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beeyeah · 6 years ago

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Jikook: Appeal to Logic

Title: Appeal to Logic

Summary: /Jikook/ Two-shot/ Canon/ Where Jimin tries to convince Yoongi why he was positive Jungkook likes him and Yoongi asks him, “What would you do with that information?”

Indeed, Jimin wonders what the point was to all this.

Notes: I wanted to post on Valentine’s but I guess my calendar is ten days late hhhhh Anyway, I lurk a lot in Jikook tags (like I’m here everyday) and I’ve read long discourses regarding the legitimacy of their relationship. I thought it’d be interesting if one of them begins to share his proofs too and joins the hot pot of convo his own way. TLDR; enter this fic lol I promise it won’t be 20 chapters this time.

Chapter 1 under cut or you can read at Ao3

Chapter 1: Points Were Made

It was an on and off thing.

Like a passion project that you know you just would figure how to complete someday but needed time because life would get in the way.

Today though marked the moment Park Jimin was ready to lay out his cards and tell someone that definitely… maybe… with a little more sprinkle of confidence that --

“Hyung, I think Jungkook likes me.”

There was silence in Min Yoongi’s room when the statement was pronounced. It made Jimin squirm on his seat as he tried to understand the non-committal stare directed at him, right behind the bond paper that held Jimin’s scribbled notes for lyrics.

Ah, that was right.

His initial purpose was to hear Yoongi’s feedback on a thing he'd been working on. Somewhere along the way, his thoughts drifted to another which inevitably led to his bold declaration of Jungkook’s far from familial, alleged infatuation for him.

Yoongi reached out to his left where his mug of coffee sat.

“I don't know what you want me to say. Of course, Jungkook likes you.”

Jimin frowned, wrapping his head around how he should explain himself. “No, hyung. I mean Jungkook likes me.”

Yoongi’s mouth was slightly gaped and his eyes were blank. His hyung looked lost while he attempted to blink his confusion away.

Well, his observations go way way back, two years worth of evidence. Right in the hallway of their home, an evening in October.

“Jungkook treats me differently,” he told Yoongi, legs crossed and under him as he put up a finger and discussed his first point.

It wasn't as if it was only him who questioned it. Jungkook only gave Jimin a birthday present in the span of the past years, no one else and that got to mean something.

They were all tired from shoot that most of them were tempted not to shower. Hoseok was pushing him around and urging him to a quick bath before lying on his bed because that was what Hoseok was. He liked things clean and perfect and that same rule applied for his roommate. But then Jeon Jungkook, his beloved dongsaeng, appeared out of nowhere and blocked him from his merry way to the bathroom. A little awkwardly might he add because he stood there, hand fiddling with his fringes and eyes searching the floor in trepidation. At that point, both Jimin and Hoseok unlatched themselves from each other's grip to attend to the youngest who seemed to need some attention.

To his surprise, and perhaps his hyung’s too, Jungkook held out his hand and shoved Jimin a paper bag. Hoseok curiously peeked from his shoulder as Jimin tried to open it while muttering, “What's this?”

Jungkook answered with a shrug and he waited. He waited there and watched Jimin opened his present.

It wasn't even anything grand. In this stage of their career, they were just beginning to gain traction from their first win and as Namjoon had put it, at breakeven, to finally enjoy the fruits of their hard labor. Knowing how their earnings were distributed based on performance and royalty fees, Jimin was pretty sure Jungkook received the same profit he did. To be honest, it wasn't exactly much. The only difference was that Jimin was prone to lavish it on people while Jungkook would save it for practical and grander things.

The practical, grander things in Jungkook’s head was Jimin. Bought him a sweatshirt which costed around 44,000 krw. Jimin researched the price because he was curious how much the maknae was willing to spend on him.

No greeting cards. Not a high end brand. Just plain white paper bag from the department store where he bought his first gift for a Bangtan member.

Needless to say, Jimin was ecstatic and made sure to rub it on everyone's face.

“Jimin-ah,” Yoongi tried to interrupt him but he shushed the older with an afterthought.

“It wasn't the gift that's strange. Jungkook's face was really weird when I thanked him.”

Jimin knew Jungkook well enough to know when he was happy. Whatever gratefulness he saw on Jimin’s face translated on how satisfied Jungkook was on what he did. There was a sense of pride and innocent glee in Jungkook’s eyes similar to the way they would twinkle when he was offered cheesecake or lamb skewers. It was odd how he was comparing himself to food but Yoongi would probably understand the reference. He would bring Jungkook to lamb skewers so often that the maknae even vowed to stay with him forever if he would agree to become business partners.

That was beside the point.

Back then, Jimin thought he was onto something but the idea didn't linger because it was indeed a special occasion. Jungkook was a good dongsaeng and treated his hyung well even outside their birthdays so, on a second thought, it wasn't really much of an evidence.

The hand that held Jimin’s lyrics now dangled limply over the office chair’s armrest.

“Jimin-ah, just get to the point.”

Jimin pursed his lips. As far as he was concerned, he was straightforward from the get-go. He thought Jungkook likes him and he stated the fact right on, now presenting his evidence.

“Number two,” he said after lifting another finger. Perhaps Yoongi wanted him to speed things up and he should. He certainly didn't have all day with their comeback looming around the corner. “Jungkook thinks I'm beautiful.”

