Media 104 Blog Posts

Blogging for Uni

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Media 104 Blog - Why Privacy Matters

Facebook Privacy Settings

Outline how you think your Facebook privacy settings and describe why you have chosen these settings. Then log out and try to view your profile. Were you correct about how you had set your settings? What was different (if anything) and how does this influence how you will use Facebook in the future? 


-   “friends only”

-   “friends of friends”

-   messenger contacts – accept/decline – who can contact me?

[sashawatson]

Media 104 Blog - Self Branding and Micro-celebrities

New Zealand ACT Party Leader and Epsom Electorate ; David Seymour

David Seymour uses both Twitter and Facebook to engage with his wide range of audience. In terms of his profile, David Seymour can be classified as a micro-celbirty, as he has a large following across his social media platforms. He uses his social media platforms to disseminate information about his up and coming party campaign and to get his profile across to an even wider audience. 

David Seymour’s Twitter profile (above)

David Seymour’s Facebook profile (above)

David Seymour has caught onto the idea of engaging with his potential voters online, where he is shown to be engaged and responsive when it comes to answering questions and concerns from citizens of New Zealand. He is an influencer for New Zealand politicians, to use social media platforms to communicate and showcase himself and his party.

While many people have found David Seymour’s social media platforms an area for them to be able to take the piss out of him, David Seymour has shown that he is able to hold his own, and doesn’t engage in the sarcastic side, rather responding practically and efficiently. 

By presenting such a human and engaging face to the ACT Party, David Seymour is hoping to help rebuild ACT. 

K.M Kuehn’s ‘Branding the Self on Yelp: Consumer Reviewing as Image Entrepreneurship’ states that as rating, reviewing, and “liking” become commonplace activities across the social web, the reputations of businesses (eg. ACT Party), services, and products become increasingly difficult to manage. 

Consumer evaluations serve as a form of productive and participatory consumption inextricably tied to the market-driven practice of self-branding. David Seymour utilises this form of self-branding through Facebook, Twitter and even snapchat and Instagram. He has really pulled out all the stocks to get his image and voice seen and heard across the internet. 

Viewed as an investment in one’s own creative or intellectual capital, consumer reviewing is regarded as an activity that might be parlayed for current or unspecified future gain. Accordingly, social production and self-branding are theorized here as mutually constituted sites of economic productivity. 

[sashawatson]

Media 104 Blog - Social Media Marketing

Facebook by Sasha Watson

One of my most commonly used social media profiles is Facebook.

I use Facebook frequently throughout the day to communicate with people, go through my news feed and check out up and coming social events. As I scroll through my news feed advertisements often appear, as well as on the side bar of my Facebook tab.

The advertisements that appear are often accompanied by an option that allows me to inform Facebook if the said advertisement appeals to my interests or not. By occasionally filling out these polls I am allowing Facebook to cater the advertisements placed on my news feed to my liking and broad interests. 

Technology means that the internet can be used in a cost-effective manner for personalization and customization of market offerings. Advertisers aren’t having to pay to install their advertisements on big billboards or play them on live television. Instead they can pay to have them frequently appearing all over Facebook feeds around the world.

Facebook has adapted to this internet form of advertising by distributing advertisements to specific target audiences, which adds value to their advertising platform. Products being marketed are more likely to want to pay for advertising spaces where they know their image will be seen by audiences likely to buy their items.

Commentators argue that Facebook is now as powerful as the media corporations, which have been regulated for their influence.

I viewed this particular advertisement on my own Facebook newsfeed. It grabbed my attention straight away for several reasons.

1. The image of the laughing, tan girls on a beach.

2. The fact that the spray tans are $15 – very cheap.

3. The location of the tanning salon being close to me – Willis Street, Wellington.

This advertisement’s target audience is perfectly summarized in the image it portrays; young females. Facebook has my location details, so it is able to notify me of events, and places close to me. This particular advertisement is specifically suitable to me as I am currently a university student living away from home, so special deals such as a $15 spray tan in winter are going to catch my eye right away.  

This particular advertisement has been placed on my newsfeed, and would have been placed on many other similar peoples feeds too. I am part of a carefully selected target audience demographic who are young, female, students and who live in Wellington. 

[sashawatson]

Media 104 Blog - Affordances

Kylie Jenner by Sasha Watson

Kylie Jenner; the icon, the myth, the legend. 

The Kardashian clan are everywhere across all platforms of social media, with Kylie being one of the biggest contributors. 

Kylie, a 19 year-old entrepreneur, is a social media Queen. With two of her main social media platforms being Instagram and Snapchat, Kylie is able to reach a wide range of followers. 

Her Instagram profile @kyliejenner has 96.3 million followers. Kylie is dominating Instagram, which is helping to market both her image and her brand Kylie Cosmetics. Kylie’s large following on Instagram started due to her older sisters. By posting pictures of her lavish life, designer clothing, and gorgeous makeup looks, Kylie was able to brand herself as a fashionista and makeup savvy-individual. 

Kylie uses what is know as ‘free advertising’ by marketing herself on Instagram. By sharing fans posts, Kylie is continuously creating a larger social media hype for herself, which is what builds her brand further.  Kylie’s Instagram bio links her Snapchat, which allows followers to add her on another social media platform.  

Her Snapchat ‘King Kylie’ kylizzlemynizzle has the most views of anyone on Snapchat. Kylie was confirmed the ‘Queen of Snapchat’ by Snapchat headquarters themselves. 

Kylie’s Snapchat profile differs from her Instagram profile because of the way she publicises her every move and look on Snapchat. Snapchat allows her followers to believe they are being let into her ‘real life’, rather than Instagram where we see carefully selected photos and products. 

Kylie Jenner knows how to sell herself, right down to the lipstick she is wearing.  By “shaping and re-shaping” (Gibson 1979) herself across these two social media platforms, Kylie is encouraging her followers to share her image, which increases her face value. Kylie’s accounts are persuasive - she makes you feel like you need what she is marketing. The technological affordances of Instagram and Snapchat for Kylie Jenner’s followers is that they are allowing them to access what she is unto currently (via Snapchat) and what she's been unto (via Instagram).

[sashawatson]

Media 104 Blog #memehistory

The Last Supper by Sasha Watson

#memehistory is a hashtag many may be familiar with.  Created by @tylerlma over Twitter, these memes ressurect history, by showcasing how historic events ‘may’ have happened.

https://twitter.com/tyleriam

From out of the bible (Matthew 26:17-30), this meme is a biblical reference to Jesus's discussion with his twelve disciples. While they were eating at the infamous ‘last supper’, Jesus commenced to offer them both bread and wine, stating that the bread represented his body and the wine represented his blood.

After seeing this meme, audiences will hopefully have a greater appreciation of The Last Supper, which stands in the bible as a very important event in the life of Jesus. 

 #thelastsupper 

https://www.tellwut.com/surveys/religion/108001-the-last-supper.html

According to Dawkin’s analysis in the Selfish Gene, “Memes may best be understood as pieces of cultural information that pass along from person to person, and gradually scale into a shared social phenomenon. Sharing content — or spreading memes — is now a fundamental part of what participants experience as the digital sphere.”

As a result of history being rejuvenated through the use of social media in the form of memes, a much larger audience are able to be informed of the historical content that is presented to them. A bonus of #memehistory is that the historical information is made visually appealing, which broadens the demographic. 

#memehistory is a popular search on google and other social media websites such as Tumblr, twitter and Facebook. The memes are able to be readily shared and posted on many social media platforms, which encourages the passing on of this informative history.