Author: hboughsocial

2020’s Top Social Media Moments.

2020’s Top Social Media Moments.

by hboughsocial ♥ 1 Comment

It has undoubtedly been a crazy year for people and for social media. Being stuck at home would have been a lot harder for many people if they didn’t have the frequent ability to connect and speak to friend via social media. Here are some of the top moments this year:

TikTok:

Although this app was created years ago, then known as musically, it went through some serious rebranding and became TikTok. According to the App store and Google play, it broke the record for the most app downloads in a quarter in history. It is said to have been downloaded, worldwide, 115million times in March 2020 (when lockdown began).

TikTok became many peoples crutch during this challenging time, it brought funny videos, a new community and constant trends and challenges which people felt they could get involved in. The most viewed tiktok was by a girl called Bella Poarch, she is lip-syncing to M to the B, the video gained more than 530 million views. This is important because this song will always be remembered in 2020 because of a TikTok trend.

Some may have thought that TikTok was an app aimed for Generation z, which it originally may have been. However, during lockdown this completely changed as an increase in various different demographics, which is unsurprising considering the amount and variety of content on TikTok – there really is something for everyone.

TikTok has become such a popular form of social media that mainstream celebrities embraced the change and started taking part in the new challenges. A noteworthy one was Kylie Jenner, who appeared to embrace TikTok after a month or to into lockdown. She provided entertainment as she re-enacted famous Keeping Up with the Kardashians scenes.

@kyliejenner

this is glendale @stassiebaby

♬ –

Similarly, Will Smith is one of the most well-known actors and he did hit the world with a blast from the past video which became one of the most viral tiktoks this year.  Videos like this draw in various demographic audiences, those who remember Men in Black as well as those who know Will Smiths name and the Wipe It Down challenge.

@willsmith

I don’t remember making this…? @chrisashley

♬ #WIPEITDOWN – BMW KENNY

Business doesn’t stop:

Due to lockdown in March businesses were forced to shut and their only option was to move online. Most businesses, that could, had a clear goal and adjusted to the current situation, which involved taking their business to social media. As people were struggling at home, more people decided to share their opinions via Instagram and Facebook lives. The usage of these increased by 40% which became extremely beneficial as people would review products and the brands would see an increase in sales.  

Instagram features a shopping button which helped boost products, this became a sweet surprise for people when they were searching for particular subject. As many people know, Yoga and home exercise became a huge thing as people were determined to get fit while they had little too.

Finally, Global Politics:

This became such a big issue and concern in 2020 as activism took the centre role throughout various months in lockdown. People used social media to learn, teach, educate others and support others like never before. During the pandemic we lost a man called George Floyd who was suffocated to death by a policeman on his neck. This sparked a lot of conversation because people wanted justice and not only for George Floyd, people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor were also spotlighted when it came to showing why justice is important.

In June 2020, over 21 million people posted a blackout Tuesday post on Instagram in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Social media played a crucial role in this movement as it promoted new communication channels and a sense of solidarity.

TikTok played a role in this as sound was created called “This is America”, which allowed people to show what was happening in the current American riots. The hashtag was created to help start discussion and conversation around specific topics, as it allows thousands of people to add the information pages about the topic. For example, the hashtags used on tiktok for Black Lives Matter allowed viewers and creators to access a page where all the content about the subject. The awareness on the topic and the aim of the movement is to remove systematic injustices and racial inequalities against the black community. During lockdown, social media was the easiest way of expressing your thoughts and opinions, despite riots happening and social distancing walks occurring, social media worked as a platform for activists.

https://www.tiktok.com/@dbnz_/video/6833601240950246662

To wrap up this article and the year nicely, social media has had and will continue to have a massive impact on our everyday lives. The use of social media should be considered more carefully with use as previously mentioned it clearly has a big influence on its audience and community. It has made the world get closer together during a time when we need to be apart and it will now continue to do so into 2021.

Charli and Dixie D’Amelio are in firing line after being accused of travelling to the Bahamas.

Charli and Dixie D’Amelio are in firing line after being accused of travelling to the Bahamas.

by hboughsocial ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The most popular TikToker, Charli D’Amelio, has over 104 million followers and therefore a change is her location or setting was bound to be pointed out by someone. D’Amelio belongs to a close friendship group of fellow Titokis, these include Lil Huddy and Noah Beck, who collectively have over 258 million followers. Their group has reportedly been spotted at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas according to Environment Tonight Canada, the main issue being travelling during the global pandemic. This has caused stir in the TikTok community as these people have a position of power as they have influence over millions of people, different ages and different countries.