Yoongi’s confusion had more color to it this time. Beyond his blinking eyes that questioned where this conversation was headed, his brows met when he spoke, “Should this really be coming out of your own mouth?”

“It didn't come from me. Jungkook told me,” he replied, voice defensive.

“Jungkook thinks you're cute. But so do I. Might as well tell me that all members like you.”

“No,” Jimin answered, tucking his arm in and across his chest. His eyes narrowed, teeth worrying his lips, trying to recall the exact moment that prompted him to ask the youngest. “Ah, that's right,” he muttered when the epiphany came. He searched his pockets for his phone and scrolled through countless and countless of albums of selcas and videos of him with Bangtan.

It was somewhere in there.

“Hyung… this,” he finally said after almost five minutes of sifting through his files.

Yoongi’s back was facing him after he stopped talking to look for his proof. He really should've prepared it beforehand. Now his hyung seemed to have completely lost his interest. He was typically patient to listen, but Jimin interrupted him when he was in the midst of editing a melody submission.

Though Yoongi said it was fine. Jimin would be his breath of fresh air because the team would so rarely go out during crucial period right before their comeback. He knew better not to push the limit but it was tempting and he needed someone to listen to him.

He pulled the bean bag next to his hyung’s leg, lifted his phone so that Yoongi would be able to see what he was referencing to.

His hair was pink, the clip a mere six- seconder. He was staring at the camera, trying to appeal to ARMY. He needed it. There was this greedy part of him that wanted to know how they would react to his flirting. Tell people, ‘Hey, Jimin is right here and this is how he looks right now. His hair changed.’ That kind of drill right before their comeback and their response would in a way boost his confidence. A conscious tactic to keep his fans interested in him perhaps?

“What do you think?”

Yoongi made a face and pulled back to a cringe as he'd expected. Highly likely, he would've done the same thing if any other member showed him a video of themselves. So he merely nodded in agreement. Bangtan wasn't the audience for this video. ARMY was.

“Do you know how Jungkookie reacted when I showed this to him?”

Yoongi sighed. “Would I want to know?”

“He replayed it, hyung,” he said as a matter-of-factly. “He told me I should post it because our fans would love it. Which I did, if you remember.”

“I don't,” Yoongi admitted and turned his chair so that he was facing Jimin, a leg over the other while he waited for him to continue.

“I posted it on Twitter and do you know who posted afterwards?”

“Jungkook?”

It wasn't a wild guess.

“Yeah,” Jimin confirmed the obvious. “After 10 minutes, he posted something and you know what it said?”

No response.

“He posted a song.”

The title was right on the hashtag #ILYSB by Lany.

When it came to music that wasn't in their own language, Jimin would seldom take efforts to find translation. So long as he understood bits and pieces of what little English he knew, he could work around it. Namjoon said to be careful of listening to artists that might cause uproar by association, so he would still have to check it out if he'd want to share it with the fans. But for as much as he believed that lyricism was a key ingredient to any good music, Jimin preferred to feel rather than completely understand and analyze. That job was for their leader.

However, he decided that he wanted to fathom the youngest’s thoughts that night.

The noob part of him thought the title was some secret internet code popular in the west so he searched naver only to be greeted by a simple yet telling I love you so bad. His mouth formed an ‘oh’ when he realized that it might've been an intense confession. It invariably piqued his curious mind so that later he would be listening on loop to… and you need to know that I'm hella obsessed with your face.

“You're reading into it too much,” Yoongi told him with a shake of his head as he reached again for his coffee. “I'm not one to judge who you want to date, but think how this appears to other people.” Yoongi paused, seemingly debating what he should and shouldn't say next. “Jimin-ah, a lot could happen in ten minutes. Like you, Jungkook might be sending that message to the fans. Namjoon recommends a lot of songs. It wouldn't be about us.”

“I know, so I asked him directly.”

Yoongi almost spat his drink on him. He tapped his chest as he drowned out his cough to reaffirm. “Ya, you what?”

“I asked him if the lyrics were about me.”

“And?”

“He laughed,” Jimin confessed.

Truth be told, his ego was slightly hurt to see Jungkook’s initial response to his question. He was serious about it because he was just about more than a quarter sure about his theory. It didn't feel good to have this kid finding amusement to something he pored over. He could've just said ‘no’ outrightly and Jimin wouldn't have minded.

Jungkook’s laughter died down when he saw Jimin’s expression transform and he was reaching out for his hand in apology before he knew it.

Jimin let him hold him.

“It was…” he almost sounded uncertain. “Hyung, why are you being like this?” Sounded almost helpless and then relenting, “Yeah, it was about you. I was nervous so I laughed.” Instinctively, his free hand reached for his fringes like the night of Jimin’s birthday.

When he saw the younger fidget, Jimin felt relieved. Ah, he still knew Jungkook better than anyone. Mindful to see every little shift in the air, Jimin wasn't wrong in reading the situation.

He ruffled Jungkook's head and returned the wide staring with his own curled eyes in amusement. “I knew it,” mumbled to himself and turned once he got the confirmation that he wanted.

“You just left?” Yoongi asked him, tone surprised that it nudged some bafflement at the back of Jimin’s head.

He bobbed his head yes because, well, what else was he supposed to do? He already proved he was right. Yoongi hadn't even heard the rest of his evidences yet.

“Three,” he said to share what was left in his folder.

