My digital artefact is a Youtube channel containing cover videos, I decided on this for my DA as music is something I am passionate about and have done since I was younger, but since starting uni I stopped doing, and I wanted to get back into singing and playing. I decided to develop this project by posting videos on YouTube weekly, using my iPhone. The aim of my digital artefact was simply to provide entertainment and make chords and lyrics to the songs I was singing accessible to viewers..
I found that I did not gain much feedback in terms of the social utility of the chords that provided, as I was not gaining enough views for people to really notice that I was doing it. The inspiration for my project came from small music YouTubers such as Alice Kristiansen, Alaina Castillo and Annie Green. I admire the authenticity in their videos, and how most of them are filmed in a single take, with minimal to no editing. Seeing others do this with ease helped me to realize that I could do something similar effectively.
I found that throughout my project I did not gain much feedback in terms of the social utility of the chords that provided, as I was not gaining enough views for people to notice that I was doing it, or reach enough people that would have a use for them. I later decided that the main social utility of my project was entertainment, which is very broad but is relevant to anyone who was viewing my videos.
I also found that my videos that were filmed on my phone and required minimal to no editing at all performed the best and got the most amount of engagement. I am unsure whether this is just coincidence or has to do with the times that I posted the videos, and who I told about them and what social media I used to promote each one.
The first two videos I posted, Somebody Else and Magnolia, had the most amount of views overall, I believe this is because it was the beginnings of my channel, and so people wanted to have a look and watch my first two, and then when I went on to post more videos after that my audience lost interest and didn’t want to watch.
Watching other’s videos and paying attention to the songs that were popular and trending amongst my demographic helped also for me to gain inspiration and understand the content that people would be interested in watching. This research, alongside taking feedback and comments into account, allowed me to ensure I was creating content that was interesting and entertaining to ensure that I would continue to gain engagement.
At the very beginning of the project, I was creating and posting videos weekly, to try and get my name out there and gain a small following who had an interest in my content. I found that the project as a whole fit with the #FIST ideology, and proved to be a lot easier that I anticipated. I got an average of 150 views on my first three videos, which were posted three Wednesdays in a row, as I was trying to create consistency on my channel.
I was receiving comments that were all positive and encouraging, and many of them were from strangers, who I am assuming found the videos from searching the song name or ukulele cover, key words which help to gain views and traction. In order to try and receive feedback, I also did some polls on twitter about my content and what my audience was interested in seeing:
A couple of other BCM students shared my videos, which was so kind and helpful, as I found that I gained views directly after they shared them on twitter. The support from BCM students was the strongest, and I am sure that many of the views and engagement I received was from them, and also sharing content in comment sections of other’s tweets helped to spread my DA around and also show support for others.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM38xtkWZ9y1d3AwXWpo79w
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDE4fha42GtFSVyQ2i_RB6w
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCKkGdeMBVQM8UtrqrNIAUA
Elly Moore 