#I may be sad and depressed but I’m never downloading Tiktok

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#I may be sad and depressed but I’m never downloading Tiktok #gif #animatedtext #orangkayagatau #red #wordart #transparent

[letterstotheone-whomilovemost]

12/31/2020 (14 months after the event)

Happy New Years!

It has been a rather weird year, hasn’t it? While some days from this year feel like they were only yesterday, others feel like half a decade ago. To be quite frank, the same applies to the last time I saw you. I’m sure if you saw this you would go “blah blah, you say the same thing every time you write.” While this is true, I can’t help it. I started taking new medication, as of 14 days ago. My psychiatrist, I have one of those now-- along with a therapist haha, recommended me getting put on escitalopram for my severe anxiety. It’s always been pretty bad, but over the course of the past 14 months, it has skyrocketed pretty high. Isn’t it strange how our minds develop as we get older? Survival of the fittest? Or is it just adaptation? The human body is pretty neat, let alone our brain. 

I was going through my photos the other day, and got the sudden urge to delete all of them. Of course, I’m not as crazy as just upright deleting them-- so I uploaded all of them onto a drive, and then deleted them from my phone. All of them. Decided it was time for a fresh start, why not start with the one thing I open every day, right? I decided earlier today, about a week after I deleted all of my photos, that I would go into my drive to try and find a photo from September that I downloaded from a manga I was reading. Of course I got sidetracked, I scrolled to 2014 and was going through all of my old photos with my brother and my family, and then suddenly I got to 2017 and there it was. The black and white photo of you and I at the parking deck, both of us laughing as hard as we possibly could. I smiled softly of course, as the beautiful memory came rushing over me. But then something hit me. For some reason, this isn’t how I remember you. My brain forgot what you looked like, or at least started trying to. It’s been about a year since I last saw a photo of you. While the brain is so incredibly amazing, it has a bad habit of memories starting to fade, especially when it’s a person attached to bad memories as well. It works in some cases, where people are trying to forget-- but even still it does the opposite and leaves the person going “Why can’t I forget you!?”. Strange, right? The human mind is so beautiful. I can still hear you talking to me sometimes, if I try hard enough. Lately, I haven’t been so hard on myself. I’m trying to figure myself out still, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is okay that I still love you. I know I more than likely always will. That’s what love is, right? Being able to love and never losing that love, no matter what happens. 

All of this being said, I figured I would kind of recap everything that has happened in the wonderful year of 2020. It has been one hell of a ride.

January, the month of my brother’s 15th birthday. He was so happy and we all celebrated his birthday with him the following weekend. We also went hiking the same month, while it was cold; my mother, brother, and I had a blast. This month was mostly just working and being lazy on my off days. I had a fall out with my best friend.

February, I had a love hate relationship with this month. I tried dating someone new, I saw that you had gotten in a relationship two months prior and figured it was time for me to try and move on as well. Needless to say, dude was a douchebag and was a very violent individual. I left him within 3 weeks. My birth father, his newlywed wife, my cousin from my favorite uncle, whom I had never met until then, and I all went to Ruby Falls. It was quite a beautiful journey. Whilst I fought with my father, it turned out to be an okay experience. Later in the month, I ended up getting into a fight with my landlord, who was demanding that I pay extra, even though I was not behind on any payments. I ended up cooperating with them, so that I didn’t lose my home. I celebrated my little sister’s fifth birthday.

March, I lost my job. Millions and millions of other people did as well. Covid-19 struck the world. I took it lightly and just assumed that yet again, the media was blowing things out of proportion. My landlord wasn’t understanding of the fact I was put out of work, along with millions of others. They ended up being generous for the month after I showed them statistics. I ended up being lazy, doing nothing but watching Netflix and Disney plus for the entire month.

April, Corona Virus was boring at this point. We had all been told, “Oh! We’ll all be open for business again in the next two weeks!”. That was the first week of March, and it was now April. The government didn’t give us any kind of help until the last week, so that kind of fucked me. I spent most days laying in bed on TikTok. I also got super into streaming in the beginning of this month, and my platform was finally starting to take off.

May, unemployed for two months. I debated taking a job at a warehouse. Unfortunately, the media deterred me from doing so. There was a spike of cases in my state; it was terrifying. I didn’t leave my house much. I got my dog, for the first time in 4 years. It was beautiful, I cried. He was so happy to be back home. I started a routine of watching anime every morning at 7 am and then going for a walk. I wanted to get back into a daily routine, regardless if I had a job or not. I was falling behind on bills, and I really needed to distract myself. I started getting into digital art, rather than traditional, for the first time ever. I stopped making my music.

