Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Free newsletter for social media content creators!
Social media updates, trend alerts, original content ideas, music/audio suggestions, tutorials and more!
Welcome to the socialized forecast Tuesday, January 14th. We are 6 days out from finding out if the TikTok ban is going to be upheld. And right now it is quite consuming to me as a creator because I am being messaged very consistently and lots of comments on my videos about my thoughts on the band. I'm actually going to be interviewed tomorrow by a publication who wants me to weigh in on my thoughts on the band. So it has really been quite consuming.
Helen:And that's why I wanna start off today and mostly focus this episode on that. I think that's what people wanna hear about. I think they want different perspectives on what's happening from different people that they follow and respect. So I'm gonna start talking about where I'm at. And, first, I'm gonna speak personally about what it's doing to me as a creator and how it's making me feel.
Helen:And then I'm really gonna share some thoughts on a different level about ways to think about it for yourself, options that you can consider, and and all of that. Because moving forward, I'm sure we're at a very pivotal time in history. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I do think that we're at this digital tipping point where there's so lack of control in the digital world. And then there's the powers trying to put control on it, which is then giving people this feeling of a lack of freedom. So it's it's such a bigger conversation and I think it's worth at least starting to have it because I think it's impacting a lot of people emotionally.
Helen:It's impacting people financially or it's it's going to impact people financially. And that's gonna have a fallout on a much, much grander scale. So thoughts first, from my personal soul is that I don't like to think about things until they happen. I don't like to face it, plan for it. Oh my god.
Helen:If this, then that, if this, I just don't. That's not how I operate. I'd much prefer to not spend that kind of energy and worry about the things that I cannot control. I have always been like that. And so for me, the TikTok ban, it's been hard when people are asking me because I wanna help people make a plan.
Helen:But at the same time, I really don't wanna think about it until I have to. I don't wanna have to change anything until I have to, until I'm up against a wall in a in a way. So how I was first recommending for people to approach this is to keep going like you're going. Have fun till the very end. You know, if it's we're here.
Helen:I I loved TikTok so much. It has given me so much joy, so much value, so many connections. It is I'm not even a person who's going to be terribly impacted financially, I don't think, because I don't make a lot of money from TikTok at all. And I think that my expertise will carry over to wherever I go. So I'm teaching content creation, how to make short form video, and those skills are useful no matter what the platform.
Helen:So I don't so speaking you know, since I'm not personally impacted financially, I come from a bit of a different place. And I haven't been doing brand deals on TikTok where now suddenly I'm gonna be missing that income. So I I definitely have a different seat at the table and it's a little easier for me to say, I'll worry about that when it when the time comes. I I know that. I understand that and I recognize it.
Helen:But I also know that even if I was making that money from there and even if I was a person that was gonna be financially impacted, it doesn't change if I have any more control of it. So I guess the point is that maybe if it was on a financial impact, I would be strategizing on my job. Like, okay. What am I going to do if suddenly I'm go not going to have this income? Do I have a backup plan?
Helen:So for the people who are financially going to be impacted, I think that those people do have to start getting their head in the game and thinking about where they're headed, how they're gonna, at least for the time being, make up that income, and what's the plan for that. So that's there's 2 things. Okay? There's 2 things at play. Now, let's talk first about apps.
Helen:I have been exploring all the apps because I want to see, okay, what's out there? Where are people headed? Like, what's the flow? What's the landscape look like? And I have looked at last night in particular.
Helen:I went deep into red note. And by the way, these earrings. My friend today that I met with Meghan hi, Meghan. She said these earrings reminded her of the red note app, icon because they're like they almost look like a little bit like that vibe, which I thought was funny that I was wearing them today and I'm dealing with and I've been talking about this red note thing. So that is another app that is a Chinese owned, I believe, or run.
Helen:And it is the Chinese version of TikTok. And it's so amazing. I mean, I went into it last night and I was like, holy hell. Everyone from TikTok is here. Every other video was, I'm a TikTok refugee.
Helen:I'm a TikTok refugee. It was unbelievable. And it was at first a little scary because you can't read the language and you're putting in information. You have to put in your phone number in order to make an account, then you do a username. I've navigated the app pretty pretty well considering it's part of it isn't in Chinese, but I was Mandarin, I mean.
