LIVE MUSIC EVENTS AND MY SOCIAL MEDIA PRECENCE

My online persona, is that of happy times, and moments with friends. More specifically on Instagram, I post many photos and videos of live music events that I have attended. Whether it be a festival, concert or show, this is what I love to do with my time the most, so I choose to share it with my online audience. The images below show how I display different music events that I’ve been to, on Instagram.  I utilise the highlight tool on Instagram, meaning I can seperate each event into a different little story on my profile. I use an eye catching photo from each of the events as a cover photo for the highlight, hopefully both intriguing people to watch them, and adding character and a certain aesthetic to my Instagram profile. (link)According to L. Thomas, P. Briggs, A. Hart, K. Finola, (2017) young people around the same age as me, “ensure they post(ed) or tailor(ed) their details to convey a particular impression to others- even if this impression was not of their authentic self” This is very true in the essence that, if an outsider was look look at my Instagram, it would appear that I am constantly having the time of my life. I choose to filter out parts of my life that aren’t as fun or entertaining, such as going to work or university during the week. I think it’s important to remember that people will only post the best version of them selves of social media and no ones life is perfect. The tweet I had made in the image below, is a post that varies from my usual content, and is a way to discuss a real issue, and putting forward my own opinion on a political topic.

Tweet link:

Mar 23

I tend to use different social media platforms in different ways. Facebook is mostly for messaging and keeping in contact with friends and family. Twitter is a mixture of what I enjoy, my opinions on different subject and work for university. Instagram is purely thing I enjoy and the image I wish to portray of myself.

I recently went to a show/concert called ‘Claptone’ and made a tweet about it here,

tweet link:

3h3 hours ago

I think it’s important to hashtag events so that they can be discovered by other people. I believe one of the greatest things about social media is it’s ability to connect different people to different things. If somebody likes the music in this video, they can click the hashtag and discover more about the artist, both bringing exposure to the artist and new music to people on social media.  I have found that by attending and posting about many different music events on my social media, I have been able to connect with different people. For instance if I go to see a semi-popular DJ at a show and post about it, many underground/not well known DJ’s will find my Instagram and connect with me in order to get their name out there. This shows the wonderful way that social media can make communities and both connect people, and help promote small businesses or artists. “Brand attitude is the evaluation that a consumer has of a brand based on the information and knowledge they have accumulated – such as that acquired through sharing – and is an important element to social exchanges” Cherniece J. Plume and Emma L. Slade (2016). Social media can be a huge factor in a brand and I think I have contributed to different Australian music brands in many ways. While my online persona may be idealistic on my public Instagram, I do have a private Instagram where I only accept my friends or people I know. This means I feel the freedom to post whatever I like, without the pressure of trying to upkeep a certain image, like I do with my public Instagram. This takes us back to the original purpose of social media- to connect with people you know. I think over the least few years, the uses of social media have changed drastically, it has become a platform for businesses, a way to express opinions to masses, creating a certain persona, and sharing experiences. I think I have adapted to the way social media has changed in the last few years and I use to to show those that are interested, what I enjoy doing with my time. My online identity is very idealistic and aesthetically pleasing, while this may be deceiving, it is a popular way to conduct yourself, especially on a place like Instagram.

L. Thomas, P. Briggs, A. Hart, F. Kerrigan, 2017, computers in human behaviour, Understanding social media and identity work in young people transitioning to university, vol. 76, p. 551, DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.021

Amanda Marino, 2019, brand attitude and purchase intention, Social media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, vol.33, no. 1, pp. 321, DOI:10.1647/1082-6742-33.1.89

New technologies have transformed how concepts of ‘reality’ and ‘immersion’ have been traditionally understood.

