Here it is…the pitch for our Digital Artefact!
Our last four blog posts have taught us how to identify a media niche, narrow our field site, plan our research, and frame our problem. Through these foundational aspects of ethnographic research, Kira, Chrissy, and I have conjured up the idea of our digital artefact. As mentioned in the pitch video, the almond milk aesthetic is present across a wide range of social media platforms but has the strongest presence on Instagram. And so, we have decided to create our own Instagram page, @almondmlk.co, wherein we will be uploading photos that adhere to our aesthetic of choice.
Our Instagram page will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of our media niche by observing the experience of the people that interact with our page, as well our own experiences. This will give us insight into our respective focus questions by looking through an interpretivist lens. I will be narrowing in on why the audience likes the almond milk aesthetic by observing what images are always at the top of the relevant hashtags and will take notes based on the tone, the contents, and what people are feeling and experiencing based on the comments. We can then use this knowledge to construct our own Instagram feed, which will then allow us to observe our own audience. All participants (i.e. people that interact with @almondmlk.co) will be made aware that this Instagram account is being used for ethnographic studies through our bio and captions.
Kira, Chrissy and I are very excited to dive into the world of ethnographic research and are looking forward to getting our DA up and running.
(Third of September 2020)
References
Daymon, C & Holloway, I 2010, Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications, Routledge, London.
Hughes, J 2019, 6 Tips for Creating a Social Media Brand Aesthetic, blog post, Revive Social, viewed 3 September 2020, <https://revive.social/creating-social-brand-aesthetic/#:~:text=The%20benefits%20of%20creating%20a,social%20channels%20to%20ensure%20consistency.>
Pham, L 2018, ‘A Review of Key Paradigms: Positivism, Interpretivism, and Critical Inquiry’, Research Gate, vol. 1, pp.1-7, viewed 3 September 2020, < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324486854_A_Review_of_key_paradigms_positivism_interpretivism_and_critical_inquiry>
Sharan, BM & Tisdell, EJ 2015, Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey.
in omnia paratus 