Instagram pranks are becoming a popular trend on social media. One YouTuber to take on the trend earlier this year was 21-year-old George Mason.

The London-based vlogger used his photo editing skills to trick his Instagram followers into thinking he went on an eight-day vacation across five European countries. He eventually revealed the prank in a YouTube video titled: "I FAKED going on HOLIDAY for a whole WEEK *PHOTOSHOPPING MY INSTAGRAM* PRANK."

The video has racked up over seven million views at the time of writing (it was uploaded in January), and is an earlier example of the photo-editing trend that's started taking over social media.

Mason told INSIDER that the idea was born out of his love/hate relationship with social media

"Social media is great in the fact that you can connect with so many people that you wouldn't have the chance to without it," he told INSIDER. "But there's this bad side of it where it is so easy to be deceitful online."

He says he noticed articles about influencers faking their lavish lifestyles and models Photoshopping their photos, and he decided to see how far he could take it.

A few years ago I was coaching a very successful young attorney about how to better use her LinkedIn account. As she scanned her LinkedIn inbox, she noticed that a message from a New York Times reporter. This reporter was looking for a comment on a major story about international trade, her specialty. The problem? The message was months old, and she was just now seeing it. My advice to her was this: delete your account.

Should everyone have a strong presence on social media? The answer is no. Of course, there are powerful reasons to have and maintain an online profile, but I've noticed some areas where social media usage becomes a detriment instead of a value for professionals. No matter how you choose to use your account, it's a good idea to take a look in the mirror and decide if you have the bandwidth to keep up with your account. If not, your LinkedIn account could be doing more harm than good for your business. If you fall into any of the following three categories, it may be time to consider whether to delete your account:

 (1) You Won't Commit to Maintaining Your Account

In the first example I shared, the successful young attorney created an account, but had turned off email notifications and never checked the account. It was as if she built a brand new beautiful mailbox, with a tube connected that dropped all the letters she received right into the ocean. If you don't have the time to and check it on a regular basis, it's not worth having the account. It's difficult to maintain real relationships unless you make it a priority to interact regularly with them.

Katrina Najm, Senior Manager, External Communications at PwC recommends cultivating a relationship-based approach with LinkedIn connections. She says: "executives I've worked with have said they've seen success when they simply share an article with a client or prospective client saying "thought you'd enjoy this". It's worked wonders for relationship-building and has helped with their brand." Adding value while checking in every once in a while is a great way to maintain relationships.

Google AdWords is the industry standard for PPC marketing. For the virtue of your ads showing up on Google's own products like YouTube and Gmail alone, it's an enormous trove of potential business. And when your business can pop up on millions of sites and reach over 90% of internet users, it's hard to imagine what your options are if, for example, you're suddenly banned by the site, or you simply want to use another method.

If that's the case, you have to get a little creative — and that's not necessarily a bad thing. These strategies can be used by anyone looking to optimize their PPC marketing strategy, whether or not you're relying on Google.

Use Alternative Ad Networks

AdWords may be standard, but there are other options out there. Even if your industry doesn't fall under the purview of restricted sectors, there are plenty of valid reasons to expand your online advertising platform considerations. You can find lower cost per click (CPC) rates, expand your reach or even narrow your reach if that's your goal. It's possible to get too many clicks in AdWords if the clicks are low in quality. The broader your industry, the higher your chances of low conversion rates but high costs. The more specific your niche, the more likely it is that fewer clicks will lead to higher conversion rates.

Studio by UXPin, which specializes in free UX design resources for designers and product teams, has released its 2019 Top Web Design Trends free eBook that includes 63 examples analyzed from major names such as Google, Nike, and Spotify, among others.

The eBook covers color, subtle branding, split screen design, data visualization, layering with interactivity, and more. Each trend comes with an explanation that elaborates on what the style looks and feels like, whether the trend is beneficial, and how you can adapt it into your own work.

Download your copy of the free eBook here.

In case you missed it, discover 2019’s top logo design trends to inspire you for the year, presented in one infographic.

[via Studio by UXPin]