“Stop,” Yoongi said, planting a foot on Jimin's thigh to emphasize the urgency of his demand.

Jimin slapped the foot away and dusted off his pants.

“Do you even like Jungkook?”

He tilted his head sideways. “Of course,” Jimin answered simply, wondering why it was even a question in the first place. He liked Jungkook. Jungkook was and still is his favorite dongsaeng and BTS member. He'd take care of him even if he grew his muscles and grew taller than him.

Yoongi shook his head. “I don't think we're talking about the same thing.”

“For the third one… ” Jimin took in the opportunity of minute lag on Yoongi’s response to divert the conversation back to the task at hand. He really didn't understand what Yoongi meant but better to finish this off before his momentum dried and faltered.

He picked up his phone again and browsed through his apps. It was quite a long memory lane down Vapp’s timeline until he found the correct reference. He slid the video right on the important moment, him in his bathrobe with Taehyung’s voice singing in the background. The camera was on with Jungkook in his white shirt’s glory, sitting for all ARMY to see.

“That's right… Jimin-hyung is bad at playing games,” Jungkook said to echo his claim.

Back then, the staff berated them silently to turn off vapp. Jungkook was too loud. Jimin wasn't kidding when he said he was hearing him across the hallway. They were only given five hours to eat, take a bath, and nap before they reconvene for post-con review and plan out the adjustments in their set list but this kid chose to do an hour of live for the fans.

Jimin was out his room because Sungdeuk wanted to talk to Hoseok. They needed to work on spacing for Not Today. Their hyung thought they didn't maximize the stage well enough and he was also keen to give feedback on blockings for medley so they could properly execute group choreography for Bultaoreune.

Hoseok was too tired to get up his bed so he texted Jimin if he could get the notes in his place. Which Jimin was happy to do. He loved the fact that Hoseok trusted him and it gave him a sense of pride.

He and Sungdeuk were just about done talking when the older guy stopped him from his tracks by grabbing his arm.

“Can you tell Jungkook to tone it down a little? I heard he opened vapp but everyone's tired.”

Jimin honestly didn't want to deal with it. He was wearing his bathrobe without any make-up and only rushed out in the middle of his evening skin care routine because he wanted to be a useful dongsaeng to Hosoek and let him have an early rest. If he so much as spoke, audible for fans to hear, people were going to ask and he'd have to show himself on camera. Jeon Jungkook, really this kid should know when to stop.

“You know Jungkook listens to you well.”

Jimin jutted out his lower lip, “He doesn't.”

He could already imagine the maknae turning the volume up further for the sake of raising his hackles. Sungdeuk knew this but he was asking Jimin to do it because he knew Jimin couldn't say no when it came to Jungkook.

“Alright, alright,” he said, bobbing his head weakly and dragging his feet towards Jungkook’s room.

Across the end of the floor, he saw Taehyung towing right behind their leader who whispered him something. It made his friend glance at his direction and the next thing he knew, Namjoon was off his room and Taehyung was walking the opposite direction.

Taehyung got hold up by Sungdeuk who was midway his own room and right then, Jimin pressed on Jungkook’s room’s bell and twisted the knob open.

“I heard you from the neighboring room. Let me sleep,” he said, trying to keep his tone annoyed and nagging even when Jungkook was beaming at him so widely. “Stop singing in the middle of the night. Go to sleep.”

“You're losing me here, Jimin-ah. This is just you trying to discipline Jungkook. I would've scolded him the same.”

“Hyung,” Jimin replied sternly, eyes determined and a hand squeezing Yoongi’s thigh. “Did you watch it? Jungkook wanted my attention.”

Yoongi leaned back on his chair, challenging.

“Well, it wasn't even about that.”

His proof went beyond Jungkook's childish yet so endearing attempts to make Jimin come back and join his live. He slid the video right back to the moment and handed his phone in Yoongi’s hand.

When he crashed Jungkook's live that evening, Jimin had every intention to make an impression. After how people disregarded his precious, scant hours of work reprieve, he believed he deserved the screen time. It was tempting to test the waters to say the least. Not just with Jungkook. He wasn't dumb, well aware of his effect when he tried to appeal to someone.

“I don't know why you go to those lengths. They like you already,” Yoongi interrupted him mid-explanation, referencing to their fans. “What's more to prove?”

Jimin wondered to himself why but decided against it. “That's not the point, hyung,” he offered, not wanting to divert from the case at hand. They could ramble on about his insecurities later.

After confiscating the speaker that agitated Namjoon down to coordi noona who just finished fixing damaged buttons of their Blood, Sweat and Tears stage costumes, he went back in Jungkook’s room to greet their fans. A hand comb through his blond hair, cute sounds, zoom the bare face closer to the camera when he knew he just applied mask so he'd look good.

More important than that though was to stare at someone far longer than what was necessary that he’d be conscious to repay the attention. So he did what he knew would work, lure Jungkook's eyes to him and whisper. Mumble because that required someone to pay better heed and read his lips.

“That's not right, I was good at playing games a year ago.”

Then Jungkook would nod absentmindedly and whip his head towards his direction as Taehyung sang Chandelier in the background. Jimin wouldn't say it was the perfect song for the moment but it was good to have a song. Cause Jimin was aware they were recorded. He could go back to this, a song would help with epiphany and drama.

