To Grandmother’s TikTok We Go奶奶網紅風靡社媒

Older influencers who share laundry hacks and old family recipes are helping Gen Z get through the holidays.

老年網紅分享洗衣小竅門和祖傳食譜，幫助Z世代歡度假期。

Nothing about Barbara Costello’s favorite Christmas recipe is all that fancy. The overnight breakfast casserole1 she makes every year doesn’t call for much more than eggs， milk， sausage， cheese， and bread thrown into a baking dish—a recipe she clipped from a local newspaper nearly 50 years ago. But in the years since Costello first cooked it， that humble casserole has become a hallmark2 of her growing family’s Christmas celebrations： When her four children were young， Costello waited until they’d fallen asleep on Christmas Eve to assemble the dish and place it in the fridge. She’d wake up Christmas morning and immediately preheat the oven to 350 degrees. By the time her children were ready to open their presents， the house would be filled with the scent of their hearty breakfast.

芭芭拉·科斯特洛最愛的圣誕食譜并不花哨。這道她每年必備的隔夜早餐砂鍋菜，只需將雞蛋、牛奶、香腸、奶酪和面包放進烤盤即可——近半個世紀前，她從當地報紙上剪裁了這份食譜?？扑固芈寮胰硕∨d旺，自她初次嘗試制作以來，這道原本不起眼的砂鍋菜已成為了她家圣誕慶典的標志性菜譜：她的四個孩子小的時候，科斯特洛會等到他們在平安夜入睡后，才把這道菜拼裝好放進冰箱。圣誕節清晨一醒來，她便會立刻將烤箱預熱至350華氏度（約為175攝氏度）。等到孩子們準備拆禮物時，家中早已彌漫著豐盛早餐的香氣。

Now her eight grandchildren have come to love the dish too—and so have many more people who’ve never sat under Costello’s tree or in her kitchen. A video of Costello making the casserole was one of the first she posted to her TikTok account in early 2020， after her daughter persuaded her to join the app. Costello， whose TikTok profile cheekily identifies her as “everyone’s grandmother，” guides her audience in the art of entertaining， as well as the less glamorous3 work of keeping house even when no one else will see it. And judging by some of the comments on her videos， she has come to play an inadvertently4 big role in some of her followers’ lives.

如今，她的八個孫子孫女也愛上了這道菜，不僅如此，還有許多未曾在科斯特洛家樹下坐過或進過她家廚房中的人，也對它情有獨鐘。2020年初，在女兒的勸說下，科斯特洛終于在抖音海外版TikTok上注冊了賬戶，并首先分享了自己制作砂鍋菜的視頻。在TikTok的個人資料中，她幽默地自稱“大家的奶奶”。視頻中她給觀眾指導，教人請客招待的藝術，以及如何對待完成家務這項默默無聞、不夠光鮮的任務。而從她視頻所收到的一些評論來看，科斯特洛已然在不經意間對有些粉絲的生活產生了深遠的影響。

TikTok is best known as the chaotic domain of Gen Z， but Costello is part of a constellation of5， yes， #grandfluencers. Through profiles most typically run by their children or grandchildren， these TikTokers are tapping into some of the qualities that make grandmas so special. Some accounts， such as Nana’s Kitchen and Grandma’s Garden， focus primarily on showcasing recipes， while others share household hacks and dispense6 life advice. Like the platform as a whole， “Grandma TikTok” has gained significant traction since the start of the pandemic as an emotional balm7 to endless doomscrolling8. That makes a grim kind of sense： Many young users were isolated from their elder loved ones， and some lost them altogether.

人們都知道TikTok是Z世代熱鬧非凡的領地，但科斯特洛卻成為了#奶奶網紅群體中一顆耀眼的明星。這些TikTok賬號多由子女或孫輩代為運營，他們深入挖掘并展現了奶奶輩獨有的魅力。一些賬號，例如“奶奶的廚房”和“奶奶的花園”，主要聚焦于食譜的展示，而另一些賬號則熱衷于分享家居小妙招和傳授人生智慧。與TikTok平臺的整體趨勢相一致，“奶奶類TikTok”自疫情以來爆火，作為一劑情感良藥，緩解了人們因不斷陰暗刷屏而產生的情緒困擾。這可以理解，但有點殘酷：許多年輕用戶因疫情與年邁的親人分隔兩地，有些甚至與至親天人永隔。

