As Francis of Assissi once wisely said, ‘it is in giving that we receive’. A lovely, wholesome thought. As we’ve already mentioned earlier this month, social media users seem to prefer talking about gifts they’re excited to give as opposed to ones they receive. But with all the expectation surrounding Christmas gifting, does the excitement of receiving gifts match up to the excitement of giving them? Ultimately, their overall success boils down to the reception they receive on The Big Day. In our previous blog post, we looked at some of last year’s most talked about presents on social in the build-up to Christmas Day. These were anything to do with Hygge, virtual reality, fitness tech, and gift subscriptions. But how did these gifts fare with their recipients, and which presents were most praised? We examined the social conversation around these gifts from 25th December 2016 in the UK, narrowing this down to conversation specifically coming from recipients, or the reactions of recipients as recorded by others. Gift subscriptions were universally well received, with 100% of the conversation being positive*. Magazine subscriptions were the most common ones mentioned, and particularly the New Yorker. This was closely followed by virtual reality, of which 93.9% of the conversation was positive. Sony’s PS4 VR was mentioned the most, although Samsung Gear also featured within the conversation. Noticeably absent was the Oculus Rift headset, but with Google searches dropping by 368% since January 2016, this isn’t so surprising. In last year’s competition to be the best VR headset, it seems Sony won this fair and square. 93.3% of fitness tech mentions were positive, with Fitbit leading the conversation (62%). 100% of tweets were from women, and the top emojis used all reflected the positive responses of users: 🏃 (20%) and 😁 (10%). In last place falls the gifting theme of Hygge, of which 82.1% of the conversation was positive. Hygge seemed to produce a love/hate effect, with users either relishing their Hygge-themed gifts, or being relieved they didn’t receive them at all… Following in this vein, we’ve also found the most badly received Christmas present of 2016. With 97% of mentions either consisting of negative or sarcastic comments, we would suggest that a Lynx gift set seems to be the worst present you can possibly give to someone this year. Don’t say we didn’t warn you… * Based only on either positive or negative tweets, and excluding neutral tweets/tweets not specifically relating to personal reactions and opinions #christmas #gifts

That’s right, it’s our 4th birthday. Four years of using data and models of human behaviour to drive purposeful digital interactions with the people who matter. Four years of doing the work which comes next. We want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been a fellow Architect of Next and been part of our journey so far – team, clients, friends, family. This only represents a slice of those people but we wanted to recognise the brands and organisations we’ve worked with to create what comes next, since January 2016. Now, we don’t want to go on about all the great things over the last four years, so we’ll keep it to some of our highlights from the last 12 months… Recognised as one of the top 100 hottest startups in the UK for the second year running. It’s the one award we always wanted when we set up four years ago Created an interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ Facebook canvas experience to generate leads for Zopa’s ISA product – which sold out early as a result Helped [Yellow Tail] become the fastest growing top 10 branded wine by reaching new audiences through selected influencers, behavioural-led content and paid media Created an Instagram filter for sprout lovers and haters for Toby Carvery – because while Christmas only starts when they’re back on the menu Toby knows they’re not for everyone Hosted an event for London’s scale-ups at Wood Wharf with Twitter VP, EMEA, Bruce Daisley on The Joy of Work. In advance of any business being able to move there, it helped show what the area will facilitate and the community it will generate. Got under the skin of TikTok, as it sees serious user growth and a similar cult-usage which marked out Twitter and Vine in their early days. We launched both OneFifty and Toby Carvery channels (are you following us? OneFifty Consultancy). Identified customer segments and journeys to create a digital strategy that drove online sales for houseof, a new e-commerce brand who are tearing up the UK lighting market Hosted an event on digital campaigning in a post Cambridge Analytica world, alongside Theo Bertram, former adviser to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. We discussed what really happens behind the scenes: the tactics, targeting and tantrums that may (and may not) impact Britain’s voters every day Worked on the General Election micro targeting marginal seats, via social, for Advance, who want to deliver genuine change and reform our political system Research we’ve done We’re all about data and we’ve done a number of research projects this year, separate to client work. Shout if you’d like to see any of the below and haven’t already. What scale up and tech driven business conversations looked like in 2019 on social, including how they have (and haven’t) changed across the year, and signals for 2020 Kings Cross facial recognition reaction: who cares? It caused a media furore but how big was the issue, for whom, and what (if any) lessons can be learned from social media? Burning issue: Amazon fires and how awareness has spread. We felt it had some interesting characteristics in terms of how, and