In my last two blog posts I identified my media niche, and also mapped out my field site within which I will be conducted my research. This week is all about the plan. But in order to come up with an aim, a problem within the true crime YouTube community, more specifically on Kendall Rae’s channel, needs to addressed. Why do certain cases get more views than others? If viewers are watching the videos because of their passion for true crime, why don’t all videos get the same amount of views?
Now, the difference between the view count on some videos compared to others is not just a small number, but millions. For example, as of August 19th 2020, Kendall’s video titled ‘The Suspicious Disappearance of Sage Smith…’ has 636 thousand views, whereas the video ‘She Hid Her Pregnancy From EVERYONE! Brooke Skylar Richardson’ has over 3 million views. In order to gain a better understanding of this niche, I think it is important to take a deep dive into this issue, which will also be based on my own experience. And so the question remains – why are people watching some videos but not others? Is it because the video is too long? Is the thumbnail not interesting enough? Or is it something deeper – are people purposely not clicking on videos centred around people of colour? Such as in the case of Sage Smith? Is it a social issue? I believe this kind of insight will be important not just for Kendall herself, but my also provide insight for the individual viewers, which can allow them to reflectively ask themselves why they are more interested in some stories than others.
Edit 1/9: With a new media niche, comes new problems that should be addressed through ethnographic research. Kira, Chrissy and I have decided to break down our research curiosities into three problems, that we will each address. Kira will be focusing on what the almond milk audience wants to see, i.e. the subjects of photos, photo composition, the particular tone of the image, etc. Chrissy will be reflexively looking at why we like this specific aesthetic. And finally, I will be researching why the audience likes the almond milk aesthetic. These key points will allow us to better understand our chosen media niche by ethnographically researching the audience, as well as auto-ethnographically researching ourselves. All of our individual focuses will come together in the end. We will be taking notes and exploring these problems in order to analyse the experience of the users. Our aim is to attract new audience members to this aesthetic, which is where our digital artefact comes in.
But first, we need a plan…
Ethnographical research has a heavy focus on observation, which is used to test theories, and increase knowledge on the niche at hand. I will be conducting participatory research, as I myself am part of the community. Autoethnography will allow me to look at my own behaviours, as well as the behaviour of others, to eventually gain a better understanding of the true crime community. I will be reflecting on my own actions as a viewer and take note on what I am clicking on to watch, as well as what I have clicked on in the past.
Edit 1/9: Similar to how I was going to try to understand the true crime community, we will be focusing on the images that ourselves, and others, are drawn to, and what the top images on Instagram are within the aesthetic.
More on notes, I will be taking notes, either handwritten or on my laptop, about the content of the video, its length, the number of viewers, the amount of comments, and the content of the comments to attempt to unveil the potentially social reason for the issue at hand. Below is an example of how this will be laid out:
My research will be scheduled as displayed below:
Edit 1/9:
My weekly plan is very repetitive and most note taking and analysis takes place on Tuesdays-Wednesdays as Kendall uploads every Tuesday. I have chosen to focus on the video from two week before the date of observation to give the audience time to watch the video and engage with it. this way I will have more data to look at. I will also be tracking what I am clicking on, as mentioned earlier. This schedule is subject to change as I delve further into the uncharted world of true crime.
Edit 1/9: Again, my weekly plan is very repetitive, as this allows for a more accurate and consistent analysis of findings. I aim to look at the image of the week on the same day every week. I will also be looking at the comments on Instagram by exporting them to an excel spread sheet to gage the general consensus of people’s opinions on the image. This will allow me to determine why people like such an aesthetic. I will also be thinking reflexively about what I personally like about the image, as I too am part of the audience. Notes will be taken often and reviewed repetitively.
(Nineteenth of August 2020)
References
Adams, TE, Jones, SH, Jones, SLH, Ellis, C 2015, Autoethnography, Oxford University Press, London.
Flick, U, von Kardoff, E & Steinke, I 2004, A Companion to Qualitative Research, SAGE, London.
in omnia paratus 