June, I reconnected with a lot of old online friends from 2013. It was strange and I didn’t really know how to feel about it. It was nostalgic in a way, spending late nights on discord calls. I didn’t really enjoy it all too much, I felt like it all needed to stay in the past. I started anti-depressants, again. This time it was Prozac. It made me feel extremely drowsy, and made me feel out of body most of the time. I tried to date, again. An old friend that I had from 2013, we reconnected and even though they were out of state, I decided-- “Hey, maybe this will be good for me. I don’t have to worry about them getting aggressive with me, we can take things slow, and we can pace ourselves.” Oh man, if only I knew. He flew down to my state, met the family, was extremely respectful and even stayed in a hotel the first trip. Everything seemed to be going okay.

July, my 21st birthday. Did I drink? No. Sounds crazy, right? I had about half a drink, and decided I just didn’t want any. I had stopped taking my antidepressants, the new boyfriend had said that I wasn’t acting right. It fed into my suspicion, that the meds weren’t doing a whole lot for me. They were just making me really sleepy and on edge all the time. The new boyfriend had come down again for my birthday and mother’s birthday, since we share the same birth week. Celebrated with my mom, her best friend, and I. July was pretty hectic, since I had decided I would be moving to West Virginia on August 5, 2020.

August, I moved to West Virginia. I packed up all of my belongings, uprooted everything I had ever known, hugged my family goodbye, and got into the back of a truck with a u-haul attached to it. I rode in the back of the vehicle for 14 hours, fell asleep in Kentucky, woke up in Ohio. It was daylight by the time we approached West Virginia. It was so beautiful, all of the mountains. I was moving into the house in which he lived in, which his sister was next door on one side, and his parents on the other side. We had the nice river breeze, since Ohio river was within eyesight. I lived in the Tri-state area so it was Pennsylvania on one side, Ohio on the other, and us-- five minutes to each state. It was a good first couple of days. Then we got into our first fight. I was unable to work, since I left my car behind. Luckily, I had saved up a bunch of money for me to be able to buy one. He hit me with really low blows, saying I didn’t need to work-- since women weren’t good for that kind of thing. It hurt, to be honest. I had never seen him like this before, in the eight years I had known of his existence. He had been with me in my hometown for three weeks and not once acted like this. I walked on eggshells, bought a car with my hard earned money, then got a management job at the Domino’s that was ten minutes from my town I was living in. Towards the end of the month, he got aggressive with me. He stopped working the same week I had moved in, he had no car. He had no ambition, he decided to just give up. Maybe that’s what I tried to see, maybe-- just maybe I could help him find some ambition. I wanted to save him, in a way? We got into a severe fight, I couldn’t take it anymore-- I fought back, and he ended up swinging on me.

September, I packed all of my belongings that I could into my tiny little Toyota, and left in the middle of the night. I had one thing on my mind, and that was to go to my mom’s house. My mother had known how bad he had gotten, since he acted such a way with my mother on the phone, unknowingly. I drove for 15 hours, well 13 but with rest stops to nap for a bit since I was running off of no sleep, but I finally ended up back home. I ended up staying with my mom for a bit. Later had to relocate, so I moved in with an old friend. Started streaming again.

October, Worked. Literally worked the entire month, my entire existence fell into dread. I became overly aware of how much time had passed. I felt like I had been doing nothing. I dreaded the last day of the month, every day just gave me more and more sadness.  I didn’t want the day to come. I started dreaming of you more and more and more. Halloween came, I decided to look at it differently, I started to thank you-- rather than try to hate you. I came to the conclusion that I would never hate you.

November, Thanksgiving! I started to become grateful, moved back into my mom’s house. It was a bumpy ride, but I managed to get back into the habit of doing healthy things. Started going to the gym again, drinking more water. I told my father he was dead to me, haven’t spoken to him since. I got to spend Thanksgiving with my real family, my mother and her best friend’s family. They watched me grow up since the day I was born. It was so much better than any other holiday I had ever had up to this date.

