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Geoffrey Walker (89) originally set up the account in 2016 to keep in touch with his family – but his comical videos have since become a hit.
From their fruit-cake tutorials and weather updates to food shopping, knitting and even hanging their laundry, Pauline (86) and Geoffrey, from Coalville in England, have gained a huge fan base.
The former plumber says he receives thousands of messages a day and it would be like a full-time job if he were to reply to them all.
“Young people find it fascinating that we’re on Instagram, but I’ve always been good with computers ever since they were invented,” the great-grandfather says.
“We have three children, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren – it seemed Instagram was the easiest way to contact our family.
“We had about 80 to 90 followers who were friends and family but a young woman from the village put our Instagram on her Twitter and the next day we had 18 000 followers.
“And now we’re officially verified and have made many friends from America, Germany and New Zealand. It’s amazing.
Geoffrey says they call all their Instagram followers’ “friends” as they enjoy speaking to them on a daily basis.
“I taught myself how to use social media as I’ve always been good with technology ever since computers were as big as my whole living room.
“I now have a Motorola smartphone, iPad and two Apple Macs.
“I usually wake up an hour before Pauline, so I read the Bible then scroll through Instagram for an hour before making her a cup of tea and breakfast.
“We’ve been married since 1951 and we’re still in love. The only hashtag I use is 'I love this girl' and the reason is self-explanatory.
"I tend to receive messages from young men asking for marriage advice.
“The answer I give them is simple; just say ‘sorry, it’s my fault’ and then there’ll be no problem.
Geoffrey kick-started his writing career in 2018 and wrote a book called Parted by Conflict.
It includes love letters between him and Pauline from when he served in World War 2.
But despite some profits from the book through their social media platform, they’ve turned down paid influencer opportunities and instead choose to promote their local community.
“We receive some lovely messages and many people say we’ve brightened up their day which is great to hear,” said Pauline, who’s a retired arts and crafts teacher.
Geoffrey encourages the elderly to communicate with their family through Instagram but admits it’s “worrying” at times.
“I think social media is great if it’s used correctly. Some people use it for the wrong reasons like [for trolling] or scamming,” he said.
Sources: MagazineFeatures, Instagram
