end with a discussion on memories and a promotion of the Discord server and Patreon.

May 18, 2020 • 1h 12min
132 Online Standup Comedy With Josh Gondelman
There's a lot to laugh at on the Internet, but standup comedy — a distinctly in-person art form — is facing challenges in a time of self-isolation. But "virtual" comedy clubs, powered by Zoom, Twitch, and YouTube, are increasingly popping up in quarantine. But as expected, the tight 5 that kills on stage may need adjustments for an audience that can only laugh in emojis.This week, Alli and Jen talk to standup comedian and writer/producer Josh Gondelman about how the standup world is adapting to the Internet, what makes a set work online, and the difference between IRL and virtual heckling.Follow Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshgondelmanAnd check out his new game show podcast, Make My Day: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/make-my-day-with-josh-gondelman/id1507871978Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 11, 2020 • 60min
131 Dating in 'Animal Crossing'
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken over the world in self-isolation, and become a virtual place of normalcy, even for non-gamers. But what if you’re single and dating, but can’t leave the house due to lockdowns? Tom Nook, in his infinite wisdom, has a solution for that.Alli and Jen talk with Lady Brittany, a Twitch streamer who has converted her entire Animal Crossing domain into a Love Island, optimized for romance and photo ops around every corner. There, she hosts real dates and even wedding ceremonies, which can’t take place IRL due to COVID-19. And while she typically livestreams her island activities, she also takes the privacy of visiting couples very seriously. Brittany shares the inspiration for her mermaid-themed getaway, the special events she holds for her community, and why Animal Crossing is such a special and important game — especially now.Lady Brittany on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lady_brittanySupport 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 4, 2020 • 1h 2min
130 Building College Campuses in Minecraft
College classes and graduations around the world are being canceled or administered remotely, but many enterprising students have taken to the virtual spaces of Minecraft to painstakingly recreate their campuses in amazing detail. While you can't walk down the main streets of Boston University and UPenn in real life, you can visit them virtually inside the blocky servers built by their students and faculty.Alli and Jen talk with students and volunteer builders Pearse Anderson, Nick Marchuk, and Makarios Chung about why the Minecraft community is so powerful in a time of social distance, why video game worlds are better than Zoom calls, and their virtual graduation plans.Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 27, 2020 • 59min
129 Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens
More than 600,000 people (mostly college students) are using a Facebook group to come together and bond over how bad taking classes on Zoom is. This week, Alli and Jen talk to Zana Rashid, a moderator from Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens, a place for humor in a time of isolation.Rashid shares how disruptive COVID-19 has been for university students, the power of funny memes during this difficult time, and the Boomer vs. Zoomer wars that constantly erupt within this growing community.https://www.facebook.com/groups/zoommemes/about/Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 20, 2020 • 56min
128 Medical Fetishes (MedFet)
Amid worldwide shortages of personal protective equipment (medical PPE), someone at the UK's National Health Service reached out to the medical fetish retailer MedFetUK, hoping to find a stock of masks or scrubs. MedFetUK immediately delivered, donating their entire supply (usually sold for sex play) to a hospital. While Justin, the co-founder of the company, says it was obviously "the right thing to do," thousands on Twitter quickly gathered round to cheer the small fetish company, and also collectively wonder: What *is* a medical fetish, anyway?This week, Alli and Jen talk to Justin about the diverse world of MedFet, its roots in BDSM, the variety of equipment used in role play (including needles!), and whether the current pandemic is affecting the community.Check out MedFetUK for all your MedFet needs! https://medfetuk.com/Read Justin's tweet, and the hilarious replies: https://twitter.com/MedFet_UK/status/1243590308878848002Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pEmail us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbuggerCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 13, 2020 • 60min
127 The Spot: 1995's Online Reality Show
In 1995, at the height of cultural mania around 90210, Melrose Place, and MTV's The Real World, the Internet as we know it today was just getting started. But if you had a connection and thirsted for more beautiful people trapped in a house with drama, there was The Spot. Created by producer Scott Zakarin, it was a first-of-its kind interactive webseries that imagined a cast of young, attractive characters writing journal entries about their lives inside a shared beach house in California. Diaries, pictures, and short video clips kept the audience up to date, and devoted fans (some who assumed it was real) could write in by email to influence the characters and plot. Today, we take this kind of interactive media for granted.The Spot was incredibly innovative for its time, and engaged a rabid fanbase while simultaneously baffling mainstream media.Alli and Jen chat with Zakarin about his inspiration for the show, what kind of plot points create the best drama, and why dogs are always able to write journal entries in his projects. He also shares details of his current obsession, a new podcast called Digital Sky, available on all podcast platforms, and YouTube.Subscribe to Digital Sky: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-sky/id1491254282Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1pCall the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548Email us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.comTalk to Alli and Jen:https://twitter.com/alligoldhttps://twitter.com/joonbugger Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices