Mini-Series: What 'Too Hot To Handle' can teach us about Social Media
Too Hot To Handle is a Netflix Reality TV show that aired on Netflix in 2020. It’s all about a group of ten hot and horny singles who are taken to a beachside resort for four weeks to find love and $100 000. However, the plot twist comes when they’re told that to win the money, they must abstain from all sexual activity for the entire four weeks. Every time they break the rules, money is deducted from the prize pool.
The show is ‘run’ but a siri-type bot named Lana, who sees all, knows all, and teaches all. She pulls contestants up for breaking the rules, sends challenges for the contestants to grow, and rewards contestants for following the rules and developing meaningful relationships.
Ultimately, the aim of the game is to take 10 people who are all about that hit-it-and-quit-it life, and encourage them to, instead, develop deep and meaningful connections.
You know where this is going, right?
Too Hot To Handle oh-so-beautifully shows us the importance of developing meaningful connections, and fostering relationships, rather than the quick sale (one night stand, if you will) tactic that too many people seem to use social media for.
So, meaningful connections. How on earth can we develop meaningful relationships when there’s more than 1billion people on social media, and a lot of them just want to sell and forget us??
Here’s a couple of ideas:
Connect with people in the comments
When you post something, do people respond to your post in the comments (and we’re not talking about those pesky “Wow we love your feed! DM us to work with us” bot comments…)? If they do, are you responding to them? We know that Zuck loves engagement, and he particularly loves when we’re carrying out conversations. This means that responding to comments are essential, because we’re showing him that our content is valuable, and we have important things to say!
We talked about Call To Actions here, so when people respond to those CTAs, make sure you give it a like, respond to it meaningfully (more than just a couple of emojis!), and maybe even take it to the DMs 😏
Connect with people in the DMs
Whilst sliding into DMs can have a couple of other connotations, DMs can be a powerful tool to develop meaningful relationships with your audience, followers, and like-minded biz owners! With Instagram CONSTANTLY increasing the functionality of DMs, it’s obvious that Zuck likes us to have a good ol’ yarn in the messages, and he’s always looking for ways to make it easier for us to do so (there’s even a ‘DM Me’ sticker that you can add to stories not!). Here’s some of the ways that you can chat with someone in the DMs - there’s truly something for everyone:
Voice notes (HIGHLY recommend!) - sometimes you just want to talk it out, and you can do just that for up to 1 minute in one voice note!
Chat - traditional, easy, and straightforward, the messaging function is a classic, and doesn’t take too much getting used to. Just be wary that people know when you copy + paste stuff, so avoid templated messages (another reason why voice notes are gold - you can’t get more personal than a personalised voice message!)
Photos and videos - just want to show off your newest Starbucks mug, video your whiteboard brainstorming session, or just have a bit of face-to-camera conversation? You can do that!
Gifs - Our personal love language, gifs are a great way to inject humour into your conversations or respond with a visual of how you feel! You can’t go wrong with a good gif!
Bonus: You can also utalise quick replies! If you have a standard statement you often say, or find yourself continually retyping, you can set a ‘short cut’ in your DMs, so all you have to type is ‘ME’ and it will automatically punch out a paragraph like
‘Hey thanks so much for enquiring about the services that Gabbi J Digital offers! As a Social Media Strategist, I can help with everything from training and consulting, to full social media management, and everything in between! I’d love to hear a bit more about you, your brand, and how Gabbi J Digital can help!’
What a smart little tool!
Bonus: You can also video call and voice call people (which is much less intrusive than asking for someone’s number), making it easy to connect with people in real time, and have a quick chat if you need to talk through something in the moment.
If you ever want to DM someone, Zuck makes it hella easy! Just look for the little paper plane logo that is next to someone’s name in the story views page or hit ‘message’ in their profile to start the convo!
However you do it, developing those personal and meaningful connections is ultimately how to make the most of social media, but also how to get the algorithm working for you, rather than against you!
