I finally managed to story tell under 40secs😭 Anyways for this one i had to make it on a whim because im back to classes again at uni, do drop you thoughts if there are any ways i could've been clearer or wtvr🦦🌸

Hi all, So since I spoke with Matthias I have been thinking more about which direction I want to go with my socials. I won't go into too much detail here, but overall I am thinking about trying to make more reels in which I constantly build the bridge between what separates, as well as unites, humans with other animals and nature. I once decided to study biology in the hopes of understanding life better - and by doing so also understanding humans better. But the more I find out about the natural world - the less I actually tend to understand humans. I think I kind of would like that intrinsic curiosity and bridge between humans and wildlife to be at the core of my future content. Does this make sense so far? Also I have decided to switch to a Dutch (and Flemish) audience for a while. Making videos in Dutch instead of English to see what happens. With this comes changing my name/handle, as well. It is now "@wild_DNA" - the name of my company. But I would like something Dutch that lures people in. (I am keeping my company name in the upcoming time though - for now this is purely about social handles). In short, I have gone through a whole list of ideas trying to make things personal and also keep the possibilities of what I can do with the name quite broad. After crossing off what I do not like, the following names remain. Which one do you think is best - and why? Or do you have a better one perhaps? - @evolueermetmanon (focus on building a community and on evolution/learning/growing) - @zoodenktmanon (focus on my thinking process and the term 'zoo' is smartly incorporated) - @manonverteltwaarom (more simple and straightforward, and it kind of rhymes funnily/flows well) - @drmanonlegtuit (same, more simple - I like mentioning my doctor title but the annoying thing is there already are some drmanons on insta, so I do not know how to best incorporate 'dr' or 'doctor' ) I am curious to hear your thoughts! Thanks! (:

Hi guys, I've been a bit less active for a while as you've noticed but I have two next rees/tiktoks lined up so no worries! 1) 💗 Finally: the Roseate spoonbill story - please let me know what you think and if I should do some minor tweaks before posting soon? This is the first time for me trying the format with greenscreen setup and having a script prepared beforehand! 🪝 Would this hook work, you think? Perhaps I can make a couple trial versions with slightly different hooks. But unfortunately the trial reels function has not really given me much insight (yet) so this specific next 'big' reel I might also just upload directly to my feed with the current hook. ---> (Fun bonus to share: all the automatic AI generators didn't know about "Roseate spoonbills". They translated it consistently to "Roasted spoonbills" 😝) 2) 🦎 Short meme/reel about the size giant salamanders can get. For funsies. All feedback welcome - but here I would mostly like to know what you think could be the best hook on the screen (this one here?). 📝 Also what is a good strategy for captions and hashtags etc.? I have copy-pasted a draft version of the caption I have now, below - this one quite elaborate and I want it to be truly educational (rather than a quick silly meme) --> so perhaps I should also really lure people to the caption somehow: --- " Meet the giants of the salamander world: 🧬 Chinese giant salamander: up to ~1.8 meters (!!) 🧬 Japanese giant salamander: up to ~1.5 meters 🧬 Hellbender – the “small” big one, but still: up to ~75 cm Yes. These are real amphibians. Same group as frogs, toads, and your average tiny salamander. But most salamanders you'll find are barely longer than your finger. ☝️ So naturally, the question is: why does size matter here? Why did these lineages go full GIANT MODE…while the rest stayed tiny and (let’s be honest) a lot less bombastic? 🤯 For us biologists, that’s where it gets interesting. Not just because we think “wow, big salamanders are cool” (they are, so trust me we do think this! 🦎) ...

I just had a quick test call with Sarah Class and since she’s just moved, her WiFi isn’t quite stable yet. We figured it’s better to postpone the session so we can do this clean and good once her wifi is sorted. Sorry about that! I’ll share a new date soon!

Next Thursday (26th) from 5 to 6pm UK time, Sarah Class will be joining us live to answer your questions (see calendar tab). Sarah is an award winning composer behind some of the most iconic scenes in wildlife filmmaking, including BBC’s Africa and Madagascar, narrated by David Attenborough. She truly knows the ins and outs of the industry and what it means to be a wild creator. If you’re joining, I’d highly recommend preparing a couple of questions. If you prefer to just listen in, I’ll be having a conversation with her about working in wildlife filmmaking, creativity, the power of music in storytelling, and her creative process. You can also check out my previous conversation with her here to get an idea: https://youtu.be/QROorDWDSiU Looking forward to this one 👀