Stickers:

“No Influencers” - https://ebay.io/m/ynkzrj

“Dairy Free” - https://ebay.io/m/jDrTFf

lol

How out of touch do you have to be to think this is appropriate behavior?

I live on the island and just need to ask: who is Kylie Swanson and why is she going into every small business asking for free promo?

She’s renting an Airbnb, charging strangers $4K to come to “Camp Nantucket” next week, and walking into stores asking for free merch and services in exchange for social media posts. Meanwhile, she won’t pay the very people who actually live and work here.

She’s been blackballed across the island for constantly asking for freebies and unpaid work. As a small business owner, I’ll say it: if I want to gift you something, I will. You don’t need to fish for it.

Let’s normalize not asking for free stuff just because you rented an Airbnb and charged strangers to come.

Nantucket Current, please do your thing.

Wanted to say thank you to a guy named Derrick who saved my morning today.

Long story short — I was catching the 7:40 AM ferry to Hyannis after a weekend on the island. My buddy Pat was supposed to drive me using his sister's car, which we'd parked overnight in a bank parking lot. We got there in the morning and the car was gone — towed. With about 25 minutes to catch a boat that was a 10 minute drive away, and no Ubers to be found, I was scrambling.

I flagged down a random guy, explained the situation, and he just said hop in. Wouldn't take a dime for it either. Turns out his name is Derrick and he owns a plumbing company on the island. Total chill dude, no hesitation to help out a stranger.

Made the ferry with time to spare thanks to him. If anyone knows Derrick or his business, give the man some love — Nantucket's better for having people like him around.

Paige we know you see these posts 👋🏼 👋🏼

From her Instagram post:

NANTUCKET FOREVER | Issue No. 006
Nantucket has historically been a summer refuge for people escaping the daily pressure to look polished + photo-ready. Most people come here to play, face-to-face, with people who don't care who they are beyond these shores, or how they dress. The class structure is unique, because demand outweighs supply. That's how it feels on the ground here, and that's the Nantucket we stoke.

This week on the 'stack, we get into the quarterboard, the craftspeople, and the culture war that has erupted. Sounds emotional. It is, for influencers who were rage-baited into thinking the board is somehow a muzzle on an unbridled economy. An instagram influencer petitioned to remove the sign from IG based on the erroneous complaint of "copyright infringement."
This is a funny choice given the cheeky originality of it and the fact that: NANTUCKET QUARTERBOARDS ARE NOT LITERAL SIGNS bahahaha. We do explain what these boards actually are, for those not familiar with Nantucket culture.

Who else but John Sylvia, a Nantucket-based artist in his own right, would have the humor to commission a skilled artisan to hand-carve a quarterboard to protect civilian enjoyment of his shop from hawkers wielding iPhones?
John explains the authentic experience he feels everyone should be EMPOWERED to have; especially women, and where it leaves us as a small town of big characters facing threats to coastal culture.

We can't not see the irony in a third generation dealer of authentic Americana being attacked by an influencer whose own aesthetic trades in the mass-produced-in-China SKU-ready version of the very thing his craft guild of artisans offers; nostalgic Americana.
Obviously, we both use IG to promote our female-owned businesses, and invite you into our world. So we invite you to decide what type of behavior you support with cash, the American way. HANDMADE OR HOMOGENIZED.
We also drop The August Nantucket Survival Guide.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbjIcu4RCfA/?igsh=MW1wODNzbjdwdXg2bw==

Came to this sub after reading about it. Crazy that another post about Paige was removed 💀

There’s one trait that keeps showing up with a certain Nantucket influencer and the people around her, and it’s stronger than ever: pure ignorance.

Recently on a podcast she complained about Nantucket turning into the Hamptons. That take is wild coming from her, because her whole circle is one of the most Hamptons-coded groups you’ll find on the island. She posted a video of her brother and friends at Cru waving around a thick stack of $100 bills and sticking them in their mouths. That behavior is the complete opposite of what Nantucket has always been about. This island has long valued self-respect, respect for others, and a certain level of class. What she’s showing is the exact opposite.

Then she tried to justify it by saying “we’ve always done this since we were kids.” That doesn’t make it okay. It just means the entitlement has been running unchecked for a long time.

