Behind the scenes with Depop Drama: An interview with the elusive founder of the viral Instagram account

Good customer service involves charm, patience and good manners. But it’s safe to say that Depop - an app in which anyone can sell their clobber online, like a digital car boot sale - often falls short of that high bar.

Enter Depop Drama, an Instagram account that documents the very worst and the weirdest of behaviour on the app.

Depop drama is run by an unknown figure who wishes to remain that way. Speaking to indy100 about the origins of their page, they say that it grew organically and what started as a personal project changed when people started submitted their own dramas:

“Being a Depop user myself, I started to get funny or ridiculous messages and would share them with friends. Before I knew it, I had loads of these random screenshots on my phone with nowhere to put them. I decided to start uploading them to Instagram.”

What makes a perfect Depop Drama post then?

“My favourite posts are just the most silly ones like one where someone asked to see a photo of a jacket on, and they took a photo of it with their dog wearing it,” they say. They add that they ask themselves whether a post is funny before sharing it and only post the ones that make them laugh.

It’s a strategy that’s led to its popularity. The account boasts some 600,000 followers and continues to grow.

“People connect with it as it’s relatable and they go to the page for the light-heartedness and to just have a bit of a laugh really,” they say.

“A lot of things online are very serious so I think the page is almost like a ‘get-away’ from all of that.”

Keeping a page engaging requires dedication. The founder spends around two to three hours a day sifting through the some 300 to 500 posts they receive a week, collating posts and scheduling them on social media.

“I think dedication and consistency play a big role in a page like Depop Drama, if you miss a few days without posting, people will forget about you really quickly.”

This is no easy task given they run the account alone to ensure the page keeps its “clear vision” and because they value “the creative control” it entails.

“Potentially in the future I may look to get other people involved but for now I think I’m quite happy just keeping it as it is,” they say.

With a page so successful that it has attracted a celebrity following including Lily Allen, does the founder not wish to unveil themselves and enjoy some fame?

“I quite like the idea of creating a bit of a mystique behind the project to keep my audience intrigued. I have been tempted to reveal my identity, but with a platform so large, you never know what might happen.”

But even meme royalty needs downtime. And when they are not enjoying their own page, Depop Drama turns to other cracking accounts like Love of Huns who they describe as “amazing” and Siblings or Dating?

“I love pages that have a very specific niche, those are the ones that work best I think,” they say.

That’s Depop Drama then. There’s a point to be made about what happens to people when they interact over text, not in person, and how it shapes cruelty, shreds empathy and results in people sending messages like these, with not even one qualm:

We’re not the ones to make it, however. We’re too busy enjoying the (Depop) drama.