It may be unexpected to come across a young person with a deep and open appreciation of the past. But it was always a goal of Clare Sykes, a freshman communication studies major, to start an online space dedicated to sharing popular music, fashion and culture from the 1960s and 1970s. She actualized her vision last year and has since gained more than 100,000 followers on her Instagram blog @retrohippies. Her education and involvement at Klein College of Media and Communication are helping her grow the blog and make it even more meaningful.
Although Sykes started @retrohippies as a passion project, her use of Instagram hashtags to connect with other lovers of the 1960s and 1970s — along with her friends and acquaintances who have similar interests — helped her gain an impressive following. The blog features images of famous entertainers and everyday changemakers during an era known for international activism and change. Sykes’ love and knowledge of the era’s music also played a huge role in her decision to create the blog and she often interacts with her followers by posting or discussing vintage tunes. However, given the similarities between the era and today, Sykes soon realized that she could use the blog to convey clear messages about taking a stand.
“I have like 104,000 followers plus [so] politics and voting and activism — that's what I'm sharing,” Sykes said. “Because people comment sometimes, they're like ‘Why are you even talking about politics? This is a music page.’ I'm like ‘Music is politics. That's how they were spreading their word, using their voices.’ So I want to use the platform to spread [the word] about Black Lives Matter and all the different things that are happening right now. Like if you don't like it, unfollow me...it might be just a story post, but some people learn so much from a singular story post and I want to do my part.”
Sykes has combined her interest in the 1960s and 1970s with her academics and extracurricular activities. Before she started at Temple University, she visited an open house with her family and met Sydneé Carter and Bleu Acosta, two communication studies students who take an active role in the program. Now, Sykes works with them on the media team and as a communication studies program ambassador. Carter and Acosta were excited to discover that Sykes was making an impact on social media through @retrohippies. Since then, they have made an effort to support Sykes by telling students in the program about the blog and using social media to promote it even further. Carter, a junior, believes that Sykes’ drive “shows what communication studies majors are all about.”
“In comm studies we try to find the students who stand out to us,” said Carter, a junior. “They want to be hands-on, they reach out to us and are like ‘We want to get involved.’”
Acosta also noticed Sykes’ commitment not only to @retrohippies but also to being a commendable student. Although Acosta is graduating in December, she is glad to have mentored Sykes. “She has such great initiative and is willing to work hard while balancing out her own goals in life,” Acosta said in an email. “When she applied to be a part of the media team I [was] thrilled to be able to not only enhance her current skill set but learn some things from her as well. She has a brilliant and creative mind.”
Sykes’ expertise in both communication and music are inseparable. Through @retrohippies, she has already partnered with small brands and musicians to promote their work. Her biggest collaboration was with CREEM Magazine, a now-defunct rock ‘n’ roll music publication popular during the punk rock era that recently released a 50th-anniversary commemorative documentary. Together, CREEM and @retrohippies teamed up to present an advanced screening of the film.
In the future, Sykes wants to merge her interests by becoming a media and music professional.
“Now that I'm early on in my career, I've already gotten to do so many cool things,” Sykes said.
“For one of my projects for my comm studies class I spoke with a woman from Rolling Stone magazine. And we were just chatting and I interviewed her just for the project, but I was thinking of maybe incorporating it on my page. But that's something I would love to do—work for a company like Rolling Stone magazine that has a lot to do with music; it started that way. So I would love to incorporate that—blogging or social media or just journalism and getting out there and doing stuff and then posting and sharing it.”
Sykes’ future in the Communication Studies Program also looks bright. “She’s so sweet, she has that leadership aspect to her already,” Carter says. “She creates great work, great content. So like I said, I think she’ll definitely have — especially in comm — a very high-up position, just because we rely so heavily on students for leadership and to help guide the major.”
Sykes’ focus has already gotten her far, but she anticipates that the instruction she is receiving from Klein will elevate both her personal and her professional lives. She is looking forward to developing even stronger connections between @retrohippies and the Communication Studies Program as she advances in her undergraduate career.