think of this as your culture shift, a weekly opportunity to sink into whatever’s alive on the internet and consider how you can contribute to the conversation with your content.
helllloooo and welcome to the MFING CULTURE SHIFTTTT!! so excited to be back in your inbox this month and kickin’ off feb with a STACKED edition. I know the online room feels NOISYYYY right now — so let’s navigate it together.
[ let’s fucking go, shall we? ]↓
AKA, eavesdropping online this week
I. apparently matching workout sets are “over” which, I’m sorry but have you ever tried doing a pilates class in baggy tearaways??? me neither, it seems dangerous. either way, the fashion gods are speaking out against boring gym fits and telling us that it’s time to channel a more retro fitness aesthetic. what does this have to do with content, you ask?! I see it connecting to the death of the clean girl, a move away from hyper-curated aspirational aesthetics and towards individuality and self-expression.
II. millennial hope core is making a comeback (or I’d argue, finally getting the respect it deserves), explained in more detail here. I love this quote from the video, “the purpose of nostalgia these days is not just to relive the past, it’s a hope to rediscover an idea that current society has lost.” the creator speaks about the younger generation’s relationship to being relentlessly perceived and the toll it’s taken on their confidence expressing themselves authentically. in the content creation space, we’ve readily embraced the rally of cry of cringe will set you free, but now even those who have spent the majority of their lives caged by it are looking to their earnest counterparts to guide them towards the light. this is a call to evaluate your relationship with cringe and identify where your audience may be unconsciously holding back their own self-expression due to the assumed risk of public perception.
III. the anti-niche, multi-passionate movement has been growing by the minute, and YES, your values — even politically — are part of that mosaic. we’re learning in real-time that EVERY business is political, period, and it’s so encouraging to see more and more folks share their values loudly regardless of niche. at the same time, we’re also seeing a rise in the “we don’t owe anyone a statement…” conversation — so if you’re still on the fence about whether or not it’s within your capacity or expertise to speak up, I highly recommend you watch this video (make sure you watch a few seconds to get to the stitch!).
IV. balls-to-the-wall january is over and folks are re-evaluating what’s actually going to be sustainable for the rest of the year. with this, I’m seeing folks putting down their aggressive trial reels strategies and actually sitting with the data to see what foundation can be built on it, which, thank god. yes, momentum matters, BUT/AND, so does capacity. I loved this debrief on a daily posting challenge she did on both Instagram and TikTok, revealing that the persistence did yield results — but that quality > quantity is still the driving force behind engagement and growth.
AKA, OBJECTS OF ONLINE AFFECTION
001 / this breakdown of the steel thaali’s “sexy rebrand,” a reminder of how culture influences the design world (and love that this video is also a teaser example for the substack article!)
002 / loon…core…? between heated rivalry’s “stupid canadian wolf bird” taking over pinterest and this trendy water bottle brand that has suddenly been popping up in a bunch of influencer stories, whoever is running PR for this majestic little lake dweller deserves a raise
003 / sorry but this mamdani x carhartt moment???????????
004 / this example of “showing” via lifestyle content!! one of the quickest ways to build trust with your audience by ACTUALLY DOING THE THINGS YOU TELL OTHER PEOPLE TO DO
005 / this refreshing take on internet news, taking some influencer relationship drama and turning it into a really valuable conversation for her own community
006 / this example of how CHANGING YOUR MIND CAN BE A LEADERSHIP MOVE!!! reading the room (both your internal, capacity one and the outer collective one) is a beautiful reason to pivot and the more transparently you do so, the more trust you build.
AKA, A TREND TO TRY ON
long-form video content babyyyyyy! I’m seeing more and more folks moving towards longer-form videos on instagram, tiktok, and youtube, and daisy dropped an incredible youtube chit chat about her take on what this will look like for the online arena this year. this video is SUCH a good example of how to get started with long-form video! the production is high quality, but there isn’t a ton of fancy editing needed and it’s all shot in a single frame which makes the process lower lift. you could easily just set up your camera + press GO for a little chitty chat!
split screen is having a MOMENT! I love this video example of a fun way to play with varying depths, this photo dump that mixes video and photo together to create some movement in an otherwise static medium, and this fun example that shows the same photo two ways. most editors make this super easy — in CapCut, you just “add overlay” to put the second video on top and then crop it to your liking, and in canva you could just add frames to the file + then drag / drop whatever photos or videos you want to include.
cinematic influencer ads continue!!! we talked about social media as television in here a few weeks back, and it feels like everything is now being moved through the lens of entertainment value, including the way brands are leveraging influencers as living billboards. where it used to be about subtle and subliminal product placement, we’re seeing more and more overtly produced ads. within the last 5 days alone, jaci’s work with burt’s bees and tinx’s fresh beauty collab dropped. is it weird that despite the high production, something about this feels more authentic? there’s no question about whether or not it was commissioned, and that honesty from the get-go makes it more attractive.
🫒 new feature alert 🫒
there’s a new edits feature that allows you to add clickable links to your reels, which is cool, but it seems the people clicking the link need to ALSO have the edits app for it to work which is kind of silly IMHO? but LET’S SEE. something to keep an eye on + play with, if you feel so inclined!
