A Look Into the Thriving Digital Community of aplasticplant
The man behind the Instagram archive page shares his journey and vision.
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Following the paths paved by the likes of HIDDEN.NY and LilJupiter, a new generation has come to realize the potential of growing brands from anonymity through curated Instagram content. One of the archive pages that have risen to the top is “aplasticplant,” an account that has quickly grown a large and active community over the last two years.
For his page, aplasticplant shares his own blend of contemporary culture, nostalgic flashbacks, inspirational content, and more recently his own line of merchandise. While choosing to keep his face and identity a secret, he stays as connected to his following of more than 270,000 as much as possible, a major factor that he attributes to the growing success of his page. Having grown a sizeable community through curation, aplasticplant has now been able to build off the momentum to embark on a path of creation, an avenue he’s now exploring.
For his first-ever interview, the man behind the page shares with HYPEBEAST his backstory, vision, and the formula for growing a positive community online.
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How did the name “aplasticplant” come about?
It was summer 2019 just before the start of my senior year at university. I was sitting in my parents’ sunroom when I was trying to come up with a name for the page. The entire room from ceiling to floor is surrounded by plants. While just staring at all the green around me I was also listening to “Lost in the World” by Kanye West, and he said the line “lost in this plastic life” and that’s how the name came into fruition, “aplasticplant”.
How do you think your page was able to generate so much traction compared to all the budding archive pages out there?
The number one thing I noticed that makes me stand out to this day is the community. My followers are like family. Everyone is super friendly, and the community we’re continuously building is something very special. I try to reply to as much as I can through DM’s, comments, emails, etc. I love talking to everyone and helping them out with whatever I possibly can, and I will always reply to you to the best of my ability.
It’s been this way since the very first day I started the page. Comments are always insanely positive, and I try my best to spread good vibes with the content I curate. On a rare occasion when I see someone spreading bad energy I will call them out on it. I have been doing this since the start so moving forward the community always knows how we keep things going. I feel like with the personal touch and the community itself, people started noticing and the page just grew because of that. A lot of stuff you see online is sometimes based on negativity, and people trolling, so I’m trying to change that for real.
What were your inspirations for starting the page, and was there a blueprint you followed?
My inspiration was pretty much Lil Jupiter and HIDDEN.NY. I was following them both through my personal page for a while, way before I founded aplasticplant. I loved everything they were doing, and so I thought about how I should give this thing a try on my own. They really laid out the blueprint, especially HIDDEN.NY because he was doing his own clothes and everything was super clean. When I first followed him, he was under 100k followers. I was fascinated by him and how he did his own merch, and built a whole brand around it while sharing his love for art, design, and sneakers.
Where are you trying to take the page going forward?
I want to keep growing the page for sure, and with how it’s going, aplasticplant will hopefully hit a million followers in another year or two. For the past year and a half, I took the time to build out the brand with my own merch. I released four drops on my own and really built a foundation with those drops. This year I’m more focused on doing collaborations. I’m currently talking to a few different people and brands to possibly work on something together. I think a lot of you will be really excited to see what we announce in the upcoming months. I don’t want to do collaborations with just anyone though. If I like your work and we have somewhat of a relationship built already, I am more than likely to work with those individuals or brands.
Right now I’m running the page by myself. I also have eight other pages I’m running under the umbrella — @aplasticgarage, @aplasticbrain, @aplasticshop and more. I want to build a team of winners and work with people who are smarter than me to really take this thing to the next level. Inspired by brands such as KITH and Aimé Leon Dore, I want to open up physical stores in all major cities — a place where people can come together to hang out, enjoy some coffee, and shop. I’d start off with Chicago where I’m from and expand from there. One day.
Do you think you’ll ever reveal your identity?
I don’t think I would ever want to because it’s just so much cooler being anonymous. By not revealing my identity online and creating this persona, I’m able to take the mask off at any moment and blend in with a crowd or enjoy a night out without worrying who’s watching me. It was never about me. I’m just trying to share the culture with people around the world that are just as interested as myself. I almost feel like Batman at times, just not as wealthy as Bruce Wayne.
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What advice would you give to someone looking to grow their own page on Instagram?
The question I get asked the most is how to do something like this and grow an Instagram account. The most important thing about growing an account would have to be staying consistent. I’m sure you have heard from many people in any type of setting or trying to achieve a specific goal, they will all tell you the same thing. Consistency is key and that is what ultimately leads to success. Make sure to figure out a schedule that works for you. It can be something like posting twice a day, every other day, or even once a week. Whatever it may be, just make sure that you stick to it and don’t fall off track.
This way when you start to pick up some traffic on your page, your followers will know when they can expect a new post. I would also suggest using hashtags related to what you are posting and not just using spam tags that have a bunch of followers/posts. Lastly, make sure you are always replying to your followers, and building that connection with them. Many people have messaged me saying I inspired them to make their own archive/mood board pages which I think is super cool. If all these other pages have done it, and if I myself have come this far, you can do it too. Don’t do it just to have followers or likes. You have to enjoy what you are putting out into the world and actually want it bad enough or else it will feel like work and a chore.
Any final message you would like to share?
I seriously think we can all achieve anything we set our minds to. Everything in life happens for a reason, just stay patient, trust your ideas, and your time will come. With consistency and hard work, you will move mountains. Lastly, I just want to thank the entire plant family for holding me down all these years. I wouldn’t be where I am without the constant love and support from this beautiful community we have all built together. I truly believe it when I say I have the best community out there.
