YouTubetorial

             I've recently experienced several instances when YouTube has taught me valuable life lessons. Some of these include how to cut a whole pineapple, how to contour with makeup, how to straighten hair with a flatiron, and how to knit in the round. Among the endless cat videos, screen recordings of people playing video games, and videos that are downright impossible to describe with words, there can also be discovered a plethora of tutorials. These videos can include anything from tips on makeup and hair to the best way to fry a turkey. All you have to do is search what you want to learn and chances are someone has made an instructional video for it.

            That being said, just because a video is on YouTube is not an indication that it is credible or contains quality content. Anyone at all can create a video and upload it to YouTube. Sometimes it might take a bit of searching before truly helpful tutorial content is obtained. With YouTube’s massive reach, especially from Gen Z, some users have become “YouTube famous” from creating quality tutorials on their channel, to which other users can subscribe.

From the helpful tutorials that I have observed, I have compiled a few tips that were important determinants for which videos appeared to be a higher quality over others.

1.     Create a theme. For example, a baking tutorial. It would instruct on various techniques that might be easier to follow when watched rather than described in a recipe book or a blog. The theme allows followers to know the first place to look if they have specific video needs.

2.     Build trust. the more people can trust the source of a YouTube channel, the more followers it will gain. Trust can be gained by delivering excellent content and avoiding negative comments.

3.     Be concise. It is good to include personal details so that the audience feels more comfortable with the tutorial instructor, but never so much detail that it overshadows the viewer’s goal for instantly available instructions.

4.     Prepare ahead of time. The video should be recorded in a setting that does not distract from the message and items that are used for instruction should be organized and readily available.

With all of these tips in hand, YouTube can be a great social media platform for both learning and instruction.

Backscratchers

Are we all just a bunch of backscratchers? You might have heard the phrase, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” It is essentially saying that “I’ll help you out if I can count on you to help me out in return.” This concept is not lost on social media. Many social media users “feel the itch” to get as many likes/follows/endorsements as possible. Therefore, in order to get this, avid users practice the tactic of offering reciprocation upfront. For an everyday example, if you see something good that your friend is eating and ask if they want a bite of whatever you’re eating, they might decline, but ultimately they’ll feel obligated to offer you a bite of their food in return. If you don’t believe me, test this theory and see how well it works out. It may be wise to only try this with friend though…you can’t just go walking around offering random people bites of your food and expect them to offer you theirs in return. In this case, they will think you are creepy and probably leave as quickly as possible. The same goes for social media platforms like LinkedIn. It is not wise to endorse someone’s skill that you barely know and expect them to return the favor. The person may not mind, because that’s one more endorsement that they have to show for that skill, but they are not likely to seek you out to endorse any of your skills. Instagram, on the other hand, has a little more leeway when it comes to “follow for follow” comments. Users who are seeking to gain a larger following will often include a hashtag such as: “#follow4follow” which implies that the user will follow back anyone who follows them.

It comes down to weighing the cost of offering someone else their objective in order to receive your own objective in return. It does not cost someone very much to simply click a button once it is asked of them, especially if they think they will ultimately get a benefit from it. At this point it might be helpful to do a bit of cost analysis for different types of users for social media platforms. It comes down to whether or not the time and effort it takes to find and contact other users for followers/likes/endorsements (the cost) is worth less than the result of gaining a few more followers/likes/endorsements (the benefit). For a typical user, this may not be such a difficult decision. A celebrity, on the other hand, may have many more options for how to fill their valuable time.

Instagress is a website used by celebrities and brands that was created solely for Instagram automation. When turned on, it can essentially find/like/follow other Instagramers who have similar interests/likes to the user’s account who will like/follow the user in return.

But when does it cross the line for an endorsement/like/follow to no longer be considered credible? If it is all a one-for-one and not truly based on someone’s actual skill or things people truly like, what does the number ultimately mean for users? This process has the potential to become more of an indication that someone is willing to put themselves out there in order to receive the numbers rather than organically generating a valid following. It raises the question: if those who have collected a high number of followers or endorsements got that way sincerely by being a well-liked and admired person, or are they’re just really good backscratchers?

To find out more about Instagress: https://instagress.com/

Food for Thought

The next time you go to a restaurant, take a look around. Keep an eye out for when the food arrives for the tables closest to you. Then, behold as the waiter leaves, the people who have just been waited on will whip out their phones to take a quick snapshot of their food before eating it. What compels us to document a meal before devouring it? It could be that food can be thought of as a piece of art and therefore people hope to digitally display it as such. Or maybe someone would be inclined to record how a meal looks before eating it in order to later reminisce on how lovely it was before being eaten. Or it could be that posting a good looking meal will make friends and followers jealous, but not so jealous that they opt out of “liking” it before continuing to scroll. I personally will admit that I am more inclined to take a picture of a delicious meal than take a selfie or even ask someone to take a picture of myself with other people. When the food comes to the table, it is already sitting there so beautifully untouched and picture perfect. All it takes is one quick snapshot and then it can be enjoyed by all (without even having to spare a bite!) Instagram has opened the digital world to the opportunity of documenting the good, the bad, and the unique food, or as I like to call it, “food-tography.”

Restaurants have begun to capitalize on this trend to post food photos. It is common for businesses to create their own Instagram accounts. Restaurants have found this to be an especially useful way to post content of their delicious delicacies and tantalizing treats. People enjoy eating fun food. There is certainly a visual aspect that is important when deciding what to order. Some restaurants include pictures next to their menu items to make certain options more enticing, but it can be hard to trust if the actual food will look like the picture. Other times inspiration for an order might come when the waiter walks past with someone else’s deliciously looking food in hand. The old adage, “I’ll have whatever he’s having” has been taken to a whole new level with the help of Instagram. This heightens the level of trust that people will receive exactly what they see in the pictures. Since it is not coming directly from within the restaurant, there is no hidden agenda to make the food appear any better than it really is.

Printed menus can become costly for restaurants with extra expenses, such as whether or not to include pictures and needing to be completely replaced whenever updates are made. Cómodo, a trendy restaurant in NY, has found a way to cut their menu costs by utilizing Instagram as a social media platform. Included at the bottom of their menus is the hashtag #ComodoMenu. By simply searching the hashtag on Instagram, there immediately appears pictures of the entire menu that have been posted by previous patrons. Cómodo was aware that people already enjoy taking pictures of their food, so they used it as a competitive advantage to differentiate themselves from their restaurant competition, while also saving costs. It has caused them to gain over 280 million media impression and generated quite a bit of buzz in the media. With restaurants realizing the brilliance of this social media campaign, many others have also begun to include their own Instagram hashtag. The next time you’re unsure of what to order, check to see if the restaurant has an Instagram!

For more information on Cómodo’s Instagram success, check out the link below:

http://instagram-menu-comodo.com/