Class Notes

HW for next week:
Final  presentation between 12-15 minutes
Draft presentation 10 minutes

  • We will get draft grades for the feedback  presentations
  • Everything  required for the final is submitted  in the draft
  • Deadlines are firm. No late work will be accepted
  • Everything  is being submitted in one post on open lab as the final progress report
  • Everything will be linked out to eportfolio  with attached presentation
  • There is an expectation that there is an integration of revision  and feedback. There will be consequences if the lengthy  feedback is not incorporated  in the final product.
  • Eportfolio  should be professional and personalized
  • The deliverables, progress blogs, and multimodal  attributes are not part of the write up but sources linking out is encouraged and recommended.
  • Utilize the open lab space to display project in the way that works best for your particular project
  • Make sure your final content does not consist solely of the source material

Suggested approach:

  1. Write up
  2. Presentation
  3. Reflection

Start with framing the project

  • The thought process and reasoning behind the Eportfolio  will be included in the reflection
  • Please leave comments and questions under each progress post
  • Key question: How does this project influence your thoughts on new media writing?

Keep Pushing Forward-Reflection 2

This week has had it’s ups and downs. Last week, my reflection was focused on refining the technicalities of the definitions and deliverables of this project. This week my focus veered greatly from the goals I originally set out to accomplish. When I envisioned this project, I did not foresee the roadblocks I have encountered.One of my biggest issues is balancing life with blogging and vlogging. In the past week I have encountered two deaths that rocked my focus very far from my mission.

Something I have come to realize is that inspiration for blogs are in everything however taking the time in every day to create a post, write a tweet, and advertise my blog have to be clearly timed into the schedule. I have begun to set alarms to stay on track with when a post should be written. The post I am happiest with actually came from a moment of inspiration while walking outside. I have since downloaded the WordPress app on my phone for posting on the go, which works best for me.

As for updates on my success in this week, there has not been many. There have been no new views to the site but I have gained 3 followers on Twitter. It has been a struggle to get much interaction with my content. My newest approach is actively adding individuals that have already been immersed in the natural community. This week has taught me that successful branding requires much outreach to connect others with my content. Going forward, I hope to have 30 views in the next 3 days with proper promotion and interaction with others.

Something I have done is to see if my site appears in many popular natural keyword searches. Some of the words I used were ‘natural hair’ and ‘curl pattern’ which are two common searches. My site was on the 17th page (yes I searched that far). Through the use of more successful promotion and using more keywords and tags in each post I hope to have a more successful week.

Going Forward

In the next week i will be dedicated to the mission I set out to accomplish. While my ePortfolio still needs work, the reflections have put me on a path to complete this project with some success. I will be utilizing strategic social media skills to push this blog in a more successful direction.

Udpate from Original Post

Some of the feedback I received in the last class were key points in further defining my project Since the discussion i am still narrowing down how I will incorporate viewer analytics into the project without shifting the original goal. I have incorporated Samantha’s suggestion to add a mission/vision statement.

Link to Blog

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Feedback

I am open to as much feedback as possible as to how  I can make this blog as successful as possible. Please, if anyone has any critiques of comments I am open to all of it. Also, below is a video that has some light editing. Please view and give some feedback. Thank you!

Download (PPTX, 523KB)

Self Reflection

The project so far has been a process of constant revision. As of the last class I have created clear guidelines as to how I will define the key points of the process.

Definitions

The key to analyzing the success of the project will be in the definition of successful branding. Successful branding will be considered remaining authentic and transparent throughout the entirety of the development process. The goal is to create content for the benefit of the brand and not to bring foot traffic.

Guidelines

  1. Audience interaction will be measured to objectively view how others interact with my brand.
  2. Daily content must be produced for the purpose of furthering the brand. Any content not directly related to the brand is not considered authentic and therefore unsuccessful.
  3. Blog posts will be daily starting 11/24 and a weekly vlog describing each day’s style will be posted on Sundays.

This past week has pushed me to go beyond my usual process and constantly revise and revisit my work. While I am creating and editing my blogs, I constantly go back to my initial research and question whether I am being authentic. While I want my blog to be consistent with the guidelines that are set, I would like to make my brand appealing. The balance between authenticity and appeal is my internal dilemma.

I am not satisfied with my progress at this point but I am working towards progressing. In the coming week my goal is to post at least 5-6 times on Twitter a day. Since incorporating hash tags in my posts, I have gotten mentioned on the official Dove account. There have also been 5 more views to my blog over the weekend. The hash tag  “natural hair” has been a key aspect of how I have been promoting my brand and it has gotten some attention on Instagram.Over the Thanksgiving break I will be posting consistently.