December, I started a new form of medicine. This time it was for anxiety, since that’s the main factor of my illness-- or so we think so far. I am on escitalopram, and I started it the week before Christmas. I got to see my real family again. It was nice, but this time I got to reunite with my childhood best friend for the first time in fifteen years. It was so lovely. I have become almost bedridden again, but it won’t last long-- since it’s just a side effect of my medicine. I also got to see some friends from high school, but then I realized-- they’re the exact same way they’ve been since the beginning. They wanted nothing but to talk about drama. It just isn’t my thing, I don’t like dealing with people much anymore, because of the constant drama. I’ve learned a lot about people changing, and the lack thereof.

I think this year has been a year full of lessons for me, and it has been tough. As they say, there’s no pleasure without pain, no pain no gain, right? This year has taught me a lot about myself and the people around me, and I am extremely grateful for the things I have experienced. I’ve learned so much about who I am as a person. I’ve grown a lot, while this year has kicked my ass. I have high hopes for the next year. For the first time, since 2016, I finally see a future in myself, by myself. 

To New Beginnings, Lovebug.

I love you, always.

22:27

#dear lover #dear love #letters to the one i love most #letters to the one i loved most #letters to you

[artofpeacelove]

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“Bye, I’m going to go learn a new TikTok dance” was the near-constant refrain I heard from my college-aged sister, Rory, while I was visiting my parents’ house over the holidays a few months ago. She was a relatively early adopter of the now ubiquitous social media platform—and I was not. So, it took me a while to understand that when she’d spend hours upon hours in her childhood bedroom perfecting her rendition of the viral Renegade dance (set to Atlanta rapper K Camp’s song “Lottery”), she was actually practicing a self-care ritual. Wellness is carving out a presence on TikTok (currently the most downloaded app from the App Store) just as it’s found its place on other platforms in the past decade—and synchronized dances only scratch the surface.

TikTok’s 800 million active users have viewed its #wellness-tagged videos nearly 160 million times and its #health-tagged posts 4.3 billion times. While TikTok is still most popular among teenaged users, the number of adults flocking to the platform has multiplied by more than five times between October 2017 and March 2019—and it’s surely grown even more since then, if the trending #over30 hashtag is any indication. Among the content creators generating such buzz are doctors and nurses, trainers and ballerinas, dietitians and foodies, meditation experts and therapists. With the coronavirus pandemic continuing on, and #stayathome being the hashtag dominating our lives, there perhaps has never been a better time for these TikTok stars to use their platform to provide healthy value to the many lives they reach.

“Researchers are seeing that people moving together in synchrony reduces stress.” —Anita Blanchard, PhD, psychologist

What differentiates TikTok from other social mediums is its inherent community focus—something crucially missing in many of our lives as we shelter in place—because it allows people to practice wellness in synchronicity with others. Once something like a dance is shared on TikTok, it’s easily learned, practiced, and reposted by other users who bond over it. This is a departure from Instagram, where the mark of a successful post is very much reliant on the number of comments and likes it receives. But with TikTok, a winning video more so relies on how much people interact with the content IRL—either by emulating or building on it. “Researchers are seeing that people moving together in synchrony reduces stress,” says psychologist Anita Blanchard, PhD. “And I think the idea of being so isolated, but having the ability to move together and exercise in tandem creates both physical health and mental health.”

In other words, in a time when an estimated 13 percent of Americans are unemployed and still more have shifted to remote-working situations to stop the spread of COVID-19, TikTok has become a digital destination for communicating about various categories of your wellness routine—from fitness to food and mental health to skin care. And sure, a platform like Facebook can foster close-knit communities, but TikTok offers the opportunity to share your wellness practices and do them with others. Anybody who likes to dance can connect with someone who’s an ocean away by doing that same (often-complicated) dance, fostering a connection not dissimilar from they way mirror neurons fire up when we mimic one another. And while TikTok certainly is not an antidote for the sadness and uncertainty many of us are feeling right now, it does offer an influx of free wellness practices that simulate the togetherness we yearn for in a physically and socially distant world.

Fitness on TikTok: Fast, fun, and oh-so-accessible

TikTok users like Jalaiah Harmon, creator of the viral TikTok Renegade dance, undoubtedly deserve a special place in the platform’s Hall of Fame for inspiring countless others to master heart-rate spiking choreography, but there are so many other forms of fitness-forward content as well. Yoga, running, and ballet are just a few of the exercise modalities you’ll find.

