TikTok
Whether you call them reels or TikTok videos, they are all very similar. TikTok has become more and more popular and the main use of social media for most of today’s generation. Throughout the past four years or so, TikTok has been the main source that many rely on to stay “with the trends.”
A trend is typically something that is popular or getting a lot of attention, therefore society says we must follow the trends in order to be considered “cool” or to “fit in.” TikTok trends go in waves. Something will become very popular for a period of time until one video or one influencer decides to create something new that goes viral. Then, we see a new trend appear.
What are these trends though and why are they so desirable?
Trending on TikTok
Day in My Life
One of the most popular trends that is current is what is called a “day in my life”
video. These are typically a vlog of different moments throughout one's day to
be aesthetically pleasing. Influencers and non-influencers are making these kinds
of videos for creative and aesthetic content but also to fit in with the trend.
A day in my life a video can be seen with the creator's voice or a song in the background. Typically these videos are anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute long. Some influencers will create a day in my life… as a single grad student, an NFL girlfriend, a private chef, a single dog mom and a realtor. You get the gist.
Organize/clean/reset with me
These types of aesthetic videos can look like a montage of one cleaning or organizing or resetting their space. These are trending because they are aesthetic and satisfying to watch, for some.
Whether it is doing laundry and making their bed or deep scrubbing their bathroom, these videos are trending on TikTok to please the eye.
Transitions
If you have Instagram, you may have seen what is called a transition video. Typically these are made when one transitions from wearing and looking one way to getting ready for the day, however, that might look for said person. Usually, before big events or when dressing up, it is trendy to make a transition video to show the difference between what was before and after.
CapCut
CapCut is an app that allows you to edit and make short reels. This all-in-one app is designed for editing that has features to export reels into TikTok. The reason CapCut is becoming popular is because the features on the app create creative and aesthetically pleasing templates accessible for TikTok videos.
Dances
During the Covid-19 pandemic, TikTok dances became one of the only things that was easy to do. With full freedom, many would create a dance of their own or “hop on the trend" of a pre-existing dance.
Charli Damelio, an influencer to initiate from her TikTok dances, began setting trends as her videos increased in views and likes. Some may consider her as an expert when it comes to TikTok dances.
Well, just because we are no longer in the middle of a pandemic, dances are still very common to see on TikTok.
Similar to TikTok, Instagram has what is called reels. Instagram reels are short clips that are made just like TikTok but on the Instagram app.
Although they are different apps and have their differences when it comes to trends, two that are in common with each other are the “Day/week in my life” videos and “Organize/clean with me”.
In addition to that, CapCut videos can be saved to camera roll from the CapCut app, and then uploaded to Instagram.
What seems to be trending on Instagram and not so much TikTok is:
Photo dumps
Through a regular post on Instagram or a reel video, the trend of posting a photo dump is most common today. A photo dump usually consists of different photos from an event or time period. In a photo dump, there usually are pictures that are aesthetically pleasing such as a meal/food, the sky or outdoors, people/friends/family, maybe a furry-friend too!
You may be wondering, what is the point of a photo dump? Well, some may post a photo dump to recap their time. Aesthetic photos need to go somewhere, am I right? Along with that, the saying phone eats first may apply here.
Aesthetic emoji captions/combinations
What sort of caption do photo dumps have? There is no rule on what to caption your photo dump post, but it is common to see a few emojis put together that have a “vibe” following the post's vibe. For example, if I were to post a photo dump from my weekend at the WVU Football Game, I may caption my post with a football emoji, blue and gold hearts, a celebration emoji, and whatever else is included in my post. Or, I could add any emojis I feel as though they are considered to be “aesthetic.”
Instagram story “add yours”
On an Instagram story, many features have been added throughout the years such
as:
- Adding music
- Question box
- Collage feature
- Polls
- Inserting a link
- Countdown
Among these features provided by Instagram, one trending feature is what is called “add yours” on a story. This trend is started by one user who can add any text to the sticker.
The sticker is then added to a story and can be shared by another by simply tapping on it to share yours. Some common words on these stickers are dumps whether it is a weekend dump or an October dump.
Some other examples may look like, “Share your pet”, “If you love your mom show her off”, “Freshman year to Senior”, “Prom”, “Share who made you a big sister”, “Post a pic from your wedding”, “Monday vibes”, “Recent photo you took”, or “Your profile picture but bigger” to name a few.
There are no rules to social media
Oftentimes, our society tends to create expectations to be followed to be considered
cool or fit in on social media. In reality, what a user’s social media looks like
does not determine whether or not they are “acceptable.” With today's generation,
it is common to see catfishing, otherwise known as one's social media appearance
being different from their actual appearance or personality.
This is because the norm has become to follow trends rather than setting trends.
My one piece of advice for any social media user is to be yourself. The amount of followers one has or likes received on a post means nothing. Stay true to yourself, create your own trends and post whatever reflects you and who you are.
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Shelby Genovese
Social Media Student Worker
Shelby is a social media student worker in marketing on the Marketing Communications Online Programs through the Reed School of Media and Communications at West Virginia University. She is a Sophomore at WVU as well as a member of the WVU Dance Team. Her dogs and sports are things she could always talk about! Coming from a small town, Shelby loves traveling to big cities. She is able to express herself through her writing and find more of her work here!
Marcom Today
Marketing Communications Today is a collection of resources for marketing communications professionals filled with industry research, marketing trends, and career information about integrated marketing and data-driven communications. Learn industry insights through the Marketing Communications Today blog, podcast, as well as Integrate Online.
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