Eloquence

Background on Branding and Social Media

The true challenge should not be to include social media aspects in a persuasive unit, but instead the question should be how to do so. A great starting point is the Henry Jenkins analysis of convergence and media. He begins with older forms of media such as film and TV and connects those to the rampant use of online forums and highlights how the impact of each and their coexistence with one another shaped and changed their presence and purpose by stating, "Media convergence is more than simply a technological shift. Convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets genres and audience." ⁵ It is not about the dying of one technology for another, but rather how the evolution of technologies shapes the technology itself and our relationship with it. To further analyze this, Jenkins introduces his black box fallacy which in short states that our lives, entertainment choices, and media content in general will all be sourced by one black box, but further describes the fault to lie with the change in technology and media without much consideration for the changing culture. Valuable analysis regarding changing media and its impact on today's culture is fruitful and directly applicable to this unit specifically, and although the examples are already somewhat aged, as it was originally published in 2006, students will immediately realize that they carry around the ultimate black box in the form of a smart phone without a second thought, so the pervasiveness of Jenkins ideas is evident and worth investigating.

Understanding Personal Branding

The text, Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself by Deckers and Lacy defines branding as "an emotional response to the image or name of a particular company, product, or person." So, if we follow this logic, then a writer's brand would want to elicit an emotional response of being 'eloquent' 'knowledgeable' and 'well-read'. If one is an artist, then the brand's intended emotional response would include 'creative'. If it focuses on all things related to being a mother, then the brand's intended emotional response would likely include being 'nurturing'. Once an individual understands the desired emotional response, then one can begin the work on creating that which is no small task. Determining the emotional response is simply step one.

McNally and Speak state, "Let's get straight to the point. Everybody already has a brand; your personal brand is a perception held in others' minds, and it has evolved through their interactions with you." ⁶ If one agrees with this premise, then there is value in finding out what the brand is currently and what one wants it to be. Additionally, one can deduce that good branding must be consistent, accessible, and memorable. Thinking in regard to our students, it is even more imperative that they understand what perception and emotional response is being evoked when others think of them especially given the digital footprint they are likely already creating that will be potentially accessible to future colleges and employers. Through this unit, they will explore personal branding through analysis of noteworthy people of today's popular culture. Then, students will critically analyze their own brand to see if it aligns with what they intended. After the self-analysis is conducted, students will then begin to craft branding with persuasive tropes in mind across multiple social media platforms.

Understanding Current Social Media Platforms

Students of 2014 are of a generation where information is one Google search away, and they scroll through 24 hours of happenings in several minutes according to their social media feeds. Also, and important to note, the above tasks are easy and quick. The information is styled in the fashion of fast food consumerism, fast 'fact' consumption if you will. So to meet our students in the world they live, we can look at how platform, audience, and persuasion work on popular social media mediums the youth, in mass, are already utilizing and actively familiar with a specific focus on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook..

Al-Deen & Hendricks point out, "the effect of the Internet on civic participation and political engagement is highly dependent on the individuals themselves, although the opportunities for engagement are present." ⁷ So, it is clear there is a platform accessible and ready for use that today's students are already comfortable and familiar with, but the need lies in how to capitalize on it and make it work to their benefit. To compare, watching television is now considered commonplace, but what is telling about a viewer is what channel they are choosing to tune in to. Our job as educators is to change the channel with our students to places online that are more productive, and guide them to platforms where they may have a positive, constructive voice.

Twitter as a Platform

In Social Media: Usage and Impact, when discussing youth activism, Deen states that, "…individuals and groups on Twitter are much more active compared to their Facebook counterparts in terms of online posting …and displayed a very active online presence" ⁸ This can easily be explained by looking at the forced brevity required by Twitter as a platform. Twitter is categorized as a micro-blog where users are relegated to posting in 140 characters or fewer. If a twitter user enjoys or is in agreement with another's tweet, he or she simply hit 'retweet' and have co-signed and further propelled that thought or idea forward. Twitter in short, is quick and easy. There are dangers that lie in the brevity and speed. First, often, if the point is complex, reading between the lines, or characters, is needed and much can get lost in the translation. Second, no real thought or contemplation is needed to 'pass it along'. It is one click and immediately visible. The responsibility is left solely on the shoulders of the user alone.

Instagram as a Platform

The tagline for Instagram is to 'capture and share world moments' and it is distinctly visual in its approach with a focus on photo and video and has the ability to apply digital filters. The cliché of a picture saying a thousand words comes to mind when I think of Twitter as opposed to Instagram. If Twitter allows a sentence at best, Instagram in a sense is the whole novel. Also, one has the ability to look at one photo or the collection as a whole, which can send a different, more holistic, message. Newly added is the ability to capture and post video, but there is a maximum length of only fifteen seconds in length. So again, the common theme of brevity still prevails across the different social media platforms. However, different impacts can be felt. For example, a tweet about a riot evokes a different reaction than a photo of a riot, and further profound of an impact is likely when viewing a 15 second video of a riot where sights and sounds can be taken in. When looking at persuasion in this arena of social media, special attention will be placed on the use of filters and how that is intentionally modifying the reality for the purpose of enhancement.

Facebook as a Platform

Although very widely used in the world and notably the platform listed here with the widest demographic of roughly 900 million, as cited in Deckers & Lacy ⁹, it is the oldest of the three, and as a possible repercussion of its age, it is the least popular among my students of the three social media mediums this unit focuses on. Historically, Facebook was limiting in its members only allowing university students access when using their college email the ability to create a profile, but after its popularity, anyone regardless of age or level of education had access to it. Further analysis on student usage is needed, and although it is noted as the least popular, most students still hold an active account and are extremely familiar with its layout and function. Additionally distinguishable from its Instagram and Twitter counterparts, is the depth and length of a Facebook profile. A wide variety of information is accessible, and it provides the most all-encompassing personal profile comparatively. Brevity is not something required or emphasized as it is in a tweet or fifteen second video post. In regard to this unit, Facebook will provide the best platform to showcase personal branding with depth.