Episode 1 test

The podcast episode discusses the history of ephemeral content and its impact on social media. The hosts, who are part of Gen Z, share their experiences with platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. They talk about the sense of urgency created by disappearing content and how it contributed to the popularity of platforms like TikTok. They also mention the fear of missing out (FOMO) and how marketers use it to drive sales. The episode concludes with a discussion on Vine and its influence on short-form content. Hello, I'm Zach, and this is Sarah, I'm Lauren, I'm also Lauren, and this is To Post or Not To Post, the podcast where we give our semi-qualified opinions on the use of ephemeral content to take your business to the next level. On today's episode, we're going to open this series with a discussion on the history of ephemeral content, and how it came to dominate the social media landscape. So, I think us being part of Gen Z gives us a really interesting perspective on ephemeral content because we kind of were the first generation to be raised on it. So, specifically with social media, we have things like Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, etc. So, what were you guys' perspectives kind of growing up having these social media accounts? Well, I'd say that, you know, I remember my first social media that I opened was my Instagram account. I think I was in 6th or 7th grade, and at first it was just a cool way for me and my friends to post random pictures. There wasn't seriousness to it, there wasn't any thought put behind it. We would just post what we saw and what was around us. I actually wasn't allowed to have any social media. I'm going to throw in the opposite viewpoint in that my parents were really scared of social media, and so I got my first Instagram and Snapchat account when I was in 8th grade. So, my parents weren't scared of social media, but they were very cautious about what we were allowed to put out. So, all of our accounts had to be private. You know, we couldn't put our real names and our usernames, for example. We had to have really good passwords, and so just things like that, people were really cautious on what they were allowed to put out, really starting the game off. What was your experience, Lauren? I wasn't allowed to have Instagram. I ended up getting it against my parents' will in 8th grade, and then I think I got Snapchat probably in high school, but I remember my junior year, my Snapchat and Instagram accounts were both hacked at the same time, and so then I had to start from scratch and re-get those new accounts, and now I just ended up deleting Snapchat, and I only use Instagram and somewhat TikTok, but only really for work. See, we used Snapchat on my softball team to kind of send messages back and forth about carpooling for practices, and after I stopped playing, I really deleted my Snapchat, too, because honestly, I felt like the constant need to, you know, keep up streaks and keep up this appearance of constantly doing things and having things in my life that I could post about was a lot of pressure for me, and I, you know, got to the point where I thought it wasn't a necessary part of my life anymore. So it is great you talk about that, and Offendal Content talks about that desire to be surrounded by, to be in touch, and I'm going to touch on some dates here really quickly. Snapchat originally launched in July of 2011. Originally, it was just a peer-to-peer way to contact people through photos. You would send photos back and forth. You could put captions on it. Very casual, but there wasn't really much of a sense of urgency. Then in October of 2013, they launched their Stories platform, and I personally remember once people started posting stories you wanted to keep up to date, it gave a sense of urgency behind the content that it was going to disappear after that 24-hour mark, and so if I wanted to keep up with my friends, I had to check in. I had to see what they were doing, and it really gave me a reason to be there every day, and I'm curious to hear about your guys' experiences with that. I think this highlights a really important thing that happened, personally, during COVID, but the pandemic was honestly the best thing that happened for TikTok and these other social media platforms because they gained so much momentum. People were alone in their houses with no contact with the outside world. So TikTok gained persons with an advantage, even though they were established in September of 2017, and they overcame Instagram real. I do want to highlight how people and their sense of urgency contributed to microtrends. Yeah, so with these Reels in short form video content, we see the launch of Instagram really start in October 2010, and then Stories was launched in August of 2016, and then Instagram Reels was launched in August of 2020, but something that is worth noting is that in 2012, the company was actually reimagined and acquired by Metta for $1 billion, and the importance of this is that Instagram and Facebook really merged and became one within the account center, and so then we see this application of thinking with Facebook and Instagram, dual posting, things like that. It's like how Twitter was reacquired by Elon Musk and now named X. I think these social media platforms are now changing and becoming reimagined into what these competitors and other applications are. Yeah, for sure. And honestly, as you guys kind of talked about TikTok and how all of these social media platforms have really taken up a space within the realm, I think you can't move on without talking about Vine, right? So Vine was the original short form content app. It had a six-second maximum that you could fill, and so it really pushed content creators and those who use the apps to try to shrink their content down and consolidate it to be short and exciting and hold on to people's attention. And I think you've seen that kind of flood into all these different aspects, whether it be how TikTok is utilizing their platform or how Instagram has added Reels. Even Facebook has their own version of it. Vine was really the originator of that short-form, quick, consolidated, but also lengthy content. And I think that's something that we have to keep in mind as it's impacted the rest of the industry. And, you know, speaking of which, there's kind of this psychological phenomenon that's really come into play in the past, I would say two decades or so, and it's called FOMO. It's the fear of missing out. And basically what it is is this idea that things are kind of ephemeral. They're temporary. And so if you aren't constantly checking into these social media platforms, seeing what other people are doing and also posting your own content, then you're going to be missing out on things that you could have otherwise done. And marketers in recent years have really started to capitalize on this and are using it as a way to drive sales. So, for example, Facebook contributes their marketing efforts the most to FOMO at 72%. That's followed by Instagram at 14%, and then Twitter at 11%, and then finally Pinterest at 8%. So if you think a sale or product is only temporary, there's going to be a lot bigger desire for you to take advantage of whatever the post on social media is trying to get you to do so that you don't miss your chance. So Sarah, what's your experience been with FOMO? Yeah. So I've personally, like my personality of social media has changed over time. Now I kind of consider it like a video diary or a picture diary where all my friends can kind of see what I'm up to. But in the past, it was a way for me to be informed about what was going on, both with my community, but then also with brands. So I now understand how events are communicated through Instagram, how ads communicate to the consumers. And basically, this fear of missing out is like, you urgently need to see this, and it's going to disappear within the next few days, within the next few weeks. So try not to miss out, you know? Yeah, it's interesting you say that. I mean, I can personally speak about FOMO in the context of my own life and my own experiences, and I feel like it definitely wears on me at times. I think the most shiny example of it was Waste Management two years ago. I had not been to the event before, and I was kind of on the edge of where I wanted to go. But going on social media and seeing everyone posting on their stories and posting about how much fun they were having, I felt like I was missing a moment, and I felt like I was really on the outside looking in at something that was very exciting. And through that, it led me to go to the event this year. And even on a smaller scale, once again, I'm a sports fan. If you talk about ASU hockey, I didn't even know we had a hockey team. But what led me to go to those games was seeing the excitement with the fans and the people having fun. And their social media team was able to use that short-form video through their official accounts to really draw me in and get my attention. That's it for episode one. Thanks for tuning in. Catch episode two in post or not to post. The FOMO marketing will discuss different types of short-form social media. Thanks for tuning in. Catch episode two in post or not to post.