4 pm Until The Cops Arrive
Everyone wants to go to Doug's Winter Party.
Leaving this month: Group Stories will no longer be available on Instagram as of February 2025, according to an in-app message I recently received. “Stories you shared to group will be saved to your archive. Only you can see these stories until you choose to share them.”
In today’s newsletter:
🥳 4 pm Until The Cops Arrive: Everyone wants to go to Doug’s Winter Party
📈 36% Growth: LinkedIn Says Video is Booming
🎉 Happy Anniversary: Bluesky Celebrates a Milestone
BTW: I’ll be taking a break for Family Day next weekend. The next newsletter will pop into your inbox on Monday, Feb. 24.
4 PM UNTIL THE COPS ARRIVE
These are the moments that make me love social media.
Last week, videos of people talking about going to “Doug’s party” kept popping up in my feed. I’m from Ontario, where the Premier is Doug Ford, and at first I was a bit confused. But then I started to realize who “Doug” was, and why everyone was so excited.
Doug, an 85-year-old widower who lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was filmed on a Ring doorbell camera delivering handwritten invites to his neighbours for a “Celebration of Winter” on Feb 15th. The invite said the party would last from “4 pm until the cops arrive” and asked neighbours to “only bring a smile.”
The ring camera video was originally posted by neighbour Michelle Hernandez (@meeesher on TikTok). Here is a video with details about the invitation.
And this is a compilation from @Wooder_Ice on TikTok.
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The videos — and responses — have gone viral as people learn about Doug and his story. And while he’s not on social media, his daughter (@emakey44 on TikTok) has shared videos to let everyone know how much he’s enjoying his viral moment. She also mentioned that he was born and raised in Canada. 🇨🇦
In response, brands like @GoldNKrispChips have also popped up on social media offering to send treats for the party (and in fact, they only created the TikTok to be able to participate the festivities).
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The party has also gone global, with replies like this popping up on related videos. I’ve also seen posters for parties across Canada pop up on TikTok, and requests for a Live event during the party so everyone who can’t be there in person can attend.
A few thoughts for social media managers:
Doug’s story, as an elderly widower who took the time and effort to personally invite his neighbours to his party, is a great story with lots of emotion. It’s a great reminder of how storytelling and sharing these touching moments can really connect us all.
We often talk about how social media is about community, but it doesn’t always feel that way. A viral moment like this shows us how social media can be used for good, and that people can come together behind a person or a cause they care about.
I enjoy seeing brands jumping on this viral trend to send products to Doug for his party. It’s a nice thing to do, and a great way to become part of the conversation. Is there a way the brand accounts you manage can become part of a conversation in an authentic way?
🍪 SOCIAL SNACKS 🍪
LinkedIn Says Video is Booming
LinkedIn is doubling down on video features, as it announces that: “video on LinkedIn is being watched 36% more year over year, with video creation growing at 2x the rate of other original post formats.” To help increase that growth, Lakshman Somasundaram, Director of Product at LinkedIn: Video, Games, and Moonshots announced new video features, including:
Allowing viewers to see a snapshot of your profile directly within the full-screen video player
A more prominent follow button within the full-screen video player
Tracking average watch time to uncover what resonates most with your audience
New nano courses for video content creation
Threads allows you to share custom feeds
Threads announced custom feeds last year, but recently added an enhancement — you can now share your custom public feeds to your friends and followers. Here are instructions.
“You’ll be able to explore public feeds under a new Feeds tab on profiles, and pin feeds you like for quick access to your favorite people and topics.”
🎉 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Bluesky celebrates a milestone
Bluesky originally launched as an invite-only app in Feb. 2023. And on Feb. 6, 2024, it opened registration to everyone. Since then, it has hit 1 billion posts, and 30 million users.
Unfortunately, the Bluesky post celebrating the anniversary didn’t go well, with some calling it ageist. I kind of agree, but overall I’m just confused — does this mean that last year has been so long that they’ve all aged a lot? What are your thoughts?
