For today’s class, we learned about creating a story through self-advertisement on various platforms to promote me and my work.
Social Storytelling
Everyone is a storyteller, we tell stories in everyday life whether it’s talking about a funny situation or describing a brand new gadget you want; we all unconsciously tell stories. Through this process, it is much easier to tell a good story but what is a good story? – A good story is when you are able to captivate the audience in turn guiding them towards your intended goal. A good way to do this is to create a connection, a common bond, or conflict in a story to create a relevant scenario.
Building relationships is vital to creating a good story, especially in digital storytelling. The best place like I previously said is to build a connection, this can be through introducing myself or interacting with others on a platform e.g. Instagram, which then, in turn, makes you a more prominent player in the field and helps lay the fundamentals of who I am.
An example of this that Kyle has provided is a local Northern Irish local named Stephen Johnston who specializes in fine and contemporary art. He shares his manual process on Instagram, not from point a-b, but rather shows a gradual process of him making his art which in turn creates a story for his followers to see.
How can I use social media effectively?
Selling – Being able to guide the user to the end goal.
- Social media opens up diverse and efficient export opportunities.
Adding Value – Stories in turn add validation and value to my work.
- This sense of looking behind the scenes gives the audience a sense of premiums-ship as it reveals hidden stories and inspiration behind a work.
Building Audiences – Creates a following of my work.
- Social media opens you up to a diverse range of new and diverse audiences not just locally but globally too.
Positioning – Adding validation and value to myself.
- Social media can provide access to new professional and creative opportunities which can be acquired by potential employers.
Networking – Open opportunities to meet and share.
- It provides a constantly changing and busy hub that allows for sharing work, collaboration and companionship.
“Craft is becoming increasingly visible in the social media sphere: makers, retailers, galleries and craft organizations are embracing Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms as key tools for business and creative development.” – Dr Karen Yair, Crafts Council
As mentioned previously this quote demonstrates that these social tools are so ingrained in our society that it makes it handier to use and implement them for our work.
Reach
As a small nation, we can connect better with a lot more people. This is great for building a continuous connection between groups/communities in order to further your networking in the selected field.
A good way to do this is word of mouth, as it gives a sense of personal connection and shows that people who forward your work show keen interest and a following. A recent example of this is my sister Claire, she decided to start up her balloon business a few months ago spread entirely through word of mouth. Her Facebook page now boasts around 400 likes on Facebook entirely for this and as an admin of the page, I can see all the requests that she is getting furthering its effectiveness.
Many social media platforms use tags, commonly referred to as hashtags such as Twitter and Instagram. These tags act as a directory for relevant searches on social media. It is an additive to find and interact with new people who share similar topics.
As some of our newsfeeds are constantly flushed out with constant material, we must acknowledge the best time to upload our content to social media, therefore giving us the best chance to get the most interactions possible.
Apparently, Tuesday from 11 am – 2 pm is the best time to get the most reactions. Although some of us can’t wait a whole week so the second most preferable times are Mon – Friday at 11am with Sunday being the worst day to upload content.
Three-Pronged Strategy
Social
This includes all of the social media that I have to show people what I am doing.
Gathering
This is the interactivity to the audience about problem-solving and all of the background work.
Story
Telling the story through my website.
Complete Task – Showcase My Website
- Showcase
- Reflection
- Reel
- The Case Study
Conclusion
This class was very interesting as it shows us many ways that we can promote ourselves and our work in the digital online age. Many of the practitioners Kyle talked about and their implementation was a good inspiration to start doing it for my work. Right now, I don’t have a large following on my Instagram, besides ones from the class. I feel like this class has given me the inspiration to start designing content and stories for my website while also expanding and interacting with others. Firstly, I need to start with the task that Kyle has set us.