why, the conversation developed online, and the inter-relationship between online communities and traditional media. What are the rising and falling trends on Instagram when it comes to style? Is the flat lay in or out? What comes next? We already have a number of exciting things planned for 2020 but our overiding goal remains the same: Do the work which comes next. That means challenging ourselves and our partners. BUT to make this all happen we’re kicking off by… Adding more great architects of next to the team (let us know if you recommend anyone, we’re looking at all levels) Hosting a TikTok breakfast workshop at the beginning of February – what is it, why you should care and how it works. Let us know if you’re interested Doing Valentine’s Day (ok, the 13th but close enough) a little differently this year – we’re hosting an evening drinks event which is fuelled by what the UK loves on social – think drinks, food, games, music. More details to follow soon Want to be part of what comes next? Keep reading and sharing – we’ve got a weekly newsletter with our pick of stories from the wider world about the changing social and data landscape. If you don’t get it, let us know and we’ll add you to the list In case you’ve missed it, Alex sends out his Think/Again email every weekend on interesting things he’s read that you might’ve missed Say happy birthday (we won’t lie, we like it) on social media Finally, if you’re looking at how you get better content in 2020, look no further than our sister company, Rogue Ponies. It brings together content-hungry brands with talented creators to produce more effective, efficient and social-appropriate videos and photography. We’ve matched up amazing creators with brands such as Staropramen, London Coffee Festival, Snazeroo, The Royal Mint, Aspalls and Brew Tea. Here’s to what comes next. Katie & Alex #birthday

Architect of Next Sarah gives her top productivity tips (and they’re probably not what you think they are…) It’s been almost a year and a half since I joined OneFifty and since then I’ve learned a lot – not just about data science, social media and models of human behaviour, but also about how to get through the day in the most productive way possible. Don’t worry, this isn’t a motivational blog post about time management or holding standing meetings; instead it’s my (not so) secret tips that will save precious minutes throughout the day. 1. The gmail unsend feature Also known as the best invention ever, the gmail unsend feature is quite possibly the best thing you can possibly install as soon as you set up your email. We’ve all had that sinking feeling the moment you press send and realise you’ve forgot to attach a document or spelled a client’s name wrong (the worst!). Well stress no more – this nifty little feature can be found in gmail under settings > general > Undo Send and allows you to cancel sending for up to 30 seconds after you’ve pressed send. Lifesaver. 2. Emoji keyboard When you work in social media you’re going to need quick and easy access to emojis. Fact. So next time you’re typing on your laptop, hold command, control and space bar (Windows key and the period button on Windows users) to bring up your emoji keyboard and easily drop them into that killer tweet 🔥 3. Quickly reduce PDF MBs PDFs are great for many things, but such greatness often results in huge file sizes, which can be particularly annoying if you’re sending it by email or basically trying to do anything with the PDF other than printing. The productivity hack? Open up Adobe Acrobat > file > save as other > ‘reduced size pdf’ and voila. Inbox friendly PDF in 30 seconds. 4. Do not disturb Presenting to clients can be stressful enough without a slack message from your colleague popping up asking if you fancy a coffee or a todoist notification appearing on screen reminding you about a report that’s due. And even if you’re not screen-sharing, having notifications appear when you’re trying to take notes can be distracting. So the minute you step into your next client meeting, click the little button in the top right hand corner of your Macbook screen and select ‘do not disturb’ to stop anything popping up. On windows this feature is called ‘Focus assist’. So helpful. 5. Choose your own equipment Kudos to Liv for this tip – one thing that really helps you be more productive is having the right equipment to work from. That’s why at OneFifty, we let you choose between a Windows laptop or Macbook to work from, so you can work with what you feel best using. Most people tend to choose a Macbook, but new joiners always have the choice – so use it! We’ve also got access to dual screens, iMacs and a plethora of programs and tools to try out and find the right thing that works for you. So, ready to get productive? Give these a go and let us know how you get on… #productivity #team

It’s 2020, we’re all full of aspirations for the year, and one of them is staying ahead of the curve. We’re a data and behaviours led digital consultancy, bringing you the opportunity to get under the skin of this year’s fastest growth, most exciting social media platform – TikTok. From the hottest creators, to epic memes, to this summer’s likely biggest hits, the Chinese-owned platform is the one to watch. Our TikTok breakfast seminar is on Thursday 13th February at 8.15am in Paddington. Over the course of an hour we’ll cover what it is, whether you should be diving in, and how it works in detail. Plus pastries and coffee. What more could you hope for? RSVP right here to secure your place for our breakfast seminar at our offices (WeWork, 2 Eastbourne Terrace, Paddington, W26LG). Be quick though, spaces are limited and going fast.