Helen:So I was able to navigate and whatnot. But because intuitively, I understand that the platforms, and I don't need the language necessary to necessarily to get me through it. But I started to explore, and I was like, wow. This this app is so much richer than anything we have here. They they are really the technical experts when it comes to technology and the workings of an app because you can explore by category.
Helen:You can learn things by subject. It it is much more robust, and immediately, the algorithm knew who I was and how to feed me videos. I didn't even have to teach the algorithm anything. So it's pretty, pretty amazing. And I think a lot of people are gonna go rushing over there.
Helen:A lot of people have. I saw it firsthand. I was like, holy shit. I couldn't believe it really. But what I will say is I also saw a video where there was a piece of legislation the piece of legislation, a screenshot, and it did say any app owned by another, owned by the government not by the government, but owned by a foreign owned entity, etcetera, etcetera.
Helen:So I think that this red note thing will also be included in the ban. Because lemonade is gonna be included in the ban, supposedly. CapCut is supposedly gonna be included in it. And I also think, what are they gonna do? Like, shut down everything that that we have on the app store?
Helen:Because it's you know, we have toys made in that country. I mean, that's a big part of the toy industry. When I was in production working on advertising for toys, the the clients would spend months in Hong Kong developing the toys. It's just it's been always part of our life having that relationship with with China. So to me, it's crazy.
Helen:Like, what are we gonna shut that off altogether? And what I found interesting is the people. It was so welcoming. It was unbelievable to me. I was like, oh my god.
Helen:If people could be in charge of making, the relationships with the countries. I think I'm talking on a higher level politically now maybe, but not but not because and I know nothing about it. But everybody was so getting along in there. It was like they were welcoming us. We were very respectful and excited to be there.
Helen:And everybody was the people who the creators who were making videos were talking about how, oh, we're we're gonna be respectful of your space. Thank you for having us. It was just like kind of beautiful. I don't know. I'm a glass half full girl and I'm also rose colored glasses and I always see things for on the joyous side.
Helen:So it's hard for me to be skeptical, but it was so cool. And I thought, wow. Like, yeah. This is so loving. That's what I was getting from it.
Helen:So that was interesting. I don't think everybody should just go up and go over there because I think that things here might work out and and they might work this out next week. So I always like to say, just let's wait. There's nothing we have to do. Just we got a few more days of wild fun and I would rather my feed wasn't every single person telling me to follow them on another app.
Helen:So I haven't made videos like that. You've kind of noticed. I'm not really up for it. I don't think it's realistic. I would love to think that people are gonna go and find me elsewhere, but I think they're gonna find me by the nature of what I'm doing in those places.
Helen:So when I'm if people end up flocking to YouTube, eventually, if they're looking for the type of content that I serve, they will end up finding me on YouTube. And that's not gonna be me telling them go follow me on YouTube that's gonna do it. I just don't think it's real it's a reality. Mainly because I'm not doing it. I'm not when I see a creator that says follow me on Instagram, I'm not stopping what I'm doing.
Helen:I'm going over there to Instagram to look for their them and follow. I'm just not. I don't know. And maybe I'm the minority that I'm not doing that, but I just I can't I can't spend my day like that. Like, I'm gonna follow find every creator and go follow them on every app.
Helen:I just I wish that I could do that, but I just don't think that that's a reality. So I think what we have to realize as creators that what we do and what we love is what we're gonna do wherever we go. And I've said this on a video where I've said I'm gonna be doing the same thing. I just might be living in a different home. So meaning, my content is going to live in a different place, but I'm not gonna change who I am, what I'm doing, how I serve it.
Helen:The joy with which I create is still going to follow me because I'm I'm me. So that is what I'd like to leave you with today to think about. Like, don't go into a panic zone and think I'm gonna lose all my followers. I stand to lose a lot of followers. I'm saying it, But I'm also not gonna make 5 videos the next 5 days, 5 times 5, 25 videos, telling people to go follow me on other platforms.
Helen:It seems like a waste of energy. It seems like self serving and not real reality to think that people are going to do it. So I'm not gonna waste my time doing it. I'd much rather make a really fun transition video, spend the time on that, and hopefully someone loves that enough that they say, I would like to find her. Tap on my profile and go find me on the other platforms.
