#VIRAL, The Newsletter: July 24, 2025

"He won't release the list because he's on the list" becomes an evergreen of a TikTok audio

July 24, 2025

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

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EDITOR’S NOTE: There will be no newsletter next week. The chronically online writer of this run-through of trends will be on family vacay. xoxo see you on the flip [week of august 4, 2025].

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TIKTOK CONTENT TRENDS

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

“AN INFLUENCER QUOTED ME” TREND: This trend first emerged with musicians who were utilizing it as a way to hook empathetic audiences with the goal of having them listen to their music. The concept uses this formula: a video of the artist with their music instruments visible + an audio cut of their music playing + text on screen saying something along the lines of “an influencer quotes me $5K to post about my new song so I figured I’d just share it here instead.” The concept has now been adopted to other industries, like this brick and mortar example where a bar owner is using it to get more people through the door. The use case for politics could be:

  • “This is my bill about XYZ”

  • “This is the park I want funding to clean-up”

  • “This is the cooling center people should know about”

the trend is overall is an awareness tool that hits on people’s desires to support what feels like an underdog. We should note though, that regardless of this trend, you [yes, you] should be paying content creators and influencers – what they do is a job.

“INSTEAD I HAVE TO CALL MY SENATORS” AUDIO: This audio is fab for orgs that have young people in their midst, both employed and in their audience. It goes, “all I ever want is a cool boy that I could text sometimes, but instead I have to call my senators,” which makes it easy to lip-sync for a creator on-staff and a fun way to bring a political CTA to the table. Style-wise, the video format can be similar to the OG, but feature text on screen sharing what the CTA is [what should the audience be calling their senators about] and the caption area should provide the “how.”

“DAY OR WKND IN MOTION” TREND: Recaps are an easy way to nail the necessary balance as a political figure, of sharing relatable personal details, while also sharing political happenings – and this style variation that’s entered the chat, enables you to hit that balance just right. The how-to on the trend:

  • :08-15 second video of the principal creator for the account in .5

  •  5-7 bullet points on screen via text recapping an assortment of things from a day or wknd

  • Above the bullet points, text that says “[the day of the wk] + in motion” for example, “Saturday in motion”

  • Bonus: If there was a vlog or other relevant TikTok created during that day/wknd etc, link it in the caption 

“UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE TO GO TO…” TREND: This carousel-style trend aims to highlight a series of reasons that a creator/person needs to go to a certain place – usually it’s one of their faves that has all of their faves, like with this creator who positioned needing to go to NYC ASAP for her favorite foods. The trend can be adapted for anywhere and share/highlight the best of a certain theme – ex: the best ice cream. In the ice cream example, the carousel’s first image would be of ice cream in the relevant location – let’s go with Wisconsin here – and then have text added to the image saying "unfortunately I have to go to Wisconsin for an emergency.” The following slides would be images of ice cream from different dairy barns the creator loves around the state with the name of them added to the image. 

“HE’S ON THE LIST” AUDIO: For Trump-Epstein list related content, there’s this lil’ tune that bops the phrase “he won’t release the list because he’s on the list” to a beat. It’s an ultra-short audio clip so if you’re going to use it make sure that it’s for a video that’s clipped to the audio length, as opposed to a carousel post, where the sound will just go dead when it finishes playing. 

TIKTOK AUDIOS

TikTok audios for BTS and b-roll vids

AUDIO → suono originale

INSTA REELS AUDIOS 

Background audios that make Reels move

AUDIO → Best One Yet

AUDIO → Regalo

AUDIO → DEVOTION

Creative content concepts to try

“YOU COULD USE A…” TREND: This trend has been popping off with bar owners that are trying to tell potential customers that they could “use a drink.” That said, the trend can be used outside of the bar scene, and to share with an audience member something else that they could use – that “thing” should be something that the audience would not just benefit from, but comes from either a gov-related initiative. For example, a local government that was able to fund the purchase of 500 portable fans to provide their community – swap the fan in for the beer and provide the pertinent details on where audience/community members can come pick one up.

“WITH ME, WITHOUT ME” AUDIO: This audio can be used to show what life is like with a particular rep in elected office versus what it’s like without them – in other words, using the contrast parameters made possible by the audio to make an argument for the election or re-election of an elected. This trend can be adopted by the creator lip-syncing the audio and then adding a positive image that screams success to the screen for the “with me,” and an image that paints a disastrous picture for the “without me.” The “creator” should be pointing or guiding visually the audience to the “with” and “without me” examples on their screen. Then for the caption, elaborate on what’s at stake in that particular race.

“I LOVE LIFE AGAIN” AUDIO: This audio is being used for situations that just make someone love life [again] – something big, small, and mostly magical like this. It can be used over video of an experience relevant to where an elected or candidate is from, creating a local tie-in. The framing of the video, i.e. the text, should follow the “me when…” formula. In addition, if an elected politician achieves a political win legislatively, this trend can be used to highlight that experience as well – ex: “me when we pass healthcare reform.”

 THREADS TO THREAD

Reply or Repost to these digital notes on Threads

The Thread → Reply OR repost sharing a tracker for legislation or other political moving parts.

The Thread → Reply OR repost with a picture of you doing something in the science field.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing some of the policy achievements that make Minnesota a top place to live.

The Thread → Reply OR repost examples of Republicans voting against minimum wage increases.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by adding more color to the story about Hegseth’s Signalgate.

The Thread → Reply OR repost by sharing something heinous the Stephen Miller is doing.

SKIES ARE BLUE

Trending topics ATM on Bluesky

Columbia Politics

Bryan Kohberger

Hulk Hogan

Air Bud

Battlefield 6

Justin Fields

TAKE YOUR NEW MEDIA STRATEGY FURTHER

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