Facebook. It gets some flack. So here are the musings of one of our Senior Consultant’s, Becki, to remind us why it’s not so bad. TikTok – new favourite child Instagram – good looking cousin who is always travelling to a glam place Twitter – annoying auntie who people try to avoid but actually enjoy when they spend time there LinkedIn – professional mentor YouTube – that friend that knows almost everything Facebook. Oh Facebook. You make me oh so mad. We love you so much but you are really making this complicated now. Your news coverage is making it hard to stick up for you. People don’t always read past the headline and they just think you’ve stolen their data. Your products suck technically sometimes – how is this a thing when you are a tech company? Why don’t you want to talk to me? Try to call but can’t find your number. People tell me they don’t use you anymore. So this is what I tell them: Have you found your favourite brands group page? These are purest, most wonderful places, where you can go back to the roots of Facebook and connect with people with the same love. Yes hi Beauty Pie Tried and Tested, love you all ❤️ And what about your local areas group page? Things don’t get funnier than these places. Messenger – connect anywhere in the world. For free. No they aren’t listening. Facebook memories – don’t you just love being reminded of that post 8 years ago when that boy was mean to you so you quoted a music lyric. I do. Photos, glorious photos, at your disposal without taking up precious phone storage space Family – because let’s be honest even my 74 year old dad can use Facebook better than his actual phone Ads – don’t complain, there are some great companies out there doing some fabulous ads. The algorithm does work so if you’re seeing rubbish ads you’re probably looking at rubbish things. Oh and you can just hit hide ad Stalking – what’s Julie from junior school up to? You’re still friends so take a look Marketplace – that 1990s TV clogging up your spare room? Flogit on marketplace And let’s not forget that despite the overwhelming evidence he’s a robot, Mark Z is a genius. A literal genius. A worldwide community built on a small thing called the internet. Don’t forget all the good it’s brought to the world too. #Facebook #socialmedia

Another year and there are even more changes in how we’re using Instagram. The app remains, at its core, about image sharing but with each year the ways and reasons we use it change dramatically. So, what happened 2019? A view from our resident Instagrammer (and consultant), Olivia. Instagram Stories > Instagram post The use of Instagram Stories exploded in 2018, with growth continuing in 2019. More than 500 million users view Stories every day – to put this into context, one billion people use Instagram a month, so Story usage is huge. Adding to that, 62% of people say their interest in a brand or a product increases after seeing it in an Instagram Story, so it’sprobably time that you (and your brand) pay more attention to them. This growth has continued for two main reasons: curiosity and interactivity. According to research provided by Instagram, Stories have begun to act as a means of monitoring friends and family members movements – creepy, but true. We all know those people who can’t text back but can put up a Story. Plus, the time pressured nature of Stories makes us more inclined to view them due to a fear of them elapsing and missing out on the content. However, this hasn’t changed this year, so what else has been driving this growth? This answer is interactive features. 2019 has seen more and more being incorporated into Stories, for example questions, quizzes and countdowns. It’s helped make the format more interesting and engaging to viewers. This isn’t just an opinion, it’s a fact. Nine out of ten Stories that use a polling sticker in the video have increased video views vs. the average. The combination of curiosity and interactivity have led to a big trend – although it arguably started right at the back end of 2019 – the new interactive filters. It both entices you with the interactive nature, plus you’re curious as to what you’re going to get, then others follow your lead due to the same patterns of behaviour. The longevity of these filters will be an interesting one to watch, are they here to stay or will it become a case of curiosity killing the cat? Increased usage of Instagram Stories also seeps into the wider Instagram landscape, reflected by the increased number of apps that are now available to increase the aesthetic of your Stories. From the likes of Unfold, to Life Lapse and Adobe Spark, the increased need for Instagram Story content to be creatively engaging is apparent by their existence. So in summary: if you’re not using Instagram Stories, you should be. 2. Instagram feeds adopt a more unified aesthetic The knock-on effect of Stories becoming increasingly significant (and used) has meant that Instagram grids have become even more polished. Firstly, due to continuous changes in the algorithm, posts need to be more engaging to appear within a users’ feed. But, things have developed further than this now with the whole overall aesthetic of a page’s feed now being much more of a consideration. Increasingly, Instagram grids are being used in a similar capacity to the explore page: as a means of discovering products. Users scroll through to look at posts to discover new products, or services within the page, rather than scrolling through their home page. So, pages have had to become more stylised to engage the user, to capture their attention, leading to that perpetual scroll that we are all guilty of finding ourselves in. A key trend within this is Micro-Colour Blocking, in which you use sections of colour to create a connection between different posts, with a good example being @postmates. Another increasing popular grid characteristic is a connectivity between the images of grid posts, with the greatest example of this – not even my humble opinion, just a fact – being @aldiuk. Both of these trends reflect the need for a more stylised grid, supported by the availability of apps such as Planoly. It’s not just about how good your posts are anymore; it’s about how good your grid is. 3. The Explore tab is only going up Oh, boy, did we love the Explore tab in 2019, wanting to explore more and more and more… Over 200 million Instagram users utilise the Explore grid daily, resulting in over 50% of Instagram accounts using this every single month. The Explore tab isn’t too far off Stories in usage when you consider that you’re being served content you haven’t chosen to engage with. We want to discover far beyond our preexisting interests, or delve deeper within them. And you guessed it, Instagram has facilitated these behaviours. To put it frankly: the Explore tab has become so much easier to navigate. Not only does it update according to your algorithm – I am served a lot of Saoirse Ronan content after my new found love for having seen her performance in Little Women – but, it’s now also so much easier to find what you want. With the introduction of shortcuts, you can now directly go to IGTV, Shop or content within a range of interests from Food, to Animals and even Comics. This means you’re able to find what you want, opposed to it feeling like you’re in a weird vortex of endless content. This more user friendly Explore has helped to increase its usage. It’s just become so much more convenient, with Instagram being rewarded for this new practicality with 81% of users now actively using Instagram as a means of discovering new products. So, it begs the questions: are we now starting to use Instagram for relatively similar basic functions as we use Google? 4. Dangerously easy to shop on This is a development that my bank balance is not thankful for: it is becoming increasingly easy to shop via Instagram. I am not alone in this, with more than 70% of shoppers now using the platform to discover and search for the latest brands and products, and 46% going on to make a purchase either online or offline. Instagram has now become a serious rival – if it wasn’t already considered to be – for Pinterest in terms of discovery. The three main ways Instagram has done this is through functionality introductions: product tags in feed posts, product tags in Stories and the shopping feed of the Explore tab. The success of these shoppable tags is evident, with more than 130 million clicks on them per month, so it was only a natural progression for Instagram to try to streamline this process even further… Enter, direct purchasing within the app. The Beta phase of direct, in-app shopping rolled out in the US, including brands such as Dior, Nike and H&M. This further developed with the first Shoppable influencers, such as Chiara Ferragni and Kylie Jenner, who were able to add tags to their posts which allowed for the products – if the companies were included within the Beta checkout programme – to also be purchased within the app. Whilst this could be seen as creating a more consumer friendly experience for Instagram users, it is relatively self-interested. Shock. Direct purchasing acts as a means for Instagram to take something back financially from the influencer market that it has been so key in creating. With merchants charged a selling fee for the use of in-app checkout, now Instagram also profits from their product selling platform. So, Instagram wins with increased revenue, brands with more people being influenced to purchase their products, but does the consumer win? As always, Instagram is constantly evolving to both adapt to how we use the app, but also to keep ahead of us in order to influence how we use the app. As to who is driving this change, it is somewhat of a question similar to which came first, the chicken or the egg? 2020 will be no different, so let’s hope that for Instagram (and my love for it, whilst I can sometimes be cynical of it), that the best is yet to come…