Helen:That is my personal approach. Okay? Maybe it's not the popular approach, but it's my personal approach and it's how I feel about it. I think that in 1 week from today, we're gonna have a better sense of what we're looking at and what our future looks like in these digital times. So not to get depressing at all.
Helen:I think change has to happen but I also don't want change to happen. I like it the way it is. Matter of fact, I did a video that I thought was funny and I almost didn't post it. It was that one where I'm saying hello that I'm moving to China so that I can keep TikTok because I love TikTok. And it's a trend.
Helen:And it was funny and I saw other funny people doing it. And I said, I want me to do one too. And, of course, people started to come at me that I was being racist or I was profiling or whatever. And I'm like, oh my god. Number 1, it's a trend, and I was just having fun with it.
Helen:Number 2, if you know me already, for the 4 years I've been on this app, I am I am a creator who is, like, most welcoming. I'm loving. I care almost too much about making not making people feel bad. You know? So it was not done with that intent.
Helen:And I think those couple of comments, I just kinda let it go and realized, well, some people just don't have a sense of humor about things, and that's okay. And, you know, I know in my soul that I wasn't being mean or anything like that. I this is the last thing I would be. Look. I have an autistic son, and friends of mine will use the word retarded.
Helen:I don't even get insulted. I just go like, okay. That's their ignorance. Whatever. On we go.
Helen:I just would never do say those that word myself, but I would, when I hear it, I don't immediately get my gills up in a spin about it or whatever. That's, like, not even a thing. I don't even know what I just made up. But I just I know that I know how I mean things, and I'm true to who I am. And it was not meant to hurt anyone.
Helen:It was just meant in good fun. So if people are gonna take it the wrong way, oh, well. That's all I can say. And I'm just gonna have to move on from it. And if I decide I wanna take the video down, maybe.
Helen:But mostly people are just thinking it's funny and it's a little funny for me to be doing it. So got a kick out of it and I had fun. And that's just how it's gonna stay. But, yeah. So I think what I'm gonna do is have fun this week and just keep on keeping on until I have to make a change.
Helen:And I will say that Lemonade has been interesting for me to find different people. Although most of the people that are commenting on my videos are like, I'm so happy to see you here. So I did end up, hitting like 30,000 followers over on Lemonade pretty quickly, thanks to the way it's connected to TikTok. But when I go to RedNote, it's not like an immediate following that follows there. It's like building from the beginning again.
Helen:So even though that might be, like, yay, this is so exciting. I'm gonna run over to RedNote. You're gonna be building from ground 0 over there. And so if you have another platform that you're already in and doing, that might be a better way to lean versus, like, now starting from ground 0 again. Anyway, just food for thought on that.
Helen:I I think none of the apps right now are serving us trends in the same way that TikTok did. And even if you think about Instagram, Instagram is not serving up trends. They're taking the trends that came from TikTok. It's just the way it is. So when TikTok's gone, I don't know what the reference point is gonna be.
Helen:Maybe creators the creators who are not anti meta or not, like, gonna leave their meta accounts because of the craziness over there. I think maybe creators will get creative on Instagram and try and use it in the same way and try and start the creativity and the trends on Instagram. But I more likely think they're gonna find a new place to do what TikTok was doing and to feed them what TikTok was feeding. It's just kind of a gut feeling. I don't think it's gonna happen seamlessly over on Instagram or on YouTube shorts.
Helen:If you think about it, both of those platforms, Facebook too, they're just trickle down from the TikTok trends. I've been saying that all along. And even on our newsletter, we're like, oh, this one was trending 2 weeks ago on on TikTok. Now it's on Instagram. So it's just the nature of the way the platforms have been working.
Helen:So now without it, we're gonna see what happens if we do have to live without it. Yikes. Boo. Hoo. I won't be happy about it.
Helen:Oh my god. Anyway, alright. I'm just gonna, like, let you know that the trends for today are reach are readable in the newsletter, really fun. I I took a song from one of the trending songs today and I made a really fun, outfit coat flying on transition, which I got a kick out of. So I'm gonna post the tutorial for that.
Helen:I really I just wanna focus on having fun while the trends are still available. I don't know where we're gonna where these new artists are gonna now be featured because that's that was like a big platform for music artists to be discovered. So, whew, the impact is so huge, which is why I don't think it's going away. I think the impact is too huge. It has been it's too much in our culture now that I don't see how this actually could be like, whoop, just taken out of the App Store just like that.
