Copy-and-paste your Project 2 Details memo as a comment to this blog post. Refer to the Project 2 assignment sheet for more information about writing your story concept and pitch. Use this document to begin writing your script.
Beginning of Class Writing: Miller’s Digital Storytelling, Chapter 5, Old Tools/New Tools
During the first ten minutes of class, write and post a summary memo of Chapter 5 from Miller’s Digital Storytelling as a comment to this blog entry. Consider how you can connect some of the topics discussed about storytelling tools and your observation/experience of them in contemporary media. Can you name some examples?
Project 2, Planning
Before our next class, complete your planning memo for Project 2 (available under the Projects menu above) and copy-and-paste it into a comment made to this blog post. Instructions are included below.
Planning: Think of at least two fiction stories that you could tell in this project, and write a brief memo (approximately 250 words) describing the two possible fiction stories that you would like to tell in this project, and explaining why, of the two possible choices, you selected the one that you did. Post this as a comment to OpenLab. Also, you should confirm that your YouTube account has a fully formed profile with profile image that fits into your interconnecting online professional image/brand, which of course, you might change over time but it suffices to have a profile in place that you might decide to change later. Also, all students should subscribe to one another’s YouTube channels and Professor Ellis’ channel (www.youtube.com/dynamicsubspace). (in-class Feb 22)
Due to the extra work required for this project, it is recommended that you continue with the next modules, which we will devote some of our next class to working on, too. Good luck!
Beginning of Class Writing: Miller’s Digital Storytelling, Chapter 4, Interactivity
Let’s use the first ten minutes of class today to write summary memos on your reading for today’s class: Miller’s Digital Storytelling, Chapter 4, Interactivity and Its Effects. As you write your summary of the reading, you should note examples of interactivity that you have experienced or know about that we can discuss when we discuss the chapter. Post your memo as a comment to this blog entry.
Tasting Success: An Intern’s Journey
Tasting Success: An Intern’s Journey is a look back at the stages of acquiring an internship and incurring the first taste of success.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(1/12) Last May, before the spring semester came to an end, my biggest concern was securing an internship in writing for the summer.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(2/12) Where should I intern, I thought. First mission was to find a company whose values aligned with mine and one that would challenge me.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(3/12)I searched on @indeed and found over 50 internships for writing.I found an internship at a creative agency in the financial services.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(4/12) I said, what the heck and applied for the internship knowing I had no prior financial literacy but was gladly willing to learn.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(5/12) I had 2 rounds of interview and got the internship as a Strategy and Writing intern at HNW Inc. in the summer of 2015.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(6/12) To my surprise, I was able to work on strategic campaigns for key players in the financial sector. I was finally apart of something!
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(7/12) I was given a chance! I was given major tasks like managing the social feed for the company,as well as strategy + a intern project.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(8/12) The intern project was one of the biggest challenges I faced bc it required me to think outside of the norms. pic.twitter.com/62lTpOMCtl
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(9/12) We had to create a marketing campaign for a niche audience. This was the moment for me to shine!
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(10/12)It made me become a critical and strategic thinker. It made me want to go above and beyond. For the 1st time I wanted to be a CEO!
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(11/12)I want to call the shots! I want to work on a team with not only intelligent indv but creatives. And I want to be able to write.
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
Bonus! First shoutout #Bingo pic.twitter.com/u633uDient
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
(12/12) Not only did I write-I grew as an indv. I saw myself in a role that I've never ever imagined. Now I have tasted it and I crave it!
