This Woman Turned Her Stoner Instagram Feed Into a Career

Before Caroline Goldfarb posts a photo to Instagram under the handle officialseanpenn, she sends a group text to three of her closest confidants. Many are images of celebrities with a strong gay following, such as Barbra Streisand or Kathy Griffin, and her informal board—all gay men—is quick to tell her when one isn't funny. Goldfarb, a 25-year-old living in Los Angeles, calls the system "gay quality control." Not everyone would subject their social media account to such careful vetting, but not everyone has the 105,000 followers Goldfarb does.

The 2012 Northwestern graduate is one of many young people winning a social networking fan base by appealing to niche strains of Internet humor. Goldfarb's posts are hard to scroll past, even in the most crowded feed. Her style is a mix of captioned celebrity photos, campy collages in the style of Lisa Frank, and enthusiastic marijuana shout-outs. She has sold buttons, stickers, and cakes decorated with her collages. Bloomberg asked Goldfarb how she plans to leverage Instagram fame for a career in comedy, how she deals with her online customers, and whether embracing stoner culture is good for her professional image. The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity.