I’ve been spending a lot of time on Discord lately, which is the space for gamers, streamers, and crypto enthusiasts to gather with communities. If you’re not on Discord or never have been, we’ve got a quick description down below.

In fact, our whole team has been spending a lot of time on Discord. We’ve been working on an exciting NFT project that brings together all the topics we’ve been discussing in regards to the future of the internet and the future of content. We haven’t announced it yet but will be expanding with more details to come. Stay tuned!

Here’s what else I’ve got in store for you this newsletter:

• What people actually think of the metaverse
• WTF is Discord?
• The best format for Instagram Stories, according to a survey
• How to brand yourself on LinkedIn (for freelancers and entrepreneurs)

Have a tip, a POV, or just want to talk strategy? Hit me up at taylor@foodfightstudios.com

the social verse

week of Feb. 7, 2022

Features coming to Instagram

From new sound effects on reels to chronological order on feed, Instagram hasn’t given any of its users a break with their new updates the first month of this year.

Instagram is giving users the option to pin posts to their profile, which is a great option for businesses to feature the posts they want people to see when they first come to your profile.

The second feature is a quick undo option for accidentally sent stories. It’s a useful option when creating stories and you past a half-written or wrong text or you forget to tag someone and you need a quick undo button. So you can edit your story even after you upload it.

Instagram has still not announced the set date when these two features will be available on the app for everyone.

What do people actually think of the Metaverse?

Last year, when Facebook introduced the metaverse, there were mixed reactions. Some were excited about the new futuristic technology, and others expressed concerns over privacy risks and online security.

NordVPN asked internet users what they think about the metaverse. Here are some relevant stats:

• 55% of people don’t know what the metaverse is
• Only 14% of people can actually explain the metaverse to others
• 87% feel the metaverse is going to seriously compromise their privacy.
• 74% said that they would be willing to at the very least consider using the metaverse once it becomes readily available to them.
• 66% think the metaverse could replace social media as we currently know and use it.

What type of content gets the best reach on Instagram Stories?

This is the part where we say, “The answer may surprise you!” But in all seriousness, a new Socialinsider Instagram study based on an analysis of 962,402 IG Stories reported that image stories seem to outperform video stories in terms of gaining a greater reach.

“There are those Instagram users who appreciate a clear and easy-to-understand image story, and there are, of course, those users who like to be surprised by immersive and creative video stories,” the report said.

Here’s the chart:

I’ve always pushed for video content with clients since high-quality and optimized content tends to yield the best engagement. But images performing better in stories for reach? That one is giving me food for thought. For fight? Will revisit.

What format works best for you in stories?

brands & branding

How to brand yourself on LinkedIn (for freelancers and entrepreneurs)

1. Choose a professional photo. Get rid of that selfie.
2. Improve your headline. Your headline presents you to your audience. Use it to catch their eye and prove your worth. Showcase your abilities with a sentence or two.
3. Write a great summary. This is key. It should include a list of your relevant talents (typically hard skills), tools and software utilized, and so forth; years working in the field you’re scouting; job title; relevant accolades; and the position you seek.
4. Utilize keyword optimization. In your posts, in your tags, in your summary, and in your experience sections. This is where you get wider visibility.
5. Go all out on the experiences sections. See above.
6. Turn on Creator mode! We cannot stress this one enough. Creator mode has tons of functions that give you a boost and enable your content if you’re looking to grow your personal brand.
7. Once you’ve done all the above, start taking advantage of all the content creation and discovery features that LinkedIn has for creators and entrepreneurs. You can even see how we did it for a client here.

WTF is…?

Discord

Discord is a free chatting platform, especially for the gaming and crypto communities. Similar to Slack in UI/UX, you get to have a “server” specific to content/brands, channels threads to communicate on that server, or good old-fashioned dm’s (direct messages).

You can find a great breakdown of what discord is and how it’s used here.

BTW – we’re keeping tabs on this topic. More on this soon.