How Duolingo rose to the top

Have you ever watched one of Duolingo’s TikToks? A few years ago, a green owl appeared in a TikTok as I scrolled past. Then another, and another. What was going on? Duolingo’s TikToks were everywhere, and they were pretty hilarious! I had heard of Duolingo before but didn’t know much about the company besides it being some language education app. I wasn’t interested in learning more about the company. So, how did Duolingo become one of the number one educational apps available in the app store?

@duolingo

why doesn’t anyone fall for an owl? #duolingo

♬ BAILEYS SOUND – Me!

Before 2020, Duolingo’s social media presence was pretty stagnant. They barely posted, and when they did, even the company would acknowledge that the content didn’t go far. So what changed? A newly graduated, Zaria Parvez, joined Duolingo’s team in 2020 with a marketing degree and a special interest in social media. After working for the company for a year, Zaria took a risk and requested that she be allowed to create TikToks for Duolingo’s neglected TikTok account. By October 2021, they experienced their first viral TikTok video called CAP.

@duolingo

Listen…you’re only playin’ yourself 🧢 #cap #run #bescared #comedy #duolingo

♬ –

Duolingos first viral TikTok

Duolingo’s TikTok videos have become well known, as has the ‘unhinged’ content centred around their owl mascot, Duo. Duo has a slightly threatening and unhinged personality – intending to encourage users to do their daily language lessons so Duo doesn’t come after them. Zaria created an endearing and funny connection with users by elaborating on their pre-existing connection with Duo. Relying on Duo’s personality and using trends to create content has resulted in 11.1M followers on TikTok and a 62% rise in active users of the Duolingo app in 2023.

Duolingo’s company attitude of creativity and experimentation on social media and offline has largely contributed to its success. They were willing to take risks and make connections through a platform few companies at the time had found success on. I admire how their attitude of experimentation allowed them to get ahead. How many companies would let a 23-year-old newly graduated employee take full control of one of their social media platforms? In most companies today, this is unheard of.

Do you think more companies should take risks like the ones Duolingo took?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Social Feed:

Facebook: Duolingo took a risk by allowing their newly graduated marketing employee to create TikToks for their account. Read more about how that led to success on my blog! https://wordpress.com/post/algonquincollegesocialmedia.wordpress.com/136910

Instagram: Duolingo has risen to the top of both TikTok and the app store. Learn how by reading my blog post! The link is in my bio.

COMM0014 Blog #6: How to pick stuff up and put them down – but consistently

So you’ve come to me today hoping to figure out how to motivate yourself to workout? Or maybe not. Either way, you’re here now so you might as well stay because I’ve got some surefire ways to stay consistent with your workout goals.

Routine, routine, routine

They say that it takes around 66 days to establish and form a habit. Seriously, that’s what they say. Honestly, if you think 66 days is long it’s literally 18% of the year. That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. If you can force yourself to pick up a new behaviour like going to the gym in two months it will become a new habit that is basically second nature to you. You won’t even remember the day you didn’t go the gym or workout.

Make it fun girl

Working out doesn’t have to be running on the treadmill until you feel like dying. It doesn’t have to be doing 100 push-ups in a row or burpees until you puke. There’s interval training, swimming, pilates and honestly whatever type of exercise tickles your fancy, can be made fun. Do you like lifting weights? Start lifting but this time crank the music. Maybe a little something like the song below?

Wondering how to?

Where to begin? Try this 👇🏼

1. Establish a morning routine by setting a wake-up time
   Example: 5:00am to start working out for 5:30am
2. Create a workout the day before if you’re working out from home or sign up for a workout class of your choice ahead of time
3. Keep a calendar that has a check mark on the days you workout so you can visually see your consistency
4. Grocery shop on Sunday to start the week right
   Meal prep a few meals for the week to keep dinner and lunches on track
5. Remind yourself that any movement is positive and helpful to your body
   There’s no need to try running 10k everyday – remember it’s all about consistency

These are some of the things that I’ve found to help me stay consistent. Give yourself grace, rest and remember it’s all about keeping your body healthy. Before you know it you’ll be picking up stuff and putting it back down like a pro 💪🏼

COM0014 Blog #5- From scrubs to social

Tell me, what’s harder than writing about yourself? I sure can’t think of anything. Yet, here I am about to tell you all the ins and outs of me and essentially brag about myself. I’m not sure how one does that gracefully but one thing I do know about myself is I will always use humour to cover anything uncomfortable. So, from here on out this blog will consist of me using humour to uncomfortably brag about me.

