At ScanMyPhotos.com, we polled 740 customers to find out what their key motivators were for digitizing analog snapshots. We expected to hear many were looking to preserve family history or salvage crumbling photo albums from ‘father time.’
We figured social media would play into their plans, but boy were we surprised. Nearly 45 percent of our new customers traced their motivation back to the viral hit #ThrowbackThursday!
Even pop-star Katy Perry’s family has trusted ScanMyPhotos, as reported in this Forbes article.
[Tweet “Nearly 45% of everyone digitizing pictures do so for posting on the viral social-media hit #TBT”]
If you are a social media fan, especially if you love Instagram where the #ThrowbackThursday (#TBT) phenomenon started back in 2011, then you are already familiar with the raucous laughter that this trend brings to the end of a work week. After spending way too much office time surfing #TBT pictures, we realized that folks might like a little creative suggestion to help them make the most of their Thursday photo fun. We are sharing our top 10 considerations for making the most out of #ThrowbackThursday.
Nothing Beats 80’s Hair – It was the era of the hair band for a reason, 80’s hairdos were totally tubular! Whether you were moussing a teen-angst Mohawk or straightening a mid-life mullet, share the hair man!
Throwback FAILS – Often the most belly-laughing and nostalgic pictures we have are of life’s less-than-stellar moments, and they make the best #tbt fodder out there, so share the wipeouts and dumb ideas that made for lasting memories.
Never throwback to a picture where other people in the photo wouldn’t want the image reproduced without their consent.
Only share #TBT pictures, nothing off-topic. This is all about your past photos.
Revisit those past 35mm slides, film, and snapshots after all are digitized.
It’s not all self-deprecating fun – While the low-lights make us laugh, life’s the highlights can make us cry which makes graduations, birthdays and first steps some of the most sighed over #tbt posts every week.
Hit the kids where it will hurt – Whether sharing #tbt on Instagram, Facebook or any other social media site, your kids (and more importantly, their friends) will be watching; so take this weekly opportunity to embarrass the heck out of them with sailor outfits, cute hugging siblings or, for advanced users, the kids with their own hairpocalypse.
Be the bomb! – Back in the day, everyone thought they were the bomb…chances are the truth lies somewhere on the opposite side of the spectrum, but the photos can’t lie; throw your Thursday back to the crowning accomplishment of your young life…who knows, maybe in retrospect you were cooler than you think.
[Tweet “Social media sensation #TBT drives celebrities to use ScanMyPhotos to digitize snapshot memories”]
Life’s Firsts – A first car, a first wedding, a first anniversary…our first experience with life’s peaks and valleys are always memorable and ring true with a sense of nostalgia that our social media community can directly identify with, whether the pictures make them laugh or cry.
Family Portrait Day – Back in the day, family group photos were an annual family torment day that lasted forever once the portrait was mounted in the den; well styles have changed rendering those birch-forested backdrops a #tbt viral smash.
Time travel – Sometimes the world changes drastically over time, sometimes not at all and #tbt is a perfect opportunity to take stock in those changes; so share those images of your travel whether it’s the disappearing Vegas heyday or the still timeless art deco explosion of South Beach.
Holiday Cheer – Christmas sweaters and Halloween costumes grow more ridiculously-exquisite with age, so whether you were a childhood Fanzi or thought that sweaters should have reindeer all year long, you qualify for the holiday fanatic #tbt meme.
A bygone era – Progress is a powerful thing, after all, its what brought us to an age of #ThrowbackThursdays, but let us not forget the trends and innovations that brought us here; make sure to throwback to mobile phones that required shoulder straps, eight-tracks, and boom boxes.
BONUS: Remember those who passed – What better way to remember those that are no longer with us. Post favorite moments or forgotten memories.
More reasons to participate in #TBT is to show you are hip, have a history, are fun and have a personality.
