TikTok says a range of accounts, from a bird enthusiast to an Italian grandmother and a doubledecker bus fan, have grown in popularity this year as social media users latch on to authentic voices. A Cotswolds-based pensioner has become an Instagram hit thanks to his posts celebrating his garden – including a fondness for red cabbage. Gerald Stratford, who has 370,000 followers, has starred in a photoshoot for Gucci off the back of his grassroots success. View image in fullscreen Gerald Stratford, who is a fan of red cabbage. Pointing out that the demand for everyday content appears to have increased this year, he says: “We are getting a lot of AI content on social media and I think this is an antidote to that.

Source: The Guardian December 28, 2025 17:30 UTC