Reflection Summary post

When I enrolled in Global Communication and Culture as a part of my Master’s degree, I was not sure what I would learn and my expectations were at the minimum. Upon learning that we would be working on a participatory project as a part of the assessment, it piqued my interest. Working with an actual client and preparing a real campaign is an entire source of knowledge which is a lot better than mock clients. I knew that I was headed towards a few weeks filled with challenges at the end of which I would be a better person.

Role in the team project

While working on the Group project with our client T4, I decided to manage the role of a Social Media Producer. My major task was to identify the various social media platforms that would form an integral part of our campaign strategy. It was imperative that we identify the various elements of social media that were distinct from the traditional media. I found the role to be very informative and let me gain a firsthand experience of using the different platforms and comparing them with each other.

As a social media producer, choosing the platform which would reflect the client’s objectives and could be tailored to suit the requirements and deliver the desired message to the desired audience. This role was conducive in helping me broaden my research skills and contributed immensely to my understanding of the needs of the media and the client. Learning the workings of different platforms such as Facebook, Vimeo, Twitter etc., helped me understand how an organisation could benefit from them. The role was beneficial to my personal and professional growth as I believe it made me more confident, competent and succinct with respect to using the platforms and ensuring the message I use for seeding is accurate, factual and doesn’t malign either the audience or the client.

Three Critical Incidents/insights that I personally encountered during the project

One of the key insights during my role as the social media producer was the sensitivity with which each of the media platforms had to be handled. It was important to send the callouts to our audience whilst protecting our client. Though sometimes it is easier to be upfront about the client and the cause to gain information and insight, the challenges are higher when the platforms are based on the internet. The messages we send to our audience could have been misinterpreted further damaging the cause of the client. This insight helped to create an alternate name – theT4Story which protected the client and helped us take the responsibility in the event the audience either interpreting our messages the wrong way or being hurt certain parts of the message.

When the group decided to send out two types of emails one purely professional the other emotional to determine which approach would be beneficial, we were unsure of which type would garner more responses. Receiving a 15% response rate for the emotional email gave us an insight into one of the best method to invoke curiosity amongst the niche target audiences. It was helpful in building a network of people for T4 who could connect with the values and character that the client stood for.

One major incident which was a big challenge for the project was choosing the most appropriate platform. Our niche target audience were diverse with travel agents, backpackers and students. It was very important to choose the social platform which would help all three audiences to come together. The decision was made based on the top social media platforms popular amongst the audience. As most of the students used Facebook, it was one of the first options we settled upon. It was followed by Twitter which is used by numerous backpackers as a way of posting updates about their expeditions. We used Pinterest as it is gaining popularity as a picture sharing platform. Apart from these we also used email and recommended a blog. As these platforms are largely used by the travel agents, the backpackers and the students, we will definitely be able to reach them.

Perspective

When I learnt that I would be working with T4 as a part of my participatory project; inwardly I was glad because the project was complex and had various emotional elements attached to it. I perceived the project through a human, compassionate perspective, as we were hoping to bring a small but significant difference in the lives of people living in Battambang, Cambodia.

I felt it was essential to handle the project with a lot of care because the issue of exploitation is as complicated as it can be. One can never understand the hardships people undergo nor can one imagine the strength it takes to reform lives and return to society with dignity. While sending out the callout to the focus group, we gave a hint of what T4 did without disclosing the fact that the young men who were going to provided jobs were victims of exploitation. This approach was to garner a curiosity about T4 and create a desire to visit Battambang instead of the visit having a trace of sympathy.

Throughout the project, my perspective was to ensure people were aware and curious of how the tuk tuks were transforming lives by providing young men a source of livelihood. I believe that these young men in Cambodia need support instead of sympathy. People who will visit the town through our small effort as a group use the services of these tuk tuks with a sense of admiration for their strength, hard work and willingness to improve their lives. On a final note, I am certain that T4 in the end, will be an awe inspiring story of truly transforming lives of not only the young men in Cambodia but the people visiting them as everyone will walk away with an one of a kind experience, I certainly did.

 

My online Identity

When I discovered my passion for writing, I was clueless about the way I could express myself through my new found skill. I never knew the importance of Twitter or the relevance of blogging as the modern way of expression. When I was introduced to Twitter during my first class of Gloco13, I was in awe of the way Twitter had found a niche audience and was reaching the helm of the social media world. I found myself reading books to help understand felt and create my online identity through tweeting.

To make my presence felt on the social media, I have decided to use the blogging and tweeting platforms. Twitter is an ever changing and the most effective platform also known as microblogging. Tweeting regularly and following other users helps me keep myself updated and engage in multiple conversations. Blogging on the other hand helps me express myself freely.