As 2019’s most downloaded app, TikTok has seen a huge surge in popularity over the last year, with not just individuals but brands, organisations and celebrities flocking to the platform in a quest to produce the next viral video. But what makes a successful Tiktok? In true OneFifty style we’ve turned to the data to find out. Every day for the past month we’ve been tracking the stats of the app’s top 3 trending hashtags as well as the videos that appeared on our “For You” page and mapping out the trends. Here’s a roundup of what we noticed in January: “Let the music play…” 🎶 The vast majority of high-performing Tiktoks and hashtags are centred around music. This is unsurprising, given the Musical.ly heritage in both product and audience terms. Dance routines occur very frequently and range from the more complex and skilled to the more basic and easily replicable Put your hands up 🙌🏻 The “emoji hand gesture challenge” has recurred multiple times throughout the month, and in different variations. Lip-sync battle Aside from dance, another popular feature is lip-syncing to song lyrics or dramatic voiceover clips from (mainly reality) television (think Gemma Collins’ hair-straightener meltdown in the Big Brother house). It’s a ‘brand’ new world Brands and organisations have featured frequently among the top trending hashtags this month, with the Red Cross and Samsung having created custom hashtags to promote their causes. The latest news source? Many top trending hashtags are linked to, and driven by, current affairs or pop culture (the Australian bush fires, ‘Blue Monday’ or a recent episode of Love Island) Fame is fleeting Trending hashtags remain in the Top 3 for two days, but their content (a certain dance routine or song) can appear weeks later in the For You page. We’re continuing our analysis in February, so watch this space… #tiktok

Here at OneFifty, we (I say we, but I mean Alex Pearmain), love a sports analogy/metaphor. Big client meeting? That’s my Game 7 in the NBA finals. It works because it’s relatable. We get it. I’m (and this is Dan, by the way) now going to tell you how I use the philosophy of Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, to optimise my performance at OneFifty. And before you mention it – no, I’m just a suffering Arsenal fan who enjoys reading about sport-based philosophies. Pep Guardiola (also known as “Fraudiola” depending on who you support) has a blueprint. His team must train, play, eat, and sleep a certain way. He wins (most) games, hours before anyone heads onto the pitch – the opponent is already defeated in the tunnel, awaiting the inevitable. Here are some of his methods/skills that I try to apply at OneFifty: Communication – In the past 6 months I’ve been in a transitioning phase. There comes a time when you stop (at least some of the) “doing” and start allocating tasks to fellow team members – coaching them through what needs to be done. Our good mate, Pep, doesn’t just give orders and off you go. He explains why something needs to happen and the best way to get it done. I know the team around me, their learning styles, and appropriate tone of voice to use – it all goes a long way in creating a great team environment and getting things done! Innovation – Society changes and social media evolves. There is always a new method or idea that can be used. Guardiola decided to move Lionel Messi from the right-wing to a false 9 (a decoy centre forward) in 2009 and won the treble in his first season as Barcelona coach. Here at OneFifty, a great paid media strategy that worked 2 years ago likely won’t be as effective today. I constantly need to be using new, relevant information (that‘s data-led) to implement new ideas and get the best out of my work Flexibility – Guardiola’s teams are widely known to play beautiful football – think Xavi and Iniesta (“Xaviesta”). But when the going got tough, who did he look to, to shore up his midfield? Tough man Seydou Keita. Pep was flexible enough to use different player profiles within his squad to get a result. At OneFifty I’ve had a great opportunity to learn a variety of skills – from data, to content-writing, to client-management. I work in a fast-paced environment, where quick-fire tasks can arise at any stage of the day. I have to be flexible around the given task. Do I need to combine both content-writing and data for this task? Which team members do I need to help? How do I re-prioritise my tasks? All important thought-processes that need to be actioned There you have it – if you put your mind to it, sport and OneFifty share many similarities. Work ethic, team ethic, responsibility, and a bit of flair (!) can take you a long way. #waysofworking

On her 10th Twitterversary, Senior Consultant Sarah reflects on why Twitter is her first love… We humans are fickle things. We loved Bibo and MySpace back in the day, Facebook had its moment of glory; now we’re all over TikTok and can’t make up our minds whether Byte is the new Vine or we’re too busy watching Insta Stories to care. Let’s not even get into Snapchat. But here’s why Twitter will always have a special place in my heart. Having Twitter got me my first job in social media in 2010. I can remember the first account I ever followed – the French news site Le Monde, during my year abroad in Paris. I unfollowed them pretty quickly when I realised I didn’t really care for reading French news, preferring the ‘Franceinfo’ radio app (more on my love of audio here). But after that, I did start following the small handful of friends back home who also used Twitter. Inspired by this, I wrote my dissertation about how social networks impacted student’s social capital when geographically displaced from their usual circles. Facebook had been around in the UK for a couple of years by this point, and brands had started cottoning on to the fact that social media could be used for marketing. Then, whilst in my final year of uni, I started working for a seed-level startup who were working on taking online video and making it possible to watch on your TV (side note: cool idea, wrong execution, they didn’t last). I basically got the job because I was the only person they knew who even had a Twitter account; I’d tweet links to cool YouTube videos, trawl Twitter for people and journalists talking about web TV and tweet back to anyone who mentioned us. Looking back at my early emails about it does make me cringe slightly (‘Let’s follow lots of random people to get the name out there’) – ah, inexperienced youth. 