IRL Events > Micro Trends

Hello hello!

I’m writing to you from a very smokey Toronto where wildfires in Northern Ontario have blocked out the sun, temperatures are hovering around 104F (I translated that for all you American readers!), and everyone is forced to take cover inside. I was about to say that nobody had encapsulated this apocalyptic reality well on social yet — and then had to eat my words when I scrolled upon this.

Over here in Slate-ville, the summer has already been busy and full. Late last month we hosted our second IRL Social Social Club, this time in Toronto where two of us marketing folks are based, and got to meet so many of you in person! Our panel of guests included Michelle Spina (catch her insanely hilarious videos here), Jayne Kitchen (her most recent series on “conservative girl bosses” is fascinating), and Funmi Ajike (who is always working behind-the-scenes at Doordash on brand marketing). Beyond the great discussion, there were also fun surprises like a portrait artist and poet(!!) who dazzled all the guests with beautiful keepsakes. Personally, I’m just impressed that a 37 week pregnant Pearo managed to pull it all off and stay on her feet all night. Join me in giving her a round of applause!

If you want to read (or watch!) more about the evening, check out some of these awesome recaps by attendees:

Sophia Okeke from We Are Social posted great pictures.

Dora Boras paid tribute to those incredible COPS donuts.

And Alicia Cheung summed up her top 3 takeaways.

We also just wrapped our third content “blitz” two weeks ago in a whirlwind day of shooting, acting, and marrying product + humor. I want to tell you more about what’s in store but will leave you with this teaser from our Slack review thread instead:

Next up, a few links that I want to put on your radar, and then a deeper look at the themes that defined out July SSC webinar. 👇

1. The Rise of Ragebait Lit, Harpers Bazaar

   This interesting article details the rise of "ragebait lit" this year, with books like Lena Dunham's Famesick, Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear, and Lindy West's Adult Braces. This suggests that the tactics used in social media are now dominating promotional strategies beyond the feed, which is a trend I plan to keep a close eye on.

2. Bots Now Outnumber Humans Online, CNET

   Welp, bots finally tip-toed over the the 50% line and now comprise the majority of traffic on the internet. Part of this is just routine crawlers that make sure websites contain the correct info, but of course a large (and growing) portion is something more nefarious and slop-tinged.

3. The Verge’s Annual Summer “in” And “out” List

   Nothing too profound to add here aside from the fact that I love reading about what the smartest reporters and journalists have on their radar.

In July’s Social Social Club we asked our panelists — Sarah Whittle, Milica Kovacevic, and Sofia Aguilar — what it means to feed the algorithms and keep online audiences engaged in the middle of summer, when there is plenty of IRL dopamine to compete with. We wanted to know if social teams should shift their strategies, up the ante, or just take a breather.

As everyone weighed in with their insights, one prevailing theme became clear: the best way to approach strategy, content creation, and trust building is by understanding your audience. Sure, that sounds obvious, and yet it’s clear that brands piling onto the latest scandal or capitalizing on micro trends often stray from that core tenet.

Sarah Whittle is forever a relatable queen, and reminded us that “a lull and a flop era is just the price of entry when you're doing social,” before delivering a banger reframe: “it’s not social media, it’s engagement media.”

Sofia Aguilar likened content creation to play, suggesting that “social media is literally the sandbox we get to play in as adults.” She also encouraged social teams not to compare summer month analytics to other seasons — they require their own context and framing.

Mili Kovacevic joked that she’s in the 90% (lurker) majority of social media platforms, but I’d argue that means she’s observed and analyzed ample material. She brought big strategy chops from Pinterest (formerly TikTok) adding that this year “there’s not so much of a focus tapping [into] micro trends, as there is a bigger push on getting cultural cache from the events happening IRL.”

We launched Media Hub this week and, of course we’re all excited internally, because it solves a big problem we’ve been struggling with since I joined — namely that video files and creative assets often live on personal phones. Am I proud that us social pros often resort to that storage system? No. But do I acknowledge its imperfect reality? Yes.

Whether you’re defining (your brand colours, fonts, graphics, etc.), creating (videos, carousels, thumbnails), or collaborating (sharing files, providing feedback in canvas), Media Hub underpins everything and acts as a central source of truth…and content. “Automatically saves everything” is sweet music to my ears.

If this makes you weep with joy and you want to learn more, book some time to chat with us here.

This is the most mesmerizing thing I watched on social all week: