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Bucket List Boston creator owes success to breaking out of the “BU bubble”

Kate Weiser is the founder of Bucket List Boston (@bucketlistboston), a popular Instagram account with more than 4,500 followers. PHOTO BY SARAH SILBIGER/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Kate Weiser is the founder of Bucket List Boston (@bucketlistboston), a popular Instagram account with more than 4,500 followers. PHOTO BY SARAH SILBIGER/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Kate Weiser, a sophomore in Boston University’s College of Communication, is one of the university’s most famous Instagram users. Her account, Bucket List Boston (@bucketlistboston), has nearly 5,000 followers with more than 337 original posts that depict the beauty and liveliness of Boston. Less than a year after Weiser started the account, companies have reached out to her for partnership deals, and her pictures have been featured on dozens of Boston-themed Instagram pages.

Surprisingly, the account was inspired from a rejection. Weiser started her page after the prestigious Boston photography Instagram, IG Boston (@igboston), did not accept her as a contributor, she said.

“I really wanted to be a part of [IG Boston],” Weiser said. “They said that I didn’t have enough ‘Boston’ in my Instagram account. So I sat on the idea, and came back into second semester with the idea to create an Instagram solely for all of my Boston pictures.”

Weiser chose the handle @bucketlistboston for its alliteration and its unique niche. The account is essentially a virtual bucket list. Every post is numbered as a place or thing for people to do around Boston, such as spending dawn at the Esplanade or visiting Boston College. After a couple of months, Weiser’s account began to pick up a large following.

“The account began to grow last spring. As I was studying for finals, a kid came up to me and said that seeing Bucket List Boston pictures was the highlight of his day,” she said. “It made me realize the extent to which I was touching other people.”

One of Weiser’s largest breakthroughs, she said, was being featured on the official BU Instagram page. After Weiser and Bucket List Boston reached BU’s more than 33,000 followers, her account received an influx of new followers.

#TerrierTuesdays: Meet the COM/KHC sophomore behind one of BU’s most buzzed-about Instagram accounts: @bucketlistboston. Kate Weiser’s @BucketlistBoston is a visual representation of the items all Bostonians should cross off their proverbial “bucket list,” from strolling down the incomparable Marlborough St. to attending the Boston Ballet – all in a numbered format. While growing her following, the Mamaroneck, NY native has explored #Boston and adopted the city as her own. “Through @bucketlistboston, I’ve explored so many places in this city that I never would’ve gone before.” So far, Weiser’s favorite has been Brattle Book Shop but she’s looking forward to visiting the Boston Mapparium next! Coming from just outside of New York City, Weiser sees no contest between the two cities; “I love what a community Boston is,” she says – a fact that was reinforced on #MarathonMonday of this year. “I stood on Boylston St. at 6 pm cheering on the stragglers crossing the Finish Line and bonded with a city in a way I’ve never felt before,” she says. It was an initial setback that led to Weiser’s discovery of her current passion. Weiser’s love of Boston and photography led her to first apply to be a member of @igboston, a community of Instagrammers sharing beautiful images from across New England. She was initially turned down due to insufficient photos of the region on her personal account. Weiser became determined to share her photography and created an Instagram account to do solely that. Now, with over 3,000 followers, Weiser finds her account being mentioned by her classmates. “Being around people saying, ‘did you see that @bucketlistboston photo?’ is always the highlight of my day,” she says. For now, Weiser still aspires to become a member of @igboston but hopes to grow her account to be a “fun resource for Boston residents and visitors that inspire them to the plethora of things we have going on in this city.” Her advice for fellow Terriers? “Don’t get stuck in the ‘BU bubble!’ You don’t get the opportunity to be in a new place with so much time to spend there often – take advantage of it!"

A photo posted by Boston University (@bostonu) on

“We gained about 1,000 followers from that, which is insane,” she said. “We’re also working with Kane’s Donuts in South Boston for a collaboration, so that has been fun.”

Weiser said a key attribution to the success of her account was her ability to relate to her followers.

“You want people to be able to say, ‘Oh, I could see myself doing that thing or going there,’” Weiser said. “I try to accomplish this by making most of what I post free of charge, so more people are able to do it.”

In addition, Weiser engages with her followers by creating a story arc with a countdown of places to explore in Boston.

“Every day there’s at least one new thing that you can do in Boston, and it creates that pull that keeps followers engaged and checking out the content,” Weiser said.

As for generating content, Weiser stressed the importance of building up a queue of posts.

“Having quality content is huge,” she said. “You will gain a lot of followers and get more likes if you produce quality content. It’s important also to have content built up beforehand, so you have posts saved to share with your followers.”

To achieve this, Weiser said she goes off campus at least once a day with her camera to take photos.

“I get my exercise in for the day by going on walks and getting lots of pictures,” Weiser said. “Yesterday, for instance, I went on a nice walk to Newbury and got my first holiday pictures of wreaths and lights that were up.”

Weiser credits the main success of her Instagram to her desire and motivation to getting off campus and exploring Boston.

“The ‘BU bubble’ is real,” Weiser said. “It’s really easy to feel like our campus is huge anyway, so why bother going off? But Boston is such an amazing city, and we are here for four years so it’s worth taking advantage of it. There are not a lot of opportunities of being new in a big city, so why not explore?”

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