Final Project Draft

Abstract

In a exploration of the photoblog Humans of New York (HONY), a blog by photographer Brandon Stanton. The photoblog provides a unique way to share stories via social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Blog. The photoblog introduces viewers to various stories that explore issues such a sexism, freedom and loss just to name a few. This new platform of that shares stories has changed photojournalism. The purpose of the project is to identify the best practices that HONY uses and try a create an image using their best practices. The success of the project will be determined by how many likes, share, user engagement the image receives across various social media sites.

My Write Up, Reflection and Presentation are located on my ePortfolio profile.

 

Here are the links to my personal Social Media Sites that I used for the purpose of the project:

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, my WordPress personal blog Black Attire Aficionado .

Here are the links to Humans of New York social media sites that I used for the purpose of the project:

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and the website Humans of New York.

Final Reflection- Deliverables

In the week of 11/29 after returning from a relaxing break, I returned feeling very excited. During the evening of 11/30 I worked on my second progress presentation. In the second progress report, I wrote candidly about my struggles with having a clear understanding of my project and the end results. I wrote about the ways in which the project made me more disciplined. There were certain elements of the project that was to have been completed however due to timing it was not completed. Also on 11/30 I posted my first image rendition of Humans of New York photo. I interviewed a male friend of mine who is twenty-three years old. He was super excited to share his thoughts on loss. Earlier in the day, after my internship, I met him in China Town, New York where he interns. I took a photo of him from the back because he did not want to show his face. He did not feel comfortable with his face in the photo which is understandable. I took the photo and asked him to send me his quote via text on loss.

The quote: #1 The Loss of Time

Jodieann's Human of New York Facebook

“The worst kind of loss is the loss of time, because it’s constant and never ending, you won’t stop losing time until you die. This can drive one crazy as your goals becomes more immediate and crunched under the weight of time. Time lost also manifests itself in moments spent with others, it’s a little scary how long we can go without seeing someone or doing something and be instantly reminded of that once we see the person or participate in that activity again. Our memories remind us of how fast time flies and how if we don’t use it responsibly we can waste a lot of time, as time waits for no one.”#HumansofNewYork

 

This photo was shared via these four social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Black Attire Aficionado. I posted the image and the quote from participant #1 along with the hashtag (#HumansofNewYork). The response was surprising. For the first few moments when I shared the photo via Instagram which was shared to Facebook, there was no response. I was worried that no one would interact with the image which would make my project unsuccessful. Within the next hour my photo received likes on both platforms. The photo via Instagram received 11 likes and 3 comments. Three instagrammers participated in the conversation. Many found the quote on loss to be “powerful”. I did not engage with any of the commenters because Brendan Stanton does not engage with users, it is one of the strategies I listed in my Humans of New York Best Practices, which will be shared on my ePortfolio site on 12/15. I found the photo shared on Instagram to be successful because it received likes and users engaged with the photo. On the platform Facebook, I received 9 likes within a matter of minutes. There was no user engagement on this platform. I did not find this very successful because I have over 700 Facebook friends and was quite surprised by the lack of response. On Twitter, I took a different approach to sharing the image. I posted the image with a short sentence from the quote and linked it to my personal blog Black Attire Aficionado using Bitly and the hashtag #HONY so that anyone searching the hashtag would see the tweet. The photo shared via Twitter, received over 100 impressions(the amount of times people saw the tweet on Twitter), and received over 10 user engagements such as clicking the link, the hashtag and the media(the photo). I would say that the image was successful to some degree because over 100 people saw it but no one engaged. I screenshot these findings and posted it to my blogpost Coming to Grips: Projection Reflection-Round 2.

The following day I met with professor Belli to discuss the progress of my project, I received feedback to revisit my proposed timeline where I did not complete the deliverables. Also, I was advised to write my best practices on the blog Humans of New York. Later that evening I reworked my blog post but for some reason it was not updated. I did not find this out until 12/3 after I presented my Prezi presentation. Also after my presentation, I received feedback from my class that was very positive. In the feedback, I was told that the project had a clearer understanding than before. Samantha mentioned that she would have a prospect for me because I was unable to find someone to share their story on loss.

On 12/5 I crated my second image using my own quote. I decided to write about myself because I could not find anyone and I thought it would be more intimate. On the subject of loss, I wrote about losing my ability to laugh during hard times. I did not want to do the traditional story on relationship. I chose a photo that was taken during the summer and wrote.

The quote:# 2 The Loss of LaughterIMG_2195

“I’m afraid of losing my ability to laugh during moments of hard times. My laugh is what I cherish most of all. Sometimes there are people who come into your life whose purpose is to destroy you and by some miracle it changes you. Often times this can make you a better person and other times it can make you bitter. My laugh is infectious and youthful and losing it is a constant fear of mine. . .” #humansofnewyork

 

This photo was shared via these four social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Black Attire Aficionado. I posted the image and the quote from participant #2 along with the hashtag (#HumansofNewYork). The response was immediate. For the first few moments when I shared the photo via Instagram which was shared to Facebook, it received over 20 likes. The responses were “love that smile, hearts <3 <3, I love this picture, you’re glowing and you’re absolutely right keep smiling”. I would say this was a great start, I will continue to monitor it because I have over 700 friends. The photo via Instagram received over 30 likes with only one Instagram comment. I was expecting a more intense response because the photo was of myself and I thought my friends would have engaged more. On Twitter, I took a different approach to sharing the image. I posted the image with a short sentence from the quote and linked it to my personal blog Black Attire Aficionado using Bitly and the hashtag #HONY so that anyone searching the hashtag would see the tweet. The photo shared via Twitter, received over 60 impressions and 2 twitter engagements. I would say that the image was successful to some degree because over 60 people saw it but no one engaged.

