Brittany Cosgrove is one of my favourite people on TikTok, with her hilarious and honest short videos that touch on everything from heartbreak to thrifting around Aotearoa and her life living in a van. She was the one who brought ‘gremlin girl winter’ to my attention, and who made me think hard about her theory that in a relationship there is always a muse, and an artist, and it’s hard to have both (I think I disagree with that one).
“Van life Thrifting Idiot” is her bio on the app, which shares the same slightly cheeky handle as her Instagram - @brattycosgrove - and offers a hint at the thoughtful and slightly chaotic fun of her vibe. She has a clear appreciation for the sarcastic and slightly absurd.
As part of our Screen Time column, I wanted to hear more about her very digital life, and how she interacts with the internet each day - and fortunately Cosgrove, who co-founded the social enterprise focused, digital first brand Nope Sisters, happily indulged my questions to share some insight.
What’s your earliest internet memory?
Probably dial up, just having to get off the phone if someone was on the internet and vice versa. I have no idea what I was doing on the internet: probably using the chunky computer to look up something for a school project, but I would have been young.
What sites do you visit regularly/daily? And do you visit them directly or via other means?
TikTok is probably my most used, then Instagram, then Messenger, then it's a tie between Facebook and Pinterest - with a small splash of Hinge or Tinder if I’m feeling particularly self loathing that week. All through apps on my phone. I’m a big phone gal because my laptop is extremely dated and slow.
The last story/link you shared?
The last link would have been an invite to the launch party of my sister’s poetry book, called Crying on the Phone, on my Instagram Story.
How many group chats are you in? What’s the name of the most active or the funniest?
I'm not gonna lie, this question made me take a good hard look at myself in the mirror as I realised all my Messenger group chats (in which there are two) included my mum, me; my mum and my sister. In which it's more our mum using it as her own personal Twitter feed of updates and reminding us of birthdays.
The second is a group chat of me, my mum and the owner of a dog I was looking after.
As I was having an internal meltdown in my friend’s kitchen about the lack of group chats not including my mother, I was reminded of an Instagram group chat including myself, Evie Davis, Sydney Reynolds (both from Silly Billy Vintage ) and Zara (from Rejects Productions) where we just tell each other how hot they are and gush over pictures of ourselves in vintage clothing.
Have you ever had a blog?
No ma’am.
Social media gets a lot of bad press. What do you love about it? What do you dislike?
The effects of social media have become a very visceral thing, and it can be both beautiful and terrifying. I hate seeing the radicalisation pipeline where people’s entire beings have become fears of an enemy that doesn't exist. I also worry about my own reliance on the internet and wonder if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, would I slowly lose my mind.
The bright side of social media is that if you make the conscious decision to no longer participate in consuming media that doesn't serve you in a positive way, it becomes a place of inspiration and opportunity, instead of falling into the pipeline of fear and jealousy and impending doom. It becomes a place that can be used to express yourself, create art and learn. I feel like I've learnt so much through social media.
What’s your approach to Instagram?
I'm honestly still trying to figure it out. My Instagram is more scatty than I would like it to be as it's a bit of a balance between personal life vomit and curated photography - and I feel it loses its story as I'm probably too influenced by likes.
What’s on your TikTok FYP?
A mixture between trending sounds on the self-deprecating, mentally ill humour side of TikTok, fun facts, tarot readings that tell me my ex boyfriend still loves me, and pop culture deep dives.
What was the last TikTok video you liked or shared?
I checked this and the last video I liked was a video of Bella Howarth listening to the newly written verse of Complex, a deeply heart wrenching TikTok song written from the perspective of an anxiously attached girl to a boy who doesn't like her very much. Which I think sums up pretty well how my emotional availability is going.
Do you use Twitter? Why? Why not?
No, because I’m dyslexic; it’s my nightmare fuel. Reading? Writing? Send me to hell. I have no idea what's going on, and I fear to learn, which is poo because I find some of the funniest shit is from Twitter.
What’s your relationship with Facebook?