“What do you think?” he asked Yoongi who was squinting at his phone. Doubtful but probably a lot more convinced than he was five minutes ago. “I can be convincing if I want to.” He extended an arm to retrieve his phone.

He fell forward when his hyung suddenly pulled back to keep the small device out of reach. “I don't know if you're being serious about this.”

Jimin titled his head. “I am,” he said. “I am serious. Jungkook really likes me.”

He wasn't unreasonable. The kid had a habit of staring when someone would talk. He observed these things, sometimes obsessively, because it helped him understand the maknae better. So he knew why Jungkook would do it. He found it difficult to focus and physically directing his attention to someone would help him catch what they were trying to say better. It wouldn't be a deal then if Jimin was talking.

But when it was Namjoon who was put on spot to answer an English interview, their leader who still strove to speak a foreign language to represent the group, Jimin quite expected for Jungkook to listen… ogle.

“The korean teacher asked me a question, ‘What are the hardships of being a leader?’”

It wasn’t the first time Jungkook was caught. There was one at a fansign, then at the backstage of a music show, also during that one gayo episode and probably instances he wasn’t aware or the others he couldn’t remember. If Jimin wasn’t so busy overthinking things, he would have found it funny how Jungkook would play it cool and avert his gaze elsewhere.

“There are hardships when we take positions, specifically being a leader...”

Namjoon continued his answer in the background while Jimin thought to himself what actually goes through the maknae’s head when he would look at him. Was the need so compelling that he’d do it or was Jimin really just that. Beautiful?

“Ya, do you hear yourself?”

Jimin giggled, his head falling back to comfortably rest on the loveseat. It was funny to call himself beautiful. Even he wouldn’t be that shameless.

The point still stands though. Jungkook would stare at him, and he would call him beautiful.

“It has to mean something right?”

He wanted to confirm the motivations behind the not-so-subtle attention. However, he didn’t want to do a repeat of the last time when he confronted Jungkook about the song. It made the air between them strained and the youngest would agonize in his presence. Jimin thought he was being shy so he’d hold back.

But then what about his own curiosity?

“You’re curious, that’s it,” Yoongi said plainly. “What would you do with that information?”

Jimin pursed his lips as he thought about it.

Good point. Where was he leading with all these? He didn’t think that far enough. He wasn’t even done with his final proof.

“What do you think, hyung? What should I do about it?”

...To be continued

#jikook #kookmin #fanfic #canon compliant #non au #romance #bts #bangtan sonyeondan #appeal to logic #chapter 1 #something jikook

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johannaadriaansen-blog · 5 years ago

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How to Strategically Use Instagram Highlights

Instagram highlights. Are they dead or are they thriving? Are they serving your account or are they a waste of time? Instagram highlights are kind of like

hashtags

in my opinion, they aren’t going to make your account blow up but they are part of Instagrams key features and should be used properly!

WHAT ARE INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS?

Instagram highlights are a way to save Instagram stories passed. Users were getting frustrating that the valuable content they put on stories was getting deleted after a mere 24 hours. So Instagram created highlights. Highlights are the row of circles you may see below the bio on someone’s profile. They are essentially albums of Instagram stories sorted into specific categories of your choosing. I’m here to share with you today how you can use Instagram highlights effectively to convert profile views into follows and continue to drive traffic back to the content you’ve worked so hard to create. So how can we strategically and effectively use Instagram highlights?

KEEP YOUR HIGHLIGHT CATEGORIES ON BRAND

I did a little highlight audit recently and realized that some of my highlight topics, while fun, were not on brand. I had an entire Instagram highlight called ‘Eats’ which, to be honest, had a lot of great food tips and recipes in it but it doesn’t align with the content that I regularly post. So I had to kick it to the curb. It’s crucial that your highlight categories actually match with content you consistently share and ultimately drive more people into your business in some way. Maybe that means saving stories that have swipe ups to your blog. Maybe you have a behind the scenes highlight that shows your creative process as a maker and directs people to your etsy shop. Maybe you have a highlight featuring testimonials from past clients.

Speaking of, I’d LOVE to get a

follower testimonial

from you! Feel free to put me under lifestyle *wink wink, nudge nudge*. I had another highlight called travel, and while it was nostalgic for me to tap through and reminisce over past trips it wouldn’t be accurate for someone coming to my page to see, because a Travel highlight suggests I share travel content, which I do, but it’s not the type of content that drives my business forward. At the end of the day we want to make sure our Highlight titles are serving our audience and serving our business not serving US or our personal entertainment. Make sense?

MAKE AN INTRO OR WELCOME HIGHLIGHT

I don’t know about you but when I’m looking at a new profile I want to know WHO is behind it ASAP. Who is the person behind the pictures? What are they all about? The first thing I do is click their most Instagram recent story, hoping to find a clip of them talking so I can meet their personality. If they don’t have a story live I go to the highlights and click one that peaks my interest. If I can find video content of them talking there is a way better chance I’ll follow. So what Highlight topic can we have that promotes this connection? A couple of weeks ago I had this idea that it would be cool to have an ‘intro to me’ highlight where I quickly talked about who I am, what I’m up to and how I show up on the ‘gram. But, the only way to make this highlight is by of course physically posting it to Instagram stories which might feel a little random and awkward. I went on stories and prefaced it by explaining what I was going to do and then jumped into the intro. I created a new highlight called “Welcome” and then added the appropriate clips.