For all of the familiar parasocial9 dynamics of the influencer era， the grandfluencers are rare in their cultivation of intergenerational relationships： Especially on TikTok， young people are mostly talking to other young people. Commenting “mom” or “dad” on celebrities’ posts is part of Millennial and Gen-Z internet speak， but it rarely conveys the feeling of an earnest familial tie. The viewer responses on Grandma TikTok are different. Take Nana’s Kitchen， an account that primarily features closely cropped shots of the 86-year-old Iraqi Turkish woman’s hands as she prepares a meal—sort of like an artisanal10 Tasty video. The comments on Nana’s posts， such as this dedication to her “supportive army of grandchildren learning how to cook together，” are filled with something that is decidedly different from the meme-speak that dominates many other corners of the internet：

盡管網紅時代的粉絲與偶像間的社交互動屢見不鮮，奶奶網紅們在培養跨代關系方面卻顯得尤為珍稀：特別是在TikTok上，年輕人大多只與同齡人交流。在名人帖子下留言“媽媽”或“爸爸”屬于千禧一代和Z世代的網絡用語，但基本傳達不了什么親情。而在“奶奶類TikTok”上，觀眾們的回應則截然不同。以“奶奶的廚房”為例，這個賬號主要發布86歲伊拉克裔土耳其老奶奶做飯時手部動作的特寫鏡頭——有點像那種傳統手工美食視頻。老奶奶帖子下的評論，如這條對她“眾多一起學做飯的孫輩支持者”的致敬之詞，洋溢著與網絡其他許多地方盛行的模因腔調完全不同的某種情感：

Can I become one of your grandchildren， I don’t have grandparents

我能有幸認您作奶奶嗎？因為我沒有爺爺奶奶的陪伴。

ALL HAIL GRANDMA

向奶奶致敬！

my grandma passed away 20 years ago， she taught me a lot. this account brings me such comfort thats she’s still looking out for me

我的奶奶已離世20年，她曾給予我無盡的教誨。而這個賬號，讓我仿佛感受到她仍在默默守護著我，給予我莫大的慰藉。

Nana’s Kitchen was the idea of Dina Ibrahim， one of Nana’s eight grandchildren， who lives in Calgary， in Canada’s Alberta province. Like several of the young people running their family matriarch’s account， Ibrahim initially began recording videos of her grandmother as something of a family cookbook before sharing them on TikTok late last year. Through Nana’s Kitchen， Ibrahim shares footage of her grandmother preparing Middle Eastern dishes beyond the select few that are likely familiar to most North American viewers， such as chupa， a traditional meal made from sheep innards， and kalaneh， a labor-intensive bread that can be stuffed with scallions and other fillings. During Ramadan， followers even get treated to footage from the family’s iftars11.

“奶奶的廚房”這一創意出自迪娜·易卜拉欣，她是奶奶八位孫輩中的一員，居住在加拿大艾伯塔省卡爾加里。起初，如同一些年輕人為家中長輩開設社交媒體賬號那樣，易卜拉欣只是把拍攝祖母烹飪的視頻當作記錄家庭食譜，直到去年年末，她才決定在TikTok上與大家分享。大多數北美觀眾可能僅僅了解少數幾款中東美食，通過“奶奶的廚房”，易卜拉欣展示了祖母烹制的更為豐富多樣的中東佳肴，比如由羊雜碎烹制的傳統美食“楚帕”，以及工藝繁復、可填充青蔥及其他餡料的面點“卡拉尼”。而在齋月期間，粉絲們更有幸目睹了家族共進開齋飯的溫馨畫面。

The desire for a familial culinary record was also the impetus behind Pamela Cooke’s desire to make videos of her mother， who’s known to followers simply as “Mamaw.” The Ohio-based pair shares all sorts of recipes， including explicitly holiday-oriented ones such as peanut-butter buckeyes and Thanksgiving stuffing. The two generally plan videos around the food Mamaw’s already going to be making， especially for Sunday dinners or for the personalized meals she prepares for the children and grandchildren on their birthdays. When it comes time to record， Cooke handles the phone camera and Mamaw sticks to what she does best. “I still don’t know how to go on there，” Mamaw said of TikTok. “Pam has to show me everything.”

