Hey readers! Here’s our hot take: Journalism is in serious trouble but creators shouldn’t replace newsrooms. Creators can make great content and expose global audiences to narratives left out of the day’s news but creators also rely on the work of journalists to make content. Creators can and should have a role in news and commentary but journalism is always a core part of our democracy. The shuttering of digital and physical news organizations is bad for journalists, bad for creators, and bad for everyone.
🎵 Top Sounds 🎵
Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok
*Trump Voice* You Need To Kill Me 😓
This sound is largely being used on videos of elderly dogs which honestly just makes me sad but it is pretty funny for any videos where you just want to say “Put me out of my misery.”
We might be missing music from UMG artists but we do have Dua Lipa.
Leave Me Alone! 🙅🏽♂️
A sound made for those extended car warranty calls that won’t stop. Good to show your frustration with spam and scams.
I Don’t Like This Thing At All… 🙎🏽
Ryan Gosling expressing revulsion, ending with a very arcane “Satan, get thee HENCE” is the perfect sound to express disgust.Texas Hold ‘Em 🤠
Beyoncé released some new tracks so of course they’re already trending sounds. Texas Hold ‘Em has some very fun spin-off sounds, including ‘This Ain’t Phaedra’ for all my RHOA and the Traitors fans.All That Work And What Did It Get Me? 😩
Slow pan around your face with this sound as you let us know how you managed to waste your own time.
🔉Sound Highlight 🔉
Mood: 😌
This sound, and the accompanying Capcut template, come from a TikTok corporate character account @mainlymannie. It’s a perfect skewering of the sort of promotion that isn’t really a promotion.
🌟Trend Highlight 🌟
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“If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone… But there would be signs…” is a fun new photo post trend where you show the niche thing you would spend your lottery winnings on.
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This meme is for those times when you’re feeling small and overwhelmed.
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I am asking for a labor organization or union to pick up on this prank trend where creators call their family members and ask if they should take a job on an oil rig as an underwater welder. A job that has a reported fatality rate of 15%.
💫 Post Highlight 💫
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Warby Parker is cooking with gas. The hipster glasses store can feel a little cold, a little ‘first sign my neighborhood is gentrifying.’ So, such a warm and human ad format feels right. Plus, it’s something different and something that captures your attention. The rom-com genre feels a little dead these days (oh how I long for the era of swoopy hair Hugh Grant) but Warby Parker said “Let’s bring it back.”
☕ The Zeitgeist ☕
Hot topics and discourse from across the internet
A fifty-part series of TikToks went viral. If you don’t want to watch over fifty videos there’s an explanation here. Reesa Teesa’s storytelling had hundreds of thousands of viewers hooked and makes a good case for long-form content.
Librarian and creator Mychal has resigned for his mental health. The online hate and backlash to Mychal’s sunny demeanor impacting his decision to stay at his library hurts. Especially, when libraries and librarians are more important than ever.
Tyler Perry wants to use AI for movies and has halted an $800 million expansion to his studio. Turning to AI? Seems like a likely thing for a union-busting exec to do…
A Texas court ruled against a teenager who was suspended for wearing his hair in locs. The decision by the school, and the court that upheld the school’s suspension, is unequivocally racist.
Something must be done about the slam poets, based on this viral set, and preferably before the end of BHM.
🥡 The Takeaway 🥡
What marketers are taking away from trends
It’s all about personality.
The best thing you can do on TikTok is curate a warm and lively personality. As a brand, it can be hard to showcase personality. Corporations are not people, no matter what the Supreme Court says. So you have to put people forward. For some brands that means casting faces for TikTok. The Washington Post is a great example, and so is Heinz ketchup— who’ve started running ads with the delightfully wholesome Hector.
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There should still be guidance, of course. I’m vehemently against any organization curating a personality or voice that isn’t authentic. For instance, creating a tone based on what a non-Black social media staffer thinks Black Twitter sounds like— it’ll only ever be offensive and offputting. Naturally, brands are still responsible for showing awareness of their place on social media platforms. As I said, brands aren’t people, but they don’t need to be bland online.
The content brands commission should speak to their core audience and the experience of the people behind the brand. Making content feel like actual humans made it, that’s organic to TikTok, is what you want. You don’t necessarily need hijinks, but you do need heart.