The Overheard (OH) project shares conversations from urbanites who live in other big U.S. cities, not just New York. Although The Overheard New York page is the most popular with 1.7M fans (followed closely by Overheard LA with 1.6M), their eavesdroppers operate in five altogether. The other U.S. cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin.
Surprisingly, the franchise also crossed the Atlantic ocean and serves some British humor on the Overheard London page. There's also the Overheard University page, where people share the convos that can only happen in college and university halls and dorms. And if that's not enough for you, you can check out their page that also documents the funniest and most absurd dating mishaps, Overheard Dating.
But wait, are these actual conversations that people have overheard someone having in one of the cities? We know some of these conversation snippets are so ridiculous it might be hard to believe they're true. The creators of OH don't really give a straight answer, only writing, "Yes, you cynical monster" in their website FAQ section.
Interestingly, the New York account wasn't the one that started the whole franchise. In 2015, LA resident Jesse Margolis created the Overheard LA account after witnessing a ridiculous conversation at Erewhon on Beverly Boulevard. "I wasn't part of the Instagram culture, and I didn't even really know what an influencer was," Margolis told LA Times in 2018. "But I knew this was a cool thing, a reflection of me making fun of the city I love."
In an interview for the New York Times, Jesse said that the Overheard team doesn't exactly have a vetting system. "We aren't journalists — we basically do our best. I think half of the overheard stuff is legit overheard strangers. I think a lot of it is like a group of five friends drinking and talking. And someone spontaneously says something funny and the friends send it in."
The creator of OH Margolis doesn't really want the fame that comes along with owning such a franchise. Until today, there's not much information online about him, except that he was a casting director for documentaries and reality TV shows in LA. "I think assigning an ego and a personality to the brand just diminishes it. It's just a much bigger idea if it's not about a person."
In a previous interview for Bored Panda, the representatives of Overheard said that their criteria about what conversations to feature mostly depends on whether it's a shared experience. It can be about "dating, finance, spirituality, food, or local knowledge," their spokesperson said.
Interestingly, there's a website of the same name and a similar mission. Started around 2005, it's a project that even has its own Wikipedia page and other spinoffs like Overheard in the Office, Overheard at the Beach, Overheard Everywhere, and Celebrity Wit. This and similar websites use the format popularized by the website In Passing, which also documents snippets of conversations.
