# Animated Analogies Social Media in Plain English by Common Craft By Pearl | Published 2008-06-02 | Marketing Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/social-media-in-plain-english-common-craft References: [bloggersblog](http://www.bloggersblog.com/cgi-bin/bloggersblog.pl?bblog=529081) & [commoncraft](http://www.commoncraft.com/) If you've struggled to explain what social media is to someone who hasn't a clue, then you will appreciate this video from [Common Craft](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/short-n-sweet-cafe). The video neatly explains the concept using making ice cream as the analogy to making friends and communicating online. They start with a town called Scoopville where people are able to make different kinds of ice cream when home ice cream makers became available. Some like the pickle ice cream will have only a few fans but other types of ice cream may be quite popular. The ice cream makers start posting information on their lawn bulletin boards about what their specialty flavour is and invite visitors to rate and comment on their product. The video does not deal with how to handle social media overload given the proliferation of such sites today. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 2.6/10 - Popularity: 9% | Activity: 60% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America, Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Commercials](https://www.trendhunter.com/commercials) ## Key Themes ### What Makes This Trend Stand Out - **Animated Analogies:** The use of animated analogies to explain complex concepts and ideas presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the field of educational video production. - **Plain English:** The use of plain language and simple visual aids in educational materials like Common Craft’s Social Media in Plain English video presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the field of technical writing and content development. - **Visual Storytelling:** The use of visual storytelling techniques like animation to illustrate complex concepts in a simple and easy to understand way presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the field of marketing and branding. ### Sectors Adopting This - **Education:** The use of animated analogies to explain complex concepts is a disruptive innovation for the education industry, especially for e-learning and edtech companies. - **Content Development:** The use of plain language and simple visual aids in educational materials like Common Craft’s Social Media in Plain English video presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the content development industry. - **Marketing and Advertising:** The use of visual storytelling techniques like animation to illustrate complex concepts in a simple and easy to understand way presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the marketing and advertising industry. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Social Video Intelligence Tools](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/plots-ai.md) - [Creative Online Social Networks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bf-island.md) - [Minimalist Social Media Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/minimalist-social-media-platforms.md) - [Social Media-Specific Animation Softwares](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/animation-softwares.md) - [AI-Driven Social Networks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/socialai.md) - [Social Vlogging Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vlogging-app.md) - [Private Sharing Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/waffle.md) - [Video Repurposing Tools](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/video-to-social.md) - [Social Networking Hubs](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/internet-social-caf.md)