I seem to strictly use it for three things: marketplace, messenger and reading Vogue Italia articles (I cannot read Italian).
Are you on any other platforms, new or old?
Pinterest. I keep trying to push myself to get more into posting on it, as I feel as an image based app, I would really enjoy it. But I just keep using it as a personal wardrobe manifestation app that I don’t really want people to see, as it feels like my own vision board diary.
What about online forums like Reddit - are you a user?
No and I would have no idea where to start using it.
Who is the person that follows you that you’re most excited about?
Probably Camila Mendes. Honestly, I think she hit the follow button by accident, so I quickly made a video showing how excited I was that she was following me so that she’d feel like a dick if she unfollowed me. And I will take that win; no backsies Camila.
Have you ever made a meme or had a proud viral moment?
My proud viral moment was probably when an article about me living in a van went worldwide, bouncing around the UK and Europe. And now I can say I was at one point in my life personally victimised by the Daily Mail, because they led the article with a thirst trap screenshotted from my Instagram that was not meant FOR THEM.
Are you interested in the Metaverse?
Not at this point in time. If someone were to sit down and explain it to me like I was five, and I could comprehend what the hell it is, then maybe. But at this stage it seems a bit nefarious to me.
What about NFTs?
I can only slightly comprehend an NFT but the thought of trying to use a new complex forum gives me a knee-jerk reaction that I should probably work through in therapy.
What is your phone?
An iPhone 11. I am open to swapping feet pics for an upgrade.
Your YouTube go-to?
I've never been a YouTube watcher, really. But my two go-tos are watching QI or watching blackhead extractions from acne clinics in Singapore.
Your favourite or most-played Spotify playlist?
I recently had a discussion with someone at a party about this that had them visibly uncomfortable so I'm aware of the discomfort this might cause people. But I only have one playlist. It’s called ‘pool’ and it's just every song I've ever had a small fixation with in one very long playlist and I hate most of it.
What’s the best streaming service?
I am a streaming service junkie. My money anxiety dissipates when it comes to paying for streaming services. Television is my kryptonite and I could not possibly pick my favourite. Like a polyamorous relationship, I have unique and loving relationships with each of my streaming services because they provide me with different things - while one may have better movies, the other has better classics, so on and so forth.
Podcasts! There are so many of them. Tell me your thoughts, and favourites… and where and how you listen to them.
I'm a slut for podcasts. I listen to my podcasts through the Apple podcast app, as me and Spotify clearly have a tumultuous relationship.
I listen to podcasts the way other people listen to music: when I'm exercising, driving, cleaning, literally any time I'm not either engaged in a real life conversation or watching TV. I think if I ever get left alone with my thoughts, I might explode .
My favourites are:
Newsletters are the future, apparently. How many do you subscribe to? And how many do you pay for?
None and none. No one informed me that newsletters are the future, I am once again slightly behind the curve and in need of someone to explain to me how they work and what's going on.
Do you game? What do you play, and how often?
No. I got really into Candy Crush the year I did a lot of plane trips, but other than that I haven't gamed since I was 17 and we used to have Tekken tournaments in our shitty flat and the winner didn't have to pay rent.
How do you shop online? Do you have favourite sites and/or apps?
I actually don't shop online. The first time I did, I bought this red dress in the early days on Asos and when it showed up I had the rude awakening that maybe a dress on a supermodel and a dress on me wouldn't look exactly the same. I not only decided to take this as a personal offence but took it as an opportunity to hold an everlasting grudge with online shopping.
How many emails do you typically receive in a day?
I'll give you some context: I have 5,509 unread emails. I treat my Gmail as a trash can of information with the occasional piece of important informational gold like receiving this interview.
What’s your email sign off?
I don’t have one as I don't actually know how to make one.
What was the last screenshot you took?
My iPhone screen. Before that it was a close up of a picture of my sister where she looked like crap, you know: sister things.
What was your screen time last week?
First of all, how dare you. Second of all it was 36h 9m and we still have Sunday to go...