Cassey Ho, founder of Blogilates, has garnered 1.2 million followers since she first started making Pilates-inspired TikTok workout videos in December 2019. “Every year, there’s a new platform, and you have to ask yourself if this one’s going to stick,” says Ho (who started Blogilates on YouTube in 2009). That’s because content needs to be created with the specific platform in mind, meaning a YouTube video can’t double as a TikTok video, and with all the social platforms available, a creator needs to be wise about where they focus their time and resources. For Ho, at least, the decision to hop on the TikTok train has paid off in spades.

“The beauty of TikTok is that you can keep trying things and people don’t unfollow you. Your content is always pushed to someone new and pushed to a new audience, so there’s always a chance for discovery,” Ho says. Indeed, TikTok’s algorithm constantly serves up content from unknown names, so TikTok users can expect to experience wellness serendipity and learn something new and helpful during each session.

“Since the start of quarantine, I have been actively referencing the #indoorworkout [tag]. It’s an easy and simple way to get quick circuits in throughout the day.” —Chrissy Goncalves, TikTok user

Chrissy Goncalves, a TikTok user with AskGenZ (a resource anyone can use to ask questions to members of that generation), says the open and broad algorithm is what led her to curate her own TikTok workout routine. “Since the start of quarantine, I have been actively referencing the #indoorworkout [tag]. It’s an easy and simple way to get quick circuits in throughout the day.”

It’s worth mentioning that since anyone with internet access and a smartphone can create content on TikTok, some videos actually share harmful or at least unverified information. Many pages, Ho’s included, peddle pieces of shame-driven advice about bloating, “slimming” meals, and exercises for “long legs,” for example.

Still, psychologist Chrysalis Wright, PhD, who specializes in social media behavior, believes that TikTok has the power to do more good than harm, so long as users approach their feeds with a healthy dose of scrutiny. “Having free, readily available access to fitness instructors and dietitians who are providing quick, bite-size tips on wellness can not only motivate viewers but can also make information easily available and easier to understand,” says Dr. Wright. “This, in turn, promotes and encourages wellness, and demonstrates how people can make small changes that lead to reaching to larger goals.”

Mental-health content on TikTok: Joy-sparking and honest, but not expert-vetted

“Laughter is the best medicine, so for me, TikTok has been an unintentional resource for wellness in that way,” says TikTok user Taylor Lott. “While so many other platforms have necessary yet bleak information on the current climate, TikTok offers humorous relief.” Certainly, other platforms—specifically Twitter—deal in comedy, but TikTok’s particular brand of humor is America’s Funniest Home Videos-meets-Vine (RIP). The laughs are mostly apolitical, always relatable, and rely on a fair amount of talking animals.

As silly as it may seem to say that watching a video of a hedgehog getting wrapped in a blanket counts as a “wellness practice,” Lott makes a fair point: Joy is a resource that’s more valuable than likes, followers, or comments. Laughter is hugely beneficial for stress relief, but it’s not the only mental-health perk people get from scrolling TikTok.

The #mentalhealth tag on the app has 434 million views, and it might just be one of the most pep-talk-laden destinations on the web. Take @taylorcassidyj’s most popular videos for evidence, which feature her running up to the camera and saying: “Stop. Don’t give up! You’re literally almost there. You’re almost there! Look, you’re almost there! It’s right over there! So stop. Get up, keep going!”

@taylorcassidyjdon’t give up!! You CAN do it

##selfcare##selflove##encouragement##dontgiveup##mentalhealth##blacktiktok##melanin♬ original sound – taylorcassidyj

https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js

Beyond motivational words, Genuine vulnerability is also highly valued by TikTok users: As The Philadelphia Inquirer reported late last year, teenagers specifically have started to use the platform as a place for discourse about sensitive topics like sexuality, struggles with depression, and relationship abuse. “It’s exciting and shows that young people are willing to have conversations that people a few generations ago have not had,” Jessa Lingel, PhD, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s kind of like, ‘How can we all get through this together? How can we share content to deal with this together?’”

What’s missing, however, is more direct-from-professional content that’s long been available on Instagram, where users can follow mental-health professionals. Hopefully in time, mental-health experts will sign on the way pros in the fitness, food, and beauty categories have.

