Valynne Thompson sat on her couch next to her granddaughter, Shelby Coleman, who held her phone out, filming a TikTok of the two of them.
As 85-year-old Thompson rated the cast members of the current season of “Love Island USA,” the pair laughed together, riffing off each other.
And make no mistake, “granny” was the star of the video.
It’s been about two years since Coleman started posting videos of her “granny” on TikTok, and it’s become a fun activity that continues to bring them together today. Coleman posts videos of her grandma under the username @grannysday. The account now boasts over 200,000 followers, and multiple videos have garnered millions of views.
“I thought she would be hilarious, because she’s always been funny my whole entire life,” Coleman said. “And so I said, I need to share that with the world.”
She added that she has been close with her grandma for her whole life, especially after she and her family lived with Thompson for seven years.
“She’s a young chick here that’s my bestest friend and my granddaughter, and that makes it so wonderful,” Thompson said.
Over time, the pair has made a variety of videos showing Thompson — shopping at HomeGoods, spending time with her cats, rating different people and even showing off her own drawings. Along the way, they have built a community of followers online who see Thompson as their own “internet grandma” and have gotten a lot of opportunities they would not have had otherwise.
Thompson isn’t the only grandma being featured online. Many people have identified a trend of older women — call them “grandfluencers” — sharing a wide variety of content online and connecting with the younger generation.
Having fun together as they build their TikTok
Coleman shared that she would always come over and hang out with her grandma regularly but now making TikToks gives them another thing to do together. She shared that some of their most popular videos are the ones of Thompson shopping at Home Goods.
Grandma’s not getting any younger and it’s to the point where I’m like, this is just something fun to get her to enjoy the rest of her life.
— Shelby Coleman, on making TikTok shorts with her grandmother Valynne Thompson
“For some reason people just loved seeing a cute little old lady go shopping and spend money,” she said.
In the shopping videos, Thompson has developed her own catchphrase. When there is something she has decided to purchase, she’ll passionately say “sold” while pumping her fist into the air.
Once their account reached 10,000 followers, Thompson began making money off the videos, and she uses her TikTok money for shopping at HomeGoods.
“She’s kind of been frugal her whole life and hasn’t really bought a lot of things just to buy them,” Coleman said, adding that the TikTok money gives her the opportunity to buy fun things and to splurge a little bit. The amount of money she receives from TikTok isn’t substantial enough for Thompson to live on, but it allows her to have some fun money.
Coleman has been active on social media for years. When she was younger, she would post videos on Vimeo and YouTube. After she finished nail school, she picked up posting on TikTok, highlighting nail content and a variety of other things. One day she was with her grandma and asked if she would like to film a video together, and from there it just continued to grow.
“Grandma’s not getting any younger and it’s to the point where I’m like, this is just something fun to get her to enjoy the rest of her life,” Coleman said.
Coleman still has her own TikTok account, @myfavfoodispasta, which she said has also grown since her account with her grandma became popular.
She said that over time she has learned what type of content people like seeing and what things people are less interested in. Sometimes when she goes to her grandma’s house, the older woman will ask her, “Are we still doing that TikTok thing?”
She added that she never wants this to be something that puts stress on either of them, so she doesn’t have a specific schedule for when they film content or have a certain quota for how much they post.
“It’s been so much fun doing it with this little sweetheart,” Thompson said. “She’s a good soul. She’s kind of like a backbone to me, because I’m actually pretty timid and I’m a bit of a loner. She’s kind of brought a little spunk out in this old granny.”
Coleman’s father died when she was young, and she said she has learned to appreciate more the time she has with those she loves, especially her grandma.
Growing connections online and opening opportunities
Along with being able to monetize their TikTok, Coleman and Thompson have seen a lot of cool things come from the endeavor, including receiving gifts from followers, deals from companies and even meeting a few celebrities.
“We’ve gotten lots of really cool opportunities from it that we never expected. But mostly I just want her to be able to have fun and make memories while she’s still here.”
Last year, Coleman worked with a company called Shabundy’s to surprise her grandma by redoing her living room. She also worked with friends and family members to paint the room and decorate it with items that her grandma had picked out at HomeGoods.
“When they took me in there and I seen that, I about fell over because it was such a shocker,” Thompson recalled.
They later gave Thompson’s old furniture to a family who lives in her neighborhood.
Last summer, Thompson regularly received a wide variety of packages from followers including clothes, books and things for her kitchen. There was also a time when followers were sending Thompson items for a sick cat she was taking care of, like eye drops, creams and cat toys.
The pair were also able to meet Ian Somerhalder, an actor known for being in “The Vampire Diaries,” at FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention after he duetted a video of Thompson rating him. The actor late sent the duo gifts.
One of their biggest gifts from their TikTok account is coming up soon. They are planning to attend Derek Hough’s tour and will be able to go backstage to meet him. Hough is a professional dancer from Utah who now serves as a judge on “Dancing with the Stars.” This opportunity came up after they did a video where Thompson talked about Hough and his team reached out to Coleman.
“He gifted us VIP tickets and his tour manager said he’s insistent that we make this happen for your grandma, that she gets to come and be VIP and meet him,” Coleman said.
Thompson said she is excited for the experience, adding that she has always admired Hough and his sister, Julianne.
“It’s very nice because I love dancing, I love to watch dancing,” she said.
Being a grandma to thousands of people online
Coleman shared that she didn’t think their videos would blow up the way that they did. She added that people like watching Thompson because she reminds them of their own grandmas who maybe they have lost or never had the closest relationship with. People have commented that it warms their heart seeing the close relationship the two havee.
When you get to 85, I guess, you just stop and think, gosh, I better take a run on this. Because you’re not getting any younger, you better get out there and do what you can.
— Valynne Thompson
In 2022, Hannah Giorgis wrote for The Atlantic about how grandmas have been popular faces on TikTok since the app gained popularity in 2020. She also used the word “grandfluencer” to describe this particular group of TikTokers.
These “grandfluencers” provide a variety of content, from teaching people how to cook or other skills like sewing, to giving advice or providing entertainment and heartwarming content like Thompson does.
“Through profiles most typically run by their children or grandchildren, these TikTokers are tapping into some of the qualities that make grandmas so special,” she wrote.
Seeing these older women online can help people feel the comfort that they feel from their own grandmother or other older women in their lives.
“For better or worse, these accounts can turn a TikTok user’s personal algorithm into a hyper-curated feed of traditional grandma experiences. Of course, no social-media account can ever replace a real family member, no matter how much a grandfluencer swears she’s looking out for you,” Giorgis wrote.
Amelia Edelman wrote for Yahoo that internet grandmas “fill an important maternal role in the lives of ‘grammers and TikTokers around the world — and there are quite a few online honorary grans who are delighting their ‘internet grandchildren,’ and doing it with a wink and a smile.”
Coleman echoed these same sentiments.
“When her videos pop up, people will say things, calling her their internet grandma and saying that, you know, they don’t have a grandma in their life. And so watching her videos just makes them joyous, makes them feel joy,” Coleman said.
While she has received a number of gifts from followers, celebrities and companies, Thompson has also been able to give gifts to some of her followers. Thompson loves drawing, and her drawings are often featured in their videos. Her followers loved the drawings so much that, a while back, they mailed a bunch of drawings to a number of viewers.
Thompson said that she didn’t really understand TikTok at first, and she still doesn’t fully understand why people want to watch her videos, but it’s a way to put herself out there and have fun.
“When you get to 85, I guess, you just stop and think, gosh, I better take a run on this,” Thompson said. “Because you’re not getting any younger, you better get out there and do what you can.”