A photo I was forced to take for work purposes or you wouldn’t catch me dead in front of a camera

Some cool characteristics

Well. Here I go. I guess I just dive right into it?
Aside from my ability to bring humour into any situation I’ve been told I excel at organization. Can’t relate? Let me paint you a picture. The desktop on your laptop has no loose documents. In fact, there are a few folders there but each one has more folders in it that are all labeled and easy to find. There’s no searching or confusion about where to find a document actually and it’s all alphabetized for you as well. To top it all off, all the items you’ve ever printed are neatly filed with strategic sticky notes on what needs completing or what needs to be reviewed. Obviously, everything is colour-coded to boot. Oh man I’m getting pumped about it as I’m typing this. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about a fully organized pantry with fancy jars that are all labelled? If that does nothing for you then I suggest therapy.
I’ve also been told that I’m a caring individual. I usually like to go above and beyond for people when it comes to helping which may be why I initially ended up in health care. Often I would stay long hours making sure all loose ends were tied up and spent extra time talking with patients or doing activities with them to pass the time. I’m the kind of person who would take a stray dog in with no questions asked or drop dinner off at your house if you were sick. I’ve also been known to drop everything I’m doing to make sure you’re okay before myself. I may have overdone it a bit and this could be why I quit the scrubs and took up social media.
Hey, it’s never too late to start over or start something new. Which I applaud myself for doing. Quietly though because we humble brag over here.

You said humble brag?

Ugh I know, I’m still going on about myself. I’ll wrap it up though.
I’d say it’s kind of crazy to quit a full-time job with a guaranteed future since health care isn’t going anywhere. But, here I am, living proof that crazy people like me do exist. Doesn’t that make me stand out though? I’m willing to take risks to push myself towards a better future. (Yes, I had to include what makes me stand out per the assignment instructions- but it’s kind of gutsy right?)
I also have this incessant need to compete. I like to give 100% effort into everything I start and try to do whatever that thing is the best. I want to be in the top 1%. I want to get as close to perfect on my work as possible. I would also like to be a top athlete but I don’t see what happening anytime soon either. Point is, I work hard at anything. So hard that I’ll stop at nothing to make sure I’m always improving and learning to one-up my competition.
Okay okay, I’m seriously wrapping it up though.

Actually wrapping it up

End of the day, I’m proud of myself for taking a risk and switching careers after 6 years. I’m proud of myself for working through the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m proud of myself for always pushing myself and my team to strive to be the best even if we think we’ve already reached the top. I’m proud that I’ve changed my mindset to be able to confidently say I can do anything I put my mind to. And most of all, I’m proud of myself for keeping the sappy stuff short and ending this blog with my favourite kind of humour, self-deprecating. Take it away Sherlock ⬇️

I’m not a psychopath, Anderson. I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.

–Sherlock Holmes

Has the Future of Video Content Arrived?

Most of us have seen a very quick increase in the quality of video being shared through social media. It’s not uncommon to see professional quality video in our Instagram, TikTok and YouTube feeds. This is no surprise as the quality of consumer level video equipment has drastically improved and more people are investing in this segment.

According to recent research by Semantix, 72% of consumers prefer to learn about a product or service through video. In the same report, they also say that users spend 88% more time browsing on websites with video. Therefore, the need to have great quality and engaging video content is more important than ever before. Perhaps the best example I’ve seen recently is from the folks at BeFound Media. Their use of quality videography mixed with their editing techniques makes for some outstanding content, just look at their Instagram content below for proof…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BeFound Media (@befoundmedia)

Despite posting for less than one year, they have garnered a big following already (70k and growing) and some posts are getting over 100,000 likes. They aren’t selling anything unique, they are just doing what everyone else wishes they were doing.

What do you think, will this type of content be the new normal? Are we going to see a big increase in the demand for creators with this level of skill?

