Post 1: https://www.mediafactory.org.au/catherine-mccarthy/2020/05/28/assignment-4-refining-post-1/

Post 2: https://www.mediafactory.org.au/catherine-mccarthy/2020/05/28/assignment-4-concluding-post-2/

As an accumulation of the research, discussion and concepts explored throughout this studio, I have created a short, animated video prototype to address my initial focus; highlighting the importance of healthy social media use – particularly amongst young people.

The video is brief; including a bright colour scheme, soft upbeat soundtrack and is almost entirely imaged focused until a concluding statement and images of further content (reworked prototypes from previous assignments). These decisions were intended to compose an easily consumable, engaging form of media that still subtly suggested contemplation or further interest in the topic of one’s social media habits after viewing.

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Through the process of evolving prototypes from the previous assignment, in which I created stills, I decided to firstly reinvent the stills with an emotive, animated and visual focus – then include said revisions in the video. The exploration of video worked as a way to further engage and enhance the storytelling component of my work. After all, the essence of media (and perhaps all art) is to tell a story. To execute this story, I found myself narrowing down on two things – my audience and my resources.

Essentially pondering; Who am I intending to tell this story to? How can I tell it, what can I use?

Taking on feedback from Fan was central to developing my story, as she mentioned emoji’s as a resource in communicating and engaging with audiences. From this insight stemmed a clear connection to a younger demographic of emoji-loving teenagers (12 – 18 years), and thus I had the structure of my story.

Conclusively, these ideas formed my final video work, to ideally be dispersed throughout multiple social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. The video’s recognisable animations e.g. Wifi symbol, text message, notifications, angry faced emoji intend to provoke semiotic contemplation and touch on wider notions of Web 2.0 and consumer culture. The decision to exclude any text or voice over alongside these visuals was to essentially ‘let them speak for themselves’ and allow audiences, particularly young impressionable teens to derive the meaning for themselves. Following this, the statement ‘With the world at your fingertips, make sure it is still your world’ intended to consolidate this idea of power and self-governance on social media. The idea of utilising social media and the encompassing resources to add genuine value to your life, and in turn avoiding the sometimes overwhelming, addictive, isolating and confronting realities of online media.

Overall, looking back on this assignment and Making Sense of Social Media more largely, I have gained many invaluable insights and newfound perspectives that I intend to utilise and build upon through further study and ideally, industry experience. Through studying the Sensis report, exchanging ideas with peers, understanding the multiple forms of media (e.g. podcasting) and constantly rethinking and evolving my own work – my understanding of social media is undoubtedly consolidated in its great multi-faceted complexity.

Although I have used social media on an almost daily basis personally for the last 10 years of my life, I have come to learn that using it professionally is a whole other entity. One in which social media can engage with others, communicate a story and shape our world economically, culturally and certainly socially.

As the final extension of my social media work in this studio, I have attempted to utilise the feedback from my previous presentation to refine and strengthen my ideas. In essence, wrapping up my concept in a concise way that can be consumed quickly and easily, amid the simultaneous rise of Web 2.0 and the fall of our collective online attention span.  Taking on board specific commentary involving a suggested focus on emojis and visual cues to ‘check-in’ with an online audience (from Fan), along with balancing the paradox of using social media to prompt users to get off social media (from Will) – I had much to consider.

In processing Fan’s feedback about emoji’s, I firstly considered the connotations of an emoji itself. The word emoji, an English adaption with Japanese origins; meaning ‘picture-word’ and allowing for a new age communication of ‘ethos, mood and preoccupations’. Interestingly, whilst researching emoji’s I discovered the ‘Face With Tears of Joy’ emoji was awarded Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year in 2015, with representatives emphasising the way emojis can ‘transcend linguistic borders’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015).

2020 Emoji Additions

Through considering emoji’s and their use of social media, I drew the conclusion that emojis are often exchanged online by younger demographics. Consequently, I began to consider reducing my intended audiences, younger than the previous (aged 18-24) and instead direct my message more towards teenagers (aged 12-18). Thinking back to my own formative high school years, the introduction to social media and messaging apps was very pivotal and all-consuming. Teenagers are in the prime of vulnerability and their social media habits seem to be truly detrimental and influential in how they relate with themselves, their peers and the world around them.

Further, emoji’s and animated visuals can be considerably more appealing and a more accessible way to communicate more complex emotions or attitudes at a surface level. I intend to draft social media posts with a focus on these emoji’s, images and animations attempting the classic ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ narrative. To extend on this emoji focus, I intend to also experiment with video formats in my prototypes. Particularly videos that are concise, vibrant and emotive in their content, in the hopes to engage the demographic of teenagers into contemplation – even if just for a moment.

Conclusively, from this insight into emoji’s and the teenager demographic, I will endeavour to refine my work to include more image based, video content. Content that stands out and asks to be consumed as you scroll past it on a newsfeed, all the while maintaining the initial fundamental concept of effective and healthy social media use.

References:

Oxford University Press, 2020 ‘Word of the Year 2015’ Oxford Languages  <https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2015/>