86-year-old CA man won’t call himself an influencer, but his videos inspire

There’s no shortage of content creators in the Modesto area, and all bring a different personality and flair to the videos they post on social media.

Bob Searls, known as MoBob on Instagram and TikTok, makes videos with a sort of simplicity and ingrained nostalgia that can’t be replicated. I came across one a couple of weeks ago and have never hit the “follow” button so quickly.

Searls moved to Modesto from Ohio in 1966. He is semiretired at the age of 86.

“I’m a realtor, and realtors never retire,” he said.

He was working part-time at Visit Modesto when “the social media gal” gave him a hat and sunglasses and told him they were going to make a reel.

“I said, ‘What’s a reel?’” Searls said. “I kind of liked to do that, but I wasn’t familiar with Instagram. So I got on Instagram.”

The first video he filmed and edited on his own was in November, asking viewers whether they use instant mashed potatoes or make mashed potatoes from scratch. In his next video, and the first featuring a restaurant, Searls celebrated national nacho day at Garcia Jojo’s on McHenry Avenue.

Searls’ niche is food — whether he makes it or buys it. He sprinkles in community events and activities when he can.

A number of content creators are paid to make videos and review businesses. Searls films for fun and doesn’t usually notify business owners he’ll be making a video, but does ask for permission to film once he’s there.

His wife, Sharon, is his director and videographer.

“I did this as a hobby, for one, something to do to keep the mind going and the body going,” Searls said. “Then we’re doing something together.”

His second-most-viewed video on TiKTok is the one he made during our interview at Scenic Drive-In, with 12.2k views, though he won’t call himself an influencer.

“I don’t think I have enough to be an influencer,” Searls said. “That’s supposed to be a million copies, is it?”

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Some creators use “rage bait” or controversial opinions to invoke reactions and make their videos go viral. Searls’ technique for engagement is to do “something silly,” he said, like put M&Ms in banana bread while wearing a mustache or make upside-down blueberry pancakes.

Searls has over 1,100 followers on TikTok and 1,200 on Instagram, but he said his goal is comments, not followers.

“I respond to people,” he said. “I can’t respond to everybody, but if I get maybe 30 likes, I might sit there watching TV and say goodnight to those 30 likes.”

Owner of Beer Bus Stop and Searls’ grandson, Garrett Vick, has a monetized YouTube channel and gives Searls tips. Searls knows he has to capture a viewer’s attention in the first three seconds.

His videos are not scripted, and how Searls decides which restaurant he visits or what video he makes at home is “spur of the moment,” he said.

He makes four to five videos per week and typically posts them the same day he films them. He keeps a list of videos he plans to make — and it’s long, he assured me.

Editing is done using Instagram, though Searls says it isn’t easy. He keeps his videos 15 to 30 seconds long and films in two to three segments to keep editing as simple as possible.

“It’s a learning curve for some of us older people,” he said. “I get impatient if I’m editing, and sometimes I shut the phone down, go do something, and then maybe come back 20 minutes later or something like that and do it again.”

To watch MoBob’s videos, visit tiktok.com/@bob.searls or instagram.com/mobob209.

This story was originally published August 18, 2026 at 3:39 PM with the headline “86-year-old CA man won’t call himself an influencer, but his videos inspire.”

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