The D’Amelio sisters have been particularly targeted, probably due to their high following and they are yet to comment on the allegations. These two girls haven’t actually posted any pictures of the trip, perhaps in hope to avoid the scrutiny. According to the Independent the TikTokers have attempted to restrict posting on social media and the reason they are under attack by the public is because of leaked photos and footage.  

Multiple other Titokis have also been spotted in vague locations and suggestive evidence, for example Madi Monroe posted a story of her dancing on a plane last Monday. Similarly, Bryant is a famous photographer and may be recognised more from his name then his appearance, as well as being recognised from his creation of Instagram filters. As most photographers would do, he snapped a few pictures which implied that he also attended the trip Social media usage has increased as a number of countries set lockdown rules in place, it is unsurprising that social media users are being more aware of what they are viewing. TikTok is a social media platform which boomed in 2020’s first lockdown and it hasn’t fallen out of trend since.

It is unsure whether the D’Amelio’s will confront these allegations as they do have a reputation to project, it is the consequence of being in the limelight. They have received a lot of criticism based off the fact that L.A. is in strict lockdown and travelling shouldn’t be happening. Another issue that was criticised was that California is a hotspot for Covid-19 whereas the Bahamas is not, so while they may have thought it would be safe to travel there, it is not for the local residents of Bahamas.

Television host, Wendy Williams, has given her opinion on Charli D’Amelio before as she said, ‘I don’t feel sorry for her’. She expressed that she felt like D’Amelio was ungrateful and says that she ‘lives for drama’. This is just one celebrity example that has given her opinion on the rise of teenage drama that is occupying the internet.

According to the Environment Tonight Canada, one follower commented “Hey hey guess what! COVID still exists. Stop being selfish and stay home for f**k sake. You’re putting your life and others in danger. Are you really that impatient and couldn’t wait till the deathly pandemic is over?” – This has stirred conversation about wealth and greed as many people think that the sisters and group are too privileged and that the fame has gone to their heads. Many commented about how nice their homes are and how lucky they are to have them in comparison to others who have to lockdown and quarantine in a less nice setting. Another comment said, “Influencers really [sic] need to understand that people are f**king DYING,” which we have seen a lot of in the news as many celebrities have chosen to use their money and power to their advantage during this rough time. It appears that many followers are arguing that it cannot be that “hard to quarantine” when they have such a luxury lifestyle. Another follow commented “I have seriously lost hope for all influencers yet again. Flying to the Bahamas will just make it worse for everyone. They’re so so selfish.” All of these comments may be detrimental to the TikTokers future careers as this is not the first time they have been under attack. Charli D’Amelio gets the most attention and therefore it is unsurprising that she also gets a lot of backlash as she is a frequent content creator and therefore has more videos and pictures for people to criticise. Over the course of 2020, D’Amelio has been in the firing line for various reasons such as being accused of being spoilt, as a video the family released on their YouTube, showed her being rude to the family personal chef as she criticized his cooking. Despite Charli getting abuse from followers and actually losing over 1 million followers, she is only a child and at the age of 16 it is unlikely that she had control in choosing to travel during this time and even if she could she is likely to be influenced by the older people around her.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWU1rDHtof/?utm_source=ig_embed

The influencers made situations slightly worse as another video leaked which supposedly featured the younger sister, Charli, kissing fellow TikToker, Chase Hudson (Lil Huddy). The tiktok stars are yet to address the rumours but as many commenters mentioned this does put the stars in a negative light as kissing is not very covid friendly. They have been seen hugging, getting close and mixing with several other Tiktokers as well as fans. These Tiktokers have already been in firing line before as their previous relationship, which supposedly ended last year, was deemed inappropriate due to the age gap. However, this did not stop the Tiktokers from being close friends again which would inevitably spark romance rumours, as fans support these teens in their potential rekindled flame.

 The influencers are yet to face these rumours and do not appear in planning to address them. Noah Beck, boyfriend of Dixie, featured dancing with a fan in a video which went viral, this unsurprisingly caused stir as the stars had previously been accused of photoshopping their masks on their social media posts, as well as featuring in fans videos without masks on.