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
Tasting Success: An Intern's Journey is never fulfilled without a cup of joe. pic.twitter.com/zG79kIZsbJ
— Jodieann Stephenson (@JodieannStephen) February 18, 2016
Reflection
The first project of the semester was so much fun! I enjoyed the project immensely. The Twitter project afforded me a chance to craft and participate in a non fiction storytelling via the platform and incorporate multimedia. I loved every bit of it! As I look back, one of the hardest moment I struggled with was deciding on a subject to discuss, there were so many important stories that I wanted to share. In the end, I decided to talk about attaining a summer internship in a field that was unfamiliar to me and talk about the struggles and triumphs that it comes with and how I discovered myself in the long run. I really enjoyed sharing my story because many of my classmates are dealing with similar issues and I hope to be a resource for them. After completing the project I realized that I had social media strategy to share my story nor did I have any target audience. But I do think that I was successful in delivering my story because I received user engagement on Twitter from my classmates, Professor Ellis, as well as the social media manager of Indeed— which was really cool! I used a few hashtags and was expecting an increase in my impressions but I was unsuccessful. My task for this semester is to build a following on my professional Twitter page where I can interact with industry leaders, connect with unique socialites and network network network!
Analytics
For the Twitter project I went back and forth on whether or not I should use my already established account or create a new account, in the end I ended up creating a new Twitter account. Looking back, I believe if I had used my previous account with my 200 plus followers I would have had a much stronger user engagement apart from my classmates and would have received a surge in impressions. This was a fun exercise because building a Twitter persona from scratch is not easy. This may seem like a daunting task but I am completely ready for a challenge.
Embarkment on a Vegetarian Path
Week 1 – Saw some quite terrible pictures of slaughtered animals (don't worry, I won't show them). Think I want to become a vegetarian tho.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 2 – I made a commitment to give up eating meat. Can I really do this? Wish me luck!
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 3 – Started by telling everyone of my decision. Either this is good or bad for me. What if a fail?
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 4 – Did shopping and switched my kitchen to a #vegetarian kitchen. Kids are mad but whose in charge anyway?
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 5 – So no more fish either this week. Why is it so hard to do this? How is it that some people make it seem to easy? I am doing it tho.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 6 – Brought #Tofu Food. Hate it with a passion. Didn't know what it really looked like until now. Never again! pic.twitter.com/ZTSMjwySJv
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 7 – Seitan General Tso chicken was better this week and it actually tasted like meat. pic.twitter.com/XC91Q5JCYH
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 8 – Really miss burgers so I made a black bean burger. Got this idea from a professor. Not bad. Will make again pic.twitter.com/EaU0Wl7iDZ
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 9 – Okay, nothing is working. It's been 9 weeks and I still want meat. Last chance. Will try a Shake Shack Shroom burger.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 10 – That burger was just too expensive. BTW, did you know that being a vegetarian is expensive. Killing the pocket and the appetite.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 11 – Family not with it either. This is decision time and I have to decide one way or another.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 12 – Feeling really bad about the whole thing. This week I decided to make a new commitment and stop putting on myself.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 13 – Instead of giving up meat all together, I will just cut down. What's wrong with phasing out meat slowly? Day by day.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 14 – Decided to phase out meat one meat at a time. This is week one again. Brand new!
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 15 – (Week 1 again) Victory – No more pork (this week).
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Reflection:
This was a very engaging and interactive experiement. I enjoyed expressing myself through my writing the series of tweets and experiencing it through different mediums has made it more and exciting. It bacame a way of sharing my story with a larger audience who may be primary vegetarians and vegans, and secondary, really anyone who has an interest in making that change. Allowing my audience to know me in a quick yet personal way quite challenging. Also challenging was going beyond the limitations of Twitter to turn a few tweets into a powerful tool where the story is divided over several tweets while keeping it cohesiveness. Learning this technique has added a new dimension to tweeting and it made me look at tweets as not just individual messages but connected to a larger spread of information. I feel that my experience was a success and the feedback was quite positive.This only makes me want to experience more in different ways. It was interesting to think that if the tweets were posted over several days or even weeks, would the audience come along for the journey? I also feel that the audience are now a part of a large collaboration with me and can engage in the writing, editing, publishing, and reading stories.
Analytics:
Being new to Twitter, other than using it last semester in class and previously for class projects, the idea of posting it all over and linking it to other sites is quite new to me. I posted 15 posts which contained 3 photos. I find that the photos increase the likes and the discussions even more than just the text. My analytics is low because I have a lot to learn about optimizing my tweets for user engagement but this is a challenge I will happily participate in.