Twitter/X post: Are you maximizing your use of video content? Don’t get left behind in this rapidly changing segment. https://wp.me/p3QRy0-zAV

#videocontent #videography #influencer

Facebook post: Make sure your content is above and beyond. Recent stats show the importance of great quality video content in your marketing. https://wordpress.com/post/algonquincollegesocialmedia.wordpress.com/136829

Experiencing the world through TikTok

Have you ever wanted to see the inside of a castle, travel to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, or learn about another culture from a local? What if I told you that you could go there without ever leaving your home? TikTok users have exploded in the last few years, largely due to the creativity present on the platform. Along with this creativity is the ability for ordinary people to become tour guides in their own city.

I’ll admit that I was one of the people who joined TikTok out of boredom in 2020. I thought it was an app I would download to check out and delete after a month or two. After all, I’m not a dancer, so why would I want to use TikTok? Well, I discovered that TikTok had much more to offer than just dancing videos.

Photo by Ron Lach via Pexels.com

TikTok has a way of letting you experience the world in a way no other platform has ever shown me before. I learned about Ukrainian refugees arriving in Canada for the first time while also learning to see Canada from their viewpoint. I learned about Italian Culture from Kacey Rose, an American TikTokker who has lived in Italy for years, and one of my favourite TikTokkers is Castle Tours with Evelyn Edwards! Evelyn has 587.2K followers and goes Live every weekend using TikTok Live. She travels all over Europe to do live tours of castles, cathedrals and historic sites while also telling stories about the history of the locations she travels to! It’s a fun and interactive way to learn about history and other cultures. I never imagined the amount of the world I would be able to experience when I initially joined the platform!

Photo by cottonbro studio via Pexels.com

TikTok has obviously noted this as a feature for the platform because, in 2021, they created an event called #MuseumMoment, which had a marathon of Lives at museums from the USA, Japan, Israel, Mexico, the UK, and many more! This allowed users from anywhere in the world to experience firsthand point-of-view tours of museums worldwide.

TikTok has helped me learn and experience the world in a different way, and with the platform always expanding and more museums and cultural sites joining it, we will likely be able to experience even more places in the future!

Do you have a favourite TikTokker? Let me know in the comments below!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Social Feeds

Facebook: Experiencing the world through TikTok: Learn how joining TikTok can help us experience the world in a new way! Read more on my blog.⬇ https://wordpress.com/post/algonquincollegesocialmedia.wordpress.com/136749

Instagram: Are you interested in experiencing the world from the comfort of your home? 🌏 Learn more about how I expanded my view of the world through TikTok! Follow the link in my bio to read more. #TikTokTravel 📱✈

COM0014 Blog #4: Ikea to Consumers

Affordable. Style. Relatable. It’s Ikea ladies and gentlemen.

Photo by Alexander Isreb on Pexels.com

Social media

I don’t think Ikea needs much of an introduction. So if you haven’t heard of Ikea you should crawl out from under that rock. To show you these guys are the real deal let me tell you about their following on social media. They have 32 million followers on Facebook and 1.5 million followers on Instagram. Not too bad if they do say so themselves. How are they so successful? Let’s touch on a few points 👇🏻

Affordability

It’s no secret that as Canadians, the cost of living is out of this world. Don’t stress though, Ikea is here to help bring us all back down to Earth. Of course, we all want to be able to afford nice things without breaking the bank and Ikea hears this. When it comes to Canadians, Ikea didn’t mess around when they heard our struggles. They said, no worries Canada, we got your back and decided to cut prices on thousands of products. Ikea outdid themselves on this one, my friends. Not only did they show they’re listening to what consumers need but they showed they truly care. It brings a tear to my eye really.

Pure style

Ikea makes us feel like we can achieve that luxurious home you see in a magazine. They produce products that say ‘yeah, I bought this living room decor with old money’. They let you design a full kitchen at a fraction of the cost, revamp an entire closet so it’s unrecognizable and offer more containers than you ever knew you needed for storage. Who doesn’t want a pantry that looks like it’s been organized by Martha Stewart herself? It all sounds like it should come with a hefty price tag but as long as you were paying attention before, don’t forget, it’s affordable to boot.

