Top Sounds 

Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok

1. Wavy For use with the wavy filter, this sound is honestly just groovy. Use it when things get a little hazy or for a more fun video.
2. I Refuse Everyone has their limits. Use this sound for the hot takes and ideas that you just absolutely cannot get behind.
3. It Gets Worse Each time the sound chimes again, add another level of chaos as your story continues.
4. Watch This 
   After spending a week as a trending gif on Twitter, this sound has hit TikTok. Use for peak defiance.
5. I’m Bouta Panic* At your wits end? Don’t worry, Lizzo will save us with this new summer hit. Hold on just a little longer.
6. The Last Straw Much like “it gets worse” this sound is for explaining unfortunate developments, and boy there have been PLENTY.
7. There’s No One As Irish As Barack O’Bama 
   After weeks on Irish Obama TikTok, I finally have to acknowledge the sound responsible.

*not available for business account use

Our Sound Highlight 

Boba Fett is NOT Better Than Mando

Mood: 

The mild amount of cursing may have your boss question your decisions as a social media manager BUT it is a great sound to confront bad opinions.

Video Highlight

Look, it’s the plot of Moulin Rouge in a TikTok, using a trending sound, from Moulin Rouge’s account. It’s a simple account strategy, executed well.

Account Shoutouts:
Nara Deer Park’s account for delightful deer content.
A Strange Loop (yes, this may as well be the Broadway edition of this newsletter) for a TikTok presence that is truly delightful and successful in showing you exactly what the play is about and how fun the cast is. Don’t take my word for it here’s a TikTok.

 Effects Highlight 

This is Horace. He’s a cool guy. Stick with Horace. Dance with Horace. He’ll always support you.

Wanna spread the word on TikTok but can’t dance like the cool kids? Put your text on the screen and get wavy. No dancing required! Just stand there and feel the rhythm.

 The Moment 

Disability Pride Month

July is Disability Pride Month and while your local newsletter author is proud to say she is disabled, it’s often hard to feel pride amidst a highly transmissible COVID variant with a policy response of shoulder shrugging, employers racing back to their commercial real estate investments offices making work inaccessible, and abortion bans having a disproportionate effect on disabled people.

That said, I am always proud of the fierce advocacy of disability rights activists. In 1990, the “Capitol Crawl” demonstrated (quite literally) how our institutions are inaccessible to disabled people. I am also immensely proud of the people currently lending their voices to the issues of ableism within advocacy work— who are deconstructing what it means to be able or unable to perform wellness and how non-profits operate with ableist dynamics.

As many protections as the ADA grants, it isn’t enough. Disabled people know that institutions would prefer to see disabled people suffer rather than make actual changes. Things like remote work were seen as implausibly burdensome (a key legal distinction to deny accommodations), and then suddenly doable in 2020. Disabled people know that they are often seen as risky, less valuable employees, and burdensome. We know this because our access is held in the hands of non-disabled people, and our ability to participate, be safe, rest, and get necessary healthcare are always at risk of being restricted. Our disabilities are not believed and are often subject to judgment and retaliation (here’s a TikTok on one example). For Black disabled people this is compounded by racism—our bodies are judged more harshly, we’re seen as lazy or even dangerous, and we are more likely to be criminalized.

It’s time we did better by one another. This Disability Pride Month I invite you, lovely reader, to feel proud of the work that’s been done and to do more.

 The Zeitgeist 

Hot topics from across the internet

• An update to the adventures of Apartheid Clyde this past week as it was revealed Elon Musk had two children with a top executive. Elon now has nine known children. His father also announced the birth of another child this past week with his wife (and step-daughter who he has raised since she was four… whose siblings he is the father of).
• Boris Johnson has resigned as PM of the UK after what was essentially The Great Resignation: Tory Edition. I guess they just don’t dream of labour  (even if I do)
• TikTok may be the world’s most popular search engine leading me to wonder: TikTok doodles, when?
• There’s Doja Cat/Noah Schnapp beef, I refuse to go into it all here but essentially there are DM’s, the apparent inability to use the Instagram search bar, and endless coverage.
• Lea Michele is replacing Beanie Feldstein as the star of Funny Girl on Broadway. Jane Lynch also left the show.
• There’s a tampon shortage. This shortage is set to exacerbate the issue of period poverty.
  

 The Takeaway 

You know what time it is- it’s time for our TikTok takeaways.

This week: trust your staff with TikTok.

It’s a TikTok tactic as old as time (or at least as old as the app). It’s also Buzzfeed Video’s old MO from their glory days. Your staff might be the perfect representatives of your organization. Staff can give a much-needed human touch to a business account AND your coworkers might actually be good on camera.

Now, I’m not about to advocate for adding tasks outside of folks’ job descriptions but I do think the odd representation of how fun and silly your team can be is great. Discover your niche and voice on TikTok and let folks star. Just don’t force it and you’ll be fine.

Made it to the end of this newsletter? Here’s a treat, my new favorite Twitter account.