Food and health on TikTok: Equal parts helpful and potentially harmful

“I joined TikTok about two months ago and started using it for a good laugh and mindless pleasure,” says Stephanie Grasso, RD, a clinical dietitian nutritionist with almost 55,000 TikTok followers. “I thought it was time to make my first TikTok after scrolling through and watching inaccurate nutrition information being spread.” And, to be sure, there’s a lot of bad intel swirling: While there are accredited dietitians on TikTok, like Grasso, serving up well-researched advice, there are seemingly just as many users with no credentials offering unscientific advice on subjects like bloating, weight management, and skinny-making “miracle” practices.

Luckily, a number of pros like Grasso are determined to drown out body-shaming rhetoric with nutrition advice designed to help their followers eat for energy, cognitive health, and athletic performance. “I use evidence-based research and my clinical experience to emphasize fundamental elements of nutrition to help keep healthy,” says Grasso, whose videos feature healthy recipes and nutritional myth-busters.

@stephgrassodietitianhttps://ift.tt/3bj0MS1 ##dietitian ##weightloss ##wellnesstips ##mealprep ##fyp ##healthtips♬ Heartless – Diplo & Julia Michaels feat. Morgan Wallen

https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js

Anecdotally speaking, people like Grasso seem to be accomplishing that mission. My sister and the other TikTok devotees I reached out to for this article tell me that the healthy recipe ideas, posts on intuitive eating, and myth-busting are three especially helpful takeaways from the app. Still, though, it’s difficult to avoid posts that try to make you feel bad about yourself and your choices. “Like any social media platform, viewers should try to emphasize the benefits of the app and minimize the potential negatives of the app,” says Dr. Wright. “Follow those who provide useful tips and suggestions and avoid those who engage in body-shaming others. Try to keep the vibe positive to fully reap the benefits of the app’s potential.”

Beauty on TikTok: A wild west of DIY hacks, dupes, reviews, and expert intel

TikTok has become home to a lot of DIY beauty-ritual ideas (think: hairspray made with avocado oil, sea salt, and essential oils)—but that’s not all. It also offers a wealth of money-saving tips (e.l.f. Cosmetics Poreless Putty Primer is a pretty great dupe for Tatcha’s Silk Canvas Primer); beauty hacks (you can totally mixyour lip balm with eyeshadow to make your lips and lids matchy-matchy); and has convinced me, personally, to buy products I was on the fence about (like the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer Hot Air Brush).

Besides everyday humans sharing their beauty hacks on TikTok, though, makeup artists and dermatologists also get a ton of airtime. Dermatologist Joyce Park, MD, has more than 100,000 followers and uses her presence to share remedies for dry hands, causes of rosacea flare-ups, her own skin-care routine, and the most common conditions she treats as a derm.

And while TikTok offers so much valuable content across a number of categories, to get the very most from it, Dr. Blanchard says you’re going to want to get your friends involved, even if just virtually. “If you’re not quarantining alone, getting on TikTok together would be the best way to get the most out of what you see. Doing it with someone is going to give you the most psychological and physical bang for the buck,” she says. “If you can’t [create videos with someone who is physically with you], try to do it with someone on Zoom or FaceTime, so you feel like you’re doing it together.”

This applies to every single wellness ritual you see on TikTok: choreography, healthy baking, TikTok meditations, and more. This is social media after all, folks. We may not be in the same room as one another, but we can still dance together.

Now that you’re hooked on TikTok, here’s how to keep from furiously appstrurbating before bed. And, setting boundaries with Instagram is important, too.  

from Good Advice – Well+Good https://ift.tt/2XJqSd7 via IFTTT

#Wellness on TikTok is booming—and choreographed dances don’t even scratch the surface #Good Advice –

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15 of the Most Important Instagram Trends to Watch Right Now

Instagram trends can make or break your social marketing strategy. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of them.

Brands that keep up with the top trends on Instagram can take advantage of new features and beta tools ahead of their competitors. They also show their followers they know what’s up.

With added pressure from TikTok and a new head of company, Instagram is rolling out lots of new innovations, features, and tools.

These are the top trends on Instagram we’re watching right now.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a lifestyle photographer used to grow from 0 to 600,000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

15 top Instagram trends to watch for

1. More Instagram Stories, fewer posts

Instagram Stories have taken over, with more than 500 million viewers every day.

They have also become the place where people keep tabs on their friends and family, according to Instagram research.

On the other hand, the Instagram feed is primarily associated with polished content and discovery.

Getting rid of the chronological feed has only reinforced that perception. Posts now need to be slightly more evergreen. Stories seem more real-time by contrast.