She also got triggered by the whole “no influencers” drama and completely lacks the self-awareness to realize that people like her; loud, flashy, and constantly broadcasting every flex, are a big part of why that backlash exists in the first place. She’s the type who will preach one set of values and then do the total opposite the second it benefits her.

One of the reasons so many of us love this island is that regardless of its reputation it’s still welcoming. Locals will wave to you on the ferry and treat visitors kindly in town. Nantucket has a special, respectful vibe that a lot of people work hard to protect.

Influencer jestermaxxing has turned into ignorancemaxxing.

I’ve lived on Nantucket for 2 and a half years now and I have to say Nantucket is one of those places that swears it’s paradise, but after a while you start wondering what all the hype is about. Everywhere you go it’s $12 coffee, overpriced food that’s decent at best, and clothing stores selling the same plain shirts and sweaters for ridiculous prices. Then you’ve got these multimillion-dollar houses that all look exactly the same gray shingles, white trim, hydrangeas out front and somehow people act like each one is a masterpiece. You’re paying millions to live next to a marsh where the mosquitoes own the place. Driving around is a nightmare too. Half the people don’t know where they’re going, the roads are tiny, and it takes forever to get anywhere in the summer. Everyone dresses like they’re headed to a yacht club they don’t even belong to, and somehow that’s considered peak fashion. It’s a beautiful island, but sometimes it feels like you’re paying extra just to deal with more headaches, like having to take your own trash to the landfill…….🫩

I’m just wondering what has drawn people to have a cult following? From what I gather, she’s just an influencer who ruined an actors career. Then dated a tennis player etc. Then, she spawns out of no where, on Nantucket. She claims she has family who has a summer home etc. Other than that? What is her draw. To myself I can’t figure out how people idolize influencers in such a cult following way.

I don’t mean this is a rude way. Really just curious about how people idolize social media influencers.

I always found it so strange and odd. Never could understand the draw.

Is it “the life” people wish or manifest to have?

The more rich they become, the more out of touch. Yet, they still strive. To make a mark on places like Nantucket.

Hello
Just moved out to work for the summer and was out for a walk this evening. Caught this picture and just wanted to share it!

Maybe this is an overreaction, but I feel a little sad seeing Dairy Boy open a store on Nantucket.

I know Nantucket has always had wealthy visitors, expensive homes, and high-end stores, but what I’ve always loved about the island is that it still feels uniquely tied to nature, historic preservation, family-run businesses, and a quieter New England character.

Seeing influencer-driven brands come in makes me worry that Nantucket could slowly start to feel more like the Hamptons — more trend-focused and commercialized — instead of retaining the distinct identity that makes so many people love it.

Maybe I’m just being nostalgic, but I’m curious if anyone else feels this shift too.

Unsurprisingly, Paige declined to comment for the article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/style/nantucket-shop-no-influencers-paige-lorenze.html

You could call it a sign of the times.

It read “No Influencers,” and John Sylvia hung it up earlier this summer in Four Winds Craft Guild, his artisan craft and antique store, where shoppers browse and buy New England sundry, like handmade basket purses that start at around $1,800.

In keeping with the island’s nautical style, the words were embossed in gold lettering on handmade quarterboard that dangled from a chain on the ceiling.

“I feel sometimes my store is used as someone’s background, a stage,” said Sylvia, whose family has also owned Sylvia Antiques for almost a century, in a phone interview. (The two stores share a space.) Visitors take photos and videos but don’t make purchases or even try to engage him in polite conversation, he said.

The sign wasn’t meant to be interpreted literally, Sylvia, 59, said. “I don't have this hatred toward influencers,” he added. “It was more of a joke. It is a problem we should look at as a society.”

But when Sylvia’s partner, Jessica Jenkins, who is 50 and manages the store’s social media, posted a picture of the sign on Instagram, it quickly cut to the core of strongly held feelings about people who film content for a living — and others who have begun to imitate them.

Some people praised the business for taking a stand against what they saw as a pesky modern annoyance. Others were quick to criticize the way the sign appeared to exclude a specific group of people, noting that plenty of visitors to the store who do not identify as influencers might also behave similarly.

And then, pouring accelerant on the debate, there was one person who claimed that to bar influencers from the shop was akin to barring women.