MAKE HIGHLIGHT COVERS

Highlight covers are a great way to bring a branded element to your page because you can create a color scheme. If you have a website that has specific colors you definitely want to use the same colors. This is to create cohesion in the experience as someone moves from your Instagram to your website. If you don’t have brand colors but your feed has a color-vibe this is a good place to start. You can actually use Canva’s color palette picker. Canva also provides for you the actual color codes which makes

making your highlight covers

way easier! To make your own highlight covers with solid colors, simple graphics or text head to

Canva.com

, make a free account, then create a new design with the dimensions 19020 x 1080. You can simply change the background color to one of your brand colors, export the files and air drop to your phone. Or get creative by adding elements or font to the cover. HOW TO ADD HIGHLIGHT COVERS WITHOUT POSTING TO INSTAGRAM STORIES Once you have your new highlight colors as jpeg. files you can add them to a pre-existing highlight WITHOUT having to upload them to your Instagram story. Remember back in the day when we had to tap through everyone’s highlight covers? No more! Just click a pre-existing highlight, select edit, edit cover, upload from camera roll! Pro Tip: You could also make solid color highlight covers by taking a photo within Instagram stories, selecting the paintbrush tool, choosing a color and pressing and holding for three seconds. Save this new solid color image to your camera roll and upload to a highlight as I explained above. Highlight covers make your page look clean and organized, don’t skip this step!

KEEP THE NUMBER OF INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS TO A MINIMUM

Users are likely not going to scroll horizontally through your highlights. Ideally you want all of your topics visible from your profile view. And since highlights are organized by which was most recently updated they are always changing in order. If you don’t update your 9th highlight for months it will be stuck in the back and likely not seen! Ideally we prioritize and aim for a maximum of 5 highlight topics. IF you have more highlights, and maybe that makes sense for you, you CAN bring a highlight to the front of the list. You’ll have to go into your Instagram stories archive, chose a recent slide and add it to your highlight. It’s okay if it’s not an actual fit because you are simply going to remove it from the highlight right after. Save the highlight and then go back in and delete the slide you just added. Doing this will move this Instagram Highlight to the front of the row without affecting the contents of the high light!

USE HIGHLIGHTS TO REPURPOSE CONTENT AND CONTINUE TO DRIVE TRAFFIC

So once we post an Instagram to our feed it pretty much gets lost into the abyss within 48 hours. That caption you worked hard to write, and that image you spent time acquiring is basically a dead zone now. Not ideal! Just the same blog posts and podcasts can be promoted and SHOULD be promoted more than once! So we can use Highlights to bring a little extra life to these things. You could have a blog post Instagram highlight where you save stories in which you featured a blog, even better if you are over 10K and have the swipe up link. You could also save stories in which feature a podcast episode if podcasting is your thing, and of course you can create a highlight out of your Instagram posts if you post them to your story. So what we often see is users posting their new post to their story, with a huge sticker covering the images and a call to action that says tap here or new post. I would recommend taking it one step further and adding a bit of text that describes what they will get or read if they go to that post. Once you have this in place you can save this story to a highlight and then as someone is tapping through your highlight they can kind of navigate to the type of content they want to see. For example, I have different Instagram posts that I have posted on my story saved under highlights called ‘IG Tips’, ‘For Influencers’ or ‘Freelance’. So if someone looks at my feed they are going to choose a photo that catches their eye. BUT if they look at my highlights they can find content based on what they are interested in. And that is the entire goal!

THE BEST WAYS TO USE INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

To recap when it comes to strategically using Instagram highlights you are going to make sure that the highlight topic, title or theme is actually on brand for you and in alignment with your content. Your also going to make some pretty highlight covers through Canva.com or within Instagram stories itself and also make sure those are on brand and cohesive with your blog or website if you have one. Third you want to get a little uncomfortable, get on camera and make a Intro to you highlight! Please tag me if you do this because I’d love to see what you’re up to. You can even blame me in your disclaimer story and say “hey Johanna is making me do an Intro story so that I can save it as a highlight, here goes!”. And then you can do your intro and it will be amazing! Other things to keep in mind are that you want to keep the number of highlights you have to a minimum and lastly create highlights with the intention of repurposing content such as IG posts, blog post or podcast episodes. And while I’m thinking of it, if you have in your bio you could actually write a little call to action that directs people to your highlights maybe something like ‘check out my highlight for how to work with me’ or ‘check out my cooking highlight for easy breakfast recipes”. Whatever makes sense for you! Alright friend that’s all. for me. today.

#instagram #instagramhacks

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claricedemedicis · 7 years ago

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Opinion: In defense of Taylor Swift...

Authors Note: I was going to publish this on a news site called ‘The Youth Journal’ but unfortunately the site focuses primarily on politics and international affairs. Regardless, I will be posting the piece here but I encourage you all to check out the Youth Journal here: X

Heartbreaking lyrics followed by the sweet voice of Taylor Swift can be heard by my bedroom door just about all year around since I was 11 years old. Although I am 17 and about to start University in the fall, my love for the singer hasn't changed and naturally, you can always count on me to recite all of her songs by heart as I've memorized the lyrics countless times. Some things never change.

However, talent and love comes with the price of paparazzi advertising your every move and mass scrutiny every time you try to date someone. That hasn't changed either, as Taylor Swift is currently in the middle of a messy lawsuit with former Colorado DJ David Mueller , who claims that Taylor Swift cost him his 150k salary job.