10 years on I’m pleased to say that my marketing techniques on Twitter may have improved somewhat, and I’ve had the chance to run some really cool corporate accounts over the years. I’ve been at the forefront of excellent community management and Twitter being a place to take customer interactions to the next level. It’s been pretty fun. Aside from a 6 month social media hiatus a few years ago, I’ve regularly tweeted my thoughts on my personal account. It’s been a place for me to keep in touch with professional connections, including various exchanges over the years with OneFifty co-founder Alex Pearmain, who I worked with many moons ago. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Twitter, he and Katie might not have approached me to work at OneFifty, and I certainly would’ve had to think a lot more before saying yes – it made a leap into the unknown a little bit less scary. So that’s how Twitter got me my first and current jobs. I’m sorry Instagram, and you’re alright too LinkedIn, but Twitter will always be my number one love. Give me a follow on @sarah_morton; I also tweet office life and interesting reads from @weareonefifty 🙂 #Twitter

As a Senior Consultant at OneFifty, Anne-Catherine looks at patterns of data and decision frameworks every day. So, when it comes to buying a property this is how she’s used this approach find her perfect home. It might save you some time if you’re house hunting… For most of us, buying a flat or house is a big thing and we put extra effort into it. Whether you like spreadsheets and data or not, you probably have (or will end up) creating one to track all the possible properties you can buy, the price, maybe the agent’s contact details. A tracker is a good way to stay organised and have a useful overview BUT not that helpful to make a decision. At OneFifty, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to go about assessing the relative importance of various factors that are needed to make or measure the ‘best’ decision (given a specific goal). In my case, there were three goals: Value for money Viability to rent it out in the future Find a well-connected location to support my busy lifestyle When looking to make these decisions, we also consider one other thing: measurable variables (or proxies of it). The keyword here is ‘measurable’, so that we can simply calculate which options have the highest likelihood to achieve those goals. My six variables were: Distance to work Distance to gym Area look and feel Price per sqm Proximity to park/ outdoor space Lease expiry date All these variables were numerical apart from “area look and feel”, which I therefore ranked on a categorical scale. With a few minutes of Google searching the data gathering is pretty easily completed. So far so good and probably pretty similar to what you would do. My question to you now: are all these criteria equally important to you? Probably not… I’m a very active person, so proximity to the gym and park/ outdoor space are more important to me than the distance to work. Likewise, I want value for money, so the price per sqm is crucial. What I have just described in two sentences is what we call ‘applying a weighting system to your decision-relevant variables’. Not every variable is equally important to you, which is absolutely fine and something that should be reflected in your decision. Good news on that, you don’t need to go any deeper into maths-chatter with me. I’ve already done the work for you and you can simply have a look at this spreadsheet, make a copy and modify the weights and variables as you wish. Alternatively, just drop me a message, I’m happy to assist fellow home buyers: I hope you can see how easy it is to filter for the relevant or desired options and make that ridiculous number of flats and houses you could potentially buy more manageable. The outcome for me was that I was very clear on the flats worth investing my time in, so I’ve started to put the leg work in and have cycled to my top 20 viewings over four months (estimating a good 108 miles based on my Strava tracker!). Approximately 20% of the places I saw were what I was hoping for. Even better news, my top-ranked place was so me that even the seller couldn’t resist my offer – some would say data magic happened 😉 Let me know how you get on with my spreadsheet. Any furniture or appliances you don’t need anymore are equally welcome – quick buy & free delivery only! In the meantime, I still have a few more boxes to unpack and to prepare for my house warming. #analysis #data #decisionframeworks #househunting