The majority of users see the Instagram feed as a place to find information and discover products and brands.

While that’s good news for brands, regular users find it more difficult to imagine their content in the mix. Some have viewed Instagram’s decision to test hiding likes as an attempt to spur more sharing from those who feel intimidated by the feed.

2. Growth of the Explore tab

More than 200 million Instagrammers check the Explore grid every day and that number is expected to rise this year.

The feed’s new navigation bar now offers shortcuts to IGTV and Shop. From there, people can delve into their niche interests, like beauty, travel, food, or art.

Or, they can get lost in a selection of Stories that will now be algorithmically fed into the Explore feed.

3. Sound on for Instagram Stories

It’s still important to design for sound off environments. But a recent Facebook (and Instagram) study found that viewers like voiceover and music. 80% of Stories with voiceover or music performed better than ads without.

Currently 60% of Instagram Stories are viewed with sound on.

Maybe TikTok’s musical platform has helped turn up the volume across social media channels. Either way, expect TikTok to influence more Instagram trends to come.

4. Strategic stickers in Instagram Stories

Stickers are popular on Instagram Stories, but businesses have had mixed results with them. That’s going to change this year, though.

Expect to see fewer unnecessary and generic stickers, and more polished and original branded stickers over 2019.

5. More interactive Instagram Stories

While stickers have been a mixed bag for businesses, interactive stickers have been a hit.

Questions, poll, countdown, and emoji-slider stickers don’t just prompt more engagement, they make Instagram Stories more sticky. In other words, people stick around longer if there’s something for them to interact with.

For instance, Instagram internal data shows that nine times out of 10, the polling sticker increases video views.

Look for Instagram to unveil for interactive elements over the coming year.

6. Easier ways to shop on Instagram

With more than 70% of shopping enthusiasts using Instagram to explore brands, Instagram now rivals Pinterest as a platform for product discovery.

Over the past year Instagram introduced product tags in feed posts, product stickers in Stories, and a shopping feed via the Explore tab.

With more than 130 million taps on these tags each month, a direct buying option is the logical next step. In March 2019, Instagram rolled out a beta in-app Checkout feature that it’s testing with 20 brands, including Adidas, Burberry, Nike, and Revolve.

Instagram charges merchants a selling fee to use Checkout. But, if it spikes enough sales, the fee won’t stop more brands and influencers from getting in on the action.

Pick up tips on how to make your Instagram account more shoppable.

7. Shoppable influencers

Instagram influencers face a barrage of comments and DMs that often ask the same question: Where’d you get that?

To save influencers’ time, Instagram now lets creators tag products in their posts, which can be purchased directly with Instagram Checkout.

Only a select few currently have access to the feature, including Chiara Ferragni, Kylie Jenner, and Vogue.

Right now, they can only tag businesses participating in the beta Checkout program. But more will be available soon.

8. More realness and representation

Authenticity is so last year. 2019 is all about #nofilter.

Celebrity influencers like Jameela Jamil have waged a war on airbrushing, photoshopping, filtering, body shaming, and non-inclusive creative.

View this post on Instagram

Boob stretch marks are a normal, beautiful thing. I have stretch marks all over my body and I hereby rename them all Babe Marks. They are a sign my body dared to take up extra space in a society that demands our eternal thinness. They are my badge of honour for resisting society’s weaponizing of the female form. ❤️ ps. My face is white because I wear spf 100 sunscreen like a boss. ???? PS. LOVE YOUR BROWN SKIN. I tan responsibly but I love to tan! I love to embrace and celebrate my heritage. This skin bleaching and whitening should be banned. It’s inherently racist, classist and emotionally very damaging. #brownandproud

A post shared by Jameela Jamil (@jameelajamilofficial) on Apr 1, 2019 at 7:50am PDT

Expect to see stretch marks, zits, and more from brands, especially in Instagram Stories. And with it expect to see more real talk about mental health, body insecurities, and other important issues.

In fact, Jamil’s radically inclusive @i_weigh account continues to gain followers. And with a follow from @sussexroyal, the official account of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, I WEIGH’s profile will by royally amplified.

Expect brands to more frequently sub models for real people. You should also see more diverse creative.

Aerie has earned major social klout for its “Retouching free since 2014” aesthetic. This goes for influencer partnerships, too. See IKEA’s partnership with the rainbow Amina Mucciolo being @studiomucci.