To the Consumer

Ikea has this funny way of knowing what consumers need. With this in mind, they appeal to the average person. Their target market isn’t A-list celebrities. They want us normal everyday people to purchase their products. Their social media shows just how easily they achieve this by showing regular people building their furniture in their average homes. They show how you can style the items and how they can turn your spaces into a modern, expensive vibe. Ikea wants you to see how simple and cost-effective it can be to transform your spaces. They even created an app that lets you virtually see what their products would look like in your own home. Ikea wants your house to serve looks and they won’t stop until you’ve stopped by your nearest Ikea store to eat their famous meatballs.

Comment down below what your favourite Ikea purchase is!

(Don’t be shy, I know you have one😉)

COM0014 – Blog #3: The Binge: Netflix edition

Okay, so I’m supposed to write about a hobby, who says it can’t involve Netflix? I’m really good at grabbing something to drink, bundling up in my favourite blanket and making sure I’m staying up to date on all the latest Netflix shows. Isn’t finishing the new Love is Blind series in a weekend the same as knitting a pair of socks?

Photo by Roberto Nickson on Pexels.com

You already know that looks cozy ^ so let me inspire your next hobby as we take a look and see if you fit into Netflix’s target audience.

Demographics

It’s hard to pinpoint an exact demographic mostly because it’s so diverse. You could argue that its featured audience is Gen Z to Millennials since most of us grew up with Netflix instead of cable. We can’t discount Gen X and Boomers though, we know everyone and their mother uses Netflix these days. To sum it up in a more theatrical way, Netflix’s demographic is like a mixed bag of nuts.

Psychographics

We’re talking about the people who want convenience, flexibility, variety and on-demand options! These are the people who look at their binge-watching buddy and say ‘just one more episode’ even though it’s 3am. Waiting for their scheduled program isn’t acceptable. In fact, it’s a crime. These people rely on online streaming and wouldn’t survive having to wait until next week to find out what happens next. Netflix appeals to those who, like me, enjoy a good Romcom. Oh, and documentaries, dramas, action and comedies. They’re pretty good at targeting those who are interested in any movie or show genre. No one gets left behind here. Whether you’re a trendsetter or a follower, Netflix creates shows that create viral chatter online. They basically turn you into their social media marketing manager the more you engage with the contect. And you even do it for free.

Engagement with Communities

Speaking of you working for Netflix for free, the more you talk about Netflix and the content they also create on its platform, the easier it is for them to get a grasp of how it aligns with viewers’ interests, preferences and desires. They use social media chatter as research for what viewers think and the positive and negative chatter about the company. The viewing parties you have, the many accounts you have under your account just help to grow the Netflix community. Sorry, you’ll have to take the lack of pay up with HR 🤷‍♀️

Your task for the night: Grab a hot tea, beer or pop. Find the nearest blanket. Put on your comfiest sweats. Sit your butt on the couch and open Netflix. Don’t forget to comment below so I know what we’re binge-watching next.

A Lesson On Changing My Algorithm

This is a story of how I decided to change my Instagram algorithm.

After some research, changing my algorithm wasn’t as difficult as I originally thought. But why did I want to change my algorithm? Well, you see, I’m a Swiftie (A Taylor Swift fan) and like many other Swifties, my Instagram For You page was FULL of Taylor Swift content. Reels, photos, and fan pages. You name it, and it was Taylor-related. At first, I didn’t complain because I was a fan, right? I enjoyed this content. But then weeks turned into months, and my feed had barely changed. I desperately wanted to see something new added to my feed!

Photo by Lisett Kruusimäe from Pexels.

I decided that a change was needed, but what could I do? How much control do I have on the Instagram algorithm? My first step was to research how the Instagram algorithm worked. I found an article from Hootsuite explaining how information is used to create the algorithm for News feeds and For You pages. After I finished my research it was time to put my plan into action!

It seemed that the simplest way to change my feed was to create more saved content. Instagram has a space where you can save content for future reference in a folder similar to how you would save content on Pinterest. I chose six topics to search on Instagram and then added the content I liked to my Saved folders.

