TikTok Newsletter 07
Snapchat Lenses, Instagram Reels and yet another newsletter
Hello subscriber,
how do you do?
Til today nobody has yet bought TikTok. Neither Microsoft nor Twitter, not Netflix or anyone else. We have to keep on keeping on, as my friend Mario says. Today we will quickly talk about these topics. This is another holiday edition. Short and crisp.
🦄 Snapchat Lenses
📽️ Instagram Reels
📬 Yet another TikTok Newsletter
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🦄 Snapchat Lenses
The whole AR filter game is speeding up. After millions of custom made face filters Lens Studio 3.1 now offers 2D Full Body Tracking. In a clever move Snapchat partnered with four TikTok stars, including Jalaiah Harmon, who created the Renegade dance and Charli`s sister Dixie D’Amelio.
“Snap knows that people post videos with its augmented reality lenses to multiple platforms, and today, it’s launching lenses specifically to be used on TikTok.Generally, Snapchat is positioning itself as more of a place to create than to share, which is an interesting space to see the company conquer.” (The Verge, August 13)
If you are not into body lenses why not create your very own avatar. I just checked out in3D – an iOS app that let´s you scan your own body in order to transform it into an avatar. Looks more like Playstation 1 for now, but things will surely develop. With the app you can make your avatar do some crazy dance moves in any environment. Yet again AR.
If you need a decent surrounding to put your avatar, check out this futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic on TikTok in Chongqing.
📽️ Instagram Reels
Obviously i am not alone, arguing that Instagram Reels is not very good right now. Benedict Evans has pointed out, that “Facebook’s clone not only ignores *all* the interest data they have about you from your years of using Instagram, but also shows you video you explicitly told it you don’t like.”
Brian X. Chen and Taylor Lorenz from the NYT have tested Reels for 5 days. Their result:
It’s horrible. Not only does Reels fail in every way as a TikTok clone, but it’s confusing, frustrating and impossible to navigate...TikTok is better in a million ways.. On TikTok, you can just grab a ton of videos (like, hit select on 17 different videos of all different lengths), and dump them all into the app and hit a button. TikTok will automatically select highlights from your videos and edit them in a way to match the beat of whatever sound you choose. This makes it so easy to create a really engaging, smooth video in under 10 seconds from a ton of footage.
That is a crucial point. Interesting to see how the algorithm driven production of videos is playing out in the context of (mobile) journalism, given the fact that more and more apps rely on AI. Some even tell you: Do not edit yourself! (Trash / iOS).
📬 Yet another TikTok Newsletter
Laura Garcia pointed to a new TikTok newsletter. It is run by Kerem Inal. He writes:
Every week, I will send a newsletter with 3 main hashtags that I found to be trending on TikTok that past week. Two of them will have a political context to it and the third will be a general topic that I have seen a lot of traction on. I will be adding news articles related to the trends, explaining the context of the video, and will fact-check them if there is a need for it.
That sounds promising. There is so much stuff out there on TikTok. Good to see that more journalists pick up and start reporting. I for one would urge you to read his take on the #conservativehypehouse. Sophia from the BBC, mentioned here before, is investigating how TikTok is being used ahead of the US election. Interesting to see results here, given the fact that the Trump and the Biden team are not using the platform. What a disconnect between the political elite and a growing number of voters being active on the platform.
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Thx for reading.
Thx for sharing.
Thx for sending tips, tricks or treats.
See you next week!
Marcus