Annotated Bibliography

How to Start a Successful Blog Today” | The Minimalists.” The Minimalists. N.p., 11 Apr. 2011. Web. Nov. 2015.

The Minimalists are bloggers Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus who write about “living a meaningful life with less stuff”. Their work has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, BBC, TODAY, NPR, TIME, Forbes, The Atlantic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and National Post. This essay speaks on what it to create a successful blog.

Some of the tips included in the post are how to decide if you are creating the blog for the right reasons (none of them being money, notoriety, and viewer traffic) and recommendations on how to start and maintain a blog. The most helpful information pertained to being transparent while still being interesting.


The First Step To Building Your Personal Brand.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 14 Feb. 2012. Web. Nov. 2015.

The Forbes article touches on the foundation of personal branding in the professional world. Employers will Google someone before the interview and the digital footprint left is a key part in personal branding. This article focuses on creating and maintaining the best footprint possible.

Some of the ley takeaways are self-promotion and becoming an expert in the field that is being explored. These are some questions that were posed in the article:

  • How do I make people feel?
  • How do people benefit by working with me?
  • What words do others use to describe me?

 


 

Cohen, James & Kenny, Thomas. “The Online Personal Brand.” Cohen, James & Kenny, Thomas. Producing New and Digital Media. Burlington: Focal Press, 2016. 220-228. Print.

“The Online Personal Brand” by Cohen and Kenny gives a thorough view on the creation and maintenance of a personal brand. The chapter provides examples using successful blogs and vlogs across different platforms. The entire chapter gives information that will help with the advancement of this project.

The general idea that is given throughout is to be genuine, transparent, and to pay attention to the image that is being promoted. In the particular section about the digital footprint, there will be much emphasis on this information throughout the development of the project.

 


“26 Tips to Strengthen Your Social Media Marketing.” Social Media Examiner RSS. N.p., 24 Nov. 2014. Web. Nov. 2015.

This particular piece goes into detail on having a strong social media presence. Key points included describing the brand in a way that adds value to the viewers, boosting visibility with plugins, and encouraging blog comments.

This article will be critical in the integration into an already developed community. Getting the blog to my ideal point will require using every tip that was in this piece. While some of the other articles said the same thing, there was little to take from regarding social media.


 

Reflection:

Going through articles and preparing to dive into the project gave many different prospective into how a brand, blog or any online presence can be elevated. The information available was slightly repetitive but allowed me to shift through everything to get what works best with my particular project. Going forward I will be paying close attention to details being that that is a key point that is stressed throughout.

I will be paying close attention to critical thinking as I go forward because there are many places to fall short in the early stages of this project. This was a good experience and I will be adding more research as I go forward.

Taping Into Your Personal Brand *revision*

While doing the activity of analyzing my media presence, I realized I didn’t have one. This led to the idea of documenting the creation of my personal brand. The brand I am creating will be based on natural hair and my personal experiences. This ties closely in with my personal goal of becoming a professional natural hair and beauty blogger. My objective is to create a blog and media presence while document the evolution and productivity while following the rules of creating a personal brand.

Through the semester we have gone over many methods of successfully using social networks and I will be applying all of this to my project. This research stems past my existing experience because I have always been a viewer and not a creator of my own brand. While creating my brand, there will be daily progress of what it takes to create and maintain a successful platform. The end goal of the project is not to obtain the most viewers but to understand and successfully implement the methods of creating a successful brand.

Definitions

The key to analyzing the success of the project will be in the definition of successful branding. Successful branding will be considered remaining authentic and transparent throughout the entirety of the development process. The goal is to create content for the benefit of the brand and not to bring foot traffic.

Guidelines

  1. Audience interaction will be measured to objectively view how others interact with my brand.
  2. Daily content must be produced for the purpose of furthering the brand. Any content not directly related to the brand is not considered authentic and therefore unsuccessful.

Deliverables

  • What makes a successful brand?
  • How to establish a productive media presence?
  • How does multimodality influence my target audience?