Screenshot by Alyssa Van Olst

My saved folder topics were:

• Paint Colours – This folder features paint colours or home decor colour selections.
• Crafts – This folder includes anything from crocheting and painting tutorials to Cross-Stitching.
• Recipes – This folder Includes dinner and dessert recipes.
• Garden – This folder includes any gardening/outdoor tips.
• YUM – This is a shared folder where I share larger-sized meal recipes with multiple family members.
• Funny – This is a folder where I save humorous content that I might want to reference on a bad day.

So, did this plan work? Shockingly, it did! After a few days, my For You page changed from almost exclusively Taylor Swift content to content related to the topics I had searched and saved! I still have Taylor Swift content showing up on my For You page, which makes sense since it is a topic I enjoy, and it will likely be in my algorithm for a while, but I have been enjoying the variety of content showing up on my feed once again.

Have you ever tried to change one of your social media algorithms? Let me know in the comments!

Facebook: A lesson on changing my algorithm. Tired of seeing the same content on Instagram? Check out my story about how I changed mine!⬇ #changeitup https://wordpress.com/post/algonquincollegesocialmedia.wordpress.com/136500

Instagram: Tired of seeing repetitive content on your For You page? 😴 Go to the link in my bio to learn how I changed my Instagram algorithm and started seeing new content! #changeitup

COM0014 Blog #7 – Personal Reflection

This course has been very beneficial to me and my writing abilities, I believe I have gained a strong sense of confidence in my writing, and I feel I can put my full thoughts into words now. I used to struggle to put my words together in a way that encouraged fluidity for the reader. 

I worried too much before about coming off poorly, I feel as if a lot of people at least early in content creation, get stuck in this overly-censored and curated sense of self. I am a victim of that trap as well, viewers and consumers want authenticity and when you’re overly curated or detached from your audience it doesn’t make it easy for viewers to engage with the content. 

This course has taught me a lot in regards to immersion my readers and viewers, having a method and format to tell stories most engagingly is becoming more and more helpful. I am currently in a transitional period with my content, I have put a pause on putting out content in an attempt to gather what exactly I want my image to be online. I know that consistency is key with social media so while I am focusing on making my writing more engaging I am working on stockpiling visual content as well. 

I am doing this to give myself time to breathe, if I’m putting so much effort into writing posts, taking pictures, working on cosplays, etc. I will inevitably suffer from burnout. 

This career is my dream and I feel like the stars I’ve been reaching out to are falling into the palm of my hand. I for once feel a sense of organization and direction with my content. 

This course has allowed me to plan and develop the best success plan for myself.

COM0014- Blog #2: Did this grab your attention?🚨

I won’t bore you with the definitions or other articles that will essentially tell you the same thing in a different way. Instead, let’s get into the meat and bones of it all, becoming a digital storyteller but with examples.

Are you hooked yet?

Photo by Vadim B on Pexels.com

Does it sound like you to open an article, blog post or website thinking you’re interested in what you just clicked on but end up exiting the page after a few minutes of reading? Well, this is ultimately because the writer or author didn’t capture your attention. Likely I’ve probably already blabbed on too much here so let’s bring your attention back, shall we? Either take a look at the picture of this adorable kitten or press play below to listen to an artist you may have never heard of before.

The point is, nowadays with social media and quick access to information, readers often skim through content. Despite how phenomenal you think your content is written, it doesn’t matter if you can’t keep the attention of your readers along the way. This means keeping visuals in mind, like our cute little kitten above. It also means calls to action like prompting your readers by asking thoughtful questions or getting more traffic on your social media by asking readers to share your content. It can even be a prompt to keep readers engaged enough to continue to read your content, like say maybe music playing to enhance the vibe (see what I did there).

The takeaway

Capture your audience:
1) Creative title with maybe even the use of an emoji 🤷🏼‍♀️, photos and visuals help. Hey, so does music here and there!

Get to the point:
2) Don’t beat around the bush, tell your audience what they’re about to dive into (refer to the first paragraph of this blog)

Detail placement:
3) Even though readers skim content, you can still include detail! You just have to keep in mind where to place it aka the middle of this blog.

Keep your writers hooked:
4) Remember to keep things concise! You could even try numbering main points at the end of your blog (for example of course 😉)

Being a digital storyteller doesn’t have to be complicated or complex. But hey this is just advice from one digital storyteller to the next.