Discussion Posts:

Prompt:

Conduct a cross-platform analysis for one influencer that is on at least three platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.). Provide a brief biographical sketch of the influencer in case some of us are not familiar with the individual (name, handle, what they are known for, what channels they are on, and how many followers they have). Consider the following questions:

1) How does the influencer use the platforms similarly/differently?

2) Based on your empirical observations, do the influencers adjust their strategy for each social media site to account for platform affordances (technological affordances, infrastructure, aesthetics, etc.)?

3) Assess the content they post. Consider the following questions?

Can you identify patterns in the type of content they post?
Do they work with brands on partnerships/sponsorships/endorsements? If so, do you think the brands/products are a good "fit" for the influencer (and vice versa)? In your opinion does the influencer/brand alignment work well (or not)? Justify your response using segmentation language (e.g., demographics, psychographics).
For part three, please include screenshots to highlight the type of content they post and brand partnerships/endorsements.

Response:

Influencer name: Indy Belle

Handle: indybelle_

Platforms: Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook

Known for: Clothing hauls, fashion/lifestyle

Follower count: IG (739k), Facebook (192k), Tik Tok (488.5k)

Indy Belle categorizes herself in her bio as an Amazon fashion influencer and a fashion/lifestyle influencer. She posts a lot of clothing hauls and outfits on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook. The majority of the clothes she posts are linked in her Amazon storefront which is linked in her bio so that her audience can easily find where she got the clothing. Most videos on all of her platforms are try on hauls.

From what I can tell, she posts the same videos across all three platforms. I think they do the best on Instagram where she has the most followers. Facebook is different in that she can put the links directly in the comments rather than having to depend on links in her bio. On Tik Tok the search bar for Amazon fashion comes up on her videos which is also different.

Her content is all clothing and fashion related. Most hauls and try ons are in her living room or room and I think she uses a filter to keep her pages looking the same and keeps the same aesthetic. One endorsement I saw was with an Ella Bella hairdryer "Dyson Airwrap dupe". This fits her content because it is fashion/lifestyle related. This brand deal fits her target audience and demographic of girls in their 20s and 30s who are interested in fashion and lifestyle.

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Prompt:

Select a content creator or brand to analyze on a social media platform (e.g., Instagram, Twitch, Facebook, Snapchat). Your job is to look at two weeks' worth of content. Your analysis should focus on all of the following aspects:

The content posted by the content creator
Likes, shares, comments: What content is generating what types of responses? Please include at least two screenshots to support your analysis.
Focus on the comments, what types of patterns do you notice? Are there repeat commenters? Do the commenters approve/disapprove of the content? Do they engage with each other? Do they ask questions?
Using Crystal Abidin's (2021) article about refracted publics, reflect on whether you are observing networked publics, refracted publics, or a combination of refracted/networked publics. Provide evidence to support your argument around the conditions/dynamics outlined in the article.

Response:

For this assignment, I chose to analyze the account of Tini Younger, a social media chef and contestant from Next Level Chef season two. I analyzed her Instagram posts from the past two weeks.

In the past two weeks, she has posted 9 posts, 8 reels, and one photo carousel. Her content is mostly reels of her cooking and showing recipes she has created and some posts are of her personal life. Since it is Instagram, I am unable to see the number of likes and shares, but the highest view count on her reels from the past two weeks is 2,651,830 and the lowest viewed is 33,575. In the past two weeks, the highest number of comments was 1,014 and the lowest was 6. Most of the comments are praising her talent, some are criticizing her, some people ask questions about the recipe or her life, and some are just pretty random. I would say that Tini's Instagram is both networked and refracted. Many people found her account by looking up her account after seeing her on Next Level Chef, but her content is also pushed out into people's explore pages as well. I think that her networked public comes from people who followed her before the show and people who found her through the show and the refracted public is people who found her on their explore page. I think that this is more of a networked public though because of the searchability and replicability of her content.

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Prompt:

Find one example of each of the following on social media:

(1) misinformation;

(2) disinformation; and,

(3) deep fake.

In your analysis, explain where you found the example, why this is an example of mis/disinformation/deep fake, and how publics responded to the content. Make sure you include a screenshot for each example and that you explain how the concepts are different.

Response:

1) An example of misinformation is a video posted to TikTok after the submersible sinking last summer. The video claimed to be playing the audio of the passenger's last screams recorded in the submersible, but the audio was actually from a video game. The video gained 4.9 million views due to the shock value of the video. Although the initial posting of the video could be disinformation, the spreading and sharing of the video was misinformation because there was no intent to gain anything from sharing it. https://pirg.org/edfund/articles/misinformation-on-social-media/Links to an external site.

