Viral Instagram account comes alive in podcast form: Comments by Celebs
Diamond started the Instagram account in April 2017 and brought on Kramer to run it as a team.
“I really started it just based on how Instagram changed their algorithm,” Diamond explained. “Comments were being highlighted and we were seeing things that we weren’t seeing before.”
The duo began gathering and shining light on celebrity comments by taking screen shots of the comments and posting them. Diamond said that there was no other account doing the same thing at the time. She had a feeling that it would be a hit.
Last winter, their following and popularity took off.
“We hit 80k [followers] in February 2018,” said Diamond. “From then until now we went from 80k to 700k. The growth has definitely been rapid.”
In July, they started a podcast as a part of the Betches Media, a multi-media comedy and empowerment brand and community for young women. Betches approached Diamond and Kramer and asked them to come in for a meeting. The duo, who were already fans of the content produced by Betches, agreed.
“It was very organic. There was a lot of chemistry from the start,” said Diamond. “It’s funny because we had always toyed with the idea of a podcast, we always really wanted one.”
Once a week, Diamond and Kramer record in a studio at the Betches office after outlining and preparing what they’d like to discuss. Each episode covers the goings on of celebrity commentary, goes behind the scenes of @commentsbycelebs, delivers a Kardashian roundup, hypothetical celebrity scenarios, games and more.
“We try to remain positive, we try to feature the positive stuff and the lighthearted stuff,” said Diamond. “And on the podcast we don’t hold back– we give our opinions, but we do it in a positive way.”
On some episodes, the two bring on celebrities to serve as guest hosts as well.
“The goal is for each celebrity to come on and be somewhat of a co-host,” said Diamond. “It’s something that kind of makes us unique. To hear what they’re thinking about is kind of cool, to hear celebrities talking about other celebrities in a positive way.”
Kelly Ripa, Lisa Rinna and Daryn Carp have all been featured on the Comments by Celebs Podcast already.
Their original goal was to have a celebrity on once a month, since scheduling can sometimes be a challenge. Diamond said they’re hoping to nab Busy Phillips, Chrissy Teigen, John Stamos among others.
“We want everyone, it’s hard to choose,” explained Diamond, noting that they’ve been fortunate to build relationships with many celebrities who are already following the account.
She said the expansion to podcasting has been natural.
“I think it’s been a smooth transition,” she said. “I feel lucky that we really haven’t had any major challenges.”
The one problem they’ve encountered, which Diamond said is actually a good problem, is the mass amount of content that she and Kramer sort through to decide what they should post and what they shouldn’t. That requires a strategy.
“For the podcast it’s only an hour tops, and there’s so much we want to talk about,” she said.
The response to their venture into podcasting has been positive. Diamond said she is constantly in awe of how many of their followers reach out to them personally to comment.
the podcast with Betches has been a positive experience, one they plan on continuing for the foreseeable future in addition to other projects.
“In terms of goals for the future, we just want to control the brand and become a household name,” said Diamond. “We’ve enjoyed that we are being looked at as a news source, so we want to continue that.”
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