For context, Swift claims that during a met and greet during her RED tour, DJ Mueller lifted up the skirt of her dress and groped her bare butt. During the incident, Swift pulled away from Mueller and leaned into his girlfriend at the time. Following the incident, Swift alerted her security detail as Mueller was escorted off the property shortly before the concert was supposed to start. Additionally, Swift's team reported the incident to Mueller's employer along with the photo and he was fired 2 days later. In 2015, Mueller sued Taylor Swift for causing him to loose his job under what he claims are false allegations. In response, Swift counter-sued Mueller for assault and battery. Although Mueller is seeking $3 million in damages, Taylor is only seeking $1. To put in bluntly: A woman reports an instance of sexual assault in the workplace only to be sued by her abuser in response.

If this was any other woman, the internet would be outraged. Tumblr and Twitter would be filled with messages of support and we'd be surrounded by a stream of endless hashtags and sexual assault awareness campaign. But because we are talking about Taylor Swift, our brave heroic internet feminists are...silent. Yes, the type of people who are willing to shun and punish people for not following the right brand of feminism break their own code when it comes to Taylor Swift....and they've been doing that for awhile.

Think about it for a second, throughout her career Taylor Swift has been scrutinized for writing songs about heartbreak and dating in general. From one hit album to another the voices of critics haunted her, calling her a slut and a whore...simply for going on dates. Although several of her ex's have been in more relationships than Swift, they are praised not punished. When it comes to internet feminists, many of them advocated against slut-shaming, however, when it came to Taylor Swift they were the same people who would make memes and popular text posts shaming Swift for dating their beloved Harry Styles at the time.

Come 2014, Taylor Swift calls out the world and these so-called feminists out on their hypocrisy. The world rejoices and the Tumblr and Twitter feminists adore Taylor Swift for her honesty....for like 2 weeks because they soon learn that she doesn't follow the Correct Brand of Feminism™ (aka, the brand of feminism that they like) and soon she's shunned yet once again. Since Taylor Swift is a celebrity, there is no room for learning or growth for her. She is supposed to understand every nook and cranny of feminist theory...despite the fact that she sings pop songs for a living. It's a never-ending cycle: The internet moans and whines about how there simply aren't enough celebrities advocating for woman's issues and feminism...but when a celebrity tries to do just that, they are shunned and shamed for not following the Correct Brand of Feminism™. The benefit of the doubt does not exist for Taylor Swift in the eyes of Internet feminists and as such, she must be constantly punished for not following a specific set of ideas, despite the fact that Taylor Swift is a human being and free to follow any set of political values and beliefs that she wishes.

Although some will claim that Taylor attempted to use feminism as her own personal brand and sell more albums, that is simply not true. She used feminism as a way to defend herself from the constant attacks and sexism that she faced from the internet.

Flash forward to the Women's March following the inauguration of Donald J. Trump. When Taylor Swift tweeted her support for the women marching, she was quickly faced by backlash for not attending the event herself. Although many of those who criticized Taylor Swift for not attending the Women's March probably didn't attend the march themselves, that didn't stop them from judging through the screen of their iPhone's. Never mind the fact that Queen Beyoncé didn't attend the Women's March either, Taylor Swift must be punished!

Self-proclaimed feminists on Twitter and Tumblr claim to support every single woman on earth regardless of their background. However, they don't support women who don't follow the specific brand of feminism. They don't support women who have made mistakes, simply because these mistakes are public. These proclaimed feminists believe that their version of feminism can't go wrong, that they are perfect and as such, they tweet with a superficial sense of superiority. They judge and shame the actions of public figures but they refuse to better themselves. After all, if they did truly support every single woman known on earth, there would be much more outrage from their end concerning the legal battle between Swift and Mueller.

Don't get me wrong, I am a feminist. I believe that women are equal to men and as a result, women should be able to compete in the workforce without fear of harassment or intimidation. I think that generally, most members of Western civilization believe in this as well. However, when it comes to the feminists that dominate mainstream media and internet culture, you have two choices: follow and abide feminist theory religiously or be ridiculed for the rest of time.

It's hypocrisy at it's finest and it's actually quite infuriating and saddening. Feminism is supposed to support women of all walks of life, whether they be conservative or liberal or a socialist. So for the self-proclaimed feminists on my Tumblr and Twitter feed to make light of Taylor Swift's sexual assault simply because she doesn't follow feminism religiously is incredibly dishonest.

Just admit it. You don't support all women despite your empowering tweets and text-posts. You, just like the mainstream media and the rest of the world, will always try to find some reason to hate on Taylor Swift. If you're going to put the phrase "Proud Feminist!" in your twitter bio, at least be honest and add in "Proud Feminist except when it comes to Taylor Swift and other women who disagree with me!"

#anyways #personal #truth #tea #taylor swift #taylor swift trial #feminism

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jessette20 · 6 years ago

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Social Media for Musicians

Let’s be honest: marketing as a musician is tough.

On any given day there are a million must-do’s and hardly enough hours to get them done, right?

Promoting your latest songs. Networking for new gigs. Fighting for the attention of fresh fans.

Exhausting? You bet.

But ever-so-rewarding when it all comes together.

