Meet Diane Shiffer: A Social Media Sensation

Albion chubby vintage nana spreads her message of kindness and acceptance and love for vintage things through social media

By Grace Scism

 

“Be so completely yourself that everyone else feels safe to be themselves too.” That is the quote that you will find on Diane Shiffer’s Instagram account.

The unassuming 67-year-old has amassed nearly one million followers on the social media platform and another million on TikTok.

Like many, Shiffer first used her Instagram account to share pictures of her five children. After she hit 1,000 followers, a friend of hers, whose husband creates YouTube videos, challenged her to create a TikTok account and start making videos to share on both platforms.

“I started posting every day and my first video was a typical old lady boomer-style 15-second video of a jar of lemonade on my front porch,” Shiffer said.

That got more than 200 views.

Scrambling for content for her next post, she found a time-lapse video of her doing her hair.

“I ad-libbed the voice over, not knowing anything about how to enhance or isolate my voice, so you can hear the car radio and the screen door slam in the background,” she said.

That little video went viral and got millions of views, which boosted Shiffer’s followers to 50,000 instantly.

“It was wonderful, but also terrifying. You feel very exposed,” she said. “It scared me a little so I took a step back, but then I got back into it.”

Shiffer learned to create content just by doing it. “I didn’t research anything, just learned by trial and error,” she said.

At first, she edited her content using the TikTok app. Now she uses a free app called CapCut, shooting everything with her iPhone.

If you follow her @shifferdiane on Instagram, you will see that she doesn’t post on weekends, but is usually filming, writing and editing during that time.

For the first three years, Shiffer didn’t take one day off. Now she paces herself creating a “big video” to post on Mondays, then smaller content throughout the week.

“There’s a lot of action and camera angles and significant voice over that will take me 20-30 hours,” she said.

To watch one of Shiffer’s reels, as they are called on Instagram, is like being transported back in time. Her Albion home, appropriately built in 1930, is filled with the vintage furniture and decor that she loves.

“I’ve always been interested in vintage things, even when I was a very young child,” she said.

A picture book that her father had as a child captured her interest as a toddler and her love for anything from that era grew as she grew.

“When I was finding things for my first apartment, I would go to rummage sales. Back then all of these linens were the tackiest things. But I would go and stuff a bag full of dish towels and gorgeous lace things for a dollar!” Shiffer said.

She even collects vintage clothes. She never had the nerve to wear them, but during the pandemic, when no one was stopping by for a visit, she realized that she could dress any way she wanted.

“I went full vintage; undergarments and everything — and loved it,” she said.

Now, when she goes out in public and is dressed in more modern clothes, she feels like she’s wearing a costume, although she does still wear modern clothing for certain meetings and appointments.

Shiffer’s love for everything vintage connected her to another Instagram content creator, “The Vintagearian (@the_vintagearian) a.k.a. “Vinti.”

Vinti, who lives in Germany, actually traveled to Albion to spend time with Shiffer and her daughter, Millen.

“I was thrilled that he wanted to stay a few days,” said Shiffer.

During Vinti’s two visits, he shot a lot of videos that he is still sharing on his account.

“When he was here, we sat on the porch cutting video and he was done with his in about 15 minutes! He’s very good at what he does,” she said.

So what does Shiffer owe to her immense social media popularity? “The vintage stuff is only one layer, but there are so many layers that are happening with a successful video to keep the viewer engaged,” she said. “If there’s a lag for even a second, you lose people.”

Shiffer believes her viewers are affirmed by somebody who isn’t conventionally attractive, being happy and living their life.

“I do think sharing the vintagey things is a compelling part of it. But the thing that really resonates with young people especially is that no one has ever talked to them like this, which shocks me because we are supposed to speak kindly to our children,” said Shiffer. “So many, an absolutely mind-numbing amount of young people, have parents and grandparents who have rejected them. They crave an older person being kind.”

And Shiffer’s never had an unkind comment from a young person.

“I’m fortunate in that I don’t get many hate comments. Some may say, ‘You’re fat or old or missing a tooth.’ I already know those things, so it doesn’t shock me or wound me,” she said.

However, there are two sources of hate comments — other women who have distaste for the way Shiffer dresses and wears her hair and those who don’t agree with her politically.

Shiffer said her faith is a huge part of who she is.

“For many years, I was part of the evangelical, conservative Christian subculture,” she said.

But the political events of 2016 were difficult and destabilizing for her. She stopped following people she had once admired and taken council from.

“My core faith in God and Jesus didn’t change,” she explained. “But all of the outside stuff, church and the conservative evangelical stuff, fell away.”

A retired teacher who started her career working in day treatment programs for people with developmental disabilities, then preschools, Shiffer eventually became a special services coordinator for Head Start, a federal program that provides comprehensive services to low-income children and their families.

In the past, Shiffer has profited from her social media accounts through lucrative advertising, but has taken a break from it.

“It was great, but it’s high pressure and you don’t have much control over the content,” she said.

This year, her social media has brought in only $23 per month.

“I do this because it’s my art,” said Shiffer. When she was ill earlier this year and doctors were talking that she might not have much longer, it freed her from the pressure to pursue the many career opportunities being offered.

“I’m completely fine; better than I was. But it hit me what an incredible gift I’ve been given to be able to make these videos so when I’m gone, I’m still able to speak kindness and encouragement into people’s lives.”

Future projects may include a book deal and a YouTube channel.

“YouTube is a much more stable platform, but Instagram is the best platform for creating community. It’s your own little world, so you can create this beautiful little scrapbook and it attracts people who like those same things,” she said.

In March, Shiffer was invited to a Women’s History Month reception at the White House after one of her followers saw a video in which Shiffer mentioned that she would love to visit the nation’s capitol one day.

“I received an email and thought it was a scam at first,” Shiffer recalled.

In her video, Shiffer said that she almost declined because it was so out of her comfort zone, but through encouragement and help from family and friends, she accepted the invitation.

“It was incredible and everyone was amazing — so warm and welcoming,” she said.

What Shiffer said she learned about herself in the process is that it’s OK to accept the help of others and to let her best be enough.

Shiffer turned that around and recently helped a family friend, Kelsey Dreisbach, who has been instrumental in the care of her daughter, Millen. Dreisbach suffered a tragic loss and illness prompting Shiffer to set up a GoFundMe account to help with the family’s financial strain.

The fund ended up raising nearly $100,000 thanks to donations from Shiffer’s followers.

Shiffer said that she’s mainly speaking to her young followers when she creates her videos. “My main message I think is to be gentle with yourself, be kind to yourself,” she said. “Young people are under so much pressure, especially with social media. It can be so easy when you’re young for those voices to become the most prominent voices in your head.”

That is why Shiffer wants to reach young people where they are.

“I just want to be a little voice in there saying, ‘You’re doing great and you deserve joy and beauty. And if no ones going to give it to you, give it to yourself,’” she said.