Chronically Online #3

Welcome back to another edition of Chronically Online.

We hope your festive break was filled with joy, questionable Christmas jumpers, and just the right amount of chaos. And if you're still working through your leftover turkey, let this be your sign to let it go.

To ease you into the New Year, we’ve pulled together the most important updates from social platforms, campaigns and trends – everything you need to hit the ground running this January.

Let's get stuck in!

What's happening on social? The round-up ??

Platform Updates

• YouTube is experimenting with a feature that allows creators to reply to comments using voice notes. Perhaps taking inspiration from TikTok’s reply feature, the platform hopes this will aid personalisation of creator content, giving something back to their loyal communities.
• Threads have announced a test of post scheduling. Community managers go wild! The feature will allow users to schedule their Threads directly, enhancing user experience and seamless integration. There’s no specific rollout date yet, so stay tuned.
• Things continue to look up for Bluesky, as it surpasses 25M users, reflecting its growing popularity as an alt platform. They’ve also introduced a ‘Trending Topics’ feature, which will facilitate easy discussion on the platform.
• X on the other hand, is putting its focus on enhancing its ‘Grok’ AI chatbot. Not only have they made it accessible for non-premium users, but they’ve introduced integrated web search, improved image generation and added a handy(?) Grok button to posts, allowing users to access more contextual information. Try it for yourself here: https://x.ai/
• In a similar vein, Instagram has previewed its coming AI video tools. An AI-powered suite of editing features, allowing users to alter backgrounds, outfits and even create Muppet-like versions of themselves. Whether or not this is the benefit you saw coming from the rise of AI, Instagram is looking to offer new creative possibilities within their platform as others race to meet user demands for more customisable content.
• And finally, Snapchat is launching a streamlined monetisation process for creators. Those with at least 50,000 followers who meet specific engagement benchmarks will start earning revenue from ads placed within their content across both Stories and Spotlight placements.

Content

We're loving seeing luxury brands embrace animation to create visually stunning campaigns.

Hermès recently captivated us with their animated OOH pieces, adding a playful edge to their luxury ethos, while RIMOWA has been collaborating with illustrator Vincent Mahé for the past year, producing elegant animations that bring their brand story to life.

Burberry’s intricate stitch-mation shows another distinctive approach, blending artistry and craftsmanship with digital techniques. These pieces are a brilliant example of just how animation can elevate brand storytelling in fresh, compelling ways.

What's trending?

Are we all sick of hearing "And with that, the 2024 season comes to an end" as we scroll down our feeds? If you said yes, we've fortunately collated a number of other trends that caught our eye in the last few weeks:

• Time on a Random Day

This TikTok trend taps into nostalgia, helping us to reflect on joyful moments amid daily life. Users are sharing shots of their past holidays, special memories or times when life felt slower. The trend uses text overlays with timestamps like "2pm on a random Tuesday 3 months ago".

• Pepé the King Prawn

Pepé the King Prawn is really having his moment. Originally a Muppet, he's now been thrust back into the spotlight, with his photo acting the conduit to users sharing their most ridiculous stories. His expression perfectly captures the chaos and disbelief you experience from reading some of these. A notable mention goes out to Olive Oil girl, who racked up over 63M views on her story. Watch the full thing below ??

• Emma Roberts Smile

An image originally taken from an Emma Roberts interview, has turned into an image to represent embarrassing, relatable moments. TikTok user @lizvolsn first used the image to represent her reaction to getting hit with a ball in the gym, amassing over 2.4M views in less than a week. The relatability here is key - we've all felt like Emma, with a slightly pained smile and a dead-behind-the-eyes look on our face when something goes wrong.

eight&four Recommends

Each month, we’re bringing you a BTS glimpse into what our eight&fourian’s get up to once their laptop shuts.

Here to give you some New Year inspiration, let's find out what everyone is..

Watching? “The new series of The Traitors! I’ve been absolutely obsessed with the show (if you saw me shouting on my sofa during last years finale, no you didn’t).” - Annie Harte , Social Strategist

Reading? "i’m about to re-read The Odyssey in prep for Christopher Nolan's new film which is coming out in 2026. It could take me that long to reread it.." - Chloe Singleton , Channel Director

Doing? "Finding Wordle too easy? Try 'Hardle'. Its Wordle, except you don't know which letters are yellow/green, only that you have found a yellow/green letter. It makes you rack your brain a bit more, but its more satisfying when you finally get it. Makes going back to normal Wordle feel so easy." - Shaun Spark , Senior Creative Editor

That's all for our January edition of Chronically Online. Here's to more rogue trends, continued platform drama and team recommendations in 2025.

See you in February! ???