Pop Culture dictionary
grandfluencer
[grand-floo-uhn-ser]
What is a grandfluencer?
The word grandfluencer refers to older influencer, especially one who seems at least old enough to be a grandparent.
The popular sense of the word influencer refers to a person who’s known for being influential due to having a large social media following.
Though the age of people considered or called grandfluencers varies widely, the term is most often applied to people who are older than 60.
The term is most often used to refer to older people with large followings on platforms that are especially popular with younger people, such as TikTok and Instagram. The use of the term to specify someone as older (as opposed to simply calling them an influencer) reflects the fact that stereotypical influencers generally tend to be younger.
Example: Grandma is definitely a grandfluencer now that almost all of her posts go viral.
Where does grandfluencer come from?
The exact origin of the term grandfluencer is uncertain. It seems to be a simple combination of the term influencer, referring to a person with a large social media following, and the prefix grand-. Although grand- is traditionally used to indicate generational relationships in words like grandparent, in granfluencer it’s simply used as a marker of age (though of course some grandfluencers may in fact be grandparents).
The term grandfluencer is thought to have been popularized in part by a September 2021 Associated Press article that prominently used the term to discuss the growing trend of older people developing large social media followings.
Examples of grandfluencer
Who uses grandfluencer?
The term grandfluencer was popularized in part by media reports about the trend of older people with large social media followings.
All hail the rise of the "grandfluencer" on TikTok. 🙌https://t.co/3VX4c54kCu
— CABHI (@CABHI__) June 2, 2022
My mother talking about being a grandfluencer and my sister is entertaining it. Ahhh damn.
— 💥Oz BANGA!!!💥 (@Obanga) February 1, 2022
'Grandfluencer' Barbara Costello on becoming a social media sensation with 'Brunch with Babs' https://t.co/Rd80L5e0wu
— WGN Radio 720 (@WGNRadio) September 10, 2021
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of grandfluencer like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of grandfluencer that will help our users expand their word mastery.