2) A recent example of disinformation is an anti-Ukraine campaign created by pro-Russian fake Facebook and X accounts. The campaign has consisted of fake quotes from celebrities next to photos of them. An example is: "It's just disappointing how the Ukrainians use our help,” a quote, also in German, reads next to a picture of Kim Kardashian speaking on stage. “Someone needs to stop this, seriously." Many people believe these posts and it is fueling political propaganda. This is disinformation on social media because the intent is to spread false information for political and power gain. https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ukraine-taylor-swift-disinformation/

3) A recent deep fake on social media was a video of a dead Indonesian army general and ruler that accumulated over 4.7 million views on X. The video was a call to action to vote in the upcoming election in Indonesia. The publics involved expressed it was unethical to use deep fakes of dead public figures for political propaganda. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/12/asia/suharto-deepfake-ai-scam-indonesia-election-hnk-intl/index.htmlLinks to an external site.

Prompt:

Using your smartphone, take pictures that would be appropriate for social media posts on X and/or Instagram to promote Mass Communication Week (https://www.txstatemcweek.com/Links to an external site.) for our client. Select one image to use for an Instagram post. Your picture may represent events on campus, interesting school work, campus life, or significant buildings. The only requirement is that you take the photo yourself. Use an AI tool to enhance your image for Instagram. Using Canva, create an Instagram post-sized visual for your original picture and the AI-enhanced image. Post both visuals to the discussion board with a suggested caption for the post and a brief summary about whether AI image tools are helpful (or not) in the production of social media content.

Response:

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Prompt:

Develop a unique hashtag that could be used by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication for a campaign on X and/or Instagram. Use the hashtag campaign as a prompt with an AI generator, to develop captions for five unique posts. Try this process with two different AI tools. Write a short summary of your process, experience, and evaluation of how successful (or not) the AI tools you used are for creating social media posts. Include at least one screenshot/capture of your process for each AI program.

Response:

#SJMCConnects

For this week's activity, I decided to start with the hashtag #SJMCConnects. I used ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot. I told ChatGPT and Copilot a little bit about SJMC, the kinds of posts that are on the account, and the audience. I then asked it to create some captions specifically for Instagram using this hashtag. I think ChatGPT did much better in writing captions. I have learned that the more information you feed the chatbot, the better results it will give you. I think that some captions you can tell were written with generative AI, but I think that AI is in a place right now where human oversight and editing are necessary.

ChatGPT:

The prompt I used was: "Can you help me write some Instagram captions for posts for the Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communications (SJMC) with the hashtag #SJMCConnect? The posts show alumni, current students, faculty, and SJMC related organizations. The audience is mostly students, alumni, faculty, prospective students, and other Texas State University organizations."

ChatGPT responded with 10 captions. Of those 10 these were my favorite:

"Behind every great story, there's an SJMC connection. 📰🎥 Join us as we celebrate the bonds that tie us together! #SJMCConnect #TXST"
"Spotlight on our incredible SJMC alumni making waves in the industry! 🌟 From newsrooms to boardrooms, they're shaping the future of media. #SJMCConnect #TXST"
"Join the conversation! SJMC is the place where ideas collide and creativity thrives. Connect with us and be part of something extraordinary. 💡 #SJMCConnect #TXST"
"Discover endless opportunities to learn, grow, and connect within the SJMC community. Your journey starts here! 🚀 #SJMCConnect #TXST"
"Through every chapter of your SJMC journey, you're never alone. Join us as we foster connections that last a lifetime! #SJMCConnect #TXST"

Copilot:

Responses:

“🎓 Proud SJMC alumna/alumnus here! Connecting with fellow Bobcats and celebrating our shared passion for journalism and mass communications. #SJMCConnect”
“📚 Current SJMC student vibes! From lectures to late-night editing sessions, we’re all in this together. #SJMCConnect”
“🎙️ Behind the scenes at SJMC: Where stories come alive, creativity thrives, and connections are made. #SJMCConnect”
“👩‍🏫 Shoutout to our incredible SJMC faculty! Their expertise and mentorship shape the future of media professionals. #SJMCConnect”
“🌟 Spotlight on SJMC organizations: Whether it’s the student newspaper, radio station, or PR club, we’re building skills and friendships. #SJMCConnect”