An Alias

We interviewed a senior to learn more about the very popular comic account he created on Instagram.

Check out his account at: https://www.instagram.com/thumbpaint/?hl=en

Q: How did @thumbpaint come about? ⁣

A: I was a sophomore [...] I didn’t really think much about it when I started the account. I really just wanted to say what was on my mind and express my thoughts freely in a safe space away from everyone else from school, so I kind of made a character that was me cause it’s a thumbprint, so it’s inherently unique to me, so I thought if I had that out in the world it would still be me talking but it wouldn’t have my identity in the background, so people wouldn’t really know it’s me. It’s kind of like an alias for me. ⁣

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Q: How did you feel when MV people started following it?⁣

A: So when I first started, I had my iPod and I searched through my Instagram followers on my personal page, then I went to my Thumbpaint account and I started blocking every single person that I was following from my account. I started blocking people they were following too and being really obsessive like no one can see my posts. But then, I was trying to make a comic one day at lunch in Borelli and someone saw me and they were like I think blank person I know follows that account and it kind of got out from there.⁣

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Q: What were your friends’ and family’s reactions?⁣

A: My friends thought it was pretty cool [...] The response from them was really positive. And the reason why I told my parents after I got 40k, maybe it was 35k, but I knew if I had a side self project on the side of school and my grades weren’t poppin then they totally wouldn’t be okay with it and stop it immediately, so I had to find some level of objective success on a platform to be able to validate the work that I was doing aside from school.⁣

Q: Have you had any followers reach out to you and share how your account has impacted them?⁣

A: Yeah for sure. I posted a 3 part series of a thumb who didn’t really like who they were as a person and just really hate themselves. After I posted that series I got a lot of comments saying “Oh my god I totally relate to this” and then saying their x story and I had a lot of people also direct message me their story and how that series kind of helped them feel a bit, well I don’t like to think that I have an impact on people, cause it seems not real and it sounds pretentious. But from what people have told me, they said it helped them get through their own problems and help them see that they’re not alone in this world.⁣

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Q: We know you recently started a Youtube channel, so what do you want the future of Thumbpaint to be?⁣

A: So when I first started the account it was supposed to be an alias and something I could hide behind and talk through. But as I continued to grow and become more comfortable talking about my feelings and sharing random stuff about me, I realized it was a lot more personal if I was the one sharing the stories, so I want my Youtube channel to be a way to say my stories personally and not talk through a character. And giving people some backstory and some behind the scenes of what goes into Thumbpaint would give them some more insight as to who I am as a person. ⁣

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Q: Do you think you would stop this and do something new later on?⁣

A: For sure, from my perspective, it’s that obviously all the consumers can see it, all the people who digest content understand that relevancy is only temporary and certain ideas only go so far. You can definitely see that in obviously Youtubers, whether they lose relevancy. For example, Zoella was big back in the day, it was like Tyler Oakley, all these names were out there and big and they sort of died off and their success has been lackluster in the past couple years. So going into this, I knew this would be temporary but just finding a way to make it clean and in the best way possible. But right now, I just plan on continuing it for the next few years, or maybe next few months, we don’t know.

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Q: What’s your favorite part of running the account? ⁣

A: The people sharing their stories and personal anecdotes and their response to certain things that I thought were personal and unique to me, but were generally a shared human experience amongst others. I think seeing other people’s unique stories but seeing how they connect to each other, not only to my own story but seeing how people reach out to me and how their stories are connecting with each other but don’t know it cause they’re talking through me.