Hello and Welcome Back to BCM Blogs!
Another semester online and what a perfect subject to revamp my blogs with.
Media Ethnography, firstly I need to understand what this exactly means. I've learnt that Ethnography is a wide term that can be defined as "writing of culture". It involves gaining a deeper understanding of particular research fields. Ethnographic research is a qualitative method where researchers observe and/or interact with a study’s participants in their real-life environment. The aim of an ethnographic study within this project is to get ‘under the skin’ of a media niche and all its associated issues and attributes, to examine the cultural environment from both an outsiders perspective and first-hand experience.
After researching what Ethnography means, I'm able to understand how I can link it to my own media niche and begin thinking about my own ethnographic study. I spend a lot of free time on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. As a result I've begun to find a liking towards lifestyle content such as Vlogs (Video Blog), travel and beauty videos.
Social media opinion leaders are called digital influencers. They create a strong relationship with their audience and with increasing popularity it has become a new century profession (Szczurski, 2017). Vlogs and such lifestyle videos essentially begun with the popularity of YouTube being established in 2005, this being that lifestyle content has changed throughout the years which has allowed influencers to build a following. Audiences can watch families grow and see their day to day lifestyle, it has become like living alongside someone learning from their experiences and being influenced by someone else’s first-hand experience a its shared through our screens. Some influences get more personal whilst others keep their personal lives strictly away from camera, this can then determine their audience relationships.
Examples of lifestyle influencers with sponsored posts. SarahsDay, Brittany Bayln, Milena Ciciotti, Zoe Sugg & Rachel Catherine.
Many of these lifestyle influencers also have a passion set in for the business side of things thus being that many are put on Advertising campaigns, brand collaborations and sponsored promotions. This meaning that companies have found an interest in using these big ‘opinion leaders’ to spread their products to their audience. I find however that lifestyle influencers are somewhat more personally directed in the content they create and the products they share thus allowing this brands to have an honest output to their built audience.
I know personally I've been tempted and sold on products that I've seen influencers use as it’s a first-hand review from a person I've built 'digital' trust in the influencer I've watched. I think it would be personally very interesting to gain a deeper understanding into the way we as the audience find trust in lifestyle creators and what influencers gain within their social media marketing.
Stay tuned and follow along on my journey to see what my ethnographic research looks like!
Until Next Time, Live and Laugh,
References -
Hasbrouck, Jay, (2018) 'Cultivating Curiosity', Ethnographic Thinking: From Method to Mindset, Routledge: New York. pp 9 - 15.
Curiosity is a critical part of innovating
Daymon Christine and Holloway Immy (2011) ‘Ethnography’, Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications. Routledge: New York.
DeCarlo, Mattew (2018) '6.2 Paradigms, theories, and how they shape a researcher’s approach', Scientific Inquiry in Social Work, https://scientificinquiryinsocialwork.pressbooks.com/chapter/6-2-paradigms-theories-and-how-they-shape-a-researchers-approach/
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