Alice is here for you, as is TikTok. It’s a tough time right now. You don’t need us to tell you that. And with the constant streams of information out there it’s easy to feel overwhelmed sometimes. But there are also some positives to be found, if you know where to look. Enter: TikTok Back in February we wrote a blog post about how we’ve been tracking TikTok trends. Everyday we have been taking note of the top three trending hashtags and their key stats, mapping out any patterns. Recently, we’ve noticed a shift in these trends as the nation’s TikTokers are banding together in a bid to make this time a little easier for everyone, or to just give out some well deserved recognition. Here’s a summary of the top trending hashtags we identified: #houseofTikTok is centred around finding ways to occupy yourself in the age of social distancing and includes a link to support the World Health Organisation. Among the top trending videos we have seen cooking tutorials, impressive home crafting projects and home workout sessions. #handwashingmove saw some rather inventive takes on handwashing techniques from the British Red Cross to encourage good hand hygiene, and a custom screen filter to really drive the point home. #workoutfromhome saw a whole host of freely available and easily replicable at home workout routines for you to have a go at. It coincided rather well with our current office work from home mantra – “Fitter not Fatter’…. #cupboardcooking was a welcome encouragement to finally step up our cooking game, and maybe try out our own version of a Nando’s staple NHS workers also made a well deserved appearance.  #stayathome saw the staff themselves create videos to encourage the public to stay at home, whilst #thankyounhs, which coincided with the national call to applaud the NHS on 26th March, featured some heartfelt messages of appreciation for those on the frontline. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, or just really bored, TikTok could be the place to go for a little light relief, and perhaps a new hobby. And who knows, it might just set you on the road to mastering some impressive clay fish art of your own one day. #tiktok

If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, you’ve probably seen people sharing the top TikTok challenges on Instagram and Twitter – you don’t have to be using TikTok to recognise the Dream Feet Dance (you probably know it as the ‘TikTok foot dance’ though) or the Emoji Challenge (again, you might know it as the ‘TikTok hand dance’). You’ve probably wondered how these videos are made, but been too shy to give them a go – well now’s the ideal time to download the app, perfect your dance skills and learn how to use TikTok. After all, what better way to use your time if you’re spending the weekend inside the house? That’s why we’ve created this handy video to show you exactly how to film your first video and how to edit on TikTok too. Which easy TikTok dances should I go for? If you’re wondering which trend is easiest or which you should try first, open TikTok and head to the ForYou page and find a dance you like the look of. We’ve chosen the ‘Duet me pls I’m lonely’ song for our video, which is pretty easy to get the hang of and a great introduction into the world of dance challenges. There are loads to choose from, and it doesn’t have to be dances either – there are a number of viral TikTok challenges where people lip-sync or wink at the camera in time to music (strange, we know). Now the fun part. Once you’ve found the sound you like, tap the name of the song at the bottom to see all the top TikToks which have used that sound. From here you can press the ‘Use this sound’ to start recording your first TikTok. How to film Practised your dance routine and ready to capture it on camera? The easiest way to film is to hold down the centre button to record your video, and the sound will play in the background. There are additional options here to speed up or slow down your video, as well as adding flash and filters, but we’ll come to those shortly. How to add edit filters and effects on TikTok Once you’ve filmed, slick the tick button The filter icon is on the top right corner of the screen; click this to open up your filter library. There’s a whole range in here; some of the best TikTok filters include colour changes (similar to Instagram filters), black and white or even neon colouring! Our favourite at OneFifty is the sparkle effect filter. You’ve sorted the colouring of your video – now it’s time to add effects. Click the effects button and chose from TikTok’s wonderful array of effects to add onto your video. Rainbow strobe for the first 15 seconds? Go on then. Just drag and drop onto your video for the desired amount of time. You can also add transitions, such as a count down, or add stickers and emojis over the top of your clip. How to edit text on TikTok Many TikTok challenges have text which appear over the video. To add text to TikTok, simple chose text from the icons at the bottom of the screen and start typing. You’ll see here that there are various text settings to chose from, including fonts, colours, alignment and the background. To edit the amount of time that the text is on the screen, tap the text, choose ‘set duration’ and move the slider to select the start and finish. Ready? Press the tick and you’ve made your very first TikTok! That wasn’t so hard, was it? If you want to know more about making TikToks, get in touch, follow us on TikTok or head to our TikTok page to see how we’re supporting other brands. #howto #tiktok