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#tbt I can’t believe it’s already been a year since this happened! Caption from the original post: “Total full circle moment! @mrstudiomucci and I got married at @ikeausa 10 years ago and now our loft is featured in the @ikeafamilymag ???????????? and my mug is on the cover ????!” See link in my bio for the full #Ikea home tour.

A post shared by Amina Mucciolo (@studiomucci) on Mar 28, 2019 at 10:36pm PDT

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"Middle school and high school years were really hard for me. When it came to accepting my body it felt like a forever struggle that would never ease up. Now I know that my beauty is not determined by how skinny my waistline is or how perfect my skin is. The truth is I know I am beautiful, every day, outside and in. Every pimple, stretch mark, every roll and curve are real and unretouched. My beauty shines every day in every way. And yours does too." @daniebb3 Loves the swim she's in! Share your unretouched swim photos with #AerieREAL @Aerie & we’ll donate $1 (up to $50K) to @NEDA for every post.

A post shared by aerie (@aerie) on May 20, 2019 at 6:00pm PDT

9. Rise of relatable influencers

Users are looking for authenticity from their influencers, too. The unrealistic lifestyles and picture-perfect aesthetics of certain Instagram influencers has given rise to Instagram vs. Reality memes. Out of that has come a new breed of influencer: the relatable influencer.

For example, mommy blogger Laura Izumikawa shares the ups and the downs of parenting. Joana Ceddia channels her awkwardness into humour. Jen Gotch talks anxiety and bipolar disorder. These influencers attract followers who are going through similar experiences.

As Izumikawa shares, “People are on social media to connect—or at the very least—relate to others. Being open and transparent will go a long way to help you connect with your audience.”

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This is feels like my new normal. Swollen eyes, constant flow of tears and long, beautiful hair. It’s stress, and insecurity and sadness.  it’s emotions – some of which I haven’t felt in a long time.  And it’s not that my meds don’t work or that I’m having a depressive episode, and part of me wishes it was, because I know exactly what to do when that type of situation arises.  Strangely they come with less pain than this. Less tears.  Less rumination and obsessive thinking because the sensation is closer to no emotion than all emotion.  Add in a little shame, because I thought I was stronger than this.  And also I realized that I am not immune to vulnerability and vulnerability has kind of become my brand.  And it feels scary to share and it feels oftentimes meaningless to share, because it is really personal and I don’t have a solution and I usually like to offer solutions along with problems. And I’m in this fucked place because I asked to be and I should be grateful. I’m here alone, in solitary confinement – a form of psychological torture, writing this book that I really want a lot of people to read, because although it is a memoir, the goal is not just to share funny stories from my past. The goal is to enlighten people about their own mental health, to deglamorize success, build emotional intelligence, help as many people as possible feel less alone and yes of course, make everyone laugh. And I feel that instagram was a big part of what brought me this opportunity so I feel accountable to the platform and more specifically to you. So yeah, no solution here. Just an update, because the lack of an update was making me feel worse than an actual update. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I believe there is a light at the end of every tunnel. I just am not deep enough until the tunnel to see it and I want to go back, or lay down & cry or watch the entire first season of the Walking Dead while drunk.  But I won’t because I know moving forward is the only way through. Don’t feel bad for me, I am just identifying what is happening and acknowledging that I hate it more than going to the dentist naked – which I never have done, but it sounds awful.

A post shared by jen gotch (@jengotch) on Jan 27, 2019 at 3:59pm PST

10. The influence of TikTok

The unstoppable growth of TikTok, a music-backed video-sharing app that’s popular with teens, may inspire copycat behaviour from Instagram—as we saw with Snapchat.

IGTV will probably see the most changes, since many think the channel is due for a revamp.

And there are already early signs. Instagram’s recent overhaul of the IGTV feed resembles a cross between TikTok and Snapchat’s Discover feeds. Horizontal scrolling has been replaced with vertical scrolling. And, an algorithm automatically queues up the next video for you to view.

TikTok’s popular challenges have already organically migrated into Instagram follower feeds. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see Instagram attempt to foster more of that, especially since these challenges inspire content creation.

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anxiety has left the group chat.

A post shared by Liz Plank (@feministabulous) on May 14, 2019 at 11:19am PDT

11. More channel-to-channel sharing

With posts in Stories and IGTV videos in the feed, Instagram has been toying with increased linkage between its different formats. Expect to see more crossover from brands who are attempting to boost views in different streams.

