Category Archives: Projects

Self Reflection

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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.

It’s All a Work in Progress.

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The project so far has been both an outward search, and an insightful inner task. I have had to rely on the research articles in this part of the project to tell me what to expect in regard to what effects such as detachment and worry. I did not imagine that it would be as bad as it is. The first day of Friday the 20th was not as bad because most of it was spent in work, however, when I went on break I found myself lost. I had nothing to do but eat my lunch. I paid attention to the food, the way it tasted, the colors and smells of the food. It was a new experience because I could not remember the last time I looked at the food that was going into my mouth. Most times I am staring at my phone busily scrolling through what seems like an endless feed. I also noticed that the time went a lot slower. Thirty minutes felt like an hour. It is amazing how quickly I was able to gauge the changing sense of time. I was able to give an account for where my minutes went instead of mindlessly wondering if I had really just spent 4 hours scrolling and re-blogging on Tumblr without noticing it.

The second thing Processed with VSCOcam with c1 presetI noticed about myself was the constant worry about what I was missing out on. As a guilty pleasure I read, “The Shade Room” (TSR), a celebrity blog that gives updates about trending celebrity stories. I have grown attached and soothed by this blog. It has been my way to unwind after a long days’ work or school. For the past four days however I have been lost and it worries me. I am worried that I will have to catch up on so much and I will also miss out so much. I have no idea what is going on and I have had to find a new ways to deal with my new time—coloring. In four days I have reassigned and invested my time in more creative outlets. I have never colored so much since the fourth grade but although it does occupy my time I still find myself worrying about missing out on some outrageous seflies or videos.

I have also noticed my ability to pay more attention to smaller IMG_3455things. I notice the people around me, words on the wall, and even the objects on the ground. These things which I have gone months without noticing because my head would be buried in my phone; scrolling through social media. My attention to detail has caused me to become not only more aware of the things I do but the manner in which I do them. I pay more attention because I am not being drawn to or constantly stopping to check my SNS. I am more interested and invested in people and their stories because I have nothing to distract me with.

The last effect of this experiment that I have noticed is that I am relearning how to use my iPhone (who knew there was more to it than my SNS apps). I am more cautious of what I do and how I do it on my phone. Since Friday I have downloaded games, and photo editing apps that allow me to take advantage more of what the phone h
as to offer. I have been taking advantage of my camera and all that it has to offer. I have also noticed that when I take a picture now I take it not for the ‘likes’ but for a purpose. I have found an interest and enjoyment in taking photos that I never knew before. I would before this experiment take a picture for the sole purpose of posting it and seeing people like it or share it; now I find pleasure in capturing a moment for myself and no one else.

So far I thiIMG_3565nk that I have been able to capture videos and pictures that represent these feelings and effects. In moving I plan on continuing to capture more videos and pictures of the day that represent and coincide with the blog post that goes along with it.  I also plan on starting to put my short video together for the final presentation as to give myself enough time to edit.

Lastly, moving away from the project, I have too beeIMG_3575n working on my e-portfolio site as which will house the final project piece. I have been working hard on ‘The Sliding Doors’ theme and I believe I am finding some success.

I ask that anyone if willing take a look and give me some feedback. Feel free to ask any questions that you may have about the project so far. I hope you will be able to enjoy the finished item.

 

Storytelling: The Road to Success *Revision 1*

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Project Proposal

Topic: What Makes a Story Successful in Photojournalism?

Overview

All of us have a story to share, however, not many of us are afforded the chance to share their stories. Often times, many of us are silenced because of religion, sexual orientation or out of fear. And then there are those who find courage to share their stories. Today, many stories are widely shared online and are successful. My definition of success in photojournalism is the amount of times a photo has been liked on Instagram and Twitter and how viewers engage with the image whether it is by commenting, sharing the image or if they repost the image. A successfully received story online is one that makes viewers engage in the story. This image can be circulated through many different platforms such as Facebook, popular blog and can end up on the TV.

The development of new technologies has changed the way individuals share their stories. Traditional ways of sharing stories by publishing memoirs or being interviewed are not common these days. One of the way individuals share their stories is by participating in photo blogs such as Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton and StoryCorps by David Isay which has changed the narrative of photojournalism. Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that employs images in order to tell a news story. These sites allow viewers to engage with the stories by liking, sharing and commenting. Often times viewers are able to engage with the story on a deeper level. By exploring photojournalism within the blog Humans of New York, I will look specifically at how individuals share their stories on fear and how it presents a opportunity for viewers to engage with those stories. I will track how the image is shared, how many likes it received, how viewers engaged with it and if it was successful.

Objective

For this project, I will examine the blog Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, a blog that shares stories which provides a new light on photojournalism and cultivates a new type of visual experience. Another blog I will examine is StoryCorps, a nonprofit that provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve their life story. I will review photos from Humans of New York and videos from StoryCorps that sheds light on fear. I want to analyze how they share their story and how viewers engaged with the image because it will help me to write my memoir.

