Scientists are finding the humor in a recent ocean exploration, Instagram is keeping up with competitors with a list of creative updates and the Tokyo Olympics are headed into the final week of nail-biting competition. If you find yourself asking, “what’s the buzz all about?” then you’ve come to the right place. Let’s jump in and break down a few of the latest hot topics.
Upcoming Holidays & Observances
- National Watermelon Day – August 3
- Olympics Closing Ceremony – August 8
- National Book Lovers Day – August 9
Trends You Should Know
- The Tokyo Olympics is sweeping the headlines with the latest and greatest. Here’s a quick rundown. Simone Biles will return to take on the balance beam final after several withdrawals to focus on her mental health. The US women’s soccer team loses to Canada in the Olympic semifinal and are headed to play in the third-place game to compete for the bronze medal. Katie Ledecky makes history with the most individual Olympic golds of any female swimmer, and Valarie Allman wins Team USA’s first gold in track and field in her debut Olympic Games!
- A ‘real life’ Sponge Bob and Patrick were discovered in a recent Atlantic Ocean expedition. The dynamic duo from the Nickelodeon cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants” stars an energetic yellow sea sponge with big eyes and square teeth and his goofy pink starfish sidekick. The best buds have been on television for more than two decades living in a pineapple under the sea, so when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) deep-sea vehicle spotted the pair side by side on the seafloor, the correlation was irresistible. The official SpongeBob SquarePants Instagram account even joined the excitement, posting the scientist’s photo alongside the cartoon characters. We won’t spoil the fun by getting into the scientific fact that these two creatures aren’t exactly best friends in real life, but that’s the beauty of imagination!
- Instagram is staying on trend with a few updates and improvements. The photo-sharing social giant recently expanded Reels to 60 seconds, allowing for more creativity while keeping up with competitors like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. If you need more time selecting the perfect filter or crafting a witty hashtag for your Story, this next update is for you. Instagram announced that Stories drafts are now available to all users, which means you have seven days to edit your Story and share it at the perfect time for your audience before the draft is deleted. To wrap up the latest in the IG world, let’s look at how Instagram is testing a ‘re-share’ sticker for Stories. Users can re-share recently-viewed feed posts in a new format rather than just repasting the content into a Stories frame. This elevates the simple re-shares (yawn) to a more creative, original format for a better Stories experience for all!
- Do you remember life before Pinterest boards? A simpler time without the creativity of exploding colors at gender reveal parties or the DIY donut walls and mason jar cocktails at wedding receptions. As of late last week, Pinterest reported a decline in users, and their stock plunged. Pinterest attributes the recent decline to the disproportionate spike in users during the pandemic. 2020 was a year of screen time, and now that people are socializing outside their homes once again, scrolling Pinterest has naturally slowed. It's also important to mention that, as of last month, this social leader was the first platform to take a stance against promoting weight loss by implementing specific advertising restrictions. We don’t know about you, but we’ll continue pinning!
Thanks for joining us for a weekly recap, and we look forward to catching up on all the latest happenings with you on the blog next week.
.png)
