Gaining a social media following demands authenticity and creativity. Over two years ago, identical twins Bailey and Charlotte Bass acquired over 1 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.
Sustainability studies senior Bailey and nursing senior Charlotte share a bond beyond their identical appearance. Although the sisters share many interests, their content differs. On TikTok, Bailey posts makeup looks and sit-down talking videos under the username @baileyebass, while Charlotte posts predominantly lifestyle content and daily vlogs under @charlotttteb.
“(Me and Bailey) like different things and we like recording different things,” Charlotte said. “I’ll do more of a day in the life where she’ll do a cool makeup look, but I think (the differing content) happens pretty naturally.”
Bailey said comparisons between her and her sister often come with the competitive nature of social media, but they don’t affect her relationship with Charlotte.
“I don’t think we were ever competitive with each other,” Bailey said. “We just have always supported each other in every way … if I didn’t have her, I think it’d be a lot harder. I need her support.”
Balancing social media and school can be a struggle, but Ella Hughes, a friend of the twins and an advertising senior, said the Bass sisters don’t let social media interfere with their personal lives.
“They’re just awesome girls (and) really, really great people,” Hughes said. “They don’t make social media their entire personality. They have a really good balance.”
Beyond balancing friendships with social media, Bailey and Charlotte learned to manage their busy school schedules. Charlotte said she prefers to film when she can.
“(I film) spontaneously,” Charlotte said. “If I had more time on my hands to film, I would try to set up a schedule … like filming most of my videos in one day.”
Charlotte began uploading content more seriously after seeing Bailey’s success, realizing there’s nothing embarrassing about expressing yourself on social media. Bailey said she feels thankful knowing that they will always be there for each other.
“We understand each other on such a deeper level than anyone else could understand me or her,” Bailey said. “That’s such a great thing about having a twin. I can come to her, and there’s no judgment … she just takes me as I am.”
Bailey and Charlotte said they try their hardest to be authentic on social media, but they find it hard to share much of their lives in short-form content. Hughes said the twins don’t pretend to be someone they’re not.
“They’re authentic online,” Hughes said. “You only see so little, so it’s up to the viewer to decide what they take from the content.”
