According to the final decision of our group, the case study for the online media screen would be Instagram. This post would be some more information that I searched for it.
No other social network is as geared towards interactivity as Instagram and great photos usually get their first likes and comments after just a few seconds. Unlike other social networks, communicating on Instagram almost exclusively revolves around visual stimuli due to its format. Likes and comments play a very important role on Instagram, as both types of interaction can also be used to generate more followers for your account. The role of this function in the target group on Instagram is significant and it is the main way to get interaction with familiar people.
For individual research, I prefer to research on the interaction among the users, the strangers and the business.
According to the research, the newest Instagram stats show there are currently more than 800 million monthly active users in 2018. That’s more than double the monthly active users of Twitter and over three times as many users on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. (Osman, 2018) Based on the resources, I think the things like visual aesthetics and ease of use make Instagram so successful and prosperous and I would like to discuss two most important points that related to our small-scale work in the following.
- Hashtags
As what we did in the first assignment, Instagram is not only the application to post photos and live stream, the hashtag is the function that to get interaction with the online users as well. The online users like to search interesting information by typing keywords or tag and create some specific topics when publishing. Thus, post about the topics the audience is likely to be interested in that might directly or indirectly relate to your content. Hashtags are everywhere, from casual conversations on and offline, to TV commercials and billboards. Hashtags for Instagram aid in content discovery and optimization.
Among social networks, Instagram boasts the highest engagement rates. However, Instagram also deals with content overload and saturation. Over 95 million photos are shared on Instagram daily, which means it can be hard for current and potential customers to find your posts. (Osman, 2018) Thus, tag places in your posts so that people searching those places can discover your content.
- Live Streams
Our small-scale work would focus on the live stream, which allows you to broadcast live posts coming from social networks on a large screen. It is aimed to be used by an organizer wishing to add a social media dimension to its operation in order to make its offline audience interacting online. From the research, ‘The Social Live wall is a very useful tool for a digital marketing strategy, social media strategy or web marketing as it activates your audience during an important operation. It will become an essential tool for community managers.’ (Elise Technologies SA, 2018)
There’s no doubt that Instagram is a visual platform through and through. What is interesting about Instagram Video is its captions and comments—the sections intended for text—display images via emojis. Thanks to supporting from iOS and Android keyboards, now nearly 50% of captions and comments on Instagram contain at least one emoji. (Osman, 2018) Emojis go beyond the simple smiley or icon to display an emotion and these small digital images or icons are used to express an idea or emotion. People like to publish their stories online by typing with some words and emotions to get more sense.
Additionally, not only for entertainment and communication, Instagram is also the platform to earn money. There are more people use online media as a platform to get attention from fans, even earn money, such as fashion bloggers, food bloggers and makeup bloggers. As Anthony Britten (2014) discussed, ‘Social media can not only deliver a fan base but translate into views and eventually revenue. Getting your social strategy right is integral to your success as an online content creator.’ The bloggers interact with fans, answer questions to get visibility. According to Instagram, 80% of users say they follow at least one business on the app, with 60% hearing about a product and service through the platform. (Osman, 2018)
In short, the viewers on Instagram is not only the circle of friends but to display to the public. Â Social media platform will constantly evolve and hold one of the biggest positions in the media industry.