Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure you've heard of and saw about Instagram's newest feature Hyperlapse.

There are a ton of great videos out there from brands, but there are a select few that are actually putting some planning into their videos and executing them to perfection. This careful use of resources is leading them to the holy land of engagement with their audiences in awe!

Below are some of my selections for the best brand examples of Hyperlapse:

The Detroit Institute of Arts
With something like an art museum where people pay to see the art, you don't want to just give it away for free on your social media accounts. One way to still entice your audience is by offering them a behind the scenes look at logistics behind what the visitors get to see. The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) does a great job of this!




Note: I might be a little biased of the second video because it features and was made by my boyfriend, Marc Langlois (@marcxlanglois).

The White House
What's better than getting an inside peak of one of the country's most important and influential buildings! Actually, the only thing that could have been better is if we could have had a celebrity cameo from the First Dog.


Want to walk around the White House? Take a 15-second tour right now!
Nickelodeon The geniuses over at Nickelodeon are really taking advantage of droves of children that have been flocking to Instagram with this inside look at how the magic happens. It also doubles as somewhat of a tutorial for how to draw the famous sponge.
A Spongebob artists at work in the Nickelodeon Animation Studio!  Can you draw Spongebob Squarepants as fast as she can? Teen Vogue What's a better way to sell a dying medium, printed media, to young people than by giving them a flash of what they're missing?! This video leaves teen girls everywhere thinking, "I've gotta have it."
We test drove Hyperlapse with our September issue!
National Geographic The wilderness never looked so fun and tech friendly as it does in this video from Nat Geo during their trip to Yellowstone National Park. Also, you can't help but think about how cute those bison are!
The roads that run through Yellowstone National Park are often roadblocked with roaming bison and other wandering wildlife. This is what my morning commute looks like while on assignment for National Geographic Magazine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This time-lapse video was created by David Guttenfelder @dguttenfelder for @natgeo. Naked Juice You know what they say... sex sells! And with a name like NAKED how can you not capitalize on media's favorite medium, bare skin.
Don't let life pass you by, get Naked. What do you think? What are you favorite Hyperlapses you've seen come out from your favorite brands? Leave the videos in the comments.

I don't typically call people or brands out for their bad practices on social media since, honestly, who am I to pass judgement!

I don't claim to be a social media expert because there literally can't be one.

You can't become an expert in something that is always changing. Social media is a living, breathing organism that is constantly evolving. What could be considered bad this week could be awesome next week, and so on.

However lately I've been coming across a lot of things that really grind my gears. So I've decided to call out some serious social media faux pas.

Exploiting a trend without living up to it
When it comes to social media trends and brands, you either do it or you don't—there's no in-between. That would be like only doing the beginning of a Harlem Shake video then posting it online for all to see, exploiting the trend for marketing attention.

It's even worse when the trend is a charity fundraiser, like the #icebucketchallenge, a social trend aiming to raise awareness and money for the ALS Foundation. It's such a good cause, which is why Chili's really deserves to be in the dog house this week after simply posting a video of a pepper with water being poured on it. Their lack of creativity commitment to the trend (and charity) is disappointing and despicable.

We took the #IceBucketChallenge! Donate at http://t.co/e75Azd9lTS. Your turn @Applebees, @ChipotleTweets & @DrPepper https://t.co/VDMjSVvga6
— Chili's Grill & Bar (@Chilis) August 14, 2014

Notice how they didn't forget to use the hashtag? Exploitation!

Chili's took a lazy cop out while other brands are getting their CEOs involved, like Mary Barra of GM. They could, at the very least, gathered some random employees to make a video, like DECA.

Staying with a trend long after it's not trendy anymore
Is #FF / #FollowFriday even a thing anymore? Long ago Fridays were known for giving shoutouts to fellow tweeters in order for them to get more follows. Typically this was used by individuals, sometimes brands but it never really panned out. But that trend has all but disappeared. This week @BetterMade, a potato chip manufacturer in Detroit, posted an onslaught of 22 #FF tweets over the course of 16 minutes, giving shoutouts to over 170 accounts—majority of which are just random people (fans, I guess).

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This looks like a desperate ploy for attention—like they're just hoping these 170+ people will retweet them. So not only did they beat the dead #FF horse into the ground but they also took the lazy way out. Why not try some actual engagement with the fans? People are much more likely to retweet a brand's tweet if the sentiment feels personal. Anyone can type in their followers' names and place a #FF in front of them but only a true artist can craft something engaging and personal that is deserving of attention. Check out Shinola on Instagram for a good example. They regram their customers pictures all day with the sincerest of compliments.

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