Metter Media Social Report, June 30, 2017

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Welcome back to the #MMSocialReport — this week we are celebrating the 2 billion users hit by Facebook, introducing the new security feature of Pinterest, updated custom geofilters on Snapchat, a group sharing feature called ‘Favorites’ on Instagram and YouTube’s update to display vertical videos more properly. Read it now to catch the trends!

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Facebook Stories: Imitation, But Not Flattery

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They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That may be true in some situations, but when you’re one of the most successful social media networks in the world, does imitating your competition help or hinder your success?

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Story — but when I want to post a Story, I go to Snapchat, because that’s what it’s for.

Working in the social media world, I spend a lot of time thinking about and posting content. But lately, I’ve been finding it difficult to decide which app to post to, because they all have overlapping features — and, frankly, overlapping audiences.

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The New Instagram Zen

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Open the explore tab on your Instagram app and chances are, in the midst of personalized content, you’ll find the “Oddly Satisfying” section. You have to see these videos to understand their appeal, so I’ll just say the section features colorful, often viscous substances being played with in an alluring way. I know, odd…

These posts are also becoming massively popular. This one, for example, tallied over a million views a day after being posted:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQveXWhla-h/

The account itself dedicates itself to this sort of videos. It has accrued 100k followers merely six months after being established, according to the account’s bio. There’s an undoubtable charm to their videos. They have a quality both relaxing and abstracting. Like squishing a stress ball, only not nearly as tiresome.

They sell the stuff. Their bio links to an Etsy page selling the slime used on the videos. The posts, then, are brilliant advertising: they feature only the product and yet anyone would want to see them.

Indeed, most of the slime accounts follow that model. Another example:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQx5SsMB_NN/

But also notice the tags: #relaxation, #relax, #anxietyrelief, #stressrelief, #sleepaid etc…

They touch precisely on what makes these posts so “odd” against the typical Instagram post. They are not like landscapes, or pictures of food, or art, or even memes for that matter, in that there’s no meaning behind them. Their effect is more akin to listening to white noise. They are meant to lull you, to provide a respite from all that.

They can’t even be compared to abstract art. They are positively about the concrete: about the touching of the slime and the physical reaction you get from it. That one even has sound adding to the soothing effect.

These relaxation clips could be even more welcome on Instagram than traditional art. Take @annettelabedzki’s account. She’s a Canadian artist who gets most of her Instagram attention not from her paintings, but from her #oddlysatisfying paint mixing videos:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQyDHyAhp3F/

There’s no effort of interpretation in watching a paint-mixing video like there would be in viewing a painting. There’s nothing but the mindless pleasure of watching carefully-arranged paint merge into a solid color.

The Zen-like lack of effort they require might explain their allure.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQwQDDYhJqn/

Here’s a variation on the genre I particularly enjoy: the paint-mixing in the post below is reversed. It’s essentially the same process but there’s something more, dare I say it, satisfying about seeing the paint separating when you have no idea what the arrangement is going to look like. The less context the better—there’s even less to think about.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQY1CciDcdb/?taken-by=craftyslimecreator

What can you make of a video like that? And yet you watch. For a minute you phase out, more relaxed than satisfied and more soothed than entertained.

Previously in the Metter Media blog, we worried about how stressful social media has been of late. We had been feeling the effects of “trending news, trolls, and eco chambers.” Things were getting to be a bit too much.

I, for one, welcome the “Oddly Satisfying.” The not only aesthetically pleasing but purposefully soothing. A small place within endless content to just phase out and relax. Perhaps we’ve found a new, more therapeutic side to social media.

Metter Media LLC is a Boston-based social media management company that implements community-based, localized social engagement strategies for small businesses and corporations alike. Need help with your social media? Email Lauren today.

Metter Media Social Report, Dec. 2, 2016

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It’s not that easy to guess who’s on Twitter. It’s also not that easy to become an Instagram Influencer. But with constant updates coming to all platforms/apps, and information being circulated at a high pace, the spread of fake news has become a major concern. What are the regulations we need to set? Read on for a few of the solutions that we came across:

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Metter Media Social Report, Nov. 11, 2016

 

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Facebook, Snapchat & Instagram: These 3 social media platforms have ruled this week’s social media report. In this week’s news, we’re making the retail experience more effective on Instagram and Facebook, a new Facebook video messaging app is being launched for emerging markets, and hardware (i.e. Spectacles by Snapchat), brand expansions, and extensions are the flavor of this week. Read on to learn more:

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Metter Media Social Report, Oct. 27, 2016

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Personalization is the theme of the week — with Twitter planning to personalize your feed, Facebook enhancing your shopping experience by collaborating with Shopify, Linkedin increasing your chances of finding a job and Snapchat getting you an exclusive channel for the NBA, we’re more than excited to share what happened in the social media world this week: 

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#MMSocialReport Oct. 14, 2016

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From social media apps to online marketing techniques to major tech news — we’ve got you all covered on what’s been happening in the digital world. While a detailed study on the evolution of content marketing makes for a good read, the whacky possibility (now reality!) of a flying camera has got us excited for the future. Here’s what we learned this week:

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#MMSocialReport Oct. 7, 2016

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#MadeByGoogle went viral and we’re impressed with all their efforts, but they’ve been also been a bunch of other events happening in the tech world. Facebook-owned WhatsApp borrows from Snapchat, GIFs get interpreted by artists in NYC and Sprout Social comes out with a social media report. We’ve also suggested a link that has 16 Twitter recommendations for the curious soul. Scroll down to learn more:

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Metter Media Social Report, Sept. 30, 2016

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Twitter marks its presence during the American elections and Facebook intends on making the workplace more friendly with its new Facebook at Work Initiative. Snapchat comes out with own version of glasses called “Spectacles” and you can now make your Twitter Moment. There’s more to these expansion plans. Learn more in this week’s Social Report!

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