What’s Hot? 23/04

This week, we’re following MI5, adding stickers on Instagram, following Aldi AND Cottage Core, and taking a look at the notes app apology.

The account you need to follow: MI5

So, MI5 has Instagram now, to increase transparency and get rid of its “martini-drinking stereotypes”, to encourage people from different social-economic backgrounds to join the service.

It’s not the first time an intelligence agency has joined Instagram. GCHQ made the news when they did, however now it’s more of a weird recruitment page that appears targeted at 18 and unders. Tellingly, it has just under 25k followers, while MI5 with just one post has 78k. It’s quite likely this is just down to curiosity – people following MI5 because they want to see what they post, but if it’s just infographics on “trying a new career”, the number will drop off.

We’re curious about what will be posted, so will be dropping MI5 a follow… But will they follow us back?

The one to watch: @AldiUK

Aldi went, for lack of a better word, mad this weekend.

For some, having legal action taken against you would be a sobering experience. But for Aldi, it was an opportunity to get their Twitter follower count up – and in perfect time.

That’s right: Aldi launched an own-brand clothing range this week, with the totally original tagline “Just done it”, and a logo that looks a little bit familiar too (sorry Adidas).

In the week prior, Aldi shared a series of tweets targeting rival M&S (has anyone ever considered Aldi and M&S rivals before? I think not), asking Dulux for tips on deleting tweets (arguably hilarious) calling the other brand Marks & Snitches (a little left field but we’ll take it) and sharing a sketch of Cuthbert going to court (I’d estimate 1 minute was spent drawing this image, and I’m glad they didn’t waste any longer – it’s perfect as it is).

The update we needed: Instagram’s new stickers

I’ve always hated swiping up on Instagram Stories. It feels unnatural. On Instagram, we’re programmed to swipe up on the feed, then totally change direction once we open Stories towards swiping left. Then, of course, dating apps encourage us to swipe right, leaving me with a very confused thumb.

Rumour has it, Instagram is working on something to improve my internal compass – link stickers to add to stories. This is a brilliant idea, since the “Swipe up” part of a story is always tiny and can often get lost in the content. A prominent sticker however will stand out, like how you can’t avoid mention or location stickers (yes I see that your boyfriend has taken you shopping in Tiffany, but I simply couldn’t care less).

The one you need to understand: Notes app apologies

This week, YouTube announced it was demonetizing beauty influencer James Charles. What does that mean exactly? Charles has been part of its partner programme, earning money from each video through ad revenue. But now, that deal is gone.

Why? A number of people under 18 have accused Charles of predatory behaviour, sharing screenshots of alleged conversations. Charles responded with a ‘Notes app apology’, but the issue remains that this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of such behaviour – the first was in 2018, when he verged on being cancelled and lost loads of followers. This time, he went on to post on YouTube as normal, before creating a video titled “Holding myself accountable”.

However, this didn’t stop beauty brand Morphe doing what can only be called a ‘Text box in word doc announcement’ that they were winding down their collaboration, with Charles then uploading a ‘Word doc announcement’ (Why is the Notes app only for apologies?) stating the same.

Finally, YouTube’s announcement came in, preventing Charles from making any money from videos – a devastating blow considering he has 25 million followers. The weird part is, despite being dropped and demonetized, Charles hasn’t been cancelled. He’s only seen a loss of around 200k followers. Hardly anything in the grand scheme of things (the other 25 mil).

We can’t help but wonder: Do Notes app apologies actually work?

The one to follow: @cottagecore

Do you like cows who were born with spots that look like hearts?

What about ethereal summer gardens?

Toy frogs on dates?

Or Hello Kitty shaped biscuits?

Maybe cows sat like dogs?

Then it sounds like you might like Cottage Core. Or you’re just a cow aficionado like me. Either way, make sure you follow @cottagecore on Twitter, for your daily dose of free serotonin (Until Twitter monetizes and starts charging $4.99 a month, which FYI, I would pay).