In this project, I will explain the following:

  1. Why do people share their story?
  2. What makes a story successful?
  3. Can anyone make a successful story?

Other elements to explore:

  1. Create a image similar to Humans of New York with a person and a quote about their life and post on Instagram and Twitter.
  2. Compare my attempt to try to create a image similar to Humans of New York with a success image from Human of New York, the image will be tracked on Instagram and Twitter via those networks analytics.
  3. A blog post on my personal blog to share the image and write a reflection piece.

Topics and Projected Timeline:

Week of the 15th 

Explain what is photojournalism and visual storytelling.

A.) History of photojournalism and visual storytelling, the new technologies within the world of new media and the platforms.

B.) Write out the history and mission of Humans of New York.

C.) Explain its best practices and strategies that are successful

D.) Select a image from Humans of New York that “successfully” captures a story on fear

  • Examine the photo with the listed Visual Literacy Guideline
  • a. Define the purpose of the image within the project (e.g., illustration, evidence, primary source, focus of analysis, critique, commentary)
    b. Define the scope (e.g., reach, audience) and environment (e.g., academic environment, open web) of the planned image use
    c. Articulates criteria that need to be met by the image (e.g., subject, pictorial content, color, resolution, specific item)
    d. Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the needed image
    e. Identifies discipline-specific conventions for image use
  • How did the image and content successfully or unsuccessfully tell the story?

Week of the 22nd

A.) History of photojournalism and visual storytelling, the new technologies within the world of new media and the platforms.

B.) Write out the history and mission of StoryCorps

C.) Explain its best practices and strategies that are successful

D.) Review videos from StoryCorps that “successfully” captures a story on fear

Examine the photo with the listed Visual Literacy Guideline

  • a. Define the purpose of the image within the project (e.g., illustration, evidence, primary source, focus of analysis, critique, commentary)
    b. Define the scope (e.g., reach, audience) and environment (e.g., academic environment, open web) of the planned image use
    c. Articulate criteria that need to be met by the image (e.g., subject, pictorial content, color, resolution, specific item)
    d. Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the needed image
    e. Identifies discipline-specific conventions for image use
  • How did the image and content successfully or unsuccessfully tell the story?

Week of the 29th

A.) Create a comparative analysis of Humans of New York and Storycorps

B.) Prospect

  • Interview a prospect on the subject of fear and share a photo with a caption similar to Humans of New York which will we shared via Instagram
  • Instagram– The image will be tracked daily on Instagram, by recording how many likes it received, how many comments it received and whether it was remixed.
  • Twitter– The image will be tracked daily on Twitter by recording how many times it was viewed, how many retweets it received or how many times it was favorited.
  • WordPress-The image will be tracked daily on Black Attire Aficionado  by recording how many times it was viewed, how many times it was reblogged it received and how many times it was favorited.

Week of the 6th

A.) Explain the findings on what makes a image successful

B.) Write a reflection on the process of creating the image, was it successful or not?

  • What would I do differently?
  • What other platforms should I have used?
  • Reviews on the image from classmates
  • Was it hard to circulate the image?

Deliverables

  1. A comparative analysis of Humans of New York and StoryCorps
  2. A image created that mirrors Human of New York, this will be located on Instagram,Twitter, and Black Attire Aficionado
  3. A reflection of my success or failure with creating a image
  4. The end-result will be presented in the form of short short film/video of some sort which will be posted to Jodieann Stephenson’s e-portfolio site TBD

 

 

Project Progress – SEO

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After brainstorming ideas, I finally decided on focusing my project on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). My objective is to explore the factors that make one website more visible than another.

Despite the setback of not feeling well, I spent some time last week looking into the strategies, techniques and tactics that are applied by SEOs. This included white and black hat philosophies and the use of online keyword tools that can be accessed to find out how often certain words have been used in searches. I have also looked into the algorithms process of formulating answers in response to search questions and the search engine return pages (SERPs) process of listing results returned in response to a query or search word. I have also described the role that a target audience plays in determining types of searches.

After checking out several websites, I selected two travel map webpages to formulate an analysis (Citymapper and Moovit) and commenced a comparison report using a side-by-side SEO comparison tool. The report consists of an on-page analysis which includes the number of words, the number of link and unlinked words, the number of links on the page and the page size.

For the interactive component of my project, I will focus on Cleonmaye.com, a company founded to develop smarter ways of using existing technologies. The goal is to investigate the site and ultimately, increase its search engine ranking through optimization. I will first install and activate the Google Analytic plugin and create an account. I will use Google Analytics to monitor your website’s traffic to detect any significant statistical variation.

