Welcome to #VIRAL, The Newsletter from Girl and the Gov®, sharing need-to-know content trends and ideas for social media, digital, and comms pros. For tailored help building out your new media sphere, book an Office Hours session or an Audit here.

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Give these a whirl (and post them on Reels & Shorts too)

→ “Reasons to get a bob” Trend: This trend started out with creators sharing their top four reasons to get a bob, and bob as in the haircut style. The videos largely looked like this, and bopped along to this audio. Now, in its second phase, the trend is being used to share the creator's top four reasons for just about anything in their purview, like the top four reasons to get a dog. To note, the ‘reasons’ typically aren’t anything but the obvious, if anything the style is meant to act as a visual “the reasons are obvious why would I need to explain further.” For political purposes, the trend could be applied to a policy pillar [ex: Medicare for All] and feature the principal posing with a visual cue like a yard sign, a bill, or otherwise in different, sassy ways. The location of filming could also play into the concept as a visual cue. The caption of course could then serve as the place for really and actually explaining the four reasons why the principal supports what they do.

→ “Type B friends room” Trend: This trend, which is centered around this audio, has ‘Type A’ creators showing what it’s like to walk it in the rooms of their ‘Type B’ friends [hint: their nightmare]. The resulting videos largely look like this and this. Now this wouldn’t be a trend for an elected or candidate 98% of the time, but it could work to show off peer-to-peer dynamics on a campaign in a fun way. Examples that come to mind:

→ “Five things worth the money” Trend: This trend has about a week of shelf life left, so if you’re going to do it, do it now. The trend has creators [and electeds now!] sharing five things that they consider “worth the money.” The styles for this trend actually vary and can be thought of like this:

→ “This is who you’re telling to drop the attitude btw” Trend: This fun throwback trend has creators sharing a childhood picture that embodies their sass and attitude, and then dropping this line on top  “This is who you’re telling to drop the attitude btw.” Naturally, this is the audio that’s being used along with it. For politicos, it’s a fun way to use a childhood pic and shed light on their personality – tbh, while it’s great to use now, it would be particularly well-timed after an opponent tried to come for them in some capacity. 

Trending TikTok audios for BTS and b-roll vids

AUDIO → ONE *use this in instances of momentum building on a wordless recap or a carousel

AUDIO → Its Gettin Old *use for carousels, especially those that recap an event

AUDIO → Original Audio Avery McClure *use as a direct-to-camera lipsync in reaction to someone underestimating you/a campaign/a movement

AUDIO → Faded Glory *use for the background of vlogs

AUDIO → original sound DJ Mgod *use to show the chaos of a situation, ex: the news cycle during the Trump Admin

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Creative content concepts to try and post on TikTok too

→ “I need…” Trend: This trend is a revamped variation on a theme that was circulating a few months ago, but dare I say this one’s a bit better? A bit more applicable? The trend, as seen as here, has creators dropping a carousel post that features:

Technically, you could do more slides/images in the middle, but it’s not necessary to bury the lead to that degree, IMO. The last slide that reveals what the creator “needs” in the case of a politico, can be all the things they need/want to become a reality in politics.

→ “Reasons to unfollow me” Trend: This trend is one to try for thought leaders – electeds and candidates, I’d skip. For the thought leaders that are still with me here, this is a simple one image [yes, one image!] static post of the creator [that’s you in this case] with the following added via text:

The crux of this trend ironically enough isn’t actually to turn people off from your page, it’s actually a bit of rage bait to teach followers and potential followers a little bit more about you. Alas, the facts shared should include some political deats or angles, but shouldn’t be all of them to ensure you can tap into the interests of various scrollers.

→ “things nobody tells you when you start___” Trend: This trend is great for anyone running for office and/or someone that’s completing their first term in office. The trend has creators sharing a carousel of insights that they learned upon starting a job, a hobby, a program, and beyond. The trend is led by a bold classic font text cover page and a slide per learning. Of course this trend can apply beyond candidates and electeds, and can work for other political career fields. Think of it as mentoring in a snapshot via social media post.

→ “Things that don’t mix” Trend: This trend is doing numbers in the political content space and has creators using b-roll video like so to share a list of 5-8 things that don’t mix according to them. Naturally, the first on the list to bring the viewer in is “oil and water,” and then the following are personal to the creator. Like with many list-style trends, some should be political, but not all in order to bring in a broader audience. A note for anyone that has more of a unification message, that oppositional concepts should be ideas/policies as opposed to titles of people and/or specific groups of people.

Background audios that make Reels move

AUDIO → Money for Nothing *use for carousels 

AUDIO → Time Won’t Wait *use with vlogs and b-roll based videos

AUDIO → Original audio *use with videos spotlightING famous Leos [could be your principal!] 

AUDIO → La La La *use for clap-back style videos

Reply or Repost to these digital notes on Threads

The Thread → Reply OR repost with a city you represent or advocate for that you absolutely love.

The Thread → Reply OR repost with a spreadsheet that serves as a helpful database for people in some capacity [ex: local resources]. Use this as a jumping off point for sharing a link to it.

The Thread → Reply OR repost  by either sharing why monopolies are dangerous or local farms near you where people can safely get produce.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing the consumer protections that have been rolled back specifically and by whom.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by dropping a receipt against an opponent.

Trending topics ATM on Bluesky

AEW Wrestling

Fox Polls

Medicare Providers Act

Texas Politics

Democratic Votes

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