Being a verbose person, I intend to use Twitter to help me be more concise and succinct in delivering my point of view. The character limitations will enhance my thought process and help me express myself in a more accurate manner. This will help me gather relevant information to build my blog. I often blogged once in a while, but through the initiation of me creating my online identity, I find myself constantly signing up with sites that lets me blog. I am unsure if it is an exact reflection of me, but it is helping me fine tune my writing skills.

I aspire to be a blogger and without sufficient research blogging is rendered useless. I intend to sharpen my writing skill by using my tweets as a source to give shape to my blogs. I shall blog frequently and I am certain the combination of tweets and blogs will help me improve my writing skill. These two platforms will be playing a key role in shaping my online persona over the course of time.

 

Identity in a globalizing world

 

 

I had recently read the article ‘Identity in the globalizing world’ by Zygmunt Bauman for my #gloco13 class and I was absorbed into Bauman’s idea of identities. A few of the statements really made an impression on me and I could not stop thinking about them and how they applied to me and my surroundings.

 

The article was published in 2001 and rightfully called ‘identity’ a prism through which other tropical aspects of contemporary life are spotted, grasped and examined. In today’s world, a person’s identity is much more than a concept. Identity has exploded into a new realm where every passing day is a fight to help carve one’s identity.  I often find myself struggling to carve mine and be comfortable with it.

 

The concept of identity is multifaceted and has many shades to it; it does become a little difficult to pick the best traits that would sum up how I identify myself. After reading the article I prefer identifying myself as a vagabond – master-less, fighting and cherishing being out of place.  If you are wondering why ‘Vagabond’, my answer is very simple I meet the characteristics Bauman defines:

1. Masterless – I am a free spirited person. I do not adhere to stereotypes and will not conform to rules that clash with my principles in life. I do as I please and I am my own master.
2. Fighting – Being free spirited is not easy. With the mysteries of life and the turns it might take I shall always fight to emerge as a stronger and better person.
3. Cherishing being out of place – I am different and I love that about myself. I moved to Australia and it has been a unique experience from home. Being out of place lets me observe my surroundings, adapt to it and evolve as a person.

A statement in the article that affected me is – ‘Things are noticed when they disappear or go bust’. I would have never understood it had I been back home in India.  Since I have been away from home, my search and efforts to carve my identity have become sharper and clear. It has helped me see myself through different perspectives and the opportunity to balance it in this globalising world.

Media Mapping

My media mapping post is up later than I anticipated because I was unable to fully understand what would be covered. After I saw a few samples I got a better idea about what I was supposed to be looking for and going through my collection of pictures I saw that I had quite a few pictures that could be considered apt for this.

I love walking all around the city and often capture pictures while I am on my way to or from university. 

This house on Lygon Street always makes me stop and take a look as the board has a different message daily.

 

 I love books and my favorite bookshop is Reading on Lygon street, I always take a look at their window in the alley which is full of notices, ads, posters etc. 

There always is going to be one curious mind who has to question rules and this wall on Swanston is always having some person or the other questioning them ..

 

Melbourne has a lot of art work in the form of graffiti which never ceases to amaze me

I hope I can find more such pictures on my many walks but for the time being, this is all I have.

 

My first brush with twitter

 

 

There was a time where I considered myself to be a technologically challenged person. My biggest achievement in the world of technology and social media was probably being good at facebook and a blogging now and then. I never thought that there would come a time where I would need to pull up my socks and jump head first into the world of social media. I was stunned when my very first class of Globalized Communication required me to use Twitter and blog often. Though I had dabbled now and again with blogging, tweeting was an entirely new and alien concept to me.

I was intimidated just by the word twitter and my mind was filled with the weird hast tags and @ that I would often see on facebook through someone else’s twitter update. I had created an account but never wanted to use it ever. But since my class required me to get familiarised with twitter and that the industry today relies on social media a lot, it simply meant I had to come out of my fear of technology and embrace it with open arms. I had covered the first step of creating accounts. The next step was to understand Twitter.

I went to the best solution and guide I could find ‘Twitter for Dummies’ by Fitton, Gruen & Poston (2009). I read it twice and one thing haunted me – how could a verbose person like me express myself in 140 characters?  I preferred blogging as I could write in depth about my thoughts but twitter wanted me to make it as succinct as I could….AWKWARD!!!! The very first thought was that it was an impossible task for me; everyone seemed to be comfortable with it and I decided to tweet. I developed a twitter cheat sheet for myself –

STEP 1:

Sync facebook with twitter

STEP 2:

Only update status through Twitter

Step 3:

Keep tweeting until you figure it out.

The conclusion:

Though I am not entirely a pro at twitter, I have managed to try and convey my thoughts in the limited character. The permission to tweet in lectures about our opinions on the point discussed has made it even easier. At the moment I only tweet about simple thing and lectures I am pretty confident by the end of the semester I would no longer call myself technologically challenged as I am beginning to think of myself as a Social Media protégée with enough mentors to help me sail through.