For example, when Instagram changed its feed algorithm, we saw more people sharing “new post” alerts in their Stories. Also, one-minute IGTV teasers have been popping up in the feed to direct viewers to the main channel.

Stories are no longer contained to the top of the app either. Now, they’ll show up in the Explore grid too.

The grid will offer personalized Stories recommendations, reminiscent of TikTok.

Instagram is reportedly testing adding direct links for Instagram Stories, too.

12. Sharing Twitter takes on Instagram

Hot takes have taken over Twitter, and they’re showing up on Instagram more and more.

It’s true, @fuckjerry’s been stealing (ahem, now crediting) Tweet memes for years. But, accounts like @will_ent show that this Instagram trend is not letting up.

As The Verge author Megan Farokhmanesh notes, “For some meme creators, Twitter and Tumblr are a canvas, while Instagram is the wall where they display their work.”

Look for Tweets appearing in more Instagram-friendly templates, from branded backgrounds to cleaner, cropped screenshots.

Expect also to see more text-a-gramming, too, ranging from Rupi Kaur-esque poems to more type-moding in Instagram Stories.

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#ElleWoods2020

A post shared by Hello Sunshine (@hellosunshine) on May 17, 2019 at 9:59am PDT

Read more about what meme creators get right on Instagram.

13. Increased social activism

With heightened activism spurred by social unrest and the upcoming elections in Canada and the United States, people are sharing their opinions on social media more than ever.

Text-friendly platforms like Facebook and Twitter have traditionally been associated with social activism. But Instagrammers now have a stronger-than-ever grasp of how to use the platform to share and amplify their views.

From “I voted” stickers to climate change memes, it’s become increasingly common and sometimes inescapable for people and brands to take a stand on the platform.

Activism on all fronts often involves calls for donations to nonprofits.

In February, Instagram introduced a donation sticker that can be added to Stories. While the feature is not yet available to everyone, people will be able to select a nonprofit and even customize the name of their fundraiser.

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School strike Day 1… Now I’m not alone anymore! On Friday 24/5 we are striking in 1387 places in 111 countries. And counting! I Stockholm samlas vi i Humlegården kl 11:30 nu på fredag. Sen går vi till Kungsträdgården. Forskare och aktivister talar, inklusive jag. På scen: Astrid S, Molly Sandén, Jireel, Danny Saucedo, Lamix och Annika Norlin (Säkert!) Dela detta!! Sprid till alla!! #FridaysForFuture #schoolstrike4climate #climatestrike

A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) on May 21, 2019 at 11:50am PDT

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Saw this sign near my neighborhood coffee shop. It, like all of last night’s firsts, gives me so much hope. For the first time in HISTORY, there will be more than 100 women in Congress, speaking for us. Check out @glennondoyle’s latest post for a great list of where things stand. #midtermsmatter

A post shared by Natalie Portman (@natalieportman) on Nov 7, 2018 at 1:51pm PST

14. Crackdown on Instagram bots

Facebook and Twitter have been under the microscope for their role in influencing elections and harbouring hate speech. And more recent reports are uncovering the role Instagram has played, too.

Over the coming year, we’ll likely see Instagram take steps to combat abuse on its platform. We’ve already seen a few, including increased access to verification and the addition of “About this Account” to profiles with large followings.

Bans on Facebook may start to apply to Instagram, too. For example, far-right figures Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, and Laura Loomer were removed from both sites this month.

But before there were any headlines about Russian meddling, Instagram already had a bot problem. Fake engagement bots have long been the scourge of the app, and Facebook has already started the year off by slamming bot sellers with lawsuits.

More purges, enhanced security, and increased scrutiny will likely follow in 2019.

15. Changes to Instagram Direct

Rumours that Instagram would completely push direct messaging to its standalone Direct app can finally be put to rest, at least for now.

With Direct gone, it’s likely that Instagram users will see some changes or improvements to the in-app messaging feature instead.

GIFs were introduced last year, and the Quick Replies tool was added to help businesses quickly answer frequently asked questions. It’s possible that Instagram will offer more filtering options for business and regular accounts.

For example, the option to make a Close Friends list for Instagram Stories makes it easier to direct message a group of friends at once. There are also rumours that Instagram will make direct messaging available on desktop.

Instagram is testing option to share content to Close Friends each separately pic.twitter.com/p21B4oiPof

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 15, 2019

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