Seeing DOUBLE

From TikTok to Twitter, twins are having a moment (or two). Alley Pascoe investigates the phenomenon sweeping social media – and tries to make it in the twinfluencer game

This isn’t what I was expecting. When I set out to become a twinfluencer, I imagined it would involve taking selfies while sipping cocktails poolside, opening overflowing piles of gifts and spending quality time with my twin sister, Sophie. Instead, I’m standing barefoot in the dirt on the side of the road in my underwear, frantically changing from one photoshoot outfit to another and brushing ants off my legs. Oh, the glamour!

My sister is giving me daggers. She doesn’t need to tell me what she’s thinking but she does anyway. “I hate this so much,” she says. We’re dressed in matching outfits and holding hands for the camera – two things we haven’t done since we were five.

For the first 18 years of our life, Sophie and I spent every waking (and sleeping) hour together. And for reasons that have absolutely everything to do with that, we’ve spent the past 10 years living in different states – and countries. But that all changed in May when I moved to the Northern Territory to live with Sophie – who has a PhD, works in health research and has never had an Instagram account. The novelty of being a twin after so many years apart has been firmly back on the agenda.

As a kid, being an identical twin was always a conversation starter or a party trick. At primary school, our friends played spot the difference with us at recess. But as I’ve gotten older, it’s also been something I’ve rebelled against in a desperate attempt to be an individual. In high school, I made my sister cut her hair short and dye it dark red so we looked different – and so I could see what it would look like on me. It didn’t suit.