My video was discussing how new technologies have transformed how concepts of “reality” and “immersion” have been traditionally understood. I wanted to convey the argument that virtual reality and technology in general has created such a positive impact on society and given us an incredible amount of opportunities that mankind has never had before. I did this by first discussing how virtual reality has started being used for educational purposes in schools and how this could be used in a multitude of ways. “new technology- techniques, equipment and buildings- is creating momentous change in elementary education. Our observational research at Kensington, a highly innovative elementary school, left us with major concerns that emotional or propagandistic language which sometimes accompanies innovation is a deterrent to careful thinking and development of the new technology in education.” Louis M. Smith, Pat M. Keith (1968). I then began to discuss how it can be used in the everyday life, not just for entertainment with things like gaming, but to genuinely help people in ways such as rehabilitating people suffering with post traumatic stress disorder and so on. I thought it was important to show how huge of a business and a common technology this was becoming in general. “Recent technological developments are changing the ways people experience the physical and the virtual environments. Specifically, Virtual Reality (VR) is likely to play a key role in several industries such as retail, tourism, education, healthcare, entertainment and research. Recent reports show that sales of VR Head-Mounted Displays have, for the first time, exceeded one million in a quarter, the value of VR devices sold is expected to increase from US$1.5 billion in 2017 to US $9.1 billion by 202, importantly, younger generations are the most interested in VR technology.” Louis M. Smith, Pat M. Keith (1968). I decided to first take a sit down vlog style video discussing everything I had to say, and then overlay this with copyright free stock footage from Pixabay.com I edited in some footage of me speaking every now and then to keep an authentic feel to the video, rather than it being just stock footage and nothing else. I used quiet, upbeat background music to ensure the audience was still engaged in the actual content, but still give the overall video a more professional feel to it. There were some sections I later recorded on my laptop, that I had forgot to say in the original video I had taken of myself. I needed to adjust the volume of this audio clips as they sounded quite different to the audio that came from the video, but after adjusting this, the overall audio blended together well.

Louis M. Smith, Pat M. Keith (1968), Fantasy and Reality in the language of the New technology, Educational Technology.

 Flavián, C, .Ibáñez-Sánchez, S., Orús, C., (2019) The impact of virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies on the customer experience, Journal of business research, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.10.050

 

Flavián, C, .Ibáñez-Sánchez, S., Orús, C., (2019) The impact of virtual, augmented and mixed reality

 

Assessment 2- Video surveillance

I wanted to discuss the issue of surveillance (while briefly touching of artificial intelligence) which we have covered this trimester in making video. Although I wanted to cover this issues in an engaging way. I believe the best way to engage an audience is through images and videos. Pixabay.com had such a large selection of non-copyrighted images and videos that it worked perfectly for this assignment. The overall message I wanted to convey was the immense impact that technology has made on our lives, and what price we pay to reap the benefits of these technologies, like sacrificing our own privacy. I thought it was important to show what great improvements technology has made to society in the beginning, and let the audience decide of their loss of privacy is worth the benefits they gain from what we all have today. My main focus was about privacy issues relation to technology and I briefly touched on artificial intelligence as it becomes relevant to the privacy issue, in terms of things like facial scanning and recognition, and devices in the home, that can be used to gather private information from millions of people every day. Although the rest of my video was concerned with how technology is often used as a means of surveillance on all of us, and is constantly gathering information based on the people who use it. I used relevant images and videos relating to what I was talking about in that moment, as a way to engage the audience. While these are simply copyright-free stock images/videos, it creates a visual for those watching, to feel like they’re receiving information both audibly and visually. The real information of the video was in the script, but I think the visuals added a nice aesthetic appeal to the video. I used a copyright free background music at only 10% volume. This was to create a calm atmosphere, without overpowering the video, and keeping the audience focused on the actual information rather than possibly being distracted by something like the music. The editing process involved a lot of simple cuts and ensuring all images were perfectly matched up with the audio. I did struggle with this at times, as I did some parts out of order. If I was to do this assignment again I would improve it by recording the audio in its entirety first, then overlaying the images later, as I can change the length of an image easily, but obviously cannot change the length of an audio clip I have already recorded. Originally my main issue was finding something to make the video visually engaging to the audience. I had filmed myself talking about the issues but I found this to be boring and realised I needed something more visually stimulating. To make it still personable I decided to include a clip of me in a vlogging style at the beginning, and simply left my voice as the audio for the rest of the video. The stock images and videos create a more professional looking video that has much more engagement with those watching.

