The point of this assignment was to audit social media we barely used. It was hard for me to choose some I don’t use, as I have experience with all of the main ones.

Instagram:

Type: Social Network

Audience: 59% of internet users 18-29 use Instagram and 33% of internet users 30-49 use Instagram.

Content: Photos and Videos. Instagram Stories (similar to Snapchat), Instagram Reels 15-60s videos in the same form as TikTok. Instagram Live features: go live for your followers and connect with the audience.

Engagement: Answer poll questions and reply to people’s Instagram stories. Comment on posts and videos, and a new recent edition allows polls on Instagram reels, allowing people to vote on the video and not through Instagram stories.

Brand Integration: Paid ads on the explore page, stories, and user feed. Live shows possibly show off products or show how one is taking action for a cause. Photo sharing makes it easy to share infographics for people to read and interact with.

Tumblr:

Type: Blogging platform and Social Network

Audience: Millennials and Gen Z are the main demographic, with 43% of US users being 18-24 years old and 33% of top users being 18-25.

Content: Share texts, photos, favorite quotes, links, chat, audio recordings, and videos with your followers. Go live on Tumblr and connect with your audience.

Engagement: Adding polls to your blog posts makes it easy for your audience to engage with your posts. Commenting, reblogging, and putting hashtags on the blogs help your blog post’s engagement grow with similar audiences.

Brand Integration: Get paid ads and put them on the side of the home page on Tumblr, go live to interact with your audience, and reblog other people’s posts to boost engagement.

TikTok:

Type: Short-form video-sharing service

Audience: 43% of TikTok’s global audience are 18-24.

Content: Sharing videos from 5 seconds to 10 minutes on the platform. Share yourself messing with tons of filters on it through the TikTok stories feature. Once you hit 1,000 followers, you can go live and possibly get seen on the Explore page.

Engagement: Create your filters and share them with others on the platform. Play games using other filters and put polls on your videos to drive up engagement.

Brand Integration: Create videos promoting your brand and your message. Get paid ads to appear on a user’s feed in their following and “for you” page. Sell something? Join the TikTok shop and sell your items. Remember, going live also helps boost engagement and shows the users who you are.

Starting with Instagram, it is the second most challenging platform to grow on. With the algorithm always being a complete mess and them no longer pushing pictures as much as they do with reels, it is hard. For my brand specifically, it would be the easiest to share infographics with my audience. They are easier to read and take less time to upload than Tumblr. The live feature is available immediately, making it more appealing as I could go live to discuss new news with my audience. The polls and Instagram stories are an excellent way to keep people connected with me and see what interests my audience on Tumblr, which is the most challenging platform to grow on compared to the rest. The algorithm favors certain people and hashtags; even then, you are lucky to get slightly noticed there. Being able to post blogs and set up a website is the most appealing thing about Tumblr, but I need to see myself going out of my way to use it. Lastly, TikTok is the most accessible platform to grow out of the bunch. The only downside to this platform is that you are limited to videos or photo slideshows. The photo slides never look good as it does not allow you to crop them to fit the entire phone screen within the app. Locking the live feature behind a certain number of followers (1000) does not help its case with me in the slightest. While it is straightforward to grow on, it has terrible moderation. Unlike the other two I’m comparing it to, it does not pledge to keep its users safe.