Looking into next week, I will continue researching white hat and black hat approaches and also update the comparison report and the interactive report.

 

Progress Update 11/25

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I began my project a week ago and to be honest I lacked confidence in myself and the success I could bring to it. I combined and tweaked some of my strategies due to time constraints but they’re all still of the same genre. So my updated timeline looks more like this,

Week #1- Leverage trending topics. I will explore the moments and trending sections of twitter and engage in the conversation for at least 2 of them per day. Boost visibility by tweeting with at least three content based hashtags that represent a call to action.

Week #2- Fuel my profile with shared content. I will share and comment on popular stories to attract or raise questions about the content.Branch out. I will locate and attempt to engage with three professionals in my desired career field (marketing).

Week #3- Cross post. In the last week I will share my content from linkedin and open lab on my twitter to show professional work on my twitter feed as well.

Week #4- For the last week I will gather and assess my data, see which week had the largest engagement and overall by how much (if any) my engagement increased.

I mainly combined similar strategies and will be continuing to apply all strategies as I incorporate new ones. I started out with 27 followers, less than 50 views per tweet, 5 or less mentions per month and had never been added to any lists.

What i’ve done to date

So far, as I touched upon in class last week my tactics have been rather successful. As of 11/23 (One week since I began) I have,

  • Gained 6 new followers
  • Been retweeted 4 times
  • Been favorited 7 times
  • Added to two lists
  • Mentioned 2 times
  • Had an all time high record of 101 interactions per tweet

I actually surprised myself with how much my tweeting and interactions took off by using hashtags and joining into trending conversations. I chimed in about Charlie Sheen, Heart Health, Obama, Womens rights just to name a few. It was actually pretty fun and interesting, because I got to read all these people’s ideas on the subject to scroll through a category.

The biggest obstacle so far has been without a doubt keeping my content up to date with the ever fluid topics of twitter. I go to class or work for a few hours and now what’s on my timeline is eons old. So thats a challenge for sure. Otherwise I haven’t had any major roadblocks that I see as a threat to my project.

Critically though I need to be more organized and write down the results over every day instead of scrolling back through my timeline as thats really time consuming. I also want to sit down and really read through hoot suite and see how I can get that to really work for me because right now I still end up back on the twitter app because I’m so versed in it.

This week I think I did a good job of being on more regularly and reading through content instead of scrolling like a madman. Moments without a doubt makes it easier to see stories but harder to interact with individual tweets so I have to move away from using that and stick to the trending topics tool which is a little harder but necessary for this project.

Moving forward and looking ahead I look forward to trying the next strategy and implementing it in addition to week ones. This week I am sharing content like crazy, news stories, blogs, journal articles and more and then commenting or interacting with it by asking questions or giving feedback. I hope to have an even keel of both informative news sources and op ed interest pieces to balance out the kinds of interaction I get.

Project Progress Reflection

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I must admit, I was hesitant about creating a LinkedIn account after I was more than encouraged to do so by everyone in the class. Once I finally created my account, I was a bit surprised and pleased to see its resemblance to a Facebook newsfeed. I didn’t know what to expect after I created my account but it wasn’t how I imagined it at all.

Screenshot_2015-11-24-12-03-44[1]

My current profile

Like any other social media platform, the first order of business was to make connections and unfortunately, I only had two that the database could automatically find. Once inside the realm of the platform, I found a number of interesting things that were purposely pointed out to me. These things include:

  1. A link that said “Are you sure nothing is hiding about you online? Search yourself before they start digging”, which I found to be quite interesting because it reiterates the notion of self-presentation and practicing honesty online which I fully intend to do.
  2. Just like Facebook, conversations can take place on the platform.
  3. My profile strength is at the beginners stage as it should be. I am fairly new to the social platform and I have lots to learn to get it to at least an intermediate level by the time my project comes to a close.
  4. I can view my profile in the eyes of my viewers. Essentially, LinkedIn encourages me to look my best which then will generate an increasing number of people who have stopped to view my profile. Currently I have zero viewers but again, I am fairly new and need to strategize if I intend to increase my number of viewers.
  5. While in the process of getting my profile up and running, it said, ” Folayemi, profile views matter”. If it was any other social media platform such as my Facebook and Pinterest account, I  could care less about my following because I own those platforms for my own personal enjoyment. However, LinkedIn differs in that it is used to build an individuals professional identity. Therefore, it is important if an individual wishes to seek employment or gain entrepreneurship in their industry or field.

 

Moving forward with my project, I intend to update my resume so that I can add it to my profile as well as use other individuals’ profiles as an example/guide to perfect my profile and present myself in a manner that LinkedIn encourages. Screenshot_2015-11-24-12-04-30[1]For instance, I happened to find Jake Counselbaum LinkedIn profile and it was as professional and up to date as it could get. I thought to myself, this is what my profile should look like but then I remembered I am only an unemployed 21 year old college student and that should reflect in my profile. Jake Counselbaum without a doubt has more experience than I do but that doesn’t mean I am less professional, I am merely professional in the experiences I’ve had and currently have. So looking toward the future, my profile can definitely look like his one day if I choose to continue to participate in the platform after my project.

