I talked to the Minnesota Public Radio News social team

Plus my guidance on the TikTok situation, the pizza shop account I can't stop watching, and more.

Hi everyone. On Tuesday I wrote an essay about how brands respond to crisis. It inspired a lot of dialogue in the comments and I’m so grateful to have the most thoughtful readers.

Since that newsletter went out, a new type of brand post has been popping up: closure announcements for the general strike tomorrow. Small businesses like Block Shop Textiles, Happy Isles, 3sixteen, Fashion Brand Company, and more have all shared updates on their social media pages. Regardless of what your brand decides to do, I would personally advise not posting tomorrow.

Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:

• I talked to the MPR News social team

• My guidance on the TikTok situation

• The pizza shop account that feels like one big Tim Robinson sketch

• Why I’m into DM activations

• An invite to the Link in Bio Discord

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I talked to the Minnesota Public Radio News social team

Local news organizations in Minnesota have played a vital role in sharing stories from the ongoing ICE surge with the rest of the country. One of those local news organizations keeps showing up on my feed: MPR News. They were the first to publish the horrifying footage from the “woman in the pink jacket”, they covered the Art Sled Rally which one commenter deemed “joyful resistance”, and recently interviewed Modern Times, a diner where all menu items are now free unless you’re a federal agent. I talked to their social team over email to learn more about their work.

Rachel Karten: First, can you tell me about each of your roles?

Anne Guttridge: I’m the only full time video producer in the newsroom at MPR News. I specialize in creating social media video to represent our news content, but I also help shape our video strategy overall. Depending on the news cycle I create 3-5 videos a week (more during breaking news) with most being original pieces of content. I frequently collaborate with reporters to get their stories to social audiences but I also do my own reporting.

Sam Stroozas: I am a digital producer at MPR News, leading our Instagram account coverage and social media strategy. I focus on audience engagement, digital content strategy for the website, and, during the ICE surge, have been covering questions readers may have.

RK: There is so much social media content coming out of Minnesota right now. When you zoom out, what role do you see MPR News’ content playing in that ecosystem?

AG: I think what we offer is a hyper-local lens. We had been sharing stories about the increased presence of federal immigration agencies long before the surge in Minnesota and before Renee Macklin Good was fatally shot. Because of that we have developed connections with community members and organizations that other outlets do not have.

Video in particular has a huge role to play right now. In the Twin Cities there’s an emphasis on filming ICE and other federal agencies as a community observation tactic. But with more content coming from every angle, it’s sometimes difficult for social media users to know what to trust. By publishing vetted video that comes from a trusted source and that accurately represents the situation we can help people see for themselves what is happening right now and they know that it’s accurate. It’s incredibly important to be that resource, especially when the federal government’s narrative contradicts what people on the ground are filming.

RK: How quickly are you typically turning around video content for social media? Are there any tools you use that help?

AG: There are always editorial factors that go into how quickly a video can be published. At my most speedy I can turn a video around in a half hour and that includes editing Premiere’s automated closed captioning, adding titles, and writing caption copy for the post. More often my average is an hour or two for breaking news and 6-8 hours for an interview-based video. Every video goes through review of an editor and in breaking news situations there are often more voices that need to weigh in.

Having organized folders, title templates, and caption presets helps me have fewer roadblocks in my editing. The less time I have to spend tweaking a title’s formatting or the opacity of closed captions, the faster information gets out to the public.

I also can’t underscore enough how important leaning on my colleagues is for their reporting and factchecking. Knowing we have solid reporting to support our videos gives me confidence in the value of what we’re posting.

SS: I use Adobe Express for social media posts. Over my years working here I have revamped the graphics and settled on a style that I think is informative yet approachable. I want our followers to feel like we are another member of the community they can trust and turn to when they have questions. I typically turn two posts a day, and during the surge I have been trying to balance my output with what the audience is requesting to see and what questions they have.

RK: Can you share a recent video and tell me about how it came together?