帕梅拉·庫克為母親錄制視頻也是希望將家族食譜記錄下來，她的母親被粉絲們親切地稱為“姥姥”。這對來自俄亥俄州的母女分享著各式各樣的食譜，其中不乏專為節日準備的美味，比如花生醬巧克力糖果和感恩節餡料等。她們的視頻內容往往圍繞著姥姥已經打算要做的菜肴來策劃，尤其是周日晚餐，或是為子女和孫輩們生日準備的專屬大餐。錄制時，庫克負責手持手機拍攝，而姥姥則專心致志地做自己最拿手的活兒?！拔疫€是不會用那個（TikTok），”姥姥談及TikTok時說，“帕姆得手把手教我一切。”

Just like Nana’s Kitchen’s audience， many of Cooke’s followers comment on how much Mamaw reminds them of their own grandmothers or express gratitude for her serving as a proxy. They share the occasions for which they’re planning to make Mamaw’s recipes （or have already） and ask for her personal take on holiday staples such as pumpkin pie， pralines， and fried chicken. The requests made of Mamaw tend to be respectful in tone， to such a degree that reading through the comments has become an unexpected bonding exercise for Cooke and her mother. “We sit here; we tear up; we cry，” Cooke told me. Heading into the holidays， the account tends to also get higher engagement rates， she said.

正如“奶奶的廚房”的觀眾一樣，庫克的大量追隨者也在評論區表示，姥姥喚起了他們對自己祖母的很多回憶，或者因為在她這里找到情感寄托而表達感激之情。他們分享著計劃嘗試（或已嘗試）姥姥食譜的場合，還向她征求對南瓜派、果仁糖和炸雞等節日傳統美食的個人看法。粉絲向姥姥提出請求時，總是帶著滿滿的敬意，以至于瀏覽這些評論，也意外地成為了庫克和她母親與粉絲之間的增進情感的活動?！拔覀冏谶@里，看著評論，感動得熱淚盈眶?！睅炜讼蛭抑v述道。她還說，每當節日臨近，這個賬號的互動率往往也會更高。

For better or worse， these accounts can turn a TikTok user’s personal algorithm into a hyper-curated feed of traditional grandma experiences. Of course， no social-media account can ever replace a real family member， no matter how much a grandfluencer swears she’s looking out for you. But during the holidays， the laundry hacks and old family recipes that are the hallmark of Grandma TikTok feel different： With some combination of wit and warmth， these accounts can also help assuage the pangs of nostalgia and loss that so many people feel in what is supposed to be a happy time.

無論怎樣，這些賬號都能將TikTok用戶的個性化推送轉變為精心策劃的祖母傳統生活經驗分享專場。當然，無論這些“祖母網紅”聲稱自己多么關心你，任何社交媒體賬號都無法真正取代家人的陪伴。但在節日期間，TikTok上那些以洗衣小妙招和祖傳食譜為特色的祖母賬號卻顯得格外溫馨：在本應歡樂的節日里，許多人會懷舊和失落，那些賬號巧妙融合了智慧與溫情，還能幫助撫平這些情緒引發的痛苦。

If anything， the feelings inspired by Grandma TikTok seem to reveal just how distinct the stereotypical grandchild-grandparent relationship can be. And around the holidays， it’s even clearer that the specific traditions， life hacks， and general wisdom often gleaned12 from grandparents can be hard to find from the other people in our lives.

事實上，TikTok上的祖母賬號所激發的情感，似乎揭示了人們心目中祖孫間的隔輩親是多么獨特的一種關系。尤其在節日期間，這一點更加凸顯：祖父母傳授給我們的那些特定傳統、生活妙招以及人生智慧，在生活中往往難以從他人那里獲得。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1 casserole砂鍋菜。" 2 hallmark標志。

3 glamorous有魅力的；令人向往的。" 4 inadvertently不經意地。" 5 a constellation of一群（相似的人）。

6 dispense傳授。" 7 balm安慰物，慰籍物。" 8 doomscrolling末日刷屏，指在社交媒體或新聞網站上不斷瀏覽令人沮喪的負面新聞或信息的行為。" 9 parasocial類社會性的。" 10 artisanal傳統匠人手工制作的。

11 iftar開齋餐（穆斯林齋月期間在日落后吃的晚餐）。

12 glean sth （from sb/sth）費力地收集，四處搜集（信息、知識等）。