Elliot Page making a social media comeback!

Elliot Page making a social media comeback!

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Elliot Page, formally known as Ellen Page, has recently come out as transgender and non-binary. Elliot, who uses the pronouns he/him and they/them, issued a statement on twitter saying that he is trans. Since then he took a step back from social media and it is only now that he has reappeared by posting a thank you to his fans as their ‘love and support has been the greatest gift’.

‘I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey.”

The 33-year-old Canadian actor posed in a plain black hoodie, black beanie and glasses for the post as he received various supportive comments from fellow stars such as Shawn Ashmore, Indya Moore and Jillian Mercado.

He feels confident enough to ‘finally love who [he is] enough to pursue [his] authentic self.’ This has followed him coming out as gay in 2014. He came out during his speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s ‘Time to Thrive’ and for the past two years he has been married to Emma Portner, a Canadian Dancer.

He says ‘if you support @transanta and @translifeline. See you in 2021”. This post got more than 1.5 million likes and thousands of comments such as Jennifer Garner saying: “Major, huge love to you, Elliot.”

Page is known for his roles in “Juno” and “The Umbrella Academy,” showed his care for other transgender people as he says “to all trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse, and the threat of violence everyday: I see you, I love you, and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better.” He went on to say “stay safe, Be there for each other” which many people commented on as he may be referring to both the topic of transgender and the current global situations.

The Oscar-nominated star can be recognised by her roles in media such as The Umbrella Academy, Trailer Park Boys and Tales of the City. After he released his statement on Instagram, his Wikipedia page was changed to cohere to his new pronouns. This was done alongside many others giving him the full support he deserved, whether this be via Instagram or twitter.

Her twitter post reached over 234K retweets, with 105K quote tweets and over 1.8 million likes.

Mark Ruffalo, known for being in the Avenger movies as well as 13 going on 30, showed his support by commenting; “congratulation, Elliot, in committing to the full expression of yourself and being so open and candid about it. You have made this world a more tolerant and loving place with your commitment, courage, and vulnerability. We are lucky to have public figures like you.”

Another fellow celebrity, Sir Ian McKellen, expressed his feeling towards Pages news as he is ‘so happy’ for coming-out with this announcement. He chose to express his concern in himself as he felt ‘disappointed’ he couldn’t help him sooner as he didn’t notice she was struggling. As this topic is becoming more widely spoken about it has highlighted the struggles that people face when overcoming these situations. McKellen explains that after seeing Page grow, overcome and evolve in self-confidence be thought he would have noticed such a big change like this and will attempt to be more supportive in the future. He relays a conversation he once had with Page by saying “so I said, ‘look, if you can’t speak up, would you mind when you’re finished speaking, just dropping your hand so I know when you’ve finished speaking? And then they come out [as gay] years later and suddenly you couldn’t stop them talking. You heard everything.’ This must be so reassuring and supportive for Page as McKellen is one of Britain’s most high-profile gay public figures.

In an interview with a 21-year-old lesbian, who wants to remain anonymous, explained that as part of her LGBT group at University she finds stories like this ‘inspiring’. As it took her ‘many years to be comfortable to express my feelings’ about coming out as liking other women, she looks up to people like Page as she had ‘gained the courage to come out as gay in the first place, let along coming out as trans’. She further expressed her admiration for coming out as trans after facing ‘brutal and hateful comments about being part of the LGBT community.’ She further explained that as part of the LGBT football team, she felt free to ‘open up and talk to others who may have similar feelings to her right now’ as her group is made up of various different types and associations people like to be referred to.

He was not along in expressing his support as it is clear by scrolling through the comments the numerous variation ticks signify the support from high-profile people. Some comments from ‘ordinary’ people brought up the topic of biology, which when referring to transgender, is such a pressing topic. Many ‘haters’ believe that biology is biology and ‘she was born a girl’, as some of the comments said. However, many people snapped back at this claiming that biology is over simplified in order to be accurate when this is no longer the case. Additionally, one of the most liked comments with 180 likes expresses the confusion go the writer; “I am so confused, don’t take me wrong I love the actress/actor somebody help me. So… was Ellen Page born trans? I mean I always thought Ellen Page was a GIRL. Now Ellen Page is Elliot Page what changed? Somebody explains please.” Unfortunately, not everyone can be supportive.