 

The quote:# 3 The Loss of a Grandmother

“Losing my grandmother was one of the worst feelings in the world. She was like a second mother to me. She raised me and lived right downstairs from me. All I knew was her being there. She moved to Canada a few years before her passing. It was sudden and out of nowhere and by far one of the worst things that I would have found out. She had an aneurysm. We went to Canada right away to be by her side. When I saw her it wasn’t her, she wasn’t herself and she was not conscious. It’s a horrible feeling seeing someone you love so much in that type of state. I was in the room with her and some family when she passed.

A Granddaughters Loss

A Granddaughters Loss

My heart was sinking and I felt like I was dying inside. When we heard the machine go off I knew she was gone. I felt like I died inside. I starred at her and spoke to her in her ear before she went. It wasn’t easy to deal with at all. But thank God I had my son, Aiden there to hug and kiss and keep me strong and keep my mind busy. I know she’s in a better place, I just think it was too early for her to leave. It’s not an easy thing to deal with losing someone you love so much. I am grateful she was able to be here when my son was born and she knew him for a year and a half. I still miss her to this day but I smile knowing she’s watching over my family and me. I know she sees my son growing up and is proud of the job I’m doing as a mother. I see her in my dreams and sometimes feel that she’s around, either by smell or just feeling her presence.” #HumansofNewYork

This photo was shared via these four social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Black Attire Aficionado. I posted the image and the quote from participant #3 along with the hashtag (#HumansofNewYork) on social media sites. The response was slower than I expected. I expected it would have a lot more engagements because it was a quote on the loss of a loved one which I’m sure many people have experienced at some point in their life. For the first few moments when I shared the photo via Instagram which was shared to Facebook, it received 8 likes. The responses were “I love this!”. I would say this was a great start, I will continue to monitor it because I have over 700 friends and it is a great read. The photo via Instagram received over 10 likes with only one Instagram comment. Because the quote was very long, I broke it up into 2 parts. On 12/6 I posted part one and will post part 2 on 12/7. One of the best practices I found in my analysis of HONY was that for long quotes Brandon Stanton broke it up into short quotes and would post the rest the following day.

In some ways I was expecting a more intense response because the quote was powerful. On Twitter, I took a different approach to sharing the image. I posted the image with a short sentence from the quote and linked it to my personal blog Black Attire Aficionado using Bitly and the hashtag #HONY so that anyone searching the hashtag would see the tweet. The photo shared via Twitter, received over 40 impressions and 2 twitter engagements. I have not determined the success of this image because there is one more part to post.

This will be updated on 12/8,  12/10 and 12/12 is the final analysis of the amount of user engagements that occurred on the social media sites.  

It’s All a Work in Progress.

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.

 

My Nonexistent Social Media Identity

Upon viewing my Facebook profile, the first thing I noticed was that Facebook suggested I update my cover photo, add a short bio, edit info already visible to others, and add featured photos. In three words, I can describe my online identity as inactive, uninteractive, and quiet. Unlike users who share on their social media sites that they participate in, I barely share or interact with others on my Facebook page at all. The last thing I did on my page was update my profile picture which was August 10, 2015.

I cannot call myself a tech savvy user no more than I can call myself a savvy user of my social media account because according to Cohen and Kenny,  “a savvy user of digital media does not consume media, but participates in all of the media tools offered” (200). I see myself as a user behind the screen watching everyone else interact with each other, while I  lack the practice of sharing content for my audience to interact with. Since creating my Facebook account in 2008, I have yet to update the “about” section where people should be able to get a sense of my personality, career goals, and interests. If anyone was to see my profile today, they would think I currently work at Forever 21 which I currently no longer work for the company and that I graduated from high school and did not go on to continue college.

My Facebook page is limited to my friends only, all others outside of my realm of friends cannot view the contents if my page. Essentially, my Facebook page is a way to keep up with my family back home in Nigeria as well as keeping me updated through their page.  Other than that, my account is not utilized to its full potential and I definitely need to make some changes. I also have a Pinterest account that I use slightly more than my Facebook account, however, I can definitely work more obvious profile content. Opening my personal page and skimming through my board anyone can see that I love nail polish, I am a woman of God, I have natural hair, and I live fashion. My boards depict what I take interest in but my “about” section is completely blank. After reading Cohen and Kenny, I am interested in branding myself and revamping my accounts so people who view my page can get a sense of who I am. That may also mean, adding additional social media platforms to better brand or represent myself for the near future.

Facebook “Rules”

Facebook contains many popular components such as the wall, which is essentially a virtual bulletin board. Messages left on a member’s Wall can be text, video or photos. Another popular component is the virtual Photo Album where photos can be directly uploaded. Although there is no limitation on quantity, Facebook has the right to remove any inappropriate or copyrighted images.  Facebook also has an interactive album feature that allows its member’s “friends” to comment on each other’s photos and identify (tag) people in the photos. My presentation entails some of the main features and rules of Facebook, predominantly, its origin, uses, and data policy.

Creating this project on Prezi instead of PowerPoint was challenging for me. I have used Prezi before but this time, I went even further and tried using the Prezi CSS editor feature.  I like that it gives me a big space to zoom in and out and that it flows flawlessly from slide to slide; however, it does have deficiencies such as limited fonts.  Although PowerPoint is much easier to use, once you get the hang of Prezi, it looks much more professional and effective.  Overall, I give it the thumbs up provided you have training!

Image result for thumbs up

www.clipartpanda.com/categories/smiley-face-clip-art-thumbs-up

https://prezi.com/lschyqw7gu3e/facebook-rules/