Helen:I'm not seeing it. I mean, my head is in the sand. So if so, thanks for staying in the sand with me. We've got some original content ideas for you which is recreating an old TikTok video. Because if you remember the days of if you're watching, you'll know the trend I'm talking about.
Helen:We can do it's a savage, classy, boujee, ratchet. Bring back a trend. Let's go out with a bang if we're going out. You know? That's where I'm at.
Helen:I'm gonna like have a blast these this week and just not worry about next week yet. I'm just gonna be in denial. Okay? You're with me? Another one is to tell your story.
Helen:It's a new year, new changes, new apps. You could tell your story that way. Like, hey, I'm really, really like I'm a TikTok I'm a do or die TikToker, and I'm bummed this week, but here's what I've learned. Here's what I've done. Here's who I am as a creator, thanks to TikTok.
Helen:Maybe I'll make a video like that because that sounds like a good idea, actually. And then and you can add on the end where you're headed if you want. But I don't think you should stick on the laurels of where you're headed. Sometimes I use expressions I don't even know what they mean. But I don't think you have to decide and tell people it's like this is your final resting place of where you're headed because it might change.
Helen:Things might pop up that we don't know are coming. But it would be fun to tell your story. So think about doing that. And lastly, oh hoo. This works perfectly.
Helen:Make a transition video. If you have not done the transition challenge, if you didn't take that on with us in January, It was a 7 day amazing challenge. It was so good that I'm gonna create a montage of all of my students. I'm gonna feature them in a video where I show all the learnings that happened because I was so proud to share those videos on my story. I was so excited by every time I saw one, and I'm like, was holding my breath.
Helen:Were are they gonna do it well? And then they did. All of the things. All of the feelings. So good for me.
Helen:So what I've done is made that challenge evergreen. So anybody who wants to do it, even though you didn't do it in January, it is now available. It is linked in the newsletter. You can just go. It's $5.
Helen:You can buy the challenge. I'm not gonna make it free because that wouldn't be fair because the first bunch of people paid for it. It's only $5 for the whole week. For the whole challenge you could do it and if you wanna spread it out and do it over 2 weeks you can do it as at any pace you like and it's there for you. And it's 3 progressive lessons of a simple transition where you cover the lens, a more advanced one where something changes in the scene in your hands or whatever, and then an outfit change.
Helen:It wraps up with an outfit change. Everybody did so well. So if you have any desire to learn how to do that, give yourself a distraction this week. Say, hey, instead of obsessing about with TikTok's going away, I'm gonna acquire a new skill. I'm gonna spend my energies learning transitions.
Helen:Just go and grab it. It's in the newsletter and enjoy. Try and find some joy. That's what I'm recommending for this week. Make a transition video.
Helen:Learn. If you don't know how, go learn from the transition challenge. The other thing I did today was feature a tutorial which I made, I think, 4 something months ago and about editing speaking videos that has, for some reason I'm wearing the same shirt in that video that I'm wearing right now, which is really funny because I'm looking at it on my screen. And it's how to record and edit your speaking videos. So wherever you go now, you wanna know how to record and edit videos.
Helen:And if you want to learn how to do that, this is a great tutorial for how to make them concise, how to record them. At the time I recorded this tutorial, I had the iPhone did not have a pause button. Now the iPhone, when you're recording in regular camera mode, you can hit pause and play. It didn't have that when I recorded this tutorial. That's how long ago it was.
Helen:So I don't mention that, but I do mention I pause myself. I think about what I wanna say. I record again and then I cut out the pauses. So it's funny for me to look back at this video now because the pause button is there and it wasn't when I made the tutorial. Funny funny stuff.
Helen:Okay. Lastly, music suggestions. Okay. I'm gonna just give Julie a major shout out for this first one that I am in love with. This song Femme, f e m m e.
Helen:If you don't know this song just please go tap on the link and listen to it. I immediately said I'm making an outfit transition with this song because I just it hit me and it hit my good spot. You know? It's like good dance music, good lyrics. I was feeling it.
