Making Sense of Social Media | Week 4 Reflection

Week four was an unsurprisingly challenging week for all students and teachers alike, as we had to come to terms with the transition to online learning. For this reason, no formal classes were held for this studio, proving problematic given our work for assignment two was set to get underway this week. In many ways, however, my work in this studio is even more relevant, as we as students and content creators are more reliant on social media now than ever before to communicate and share ideas. The importance of staying connected is reflected by current government television commercials, whereby they encourage us to set up social accounts for elderly relatives as a means to encourage interaction and stay in touch. The irony of all this is that we are constantly being told that we use social media too much, and in the current climate if you’re not using it, you’re not socially connected at all.

What this demonstrates is a reliance on social media in the present day, and it makes the logistics of assignment two all the more intriguing as an opportunity to expand my business’s social media strategy as has been discussed in prior reflections.

Having only dipped our toes in a 40-minute zoom tutorial and going over the details of assignment two, I began to elaborate on a strategy for how I would use assignment two as a research project to springboard my production work in assignment three. I refer to a pitch of my idea to Mark via email (heavily modified to a formal level):

I am to submit a series of production reports (blog posts), each dedicated to a specific branch of research that aims to answer the question of ‘how can I use social media to expand my photography business as informed by the Sensis data and broader research’.

I will use my research to draw evaluations on how the data relates to my consumption of social media and my business’s position within the framework of social marketing. I will research the consumption and usage habits of my target demographic and apply this knowledge to advertising my business.
Initial expressions of this idea focused on a much broader and more ambitious approach, whereby I would research and create content informed by it all in the one assessment. I am grateful for the fact the Mark advised against this, suggesting a definitive focus on the research aspect would yield a more focused and detailed discussion of course content.

Being a sole trader specialising in photography for a few years now, I have always tried to have a presence on social media, particularly Instagram for reasons that will be discussed next week. However, until partaking in this studio, I have never understood the true benefits as a content creator to maintaining an active social media following. Resulting from the vast availability of data resources in this studio, I recognised this assignment to be a one-time opportunity to genuinely grow a passion outside of this course. Working in tandem with my elective subject ‘Managing a Communications Business’, the time is now to consolidate a fresh business plan and marketing strategy by creating a test business separate from the current name I am working under. Using my learnings from assignments two and three, I aim to implement the effective outcomes into my own professional career.

I am very excited to see what I can continue to dig up.

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