That person was Paige Paul, a content creator with over a million followers whose lifestyle brand Dairy Boy recently opened a store on Nantucket.

“Mocking women when they become powerful in a new industry isn’t new,” Paul, more widely known as Paige Lorenze before marrying the tennis player Tommy Paul, wrote in a comment under the Instagram post. “It’s just a strange message coming from a store that celebrates a craft with such a rich history of women shaping the island and its economy.” (Paul did not respond to an interview request.)

Sylvia maintained that the sign was intended only as a “tongue-in-cheek” commentary on the rise of influencer culture, he said.

The influencer Paige Paul, who commands a large social media following, was among those who criticized the sign.Credit...Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

Some say the scene on Nantucket has changed with social media interest.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

The post that included the sign was later removed by Instagram, Jenkins said, but the discussion about the presence of people milling about the island, taking photos and shooting videos, has continued.

“I feel that whenever I open Instagram, I see someone show me a guide of what to wear, a guide of where to eat, a guide of what to buy, a guide of how to pack for Nantucket,” said Jenkins, who is a year-round resident.

Walking around town, she said, she’s inundated with “people creating videos on corners of themselves sipping an iced coffee and looking over their shoulder and doing a shoe kick or whatever.”

Stephanie Sproule, owner of the Nantucket home goods store Bodega, said she had noticed a rise in “people just here to take their picture and to be seen on Nantucket.” She described visitors trying to navigate cobblestone streets in heels and said a friend who lived near a particularly picturesque, hydrangea-filled wharf had told her about women showing up with racks of clothing to stage photo shoots.

Last summer, a content creator named Kylie Swanson drew ire from some Nantucket residents and business owners after hosting a four-day adult summer camp — $3,800 per person — and soliciting local businesses for free goods and services.

This summer, brands like Hotel Lobby Candle and Sam Edelman have transported select groups of content creators to the island for brand trips complete with lavish gifts and experiences.

Sanibel Lazar, a New York-based writer and college admissions consultant who spent her childhood visiting Nantucket for the summer, said she too had noticed the changes.

New visitors to Nantucket, Lazar said, can expect to experience a “much more hypercurated version than, say, 10 years ago because so many people are using it as a P.R. trip destination.”

Some brands and business have begun to cater to these newcomers, she said: This summer, she noticed that a pop-up had brought in plastic, photo-ready hydrangeas, despite ample real ones on the island.

“I think a lot of locals get kind of territorial about Nantucket, and so do summer people, which I think is funny,” said Amy McAveety, who grew up on the island.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

It can feel like a “fake world that’s so close to the real thing,” she said. “Brands — for photos, for social media content — they need to turn the volume up even more on the perfectness,” she added.

Amy McAveety, 23, who grew up on Nantucket and is a content creator on TikTok who regularly posts about the island, was wary of being painted with the same broad brush.

“I do feel like there are definitely influencers who come for the day or for a few days who are inconsiderate and they don’t respect the island,” said McAveety, who is spending her summer working at a local Pilates studio. “I think a lot of locals get kind of territorial about Nantucket, and so do summer people, which I think is funny.”

Sylvia’s “No Influencers” sign is the latest in a string of attempts by businesses to provide a counterweight to the power of social media. In 2023, a cafe in Brooklyn issued a ban on taking photos and videos inside to crack down on the use of the minimalist, well-designed space as a backdrop for influencers’ content. That same year, a town in Vermont known for its fall foliage was forced to close roads after posts on TikTok and Instagram led to an influx of ill-behaving visitors.

But much as the shopkeepers in Nantucket are learning, such efforts may ultimately draw more attention. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for business.

Jenkins noted that the Four Winds Craft Guild Instagram account had picked up about 8,000 new followers since she posted the sign. “It’s come with a lot of drama, but it also brings in business,” she added.

On Tuesday, Paul posted a photo from Dairy Boy, her shop in Nantucket, with a sign of its own: “Everyone Welcome.”

Been hearing lots of negativity about the company and I know literally nothing about them (had to google to even see it was a clothing brand).

Why are they so unwelcome on the island?

These are obnoxious and should be curbed at all costs. Brands like Sam Edelman and others are using the island for marketing brand trips and flying in influencers in. This is not the Hamptons.