What’s Hot? 08/01/21

Spending the weekend in? Well, you should be. To help entertain you, we’ve pulled together five of the hottest stories from the week – including secret Instagram tips, the best things from 1996, and some deep reading into the relationship between TikTok and music.

The help we all needed: Secret Instagram tips

Business Insider broke the news this week that Instagram is giving creators tips to secure the most engagement – like, tell me something I don’t know?

Business Insider then went on to tell me a series of things I didn’t know, such as Instagram’s recommendation to @rainylune (74k followers) to post three in-feed posts per week, and 8-10 stories per week.

However, she was also advised to post at least 2 stories per day, so it seems someone at Instagram can’t do maths, as that would mean a sweet spot of 14 posts per week. Unless Instagram are encouraging influencers to take the weekends off? Which seems quite sweet, but also like I might be reading into things too much.

Here’s @raneylune’s blog post from December, where she dishes the dirt.

The one we saw coming: WhatsApp’s big NYE

Guess what! WhatsApp, a messaging platform targeted at those who want to chat while physically apart (okay I guess you could WhatsApp someone in the same room to talk about someone else ALSO in said room, but that’s pretty 18-year-old of you) saw a record night on New Year’s Eve – because people still wanted to stay in touch, while social distancing. Shock.

The one that had us cheering: Facebook bans Trump ‘indefinitely’

‘The risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service… are simply too great’

YASSSSS. Too right. But also, as JoJo would say, too little, too late. Facebook doesn’t deserve a clap on the back just yet, but seeing them making such a big decision is certainly a step in the right direction.

The relationship that changed this year: TikTok x Music

This week, music critic Neil McCormick shared the shocking stat that in 2020, no album went platinum. This is the first time this has happened since 1973, and Neil wonders whether soundbite culture is to blame. That culture is, of course, fuelled by TikTok, with many questioning on social whether TikTok has killed the traditional album.

It’s quite a change of tune (see what I did there?) from last year, when Forbes argued that TikTok was a key driver for music discovery. It’s true – Lil Nas X has TikTok to thank for Old Town Road holding the title as the longest-reigning Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 in chart history.

The relationship between TikTok and music has twists and turns. Songs suddenly aren’t famous because of their singer, they’re famous because of the dance trend a D’Amelio started. People may call a track their ‘favourite song’ but have never heard the rest of the album – in fact, they’ve only heard 60 seconds of the song.

If anything, it’s time for artists to embrace soundbite culture, and do something special with it. Who wants to be first to release a track on TikTok before anywhere else? Ready, set, go.

In memoriam: Adobe Flash Player, 1996-2021

Okay, yes, maybe lockdown has got to us a little bit. Because we were weirdly sad to see that Adobe Flash Player has reached the end of its life. Maybe it’s the nostalgic aspect of using Adobe, which launched in 1996. Or the smug sensation of saying “have you tried downloading Adobe Flash Player?” on the phone to your parents, in the same tone they once asked you “did you wash your hands?” – a question that has since a comeback to rival the McConaissance.

To cheer us up, we decided to find other things from 1996 that we can still enjoy:

• Return of the Mack (Song)
• Matilda (Film)
• Kat Hoffman (Fever Account Executive)
• The Nintendo 64 (Console)
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV Show)