#VIRAL, The Newsletter: September 18, 2025

Welcome to #VIRAL, The Newsletter, sharing need-to-know content trends and concepts for Dem social media, digital, and comms professionals. Dive into this week’s picks below.

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TikTok Content Trends

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

“3…2…1” Trend: This audio is being used by creators to showcase what it’s like when you finally sit down with your bestie to catch up and have SO much to catch up on – like you’re both speaking a mile a minute. It’s workable for any besties in politics or colleagues, which follow this formula for filming. The video can simply be about spotlighting a political friendship, but it can also be oriented around a specific topic that two people are catching up on by adding text to the video – ex: “us when after the XYZ press conference where XYZ person said XYZ.”

“This and…” Trend: The “this and…” trend isn’t new, but this variation, that shows what appears to be two iced pumpkin spice lattes in the car console en route to peak foliage, sparked an idea for a related content idea. Imagine, the video in two parts:

• Part 1 is a video like this, that shows essentially the “en route” portion of going to see foliage, but is made more regionally relevant to the person posting it, with coffees or a legendary apple cider doughnut from somewhere well known, in the clip.

• Part 2 are video clips of the fall foliage in your area [ex: district you’re running in, town you’re running in, etc].

The idea would be to not just show one’s relatability factor in relation to enjoying fall, but a more subtle way to connect the dots between account principal and the area relevant to them.

“Look at me like I don’t know ball” Trend: This trend is a ‘proving them wrong’ style trend. The first part of the trend has creators sharing a situation where someone has doubted their abilities or historical knowledge of a skill/area of expertise. And the second part of the trend has creators rolling the tape, i.e. the proof that the doubter was/is wrong. The trend uses this audio and can be done in a carousel or video style. This particular trend would be great for an elected or candidate responding to accusations of being unqualified in a certain way or one a certain topic.

TikTok Audios

TikTok audios for BTS and b-roll vids

AUDIO → Originalton Robert Gromotka

AUDIO → Latching Onto You

AUDIO → Southside Chicago

AUDIO → Dancing2 kelliholiday

AUDIO → original sounds xxediting (swagger like us) *good for swaggy edits

Need help developing your new media strategy?

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Instagram Trends

Creative content concepts to try

“Aren’t you worried?” Trend: This two-person micro conversation trend, uses this audio to spotlight a moment where one person is reminded of something that they should be worried about. The amount of things to be worried about in politics is a long list at this point, so pick a particular worry that’s relevant to your principal, and film a video that takes on this type of format. For the text added to the video, there will be three tidbits to add:

• “Are you worried?”

• “About what?”

• XYZ thing/issue to be worried about

• “Oh yea”

“Fall in love again and again” Audio: This audio is being used to romanticize a place or a space in life that a creator holds dear. The trend utilizes fast clips of those places or spaces, and a small addition of text to the video that reads “fall in love again and again.” The vision for this trend politically speaking, is to show off a city or park, or place of note that you love, that’s under threat currently. The goal is to show the best and the beautiful of the place, and to get that visual across the desks of more people.

“Due to personal reasons” Trend: This trend in its most common use-case is about leaning into fall, due personal reasons of course. However, it can be made political by changing the text on the video to something like…

• “Due to personal reasons, I’ll be aggressively leaning into protecting repro freedom”

• “Due to personal reasons, I’ll be aggressively leaning into passing universal child care”

• “Due to personal reasons, I’ll be aggressively leaning into protecting rural hospital access”

And for the visual, the b-roll used can of the principal fighting for the issue that they want eyes on. The b-roll used can also be more generic – ex: video clips from the hill that denote that the topic of the video is political in nature, while also providing an aesthetic point.

“Me when it comes to…” Trend: Creators are using this audio to point out something that they never miss on, like this. Unlike the example however, it doesn’t need to be something “bad,” in fact it can easily be something good, like “me when it comes to getting my colleagues on board to vote for infrastructure funding.” To make the trend happen, the principal should copy the format of this video, visually and by adding text to the video in the “me when it comes to” formula.

IG Reels Audios

Background audios that make Reels move

AUDIO → Joe Foster original audio

AUDIO → Wena Remix

AUDIO → Dancing With the Stars

 Threads to Thread

Reply or Repost to these digital notes on Threads

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing additional hospital or clinic closings and/or reduction of services, as a result of Trump’s bill.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by adding another reason why conservatives are currently losing their minds.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing the legal parameters and possibilities around this [if you have a law degree and/or experience in this particular realm].

The Thread → Reply OR repost if you think you could also make JD Vance cry.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing another household staple that has gone up in price and the percentage it’s gone up as a result of Trump’s tariffs. 

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing another violent character that the right-wing has embraced.

Skies Are Blue

Trending topics ATM on Bluesky

Cory Booker

Luigi Mangione

Robert Redford

Chuck Schumer

Susan Monarez

Dylan Roof

Reddit

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