Helen:And so go check out the music suggestions because they're really worth it. Okay. I'm gonna wrap it up for today because I think I went on too long about the potential band. And I'm gonna just leave you with the thought that if you're a person who can't help but worry, do this exercise because I did it myself about something that I was stressing about. You make a circle on a piece of paper.
Helen:I wanna give the creator a credit for this because I saw it on this one creator's credit. So hold on. See if I can see if I can find it. Hold up. I might I might have saved it.
Helen:Hold on. Thank you for sticking with me. Let's go. I'm going to go into my favorites. I'm going to scroll down and find it.
Helen:Oh, here it is. Hold on. Oh my god. He's got 800,000 views on this video. That's how why I saw it on my page.
Helen:Alright. It is the aspiring alchemist. So at sign aspiring_alchemist, And I will link it in the show notes, and I will link it I should I'm not gonna link it in the newsletter. It's in the show notes. So if you're listening here, I'll put it in the show notes.
Helen:Anyway, he wrote did this thing where you write in the middle of a circle what the problem is, and then you make some lines out from the circle. So you make like a sun in essence. And in each quadrant of the sun, you write something that helps you not Helps you move away from the thing that's bothering you in the middle. Okay? So for example, mine.
Helen:I had There was something that was bothering me that was a work thing. And I knew that like I had to change it but it was stressing me out. So I made all the things out on the sides and then I started writing things in those things. And I know I didn't even understand the exercise until I started writing the things. So so for example, I said, when I make this change I'm gonna feel so much better.
Helen:And that was my first thing that I wrote out there. So I started thinking about the future with the change being in the reverse. And then I wrote the next thing. This change is going to make my process so much better for my business. And then I wrote the next thing.
Helen:So I did take all these things. So if you're stressing about the TikTok band. K? Here we're gonna do this together. Doing this exercise together.
Helen:It's in the middle of the circle. You're gonna make lines from the outside and you're gonna say, I'm gonna use this as you're stressing because you make money from TikTok and it might be banned. I'm gonna be very specific. I make money from TikTok and the app might be banned. You're gonna make all your things.
Helen:In the first quadrant, you're going to say, what you do that makes money on TikTok. So now I'm just gonna go with, I'm an influencer and I do makeup and skincare tutorials or makeup and skincare content and brands pay me. Okay. So we know that that's a fact. Okay.
Helen:And then we do the next one. I have acquired a skill of making really good videos that are TikTok successful. And that's why and so I still have that skill. So you're gonna hold on to those things. Then you're gonna go to the next one and you're gonna say, I can take my skill and try it on a multiple of other platforms.
Helen:For example, Flip, which is a shopping app. You can go on to Flip and you can do some tutorials on Flip or makeup tutorials. So there are other apps that are doing sales promotion type content. So you're gonna just fill those things in and soon you will start to see that it's not this problem in the middle is not like a dead end problem. Okay?
Helen:That is your exercise. Hopefully, it was clear. K. You've got the circle. I'm gonna show you on screen what his circle looked like.
Helen:Hold on. Let's find it. Okay. Hold on. Let's see if I can hold it up so you can really get a sense of it.
Helen:Let's find the paper. You see his circle? I'm holding it up for those who wanna see it. So we've got a circle in the middle and we've got the lines, and you're gonna write. I will you can go watch his video.
Helen:It's very, very it's very helpful, and it will help you get through a crisis in a way. It just gives you an exercise and a way to focus outside of the problem. I'll leave you with that. Thank you. Have a great Tuesday.
Helen:Thanks for sticking with me today through all of this conversation which is a little different than my normal Tuesday. But I think it's important because I know that we have a lot of anxiety. And hopefully when we hear the news in about a week from today, it'll be good news and we'll be able to move forward and we'll decide how we're moving forward. But until then, we're all gonna relax and breathe and be productive. So you're either gonna learn transitions, you're gonna make yourself a little rubric and you're gonna try and work through your anxiety or you're gonna just post with great joy for the next bunch of days.
Helen:If you're in love with TikTok and you're worried, it's not gonna go away in a minute. Like, on 19th, it's not gonna shut off. So you don't have to panic. That's what a lot of people are doing too. No panicking.
Helen:It's not gonna shut off. It if And I'm not even gonna wonder how it's gonna happen. I'm just gonna tell you, it's not gonna shut off in one day. Okay? So relax.
Helen:Fist bump. And I'll see you on Friday.