Kylie Jenner has amassed an Instagram following of more than 92 million due in large part to her willingness and ability to give the people what they want.
In her case, that mostly means racy Kylie Jenner selfies, but she also delivers a healthy dose of swag and a heaping helping of aspirational lifestyle porn that have helped her rise above the pack of celebrity Snapchatters.
It’s Kylie’s attitude that fans respond to as much as her bikini pics, and the 19-year-old seems well aware that her brand depends on the right mixture of both.
Kylie’s balancing of these two sides of her public persona can be seen in two of her most popular social media posts from the past week.
First, there’s the above Snapchat selfie.
It’s not hard to see why it was a hit among fans.
Kylie is in her underwear and snapping the pic herself, a formula that’s brought her great success in the past.
What seems casual was probably carefully planned, but since there’s nothing cool about wanting to be cool, Kylie occasionally reminds her followers that if given the chance, she would happy to say goodbye to her fans and haters alike.
Kylie posted the above meme (without credit, but it appears to have originated on the page of Instagram comic @TankSinatra), and it drew a number of confused reactions from fans.
Obviously, Kylie would last about ten minutes in a remote lighthouse (presumably with no wi-fi), but there’s a good chance that’s not the point.
Kylie may not be shoving her younger fans away, but instead embracing them – sending the message that she too often feels awkward or overwhelmed.
It’s a calculated risk, as such a post could obviously make Kylie come off as ungrateful, but her more thoughtful fans (read: the only ones who are likely to contemplate the meaning of this meme) it might serve as a welcome sign of relatability.
Maybe it’s just an expression of teen angst.
Or maybe it’s a shrewd way to move some more lip kits.
Of course, the third possibility is that we’re just reading way too much into Kylie’s random Instagram posts.