Something else I noticed when beginning my profile was profile pictures. Most of them were not selfie-oriented profile pictures, but clean, crisp headshots. I immediately thought to myself that I could not just put up any photo I like from my gallery of photos but, my profile photo needs to:

  1. Look like me: up-to-date, that reflects how I look on a daily basis.
  2. Depict my face (not the scenery in the background or my chest to distract people from what I look like if they were to meet me face-to-face).
  3. Have at least a smile, not a serious face that depicts to a potential employer that I cannot have a pleasant conversation with them.

I am slowly taking in my new found social platform and all it has to offer. With time and knowledge, it will definitely look different from how it began. I intend to take notes over the course of managing, and editing my profile. I also want to utilize the news feed of topics that I’ve followed such as Social Impact, Professional Women, and Healthcare to see where they will take me in my journey of using my new social platform.

How do YOU present yourself on LinkedIn? (Proposal Revision)

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We live in a society with very public platforms for the distribution and preservation of our personal image online. Social media affords us the opportunity to be front and center in our very own curated editorial spread. The way we interact with our families, our work persona and the various discourse communities we are associated with, all contribute different aspects of our personalities. However, we may question whether we should project our real personality online.

With ePortfolios, students can give employers and undergraduate/graduate schools a fuller, richer picture of themselves. They can include their essays from their courses; they can include course syllabi to explain the course content; they can add pictures and sounds to enlarge their audience’s picture beyond the written word. An ePortfolio can essentially be used as a learning tool for self-presentation. One may ask, why have an ePortfolio and there are a number of reasons which may include:

  1. Group work
  2. Project Outcomes
  3. Reflections
  4. Personal Development
  5. Work Experience
  6. Skill acquisition

Therefore, I propose that my project serves as a guide to effectively produce a successful or good-looking ePortfolio by presenting oneself accurately and whole-heartedly both on a LinkedIn profile.

My project will address the following:

  1. How to properly present yourself online with detailed instructions and reasoning for the method of procedure.
  2. Students gaining valuable computer skills while developing and editing their ePortfolios
  3. ePortfolios exhibiting wider dimensions of learning than just the traditional methods (paper-pencil reports)
  4. Students can add digital audio, video, and graphics to document evidence of learning
  5. ePortfolios can provide an assessment based on evidence of growth over time and effort rather than test scores

The goal of the project is to inform others on the advantages of using an ePortfolio and LinkedIn profile whether they choose to participate in the platform or not. This project is also for myself in understanding how useful having an ePortfolio and LinkedIn can be influential to my future. I hope to:

  1. learn to evaluate my own performance over time
  2. increase critical thinking skills by developing evaluative criteria and using it to select work to include
  3. improve or demonstrate mastery of specific academic skills

Deliverables:

I hope to deliver in my project an e-book/e-magazine that provides a “E-Portfolio/LinkedIn for Beginners” for students such as myself who have little to know experience with working with them and how to effectively present oneself on their personal profiles and the steps taken to produce a functional profile to curate content.

Guidelines:

In order for this project to be a success:

  1. Student will use  their LinkedIn account to the best of their knowledge without prior knowledge of utilizing the platform successfully
  2. Frequently post/update content to see if it’ll generate “connections”  that will be able to view the student’s profiles
  3. Update any information in hopes that the profile will become better and cleaner over time; presenting oneself professionally rather than personally
  4. Ask people who know the user well if there are similarities/differences in student’s presentation in reality compared to online

Projected Timeline:  

  • Week of the 15th – document and share all content student has to date
  • After initial steps are taken next step will be to begin editing profile to make it better as to begin developing an e-magazine
  • Use the profile to capture the essence and purpose of the profile in the e-magazine that an audience can use to decide whether having a LinkedIn account is a suitable for them

Sources so far include:

Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, Judit Torok. “What Difference Can ePortfolio Make? A Field Report from the Connect to Learning Project.” 2014. Print.

Knight, William E. The Relationship Between Electronic Portfolio Participation and Student Success. Bowling Green, Ohio, n.d. Print.

Nelson, Sharleen. 3 Keys for a Successful E-Portfolio Implementation. Oregon: The Journal, 2011. Print.

Is Your Social Media Presence an Accurate Portrayal of Who You Are?

The Social Media Effect: Are You Really Who You Portray Online

The Presentation of Self in the Age Social Media

Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook

Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction- Jones & Hafner

Producing New and Digital Media: Your Guide to Savvy Use of the Web- Cohen & Kenny