My Vlog

In this video, I wanted to convey a sense of authenticity by making it natural and simple. With the lack of editing and normal conversation style talking, hopefully this video creates a natural, real sort of atmosphere. I discuss different aspects of who I am in a condensed version, so that viewer can gain an understanding of me, without getting too bored of a lengthy, dull video. Often an audience will perceive a video or vlog as more authentic when they can relate to the person in the video. As this is a video that is all about me, I thought it was important to come across as very authentic. Meaning I used colloquial language without worrying too much about how I said things or if it looked extremely professional. In terms of the actual shot, I used the hand-held camera technique. This also plays into the sense of authenticity. By holding the camera in my hand instead of setting it up on a tripod, the whole video feels more natural and less scripted, which could help the audience to feel like they can relate to me more. While my house doesn’t have the best lighting, I tried to use a room with suitable natural lighting. I recorded the video with my iPhone, while this may not be ideal the quality of the iPhone cameras is surprisingly good and it is a much better option than using the laptop to record, as they have both poor audio and visuals. My shot composition had a natural, bedroom background with my face being the centre focus, this works in well with the natural, hand-held style video that it is. I attempted to engage the audience by using a clear voice and not drag out what I was saying with unnecessary parts. I struggled initially to speak comfortably in front of the camera. The first few times I tried to record it came across too awkward and scripted, which was the opposite of the atmosphere I was trying to achieve in this video. I struggled with finding a medium between having an overly scripted video that felt fake, and having nothing to say and not meeting the time requirement. I ended up writing down a few bullet points so I could remember what I wanted to talk about without rehearsing what I wanted to say, therefore it would come off more natural. This was the first time I have filmed something in a vlog style of myself. I think I’ve learnt how to approach this sort of task in terms of speaking to the camera and creating an authentic atmosphere for the video. The only issue I would like to resolve next time is the lighting and camera. I would prefer to film on an actual camera rather than an iPhone, and in an environment with better lighting and surroundings. While it was important for me to make the vlog seem natural and genuine, I would like it to come across a little more professional next time, so the audience can have a better experience watching it.

What potentialities and risks does social media offer activists attempting to drive social change?

Slacktivism is, by definition “the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions, characterized as involving very little effort or commitment.” This is something that occurs quite often on social media. Social media tends to be a fantastic way to communicate and spread a particular message, although it is often too easy to commit to a cause, while simultaneously putting no actual effort towards changing, or helping with the issue. An example of this was in 2012 when the “Kony 2012” campaign went viral for a few months. This event caused somewhat of an uproar on social media, but eventually amounted to nothing but likes and shares on the internet, will no real effect on the actual issue. Although “slacktivism” is a negative aspect of activists attempting to drive a social change through social media, there are also many positives. The internet is a fantastic tool for conveying important messages to large audiences from around the world all at once. The concept of bringing a diverse range of people together over a common issue and cause, is something that would not be possible without social media in the first place.

To focus on Kony 2012 more specifically, as Cerise L. Glenn (2015) said, the original Kony 2012 video had 1.4 million likes, although many of the supporters, however, took no action after watching the video and ordering action kits. The “What Happened to Kony 2012?” (2013) update clip released in 2013 was only viewed just over 174,000 times. The lack of reaction or popularity to Kony 2012 displays how social media can make an issue appear to have plenty of support, whereas the actual supporters are unlikely to take action in the real world. My podcast compares these attempted and failed social movements online, to more successful ones, like go fund me pages that consistently raise funds for much needed causes, showing a more positive aspect of social changes online. From looking at both negative and positive outcomes of attempted social movements online, I have discovered that in order for an activist to be successful in making a societal change on social media, they are likely to need to stay on a smaller scale and keep the goal direct, for instance rather than “we need to stop Kony 2012”, it should be more like “raising $500,00 to help activists fight against Kony 2012”

Some challenges I faced in making this podcast were the actual constraints of the podcast, such as time limit and relevant topics. Once I figured out exactly what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, I struggled to make the time limit, and had to re-evaluate if I was discussing enough about these issues. So, I re-wrote and script and with more information and was then able to discuss enough to meet the time limit and keep it interest throughout.

Cerise L. Glenn (2015) Activism or “Slacktivism?”: Digital Media and Organizing for Social Change, Communication Teacher, 29:2, 81-85, DOI: 10.1080/17404622.2014.1003310