Archiving “Moving While Gaining Momentum”
My life has been a series of unfortunately fortunate events. I have seen more in my 21 yrs of life than some see in their entire lifetime.
— Mariah Rajah (@MariahRaj) February 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/MariahRaj/status/700107514759811073
2/18 Behind my village was a slum of the poor. I remem seeing children with tattered
3/18 The pace of life was slow n very low in standard but I was young n happy. Enjoying every prt of my simple life pic.twitter.com/jqqGKqKLhZ
— Mariah Rajah (@MariahRaj) February 18, 2016
4/18 1 day my
5/18 My
6/18 Havin to give up all I kno of @ such a yung age has been one of d most drastic events of my life
7/18
8/18 I started skool
9/18 I was bullied 4 d way I talked, dressed, n looked
10/18 & I got it. I taught myself 2 read and found my place. I realized I was smart. I didnt feel as alone. I found a passion in writing✍
11/18 Within that moment Of finding myself
12/18 It wasn't fair. I was bein forced 2 give⬆️ everything again
13/18 While I was gone my
14/18 Oct.25.2k5 I moved 2
15/18 it was all new 2 me. I felt stupid. I didnt understand my skool wrk. I cudnt explain myself properly. I turned 2 ✍
16/18 At such a yung age I wud rebuild myself twice. By the end of d 6th grade I found a voice, a passion, n myself again. #confidenceboost
— Mariah Rajah (@MariahRaj) February 18, 2016
17/18
18/18 2day I am d same person I found so long ago but w| d knowledge that life changes rapidly w|o notice n how I manage it will define me
— Mariah Rajah (@MariahRaj) February 18, 2016
It is inevitable tht life will remain d same n tht we'll knw wat 2 expect but w| patience, d willingness 2 accept growth#anythingispossible
— Mariah Rajah (@MariahRaj) February 18, 2016
Reflection:
This was a very interesting experience for me being that I have had no interaction with Twitter other than reading tweets from other social media sites. This digital storytelling experience allowed me to tweet a story which I think I could write about. Looking back on my story, I think I was able to capture and retell the story as well as I could have taking into the consideration the affordances and constraints of Twitter. I believe that my story was successful in the sense that I was able to capture and engage an audience into participating within my story and having them actively take part in my tale. I was also successful in the aspect of not only telling a story but having very descriptive pictures to go along with it. In other ways I failed, for instance the use of emojis or emoticons did not come off as well as they would have due to my own lack of realization that they would not translate well on other media sources that were not Apple products. Also, the abbreviated language which I used made parts of the story hard to comprehend and understand which I believe took away from parts of it that were really important to the overall story. All in all this digital storytelling experience has taught me two things, that I must at all times be aware of the language I am using whether verbal or pictorial and how that language will translate over various mediums. With that said I think I will practice more digital storytelling on twitter as to become more familiar with the media platform and to practice how to effectively tweet.
Analytics:
Being that this was my debut on Twitter, I was able to post about 20 Tweets and engage 4 people, and also encounter about 3 spam pages who liked my tweets. I managed to post about 10 images which is the most amount of images I have posted on any social site in one sitting. My analytics for this project are rather low because I was only able to engage with the people who were a part of it although I tried using hashtags and such.
From existing to excelling, The story of a lost and found single mom
This is an archive of my non fiction Twitter story. Below are the tweets in order detailing my journey from aspiring cop to single mom to college drop out to college graduate.