AG: After the shooting of Alex Pretti we had a journalist and a photojournalist who were on the ground and quickly in contact with Stella Carlson, who until recently was the unnamed “woman in the pink jacket” who captured video of his fatal shooting. Not only were we the first outlet to talk to her, but we were able to obtain and publish her video first. She then reached out to us for a follow-up interview to further share her story. The resulting video helps audiences see the person whose video has been crucial to analyzing what happened to Pretti.

One of our photojournalists Ben Hovland has been instrumental in our coverage because of his relationships with sources and the photos and videos he captures. I’ve been leaning on him a lot to capture video of ICE detaining people and he’s one of the reasons Stella spoke with us.

RK: A lot of the advice people like to give social managers during dark times is to turn off the news or take a break from scrolling. You don’t exactly have that as an option. How are you taking care of yourself right now?

AG: I’ve been talking about this with friends who don’t work in social media and honestly, no one here feels like they have the option to turn off the news either. Talking to them helps me gain perspective about how important my role is because there is SO much content out there. It might not make sense to everyone, but part of taking care of myself means making sure I’m paying attention so I can be confident in my work. Knowing what is circulating on social media and what has been published by other outlets helps me stay focused and grounded so I can be levelheaded when the time comes to get information out quickly and accurately.

But when I do manage to break away from my phone I’ve been putting my energy into things that make me feel like me. Things like knitting, being active with yoga and running, going to the sauna, and being with friends and family who are also experiencing this life in Minnesota right now. I also have been logging some hours playing an iPad game where I run a coffee shop (which I only play when I’m struggling emotionally) and it helps to have my cat on my lap while I do so.

SS: Being a journalist in any climate, but especially now, is hard. I think it is easy for us to not always think what we do is vital when we are going through the motions. But when we look back at this moment in future years I’ll be proud to say I was deep in it, helping Minnesota the only way I know how to—telling the truth. But that’s not to say it isn’t traumatic and intense. I am talking through my feelings with other journalists, trying to be a good friend and partner and leaning on my community when I need help.

My guidance on the TikTok situation

Over the weekend, there was an outage at TikTok. The biggest impact that users felt was that videos posted were showing 0 views. This glitch happened during a time where a lot of creators were also speaking out against ICE, resulting in follow up Instagram posts that accused the platform of censorship. Comedian Meg Stalter left the app altogether. As we all know, TikTok recently got new Trump administration-approved owners, complete with an updated privacy policy pop up. According to an article CNBC published on Monday, “TikTok users are deleting the app, with removals up 150% following U.S. joint venture.”

Back in September I predicted this might happen. I wrote, “While we still don’t know many details, there’s one thing I can almost guarantee: TikTok is going to feel different after the deal goes through. Some creators might outright leave. There will be paranoia posting. Brands are going to sit back. A few bricks will crumble.”

While I understand those who choose to leave, I do believe there was indeed some sort of outage and we won’t truly understand what the new US-based algorithm looks like for a bit more time.

From a personal perspective, of course I’m skeptical. Just like I am skeptical of pretty much every other social media platform.

From a work perspective, I don’t believe there’s an immediate need to delete your brand’s account or move over to UpScrolled, a competitor app that’s rising in the charts. My only recommendation at this time would be to hold any big posts or influencer collabs until at least next week. More soon.

The small pizza shop account that feels like one big Tim Robinson sketch

Vinnie’s Pizzeria’s account feels like a cheese-filled fever dream. The Brooklyn restaurant has become known for their Tim Robinson-coded sketches that are delightfully weird. This video with 500K views is somehow both about “bizza zagels” and facing our own mortality. In my Q4 Trend Report, I wrote about a style of content I jokingly called “AI could never”. Posts that are so kooky and weird that no amount of prompting could possibly get you there. Vinnie’s is the perfect example of just that. I had to know more about the team behind it.

