The “Chaos Follow” Makes Staying on Social Media Worth It

Upon inspection, Clarke just looks like a bro—a bro from Boston, who says stuff like “let’s rally and have a week people,” and also “Cheffed up a bowl of bison…it literally has one ingredient, bison…nothing on it…cooked to perfection…let’s go” with a video of him showing off a pot full of unseasoned ground bison meat. Another person on my same group chat, who has millions of followers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, argues that Clarke is “not chaotic, just cringe,” but my other friend, the one who’d initially suggested Clarke, responded that it’s “[Clarke’s] comments section that’s chaotic as hell.” I look to see what he means, and immediately it makes sense. The call-and-response vibe of Clarke’s exchanges with his followers brings to mind Derek Zoolander and Hansel trying to break into a computer—but I grew up playing high school sports, so maybe the chaos is lost on me.

“I hope I’m not a chaos follow. I don’t consider you a chaos follow,” writer and filmmaker Alexi Wasser says when I ask her about chaos follows. For the record, I don’t consider Wasser a chaos follow. However, I do find her something of a kindred social media spirit as far as I can tell from her stories, a moodboard-esque mix of stuff she likes online and occasional video posts of herself just talking stream-of-consciousness. So it’s a little chaotic but in a good way. I think my own presence online is somewhat similar, but I’ve also noticed Wasser also seems to be a fan of McNally’s posting. She is, but also tells me, “I used to follow people not realizing they were chaotic, and then when I learned they were chaotic, I unfollowed.” When I ask if there’s anybody she can think of that she currently follows because she loves the mess, Wasser says no and echos several people I polled by saying “Instagram is already crazy enough so I don’t follow chaotic people on purpose.” Not too long after that, she messages me one addendum: “That being said, I do follow Britney Spears, whose videos worry me very much. But I did love her book. And I wish her the best. However, her dancing videos, wardrobe choices, eye makeup, and hair condition terrify me.”

We live in interesting times, and that sucks. It would be nice if things were calm and chill, but those two things don’t look to be on the schedule for humanity anytime soon. Similarly, we live in a reality that doesn’t always seem that real, especially for those of us who spend too much time looking at computer and iPhone screens. The Internet is a non-stop conveyor belt of misinformation, algorithm-driven pap, terrible opinions, and bad news, much of it designed to capture your attention for a few seconds at a time before you move on to the next thing. It’s here and then it’s gone. That person you got angry at or that meme that made you laugh comes and goes almost within an hour or two, but the chaos follow—who sits comfortably between infuriating and humorous—is a constant. You can depend on them.