(1/16)In 2008 I got accepted to the school of my dreams #johnjaycollege with the hopes of becoming an NYPD officer.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(2/16) But a week into classes I discovered I was pregnant with a little girl and all of my goals began to unravel pic.twitter.com/qnxzkaxslD
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(3/16) I wasn't sure how I would raise a child and get a degree but I was determined to do it so I stayed enrolled in school.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(4/16)The world dealt me another blow when I went into labor early and was put on bed rest, forcing me to withdraw from my second semester
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(5/16)I was so discouraged I had to withdraw but more than anything I was terrified and worried about my unborn baby
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(6/16)In March 2009 I gave birth to Ava, by far the most emotional day of my life. I was determined 2 do right 4her pic.twitter.com/Z7j8Pc3aF7
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(7/16) In fall of 2009 I was back in class at #JohnJay but was quickly overwhelmed with the amount of work and the stress of an infant
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(8/16)Sadly in November I dropped all of my classes. I felt defeated and lost but worst of all I felt like a failure.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(9/16) I worked retail jobs for two years before giving college another go in fall 2011. I wanted to make my goals a reality for me and Ava
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(10/16)I finished out the semester but my heart wasnt in it & i realized this was no longer my goal. I also realized i had no idea who i was
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(11/16)I was unhappy, lost & unmotivated I didn't think I would ever amount to anything except working to make ends meet. It was depressing.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(12/16)My mom pushed me to take the Income Tax Course and to my surprise I passed! In 2012 I started working as a Tax Pro.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(13/16)For the first time in years I felt like I was doing something right and that everything was going to be alright.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(14/16)In 2013 I decided to give college another try. I enrolled at #KingsboroughCC to study business. Something I found i was good at.
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(15/16)My first semester at #KBCC was amazing and for the first time in my life I had a 4.0 GPA most importantly I believed in me again
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
(16/16)In June 2015 I graduated with my A.S in business. I felt so proud that I had kept my promise to Ava. pic.twitter.com/EI68ZNXWuF
— Samantha (@sdotpezz) February 18, 2016
REFLECTION:
For my twitter story I had two particular audiences in mind. One being young moms and the other being moms who juggle work and school with motherhood both who may doubt their abilities or that the goal is attainable. I crafted the story originally to be very detailed but soon realized that would make the story entirely too long for a character limiting platform such as twitter. I then reorganized my story to include necessary detail but concise to where it wasn’t overwhelming on a timeline. I believe my story was a success because not only do the numbers (over 2,000 impressions in 24 hours) support that but I got excellent feedback from my professor as well as my peers. Mariah (@mariahraj) said “@sdotpezz your strength and go getter attitude is inspirational” and Jodie (@jodieannstephen) quoted one of my tweets saying “Life goals #lifegoals“. Professor Ellis also applauded my delivery of the message as did Pam who can personally relate as a mother herself. I feel that I got wholly positive feedback and my story was relatable to people with or without kids. I sought to deliver a message of inspiration and encouragement and based on the replies I believe I have. It was challenging but rewarding to deliver a story on this platform because not only do I love twitter I enjoy discovering new ways to use it. From these tweets I got mentions, likes and follows from things I mentioned or hash tagged. Using keys terms and tags helps to reach a specific community and that was my main goal for crafting this story.
ANALTYICS:
On Wednesday my twitter got 2,473 engagements. This consists of retweets, likes, and mentions or times people opened the tweet. The most highly trafficked tweets were the closing to my twitter story with 116 and tweet 16 of 16 with 79. The topic in general garnished a lot of attention because its in line with one of the genres of my twitter feed regularly.
Project 1, Execution
During today’s live tweet of each person’s Twitter story, we will model networking at a distance–meaning we will engage only through Twitter for responses, retweets, and likes. After each person has a chance to run her story, everyone will come to OpenLab, create a comment beginning with the person’s name who just live tweeted on this post, and write a brief comment about the story focusing on what worked and what could be improved upon. Then, we can talk about the story in a regular class discussion.
Reading: Miller’s Digital Storytelling, Chapter 3
During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary memo based on your reading of Chapter 3, Moving Towards Convergence, in Miller’s Digital Storytelling. In addition to your summary, briefly discuss examples of convergence that you have seen and experienced. We will discuss these things before moving on to Project 1, Execution.