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/>