Covid-19 has changed social media behaviour

Covid-19 has changed social media behaviour

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Everyone is aware of the stay-at-home lifestyle we had to adopt at the start of the year due to the outbreak of the global pandemic. It therefore comes to no surprise that our daily routines changed, including our social media routine. Social media usage has changed by businesses, creators, viewers and many more factors. Social media advertising has already taken a hit and is predicted to decrease by 69% in ad spending. This is interesting to note because it doesn’t quite make sense in the aspect that more people are said to be using social media to therefore companies and industries should be focusing their money on features like ad spending. Kantar media commenced research into the social media usage over the course of the pandemic and published that it has risen by 61%. So who is using this media and how?

A generation of creators:

Since the beginning of the pandemic 2 in 10 people would upload content due to the start of lockdown. Five months down the line and three in 10 people now created and make content on a routine basis, because of the pandemic. This is not surprising considering the rise in users for sites such as TikTok, which now has 850 million monthly users. The Global Web Index commenced research which showed that currently levels are beginning to stabilize after the initial spike. However, 43% of people said they are continuing to use it at the same capacity as they have been for the last several months but only 19% predict that they will continue to use it this much regardless of what happens with new restrictions.

There were four main reasons why we use social media:

  1. To fill up spare time
  2. To find funny or entertaining content
  3. To stay up to date with news and current events
  4. To stay in touch with what family and friends are doing

This is different for each generation and as most generations have been increasing their use of social media, the results are even more plausible. Generation X and baby boomers have very similar trends. One significant trend is that for the millennials, generation X and baby boomers, their third reasons are all to fill up their spare time which averaged around 30% of people suggesting this. This is different for generation Z because their top reason is to fill up their spare time which is what 41% of the survey said.

In an interview with Chandni who runs @soyouwanttobeajournalist, explains that she took the opportunity to expand her ideas in lockdown and it has been the time she has been ‘really active’. She explained that ‘there has been no real difference as I took to social media platforms during lockdown’, this suggests that the reason she went from having very few to start with to having lots of followers is because many people were online using social media at the initial look down. Starting up at the start of lockdown helped her establish her site as people were using more social media as everything was shut. “It will be interesting to see if things do change, such as my followers and engagement rate, when things open up again”, which is true because in these recent studies there has been no prediction of whether or not social media usage and engagement rates will increase or decrease. She explains that personally ‘I’ve definitely been more active on social media, being at home all the time it’s just an easy way to pass time’. This is unsurprising as it is mentioned in nearly all the studies regarding social media usage. People were bored, and social and digital networks were the easiest way to keep in contact with people who we couldn’t see. Additionally, she mentioned that as she chose the topic of journalism, lockdown didn’t ‘affect the posts [she] uploaded, but I think I do have less to post as I am not able to go out’. Picking a niche helped her as she was able to specialise in content but as her content does require interviews and up to date news.

The industries:

We have all suffered in different ways throughout this struggling time, whether it be because of health, finance or even our mental stability. However, one sector that cannot hide from suffering is the industries that are struggling to keep afloat during this time of uncertainty. It is obvious now that with everyone being required to keep indoors, that highstreets and shopping centres were bound to take a big hit from this action. As many shops such as; Oasis, Topshop and Debenhams, risk losing numerous shops and even potentially becoming bust, their presence on digital marketing has never been more crucial. Sprout Social commenced coronavirus data research which highlighted the fact that healthcare and media industries have increased the number of posts they were sharing per day, while industries such as travel and sports have been identified as decreasing continuously. More companies are being required to start utilising their online presence, an example of a brand which has not adapted is Primark. Despite having a website, they will not allow customers to purchase online which meant in the original 4 months lockdown their finance got hit hard, they went from making £650 million a month to nothing during the first wave of lockdown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIMbGE5DAxG/
Introducing me!

Introducing me!

by hboughsocial ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello all! This is my very first post so I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself and briefly explain what the social media frenzy is about.

I am currently a journalist student seeking to expand my portfolio, so this blog is my first attempt at doing so. I have set up this website to focus on social media and its importance, which has been and will continue to be crucial with the current state of the world.

This blog will include:

  • Articles on up to date topics surrounding social media.
  • Features on social media sub topics.
  • Links and mentions of my favourite blogs and articles that i recommend.

I hope you find this blog insightful and worth the read. I have put my contact details, as well as my link to my instagram account, so feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.