How the actual duck did a month go by since I last hit sent on the Monthly Wrap Up?!
Guess time goes by pretty fast when you’re in lockdown. Just as we were getting our office seats warm at our brand new offices, Melbourne went into its fourth lockdown. So we packed up our iMacs and back to WFH we went. I’m literally sat here in my pyjamas typing this. Team? If you’re reading this? [which you better be because I sent you the link as soon as this was live], I miss your faces.
After the first edition of the Monthly Wrap was sent out last month, we reached out to a few of our devoted TDP blog readers and asked them what they thought of the first edition of the Monthly Wrap Up [because we’re all about feedback here at TDP!]
Y’all were like, ‘omg, Dane. I love it. But what I really love? The social media updates, the internet funnies and the TikTok foodie trends.’
So, if that’s what you want, then you’ve got it!
P.S. If you still loved the little TDP updates, Cherie sends out an e-newsletter with all the latest happenings every month. So feel free to subscribe to our emails here.
What’s new in Social Media land …
Instagram revealed the secrets of its algorithms!
Instagram has finally revealed some of the mysteries behind how the platform works, and to us at TDP? We all kinda knew most of what they’ve announced, and we’ve been teaching it to y’all for a while now across our courses, but it’s always nice to be right, right?
Few key takeaways:
Instagram isn’t just one all-encompassing algorithm, it’s a whole bunch of algorithms.
The algorithm uses thousands of signals to determine who sees your posts. In order of importance, these are:
- Info about the post [how many have liked it, when it was posted, it’s geotag, how long it is if it’s a video]
- Info about the account who posted [to determine if you’ll find them interesting or not, so if you’ve interacted with that account in the last few weeks, there’s more likely to pop up in your feed]
- Your own activity [to help Insta work out who you might be interested in]
- Your history of interacting with an account [for example if you comment on each other’s account then Insta knows you’re probably going to be interested in seeing their posts at the top of your feed]
These are just the general signals that Instagram is using to work out what to show you in your newsfeed. It’s worth noting that these elements apply to both your main feed and your stories.
As explained by the folx at Instagram themselves …
“In Feed, the five interactions we look at most closely are how likely you are to spend a few seconds on a post, comment on it, like it, save it, and tap on the profile photo. The more likely you are to take an action, and the more heavily we weigh that action, the higher up you’ll see the post.”
To read Instagram’s algorithm explainer in full, read on here.
Reels insights FINALLY here
Reporting week for team TDP got a whole lot more exciting this month now we can FINALLY add in insights from Reels! What took you so long Instagram?!
Now we can see exactly how many accounts Reels are reaching, and not just the video videos which is great news for us as we can shout to our clients just how important it is to incorporate Reels into your IG strategy.
Instagram is rolling out messenger API
If you use Facebook and Instagram for customer support, this new API [that’s Application Programming Interface which basically let’s software talk to each other!] will let you manage all communications in one place. This way, you can be more responsive on your channels, engage with your customers in real-time, and streamline your workflows.
This could be a HUGE game changer to companies who receive A LOT of DMs, and for their customers too. In fact, a global survey found that 75% of people want to be able to message a business and 64% prefer messaging over email or the phone.
Whatcha reckon? Is this messenger API something you’d consider using?
TikTok has launched a #CreateKindness campaign to combat online bullying
Given TikTok’s popularity among the younger ones, we’re all absolutely here for this. The #CreateKindness campaign will feature videos produced by various TikTok creators that share their own personal stories using the app.
As explained by TikTok themselves …
“At TikTok, we value the trust of our community and work hard to maintain it by cultivating an inclusive atmosphere. Bullying behaviour damages the trust-based nature of the app by harming people’s confidence in themselves. We’re mindful that although in-app interactions may seem harmless to some, the impact of people’s online experiences don’t always disappear when they close the app. This is why we greatly value the stories from our community about their experiences and why we invest in measures to help TikTok remain a place where kindness and compassion thrive.”
Later.com has added a LinkedIn scheduling feature
If Later.com is your choice of scheduling tool, then you might be over the moon to hear you can now use it to schedule to your LinkedIn page!
Internet funnies that got us lawlin’
Kickin’ off with TDP’s Content Specialist Pops who is right now challenging herself to post one Reel per day to her side hustle Popsy Press. [Honestly? The commitment and creativity of this woman forever blows our socks off]
Small business owner? Some of these sounds might be [happily] triggering for you!
Hard LOL’ed at this one when it came up in my FYP. If you ever wanted to get angry dogs into your TikTok algorithm, then give this a watch.
Literally my favourite video on the internet right now.
The millennial in me hard relates to this man’s frustrations. [I would come back to part 2 of this]
This man is a TDP teamie favourite. Adrian Bliss, you never disappoint us.
TikTok foodie trend of the month
You know that phrase “TikTok made me buy it”, well, what TikTok made me buy this month was a cos lettuce to help me sleep.
And I’m not alone! Over 12.6 million people have now viewed videos tagged #lettucewater since Shapla Hoque shared a tutorial of her brewing lettuce leaves in hot water a few weeks ago.
She reckons that for lettuce to send you snoozin’, all you need to do is wash a few leaves of cos lettuce, pop them in a mug, pour boiling water over them and let it sit. Then sip away.
As someone who stays up way past my bedtime because ironically, I am wide awake watching videos of people doing stuff like boiling lettuce in water, I had to give this a try.
The verdict: It didn’t work. After doing a bit of research afterwards, it seems like lettuce does contain sleep-promoting compounds, but not enough for boiling it in water to have any real effect. Back to counting sleep it is.