Tessa is a pretty normal college sophomore, but she has a pretty cool fun fact for icebreakers: she has a famous donut blog and it’s called Donut Porn. We had the opportunity to interview Tessa about her life as a blogger and donut enthusiast.
Spoon: Why did you make your blog?
Tessa: I made it junior year of high school because I was stressed, and I thought it would be nice and relaxing. There’s something very relaxing about it. It’s something you can be uninvolved in. I feel like I can look at food blogs for hours and not get bored.
Spoon: Why donuts?
Tessa: I don’t know how it started, but I like to imagine I was eating a donut, and I was like “Wow this is a beautiful donut.” I have memories of being with my grandma in Florida and we would wake up early and go get Krispy Kreme donuts, but I’m not a donut addict. I’ve noticed other donut blogs now, and I like to think I started the trend.
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Spoon: Do you have a particular theme that you strive for with your posts?
Tessa: The theme is hand-drawn donuts. They’re a little bit ugly, but fun. I try to keep it lighthearted because I don’t want anyone to think it’s anything more than just photos of donuts. It’s very donut-focused.
Spoon: Where do you find the pictures you post?
Tessa: I search donuts and queue the ones that I like or I think look pretty. I try not to delete captions too much because if it’s someone’s photo or a recipe, I want to give them credit. You’d be surprised how many donuts there actually are.
Photo by Kate Foody
Spoon: How many followers do you have?
Tessa: I have 6,213 followers. I get a couple of followers every day.
(Tessa actually got one follower just in the time we were talking.)
Spoon: Do you ever post anything other than donuts?
Tessa: Sometimes things don’t go right. There’s an accidental picture of Harry Styles. That happens sometimes, that I accidentally post a person or something, but no one ever comments on it. I think it just gets lost in a sea of donuts. Then you have something like a cake made of mini donuts. Is that donuts? I don’t know. I put it on there anyway.
Spoon: What’s your favorite kind of donut?
Tessa: I used to really like jelly filled donuts. Then, I moved to Boston cream donuts, so now I’m really into those. Sometimes donuts can be a little dry, so something in the middle keeps the moisture. Plus, I like chocolate, so I like the chocolate on top.
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Spoon: How do people react when you tell them about your blog?
Tessa: People think it’s really funny, and I think it’s really funny because it is really random.
Spoon: How did you build up your number of followers?
Tessa: I began uploading photos from the internet and used every tag I could, even “pink” or “punk.” I think that’s how I got people to follow me in the first place. It got pretty popular and has just increased in popularity since.
Photo by Phoebe Melnick
Spoon: How often do you post?
Tessa: I set my queue to post four times a day, so it’s pretty active.
Spoon: Does it take up a lot of time?
Tessa: I do it from my phone when I’m bored in class, but my parents hate it because they think I donate too much time to it. I do it by myself because it’s not that much work, and I like having it as a thing that I do.
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Spoon: Do you like your URL?
Tessa: I really want the URL “donut,” but someone has it and it’s just blank. I’m waiting for the day when they finally delete, and I can take my rightful place as donut.tumblr.com.
Spoon: Do you post particular kinds of donuts?
Tessa: I don’t pay that much attention to what kind I post because how many donut pictures can you post in one day before they’re all chocolate? But sometimes I do get requests from people asking if I can post more jelly donuts or donut sandwiches or stuff like that.
Photo by Virginia Myers
Spoon: What are your feelings about some of the donut trends?
Tessa: I’m not sure how I feel about the cronut. It’s intriguing. I’m not sure if it stays true to the integrity of the donut. I read a Spoon article about the $100 golden donut, and I think the integrity of the donut is that it’s nothing more than what it is: it’s a sweet bagel. It’s fried and has icing and some kind of adornment. Lemon lavender poppy seed donuts are very pretty, but they don’t sound particularly delicious. However, do I want to eat a pink donut with a lot of sprinkles on it? Absolutely.
Gif courtesy of giphy.com