Multimodal Forms Used

  • WordPress: “Getting It Together” blog hosted outside of the ePortfolio
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Tentative Timetable

Week of Nov. 23rd

  • Create daily blogs, pictures and tweets
  • Record the traffic to the blog
  • Immerse myself in the existing community to gain viewers

Week of  Dec. 30th

  • Create daily blogs, pictures and tweets
  • Record the traffic to the blog
  • Immerse myself in the existing community to gain viewers
  • Use hashtags to boost online visibility

Week of Dec 7th

  • Create daily blogs, pictures and tweets
  • Record the traffic to the blog
  • Immerse myself in the existing community to gain viewers
  • Make adjustments to increase visibility
  • Compile data gathered

 

ePortfolio Madness

Why is technology so complicated? My first step in creating my ePortfolio was trying to pick a theme. While this was simple enough, I struggled with understanding the details of creating the individual pages and making sure pages can be created in a way that fits the idea I have in my head. The limited options and themes that are available make it harder to settle and decide on how to format the page.

The experience was very difficult with the limited instructions located on the site itself to help with the customization process. I spend about three days alone trying to get my ‘About Me’ section to show in the correct space. My portfolio is still being developed and as I become more familiar with the platform and the limited resources it will reflect the ideas I have for the final project.

Establishing a Personal Brand

My focus for the final project has shifted. While doing the activity of analyzing my media presence, I realized I didn’t have one. This led to the idea of documenting the creation of my personal brand. The brand I  am creating will be based on natural hair and my personal experiences. This ties closely in with my personal goal of becoming a professional natural hair and beauty blogger. My objective is to create a blog and media presence while document the evolution and productivity while following the rules of creating a personal brand.

The questions I will address in my research are:

  • What makes a successful brand?
  • How to establish a productive media presence?
  • How do I make people feel?
  • How do people benefit by working with me?
  • What words do others use to describe me?
  • How does multimodality influence my target audience?

Deliverables:

As someone that has successfully learned to hide their media presence I will observe how personal branding works while integrating myself in several discourse communities. I will be using Tumblr, Twitter and WordPress throughout this  project.

Proposed Timeline:

Being that my goal is to track the growth of my personal brand, I  will be posting daily blogs, tweets, and posts to create a sense of accountability.

  • Sources:

Forbes

Quick Sprout

Quint careers

Social Media Examiner

 

 

Journalism & Politics: The Perfect Duo

The topic I will be exploring is the flow of social media in journalism, specifically in regards to politics. With the presidential elections becoming a popular topic in the digital world, it is clearest to track the development of connected discourses. The idea came from the influence of social media in traditional journalism as explored in Week 5 of the semester. With networking platforms allowing further dialogue outside of the tradition confines of journalism and politics there is much to observe and participate. Some of the mediums that would be used are live tweeting during debates and joining discourses surrounding Facebook and political blogs. The goal of the project is to see if there is a breakdown in the makeup of traditional journalism and politics when social media is added. The platforms that will play a major role in my research are:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Wikipedia

With the increase in media based journalism, election based stories are being distributed faster and disregarded with a similar speed. However, when looking at some of the comments included in news reports on different platforms there is a level of discourse that is new to the political world.

Possible questions:

  1. How can I explore this topic in the best way?
  2. How have politics, culture, and media started to blend?
  3. Where is the divide between traditional journalism and how is that boundary becoming less effective?

The Impact of the Images & Videos

“Allocca explains there are three characteristics of the viral video that cause a spontaneous and rapid growth in views and cultural experience: tastemakers, creative participating communities, and complete unexpectedness (Cohen & Kenny 123) .”

Social networks are large communities of there own with videos that come and go everyday. The most recent video is of the Drake Hotline Bling music video.Drake’s video became an internet sensation for those three reasons listed in the quote. Viral videos have become such a large part of American because the element of surprise and the creativity that comes out of different discourse communities brings out a mixture of entertainment with internet success.

On the more serious side of viral media is the racial debates that come out of viral images. In the article Racist Visual Rhetoric and Images of Trayvon Martin, Lisa Lebduska explores the impact visual performances have on society. In the Trayvon Martin case the most direct influence on the views of the public came from the many ways the media and both sides portrayed Martin and Zimmerman.

“President Obama framed the event’s visual significance when he observed, “My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,”directly challenging the racist scopic regime he has confronted throughout his political career (Lebduska 2).”

Discourse communities can no longer argue that an image presented does not change and fuel racial debates. In Zimmerman’s trial the racial fuel that was allowed because of the uncensored distribution of images that show the same two people in multiple different lights.

The issue that I feel is most relevant in this matter is whether the image with ever stay true to its context. A common issue in racially fueled discourse is that a single image can change the course of a trial and erode the justice system as the meme does with politics.

My final thought on the viral video/image is this:

If an image has so much power, why can it not be used for the building up of a more sound culture?