Vote, Vote, Vote
I have always been resistant to the idea of merging my social media world with my shopping world. However, for better or worse, I’ve become a recent convert, after making my first purchase based on a targeted IG ad recently. And I guess it’s just in time, since shopping is about to dominate our social feeds, from Instagram to Tiktok. Shopping recs on the app have been passing from user to user for a while on TikTok, but now the tech giant is going all in, with a new partnership with Shopify. Read more about the specifics of the deal here. I guess I’m primed and ready for my next ad-inspired purchase….
Large turkeys across the country are rejoicing—but they might be the only ones. Knowing that families won’t be able to gather for Thanksgiving in the same way they usually do, turkey farmers have been forced to reckon with the fact that people just won’t be buying big birds this year. These farmers have also missed out on turkey-leg sales at sporting events, fairs, and theme parks. (That’s really not a sentence I thought I would ever find myself typing at work.) While this all may seem pretty insignificant, especially to those who skip the turkey on Thanksgiving anyway, hearing this news on KCRW on Tuesday made me think about just how many individual aspects of our society have been shaken by the pandemic. The reality is that as of last month, half of adults who lost a job during the coronavirus outbreak are still unemployed.
If you have any type of social media account, it’s safe to say you’ve seen endless posts encouraging you to vote. It might feel like overkill—or even just lip service—at this point, but it actually matters. Here's the harsh reality: Only 55% of eligible voters actually voted in the 2016 presidential election. That means nearly half of the people who ~could~ vote, didn’t. and that’s not including people whose names were purged from voter rolls for sketchy and questionable reasons or formerly incarcerated citizens whose states prevented them from voting. Things are hopefully looking up, though. As of Thursday morning, more than 75 million Americans have already voted in this year's election—that's already over half of the total votes counted in 2016's election. I’m going to go ahead and add myself to the long list of people you don’t know telling you to vote...but go out and make your voice heard, guys!
And of course, I’ve gotta leave you with some TikToks. This week the Toks that spoke to me the most were this beautiful animation depicting the true circle of life as we all work from home, and this comprehensive tutorial on how to pick up a sheep, for any of you getting into that this weekend.
—Darlene Kenney, Marketing Assistant
