“Adelaide isn’t boring – you’re just not doing it right” reads the TikTok bio of The Streets of Adelaide: a social media account which has become a go-to location for anyone looking to experience Adelaide, with the city being seen through the lens of the account’s creator Sophie Miller. (Image supplied: Sophie Miller)
By Clem Stanley | @ClemStanley2
Since the turn of the 21st century, social media has risen and evolved at a rapid rate. More recently, it has even become possible to form a career simply from having an online presence. “Influencers,” as the name suggests, take on a role of convincing their audiences to buy a product or an idea. Effectively, a form of paid promotion.
Although Australian law states that paid promotion or sponsored content made by influencers must be clearly labelled as so, what you can’t be sure of is whether or not the creator’s reaction is genuine, or all part of the game.
There are, however, glimmers of authenticity out there if you know where to look.
One such corner of the internet is The Streets of Adelaide. No, not on the actual streets of Adelaide. Rather, a social media account on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Though its creator, Sophie Miller, isn’t really someone who would typically be considered an “influencer.” I ask Miller what term she uses to describe what she does, to which she replies: “I normally call myself a blogger, which is so not correct because I don’t blog.” But, in many ways, it is an excellent description for what The Streets of Adelaide is.
Put simply, Miller uses her platform to share the positive experiences she has in Adelaide – this includes visits to cafés, bars, brunch spots, restaurants, markets, shops, and other small businesses.
Despite The Streets of Adelaide not being her day job, Miller has managed to organically accumulate over 50,000 followers on Instagram, 20,000 followers on Facebook and, although only joining in 2020, 30,000 followers on TikTok.
I have a chat with Miller over Zoom; she is at home, in an appropriately comfortable-looking lounge room with some lived-in house plants creeping across the wall above her head.
Just as we start talking though, another resident of the house appears in the corner of her screen. “This is Pepsi, he is one of three cats, but he is the most needy,” Miller explains with a smile before carefully moving Pepsi off to one side.
An Adelaidean all her life, Miller grew up in Pasadena with her parents and younger brother. From a young age, she had a love for the city and how easy it was to live here, saying: “I just always really liked it, it’s such a comfortable place to grow up in.”
With a Bachelor of Arts from Flinders University and a Graduate Diploma in Digital Media from The University of Adelaide, Miller works as a technical specialist in CTP insurance for the National Roads and Motorists’ Association (NRMA).
When I ask why Miller hasn’t pursued her online platform for a living, she says: “I do really love my job, which sounds lame for insurance, but like, I genuinely really love my real job.”
Miller recounts the story of how The Streets of Adelaide was first conceived. Beginning on Instagram in late 2014, Miller was at a previous workplace’s Christmas lunch at the Wright Street Hotel – a venue that she explains “is [her] favourite pub of all time, which is now shut down which makes [her] very sad.”
“I took a couple of photos that night cause I was just like, ‘Oh, these places are all so cool.’” After posting the photos to social media, The Streets of Adelaide had gained 10,000 new followers within the next year.
“I think if I started now, it would be really hard to do that,” she says, noting how social media has evolved greatly in the almost 10 years since The Streets of Adelaide was first established. “There was definitely no influencers back then. It was literally like, ‘I just want to show this stuff off!’”
While Miller doesn’t see herself as an influencer – though she wouldn’t be offended if you called her one – she also isn’t a reviewer. As mentioned, Miller’s content is based on personal experiences, what fits within her own ethos and values, and the key theme she often refers back to is a desire to keep her page positive.
“It is tricky. I want to support small businesses. I want to support interesting South Australians. But also, sometimes if someone invites you to something, you don’t know their ethos until you meet them. So, it can be a bit tricky there,” she says.
“I suppose, as I said, my thing is to try and show the positives.”
Another aspect of The Streets of Adelaide, which sets it apart from the plethora of similar accounts online, is the lack of paid promotion and sponsored content Miller does.
“I would only accept it from a company that I believe,” she explains.
Miller says that when she is invited to a venue, or gifted a meal or product, she uses very specific hashtags on these posts to ensure that she is completely transparent with her followers.
“I definitely very much undercharge when I do do it as well. But it’s something that I’m like, ‘I’m comfortable with this.’ I don’t wanna ask for thousands of dollars, that doesn’t sit well with me.”
Miller explains that she would much rather share a positive, organic experience as opposed to being paid to promote something.
“A lot of the time I would prefer to go to a restaurant than someone pay me to do it. I’m happy to spend my time there if it’s for a good meal, and I enjoy it, and it’s somewhere I’ve gone before.”
She talks about her relationship with Gang Gang in Parkside. Miller says that it’s a favourite of her and her husband’s. They have been going there for years, simply because they enjoy it and never because they have been paid to do so.
When the owners of Gang Gang opened a new restaurant in the city, Miller was more than happy to accept a free meal in exchange for a post about the new venue on The Streets of Adelaide.
“That’s so organic and true because I already genuinely go there all the time,” she explains, saying how she was happy to help promote the team’s new venture because of her long-standing, positive connection to the business.
As her TikTok bio suggests, she does not subscribe to any belief that Adelaide or South Australia is boring.
She says: “My personal philosophy, and I’ve always believed this is like: if you don’t go out, and you live in New York, New York will be boring. It’s up to you to make the most of where you live and to take opportunities.”
“Post-Fringe, people go into hibernation, and they don’t go out. I have friends all the time who are like, ‘I’m bored,’ and I’m like, ‘There’s this on, there’s this on.’
“I hope people like to come to the page and they see it as a helpful thing. I’ve met so many amazing people because of it.”
By sharing genuine and authentic experiences of her interactions with businesses in Adelaide, Miller has been able to create an online profile which audiences can trust – all while highlighting the multitude of offerings in Adelaide and South Australia.
“So many people are so clever and smart, and obviously the hospitality in SA is so important and so good,” Miller says.
“I hope it keeps on getting the great reputation that it’s got, and that keeps growing.”
Essentially, Miller is at her happiest when she gets to share the things that she loves with the wider community, something she isn’t looking to give up any time soon.
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