Hi all, So I have made my next two videos! In a pretty lengthy/dense one, I followed your advice (@Matthias) to 'do something' while I talk. That's during the salty animal video. In the other, shorter one I'm just acting silly and showing off my makeup while rambling about whether animals have 'out of bed looks'. Feedback is welcome! 😊 I think for a while in the upcoming time - both on Instagram and on Tiktok - I will likely find myself in the 'algorithm jail' with super low views/engagement. But I will hope stuff will land - somewhere, somehow, at some point sooner or later! I'll try to be patient here and not lose my motivation. ;) For now I aim to post regularly. The content comprises the more authentic videos (striving to do 2 per week if I can find the time) and I add to those with more simple stuff in between (using templates, memes, trending audio, etc. - but with own texts and materials) within a similar biology/science theme. 🤷‍♀️ Does that sound like something that I could do to build some sort of foundation, you think? Are there things that I am overlooking, or that I could best do differently in these early stages? Cheers!

Hey hey! Came back here with an updated script. Looking forward to your thoughts. Tried to keep it short and sweet - not too emotional but still real. ~ What wildlife conservation looks like sometimes: The most powerful thing I witnessed as a volunteer was this. Tracking big cats sounds all fun and games. Until you no longer know who you’re rooting for. This is Nashipae — and I spend over 5 hours in her shadow, waiting to see if she’s gonna eat today or not. She did. I found myself cheering when I saw from a distance she finally made her catch. And then, we got closer, and my heart stopped. Joy turned to dread in a split second when I saw the gazelle give out her last kicks. Nature doesn’t sugar coat anything. It’s raw and beautiful and heartbreaking sometimes — One life continues, one ends and I still don’t know who to root for. ~

Hi everyone! For tomorrow I have made 2 experimental reels. 🎥 A bit of context: I want to create content that attracts both people who already love nature/biology, as well as people who might not think they do yet but who I could perhaps lure in. My goal isn’t (necessarily) to land gigs, but to see first if I can even reach a like-minded crowd in the online void. And to educate and entertain while doing so. I thus chose to first try creating in English, but I’ll regularly mention I’m a Dutch biologist in the videos. I'm curious to see how that plays out in terms of audience reach (i.e. whether I'll reach enough Dutchies as well). 🌍 These two first trial reels are: 🐝 Why politicians 'should be more like bees' 🎉 POV: being a dorky biology PhD at a party I’m still experimenting with my tone, my storytelling and my editing style in these early stages. The direction I’m exploring is intentionally a bit weird, personal and playful. I hope this will attract the right kind of goofy sciencey crowds, but I am curious to see how it lands here first. 🤓 I already adjusted my Instagram bio in accordance with what I'm aiming to achieve too: "🇳🇱 Dutch Biologist with a Twist! 🧬 Turns out wild animals & DNA expose the nonsense of humanity 🎥 Talks | Reels | Arts 🎤 Collab? → 📩 info@wilddna.nl" I haven’t posted the reels yet. Any feedback on audience positioning, hooks, creators I might align with, caption strategy, how to deal with the initial cringey phase, etc. is very welcome. Thanks and see you guys tomorrow! 👋

Just wanted to say I’m genuinely impressed by the videos you’ve already made already by the 5th call! Beautiful shots, great ideas, super creative! What I’m noticing though, and this is very normal, is that many of you seem to be your own biggest obstacle right now. Feeling shy. Cringing. Thinking it’s not good enough yet. The biggest hurdle right now isn’t skill or talent. You clearly have that. It’s simply starting to post, then improving by posting, not before. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗹𝘆.That's just the facts. Also, sometimes freedom just matters more than polish and I remind myself of this wise goat. Now let’s get it out there soon.

Hey hey! Here’s a draft of a video I ve been wanting to make. My goal for social is to approach the broader traveling community - with emphasis on volunteering and meaningful life experiences. I am a bit torn on what footage I should include, I have some more graphic videos and photos (I’ll attach one too for reference). Personally I would love to show it, as I don’t want to sugar coat the nature of this experience but I am honestly not sure if it would get taken down by the platform or reported for being graphic. Looking forward to some more opinions and perhaps thoughts on script improvements 🐆