View this post on Instagram

#yyys #allpointseast #london ⚡️💗🐰💗🐰💗⚡️ our beating heart for you!

A post shared by YEAH YEAH YEAHS (@yeahyeahyeahs) on Jun 4, 2018 at 8:15am PDT

Since musicians are often so busy, you need to make the most of your time spent marketing.

And if you’re laser-focused on building up your SoundCloud or Bandcamp presence, you might want to consider expanding your horizons to social platforms.

For the sake of building up a base or rabid followers and getting discovered by new ones, understanding the in’s and out’s of social media for musicians is a matter of “when,” not “if.”

Why social media marketing for musicians matters so much

Make no mistake: social media isn’t some sort of silver bullet for musicians with stars in their eyes.

However, a smart social presence is undoubtedly the best way to grow your audience and fill space at your gigs.

How so?

For starters, consider that your audience is likely glued to social media regardless of your genre. In fact, Instagram recently passed a billion active users while Facebook boasts two billion daily active users themselves. These numbers blow the likes of SoundCloud and Bandcamp out of the water.

Oh, and did you know that YouTube is the technically the most popular music streaming service right now, beating out Spotify and Apple Music?

Besides, an optimized social presence can signal your status as a professional. In an industry where competition is so cutthroat, having pristine profiles out there lets people know that you’re anything but an amateur.

That said, social media for musicians is can be a bit tricky.

With so many platforms to choose from and a need to stand out from the crowd, where should you focus your energy? What should you post?

Heck, where should you even start?

Relax.

In the guide below, we’ve outlined the best practices of social media for musicians including how to set up your profiles and come up with a content calendar that totally kills it.

Now, let’s dive in!

Start by optimizing your profiles

When someone looks you up, they’re more than likely going to find your social profiles via Google or through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

That’s why having a clean, optimized profile on each platform is a top priority.

Before worrying too much about content or creative touches, you need to ensure that your profiles tick the following three boxes:

Make your profile or bio link count by always pointing to your latest promotion (think: new song, album, tour or merch)

Your profile pictures and covers are correctly sized for social

Ensure that any and all profile information is accurate and up-to-date including tour dates or events

The beauty of social media for musicians is that you have tons of creative freedom beyond these three points.

Let’s take a moment to look at what an optimized musician profile looks like in the wild.

Using a stylized band photo, Weezer’s Twitter bio highlights their latest album, singles, fan store and tour dates. That’s a lot of information to pack into such a small space, but you can make it happen by being economical with your copy and choosy with your links.

Meanwhile, blink-182’s Instagram highlights their tour dates and Las Vegas residency, in addition to social-specific hashtags they want their fans to tag themselves with.

Don’t neglect valuable real estate such as your cover photos, too. Here’s a great example of Fall Out Boy’s cover photo promo, which scores bonus points by being visually striking as well.

If you want that sort of professional vibe for your profile without hiring a designer, don’t fret. There are tons of image creation tools out there like Canva that can help you create your own banner, tour announcement and everything in-between.

And although imagery certainly matters, it’s perhaps most prudent to make sure that you never let your profiles gather cobwebs. For example, you should always have Facebook events on deck for your shows if the venue you’re playing at isn’t doing the legwork of promotion themselves.

Now that your profile is squared away, there’s the still the issue of content.

That is, how do you keep your social feed filled with fresh stuff for your followers?

Good question!

Keep your followers in the loop

You shouldn’t worry about doing too much self-promotion given that’s what social media marketing for musicians is all about.

As such, there’s no need to be shy about whatever is new in your world.

New song? Upcoming album? Hitting the road?

Let people know!

Considering how fickle algorithms are and how fast social media moves in the first place, frequent hype posts are totally fair game.

Additionally, it’s a smart move to put together frequent fliers and announcements which are perfect for pinned tweets or posts. That way, anyone visiting your profile can know exactly what you have going on.

View this post on Instagram

a few tix left for some of our upcoming shows with the amazing @lizzobeeating – get em while u can

A post shared by HAIM (@haimtheband) on Apr 19, 2018 at 2:59pm PDT

Oh, and bear in mind that social selling is totally fair game for musicians. Through creative promotions and sales, you can hawk your merch via social with no shame.

MVRCHES SALE

🔥 sale storewide over on http://bit.ly/2MjrXPp the code MVRCHES for 25% off

Posted by CHVRCHES on Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Show off yourself in action

When you follow a band or artist on social media, it’s because you want to see them in action, right?

Well, your followers feel the same way.

If you’re regularly touring or playing shows, shouting out attendees and posting pictures of your performances is a good start.

Also remember that your fans can be a fantastic source of content themselves.

Encouraging user-generated content in the form of tagged fan photos is a brilliant way to interact with fans and show them a bit of love, too. Reposting these photos is a subtle yet significant way to create a stronger connection with your audience and let them know you’re listening to them.

View this post on Instagram

Atlanta tonight at the @masquerade_atl with @lemuriapop & @mikeyerg!!! Doors at 7! Let's party! 📸: savannahhhjai

A post shared by CAYETANA (@cayetanaphilly) on Feb 23, 2017 at 8:09am PST

Posting new content doesn’t have to be a massive production, either. If you have some time to kill, why not record a quick off-the-cuff social video to keep your feed fresh?

