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What examples of social media do you find inspirational or challenging? Mention 1 or 2. Cite a reference or URL for each. Explain why they inspire you.

An example of social media that I quite liked was Apple’s #ShotoniPhone campaign. This was a hashtag that Apple created in order to promote their iPhones via the photos of their own customers. What’s interesting is that Apple doesn’t really have a strong social media presence on Facebook or Twitter. They have dedicated their whole Instagram page to #ShotoniPhone where users can engage with content. On the launch of the campaign photos were used from 77 users, across 25 countries and 73 cities. Apple selected the best images to be displayed at various media outlets and on over 10,000 billboards around the world (Carter,2020). This way of using social media as a marketing tool I think was a smart way to go about brand promotion and recognition. Creating this campaign has also generated a large community focused on user generated content. This is great not only for the quality of content being produced but also in helping drive sales for iPhones.  Another example of social media that I find inspiring is 823’s “Hopes and Dreams Club”. Photography is something I’m quite interested in and Ta-ku also known as Regan Mathews is an incredibly talented producer, designer, curator and photographer. His platform Hopes and Dreams Club was launched in April as a place for creatives to inspire and create projects which can be shared to the Hopes and Dreams Club Instagram as a member only submission-based page (Malachosky,2020) . It invites people from all over the world to create and inspire no matter the skill level and engage in an active community. I really like this idea of creating engagement and pushing people to create with an “all welcome” mentality. It highlights how you don’t need to have the best equipment or skill to create something that others may like.

Carter, H., 2020. #ShotoniPhone: A Picture Perfect Campaign. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://hayleycarter-39668.medium.com/shotoniphone-a-picture-perfect-campaign-93e54b89bab0> [Accessed 25 March 2021].

Malachosky, E., 2020. 823’s “Hopes and Dreams Club” Encourages Photographic Exploration. [online] COOL HUNTING®. Available at: <https://coolhunting.com/culture/823-hopes-and-dreams-club/> [Accessed 25 March 2021].

What is your interpretation of the term ‘social media’? What have you learned from the Sensis reports? Include 2 or 3 references from academic sources.

Social media is undoubtedly an important platform used by millions of people across the world. We have transitioned from traditional forms as media such as print to digital media. In America the percentage of 12^th graders who read a book or magazine every day from 60% in the late 1970’s to 16% by 2016 (Twenge, Martin and Spitzberg, 2019). For many when they wake up the first thing, they will do is check their social media, at least speaking for myself. When looking at how I use social media I can categorize it into two sections. The first category would be as a means of communication, whether that be with friends, families or other groups. This is without a doubt the main reason as to why I am on social media and I’m sure this is the reasoning for many others. The second category is using social media as a way to consume content and digital media. Nowadays many people use social media to connect with groups of similar interests such as photography and can share their content together. It is also used a platform for media outlets such as news corporations making it easy to inform the public on what’s going on in the world. This is essentially how I would describe social media, and this is further echoed by Jermiah Osbourne-Gowey in What is Social Media? Gowey states “At its most basic level it is simply a collection of websites and applications designed to build and enhance online communities for networking and sharing information”. Looking at the sensis reports its quite useful to see just how much information they have on people’s social media usage. Recently I feel as if I’ve been spending too much time looking at my social media and have wanting to cut back on my time on those platforms. One key statistic that I found interesting was in the age bracket of 18-29 49% of people say they spend too much time on social media. That number is quite high and I think goes to show just how much of an influence social media has had on society.

Osborne-Gowey, J., 2014. What is Social Media. Fisheries, 39(2), pp.55-55.

Twenge, J., Martin, G. and Spitzberg, B., 2019. Trends in U.S. Adolescents’ media use, 1976–2016: The rise of digital media, the decline of TV, and the (near) demise of print. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(4), pp.329-345.