Welcome to #VIRAL, The Newsletter from Girl and the Gov®, sharing need-to-know content trends and concepts for Dem social media, digital, and comms professionals. For 1v1 tailored help building out your social media, book an Office Hours session or an Audit here.

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

→ “Wow, ok” Trend: This trend has creators pairing up with friends, partners, and so on to test out what saying the phrase “wow, ok” would sound like in four different tones: supportive, disappointed, sarcastic, and flirty. It’s fun, it’s silly, and you can change the phrase to whatever is applicable to your content and content goals i.e. make it political in nature. The core of the trend is running it through the different tones. This trend is also having a moment on Reels, which you can see here.

→ “Living rent free in my brain” Trend: This trend was actually put out by the artist behind this audio as a way to get more eyes on her music [v smart]. The trend has creators sharing things that are living “rent free” in their brains – more often than not with a negative or strained tilt to them. Politics-wise, this concept as a 1-3 slide carousel showing the issues going on that are living rent free in the principal’s head would be an easy way to show what they’re thinking about ATM. 

→ “When the plan starts going sideways” Trend: This trend is essentially a car crash situation that you can’t look away from pulled together with this audio. As shown with this creator’s video, it illustrates a situation where everything is going well, until a friend mentions “remember when…” and it becomes a disaster in slow-motion. This could be used in a really cheeky way to address a leak of sorts. It could also be used to tease something coming – think, “when XYZ on the team starts giving details about what we’re sharing next week.”

→ “How it sounds to people who are…” Trend: This trend and great b-roll go hand-in-hand. The concept is centered on this text formula: “How [XYZ] sounds to people who are smart, funny, and hot” and this audio. The political combos are endless, but a few to ponder on:

To make it happen, add your preferred text combo over the b-roll of your principal with the audio. 

Trending TikTok audios for BTS and b-roll vids

AUDIO → original sound aliciascar *use this if you’re tapping into the Real Housewives of Rhode Island content, and/or wear Rhode Island vibes on your sleeve

AUDIO → love island original audio *use this for content where you’re teasing something – ex: “warming up for vote-a-rama”

AUDIO → fakemink x the chainsmokers *use this for nostalgic edits – “when Dems were in power” or a forward-thinking edit – “what it feels like having XYZ Senator fighting for us”

AUDIO → original sound Langley *use this for showing something ultra-cute 

AUDIO → Memories *use this for a carousel post

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Creative content concepts to try and post on TikTok too

→ “Girl Pile” Trend: Two weeks ago, we talked about the “girl grip” trend. This week, we’re highlighting the “girl pile” trend. The trend is short and simple, and features an aesthetic video clip of a pile of one’s faves, like this, with the title “girl pile” added via text in butter yellow. If you really think about it, it’s another variation of the “what’s in my bag?” trend and provides an opportunity to showcase items that paint a picture about a principal’s personality. A political edition of this trend could integrate a few political items like a campaign pin, a brochure from canvassing, a book written by a colleague, and so on. This trend could also take a carousel format showcasing multiple “girl piles.” To note, the resulting content can be posted on TikTok as well. 

→ “Summer non-negotiable” Trend: This trend has creators showing – in carousel format – their summer non-negotiables, ranging from lobster rolls to outdoor showers. The more seasonal lifestyle trend can be tapped to showcase favorites/highlights from a district – think: the county fair. To do so, and fully connect the dots between a candidate and the area for example, add in a small text what each location/spot is. So, the text on a slide would look like:

→ “Wipe the camera” Trend: This is a fun transition trend that’s being used by a mixture of food and lifestyle creators to show off their food orders. As seen here, it starts with an empty table shot, moves to someone “wiping the camera lens” or covering it rather, and a shot of the table filled with goodies. The trend could be translated to show off an award, a proclamation signed, a handful of campaign mailers, and so on. Additionally, instead of a table, a blank wall where something will be hung, or an empty spot in an award case or on a shelf, could stand-in.

→ “What I wore and where I went” Trend: This trend provides a fun way to showcase or recap events a principal attended, whether that’s on their respective hill, on the campaign trail, or otherwise. Concept-wise, it’s simple, and looks like this:

→ “Wait that’s so pretty I have to take a picture” Trend: This carousel trend has creators showing things they’ve deemed pretty/cool/chic/aesthetically pleasing enough to take a picture of – things that would must the internal reaction of “wait that’s so pretty I have to take a picture.” The trend can be easily used to show an elected’s district and unique details about that shine through via camera. Similarly, the images could be reflective of principal’s week, little tidbits they’ve stopped to capture that also connect back to the messaging and behind the scenes on their work they’re trying to get across.

Background audios that make Reels move

AUDIO → Home *use this for b-roll videos that have a heartwarming, wholesome, or inspiring tilt to them

AUDIO → Blue Monday (2011) *use this b-roll videos or carousels that vibe-wise, meet at the intersection of snarky yet positive – one example [ultra-snark] and another example [informative snark]

AUDIO → original audio micapada *use for transition videos, namely in attempting to do this trend

AUDIO → Soft Serenade *use for b-roll videos that have a nostalgic dreaminess to them – think like “what life could be if…” style videos

AUDIO → Twin Peaks (instrumental) *use for b-roll based videos that show something bad/highlight a bad happening – the aim is to build tension around it

Reply or Repost to these digital notes on Threads

The Thread → Reply OR repost by posting a picture of you in overalls with cookies in your pocket as a goofy and relatable proof point.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by adding additional things RFK Jr. has slashed funding for.

The Thread → Reply OR repost eldest daughters only tap in with a “what do you need to know?”

The Thread → Reply OR repost by discussing the current status of patriotism.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by adding another compare/contrast between libraries and AI.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing a hot girl lawsuit an AG has recently filed.

Skies Are Blue

Trending topics ATM on Bluesky

Congressional Hearing

Albania Protests

Big Brother

The Amazing Digital Circus

Texas Issues

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