Home sweet home in Tennessee for 72hrs… But Georgia’s always on my mind 🍑🍑 #raycharles pic.twitter.com/dsGFhrcsKB

— Larkin Poe (@LarkinPoe) August 7, 2018

Post some behind-the-scenes content

On a related note, a huge piece of social media marketing for musicians is authenticity.

Rather than just post promo after promo, it also pays to connect to your followers on a more personal level.

A low-hanging way to do just that is to post content that takes your followers behind the scenes.

View this post on Instagram

Photo by Derick Daily

A post shared by DJ Shadow Official (@djshadow) on Feb 22, 2017 at 10:09am PST

Whether you’re traveling across the country or just sitting in the studio, don’t neglect the power of a candid snapshot. Such posts are windows into your world and are much more entertaining than 99% of what’s probably already in your followers’ feeds. They can even serve as some much-needed escapism for your fans.

And if nothing else, behind-the-scenes photos also give you an opportunity to show off your personality.

View this post on Instagram

fueled

A post shared by paramore (@paramore) on Aug 17, 2018 at 8:47pm PDT

Again, you need to post with regular consistency to stay relevant to your fans and followers. Given that it only takes a few seconds to snag a snapshot to post to your Facebook or Instagram story, consider behind-the-scenes shot as a sort of “backup plan” if you don’t have anything else to publish.

Now that you know how easy it is to stock up on content ideas so you never run out of things to post, you’ll also want to consider your social media posting schedule for getting all of that content in front of fans. You can use the Sprout Social Calendar to plan posts in advance. You can even let Sprout’s ViralPost choose the best posting times for you, so you get the most out of all of those photos and posts you’ve curated. Both features let you reduce the amount of time you need to spend each day just figuring out what to post and when to post it, so you can spend more time on everything else on your to-do list.

Tag brands, venues and other musicians

It’s well-documented that tagging serves as a way to instantly increase the visibility of your posts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

As such, it never hurts to tag others in your posts where appropriate. Some examples of smart tagging include:

Boosting brands (think: instruments or clothing) that you can show off in your performance photos

Shouting-out a venue where you’re performing

Highlighting fellow musicians you’re touring with or someone whose song you’re covering

Last night. 🔥 🎸 thx @bmi & @AltNashville ✌🏻 @Fender #sheshreds pic.twitter.com/zwVUEmczKb

— B R A N D Y Z D A N (@brandyzdan) August 21, 2018

Who knows: you could score a big-time follower or repost from an industry player through tactical tagging. Although tags might not seem like a big deal, anything you can do to get more eyes on your profiles is a point in your favor.

Interact with your fans

This might seem like a no-brainer, but don’t overlook the importance of going back-and-forth with fans.

Maybe they love your new song. Perhaps they have a question about your latest merch.

Either way, responding and retweeting shows that you’re listening to them. While it might not be a big deal to you, shout-outs can make fans feel positively starstruck and encourage them to be even more loyal followers in the long-run.

this is all of us and always has been https://t.co/DON92cOcRb

— hellogoodbye (@itshellogoodbye) August 21, 2018

Carve out some time throughout the day to respond to fans, paying close attention to your notifications and mentions in the process. Obviously, it makes sense to prioritize questions that deal with shows or merchandise: try to get to those within a few hours if possible.

Make YouTube a top priority

Last but not least, let’s talk about YouTube.

While you might not think of YouTube as a traditional social network, the platform’s insanely active community tells an entirely different story.

As noted, YouTube is the number one place where people stream music versus Spotify, Pandora and a whole slew of other services combined.

And no, it’s not even close.

Since people are more familiar with YouTube versus music-specific sites like SoundCloud or Bandcamp, having your music present on the platform flat out makes sense. While YouTube streaming isn’t exactly a cash cow, simply being there is totally worth it.

When it comes to social media for musicians, there are some specific YouTube optimization tips to consider.

To start, make sure that your video descriptions are fully filled out including tags and links. Since YouTube gives you plenty of real estate in video descriptions, feel free to highlight as many promotions or social profiles as you see fit.

Another way to look less “amateur hour” on YouTube is by optimizing your videos’ thumbnails. Some simple overlay text is a subtle yet significant way to make your videos stand out from the crowd via search.

Finally, a brilliant move for gaining traction on YouTube as a musician is to publish cover songs.

This is more of an artistic tip versus a purely social one but it deserves your attention regardless.

The common thread between many of the biggest musical names on YouTube?

That’s right. Covers. Lots of ’em.

Especially if you’re an up-and-comer, covers a long-term way to expose yourself to an audience that’s unfamiliar with your work. Case in point, this cover of the Cranberries’ “Zombie” amassed nearly 130 million views within the span of six months.

Woah.

Think as covers as a sort of gateway to your original music. While you are by no means compelled to post them, they’re a safe bet for growing your audience if you’re starting from zero.

And with that, we wrap up our guide!

Any more questions on social media for musicians?

We get it: musicians are busy.

As a result, you need to squeeze the most you possibly can out of your schedule.

By optimizing your profiles from the word “go” and always having fresh content in mind, managing your accounts becomes second nature.

We still want to hear from you, though. What do you think is the biggest challenge of social media for musicians? Which platforms are your top priorities? Let us know in the comments below!

This post The complete guide to social media for musicians originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from http://bit.ly/2N4egt6

#Social Media Marketing

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minnievirizarry · 6 years ago

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The complete guide to social media for musicians