When I asked Coby Chafets, co-owner of Vinnie’s Pizzeria and star of many videos, if he has background in comedy, he shared, “I spent a very embarrassing amount of time trying to be a standup comic in New York, starting when I was sixteen.” That time was worth it, the account has garnered over 10M views in the last six months. He told me that the team has “zero brainstorm process” and the ideas often come right as they hit record. There is still a method to the madness. He says, “I try to think of the audio first. So each video is like a song. Hopefully there's a catchy hook that sinks in like an earworm.” For example, this video’s hook was reflected in a comment with 10K likes: “Tomaosouppisawittinylilgrillcheezsammwichesontawp”. Coby will then edit the videos on his phone, “usually during lulls in lunch service”.

He believes the posts are resonating because they “don't do ‘TikTok trends’ or ever repeat someone else's idea, which is like 80% of content.” He says their audience comes back because they know “they’ll get a new, fresh idea every time.” Besides Tim Robinson, they also get compared to Interdimensional Cable from the TV show Rick & Morty.

Coby also tells me they’ve seen an influx in business since posting their sketches. “People have been making special trips from all over. And people who live down the street who have never come in are giving us a try for the first time.”

Finally, I asked Coby how he hopes the restaurant’s content makes people feel. He says, “I see both the best and worst things I’ve ever seen in my life while scrolling on TikTok and Instagram. I’m hoping people think of us as the former.”

What I’m scrolling

Last week, I wrote about Mister Rogers marketing. This week, Rocket and Redfin announced they’re reimagining Mister Rogers' song “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” with Lady Gaga for the Super Bowl.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, Ramp is bringing back their Brian bit. You can learn more about their initial social media activation here.

Pinterest is laying off 15% of workforce as part of AI push. “The company said it’s ‘reallocating resources’ to roles and teams focused on artificial intelligence.” See my above note about being skeptical of all social media platforms.

Do I need to interview this prom dress store? A boutique in Australia is posting original “skits” that are gaining a lot of traction. You have to watch for yourself. One person commented, “This was the video that made me realise I’ll watch literally anything.”

Beauty brand Fara Homidi did shade match consultations in the DMs. Noticed this in Emily Sundberg’s newsletter yesterday and think it’s really smart. Sort of like a DM activation. When I worked at Bon Appétit we did a Thanksgiving DM hotline. We had the test kitchen crew take over the “hotline” (respond to DMs on the brand account) at different hours, answering thousands of questions in total. It’s not the easiest type of stunt to scale, but I think it’s a great example of that “brand intimacy” we’ve all been talking about.

FIGS championing Lindsey Vonn’s medical team is genius. It made me wonder what other celebrity or athlete “support systems” a brand could highlight or sponsor. Reminds me a bit of when Liquid Death made a $100K sponsorship deal with water boy.

The Meta Creator Marketplace now auto-populates a list of all the influencers who follow your brand on social media. X user Peter Czepiga noted “You used to have to pay a lot of money to get these insights.”

Mark Zuckerberg is all in on AI as the new social media. “…Meta’s apps will eventually greet users with AI that ‘understands’ them, can serve up content they like, and ‘generate great personalized content,’” reports The Verge. Zuckerberg also said, “There’s definitely a version of the future where any video that you see, you can tap on and jump into it and… experience it in a more meaningful way.” What could go wrong?

Shirley Raines, the founder of the non-profit Beauty 2 the Streetz, has passed away. Devastating. She shared much of her work to her 5.8M TikTok followers here.

This carousel from Fishwife announcing they are in Costco has 22K likes. I’m coming around to the idea of having two posts planned for big announcements: a reel version and a carousel version. I’ll hear from people “But won’t I annoy my followers?” and to that I say it’s likely they will only get served one of those two posts anyway.

I’m a LinkedIn Top Voice! Shameless plug but I’m proud!

I can’t stop watching @nathanialpov’s viral saxophone concerts. He films his videos from his own POV, while playing saxophone in places like parking garages, empty malls, and tunnels. I have a feeling we’re going to see a brand partnership soon.

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