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Jesse Margolis, the man behind Overheard LA, started the Instagram account on a whim in 2015, after listening to a stereotypically L.A. conversation at a health food store. It now has 1.6 million followers and numerous spinoffs, including Overheard London and Overheard New York. This time, we'll focus on the latter.

"We're curating user-generated content, but we're also directing it toward millennial themes," Margolis told The New York Times. "The reason the accounts are successful is because we're not just posting some dumb quote — we're focusing on these themes of dating and digital life and food and fitness and Instagram culture and all that stuff. So we definitely do our best."

And that definitely shows. While scrolling through these snippets, you get a feeling that you're not just eavesdropping on a random conversation. Rather, immersing yourself in a unique environment and getting to know the people living there; their wants and desires, insecurities and fears. So continue scrolling and let's take a walk in the streets of NYC.

More info: Instagram | OverheardLA.com

The Overheard project has come a long way since its humble beginnings. High follower numbers aside, Margolis is steering the brand in a new direction too. With a printed "newspaper" called The Overheard Post, which has seen features such as the "millennial weather report" and satirical "obituaries".

"We've got these ... accounts now with cities and themes, and we're kind of exploring how that brand manifests itself in different areas," Margolis explained.

"The newspaper idea is our first foray — it's half a marketing stunt. We're essentially going to be doing a newsletter. My idea for our newsletter is it's offline only, and then if you want to actually read it online, you might be able to get it 24 hours later or a week later."

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Margolis said the account that started it all, Overheard LA, plays to the more absurd elements of the city, but interestingly enough, it captures the sort of extremes that his team have all seen a little bit living in L.A.

"We're trying to make fun of the bubble and occasionally we can get caught in the bubble ourselves by doing that, and not necessarily showing just how unique and diverse L.A. has become. I wish the whole of L.A. was reflected more in the account."

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Ivana
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh dang, that one came out of no where and hit me in the feels.

Laura Templar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

***king awful a child has to be told they matter in the first place

Bird Nerd
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To the people commenting "ALM not BLM", yes. All lives matter. But black lives are being discriminated against. The best way to explain it is, black lives are a broken limb. You go to the doctor, and you would get a cast for just that limb, as well as a check-up on all of your others. You wouldn't get a full body cast. You would focus on that limb until it heals and all of your limbs are healthy.

Devil's Advocate
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Surely this guy should be making sure his kids feels like he matters daily, not just when a group of "protesters" are breaking the law based on some black person living in a big house in a white neighborhood encouraging their followers to pillage and loot

Marek Gray
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

few words and ure all soggy from this? XD its just a sentence, meaningless.. u need to DO things more than say them.

Lynne Harbison
Community Member
3 years ago

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ALL lives matter, regardless of race, colour or creed. Some people just don't get it and think they are superior. 😡

August Martin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

BLM isn't saying your life doesn't matter or that someone else is better than you, it's about fighting against racial inequality and police brutality. Just because people speak out against injustice doesn't mean they think their superior.

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Abigail Seaholtz
Community Member
3 years ago

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Alm doesn't matter your color all should be treated as equals

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What he thinks he has learned from his time on the project is "how clearly we are now living in two worlds: the real world, IRL. And this 'Black Mirror' thing."

What makes him laugh about the newspaper is that he's old enough to remember when everyone was offline scrambling to establish a presence on the internet and now the phenomenon has gone full circle and publishers are trying to establish their presence offline.

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