making

The V Word – Online Presence 3

Throughout my digital artefact process I have created a wide range of tweets, blog posts and Youtube videos that are primarily focused on veganism and my time spent in BCM114. I have successfully completed the ideating and prototyping stages of this process. The time has now come to review my progress and final result.

I put most of my energy into producing blog posts that I hoped would help people gain a greater understanding of veganism and to recognise the surprisingly simplicity of the diet. I incorporated my personal opinion, facts, and the experiences of others to ensure my posts provided a comprehensive and universal portrayal of veganism. Throughout this process I created 4 posts:

• a blog post on the best vegan/cruelty free beauty products
• my first blog post in my ‘the vegan experience series’
• the second blog post in my ‘the vegan experience’ series
• a blog post on the best vegan places to eat in Wollongong

I have only gained 10 followers on my blog throughout this time, and would hardly get any comments on my actual posts. However, I would receive feedback and remarks on them through twitter which was encouraging. Although my interaction levels and overall success of my blog was minimal, I am happy with the content I have produced on it and am satisfied with how it looks aesthetically. I plan to continue posting on my blog as I have found enjoyment in doing so.

Posting Youtube videos was another aspect of my Digital Artefact. They were solely focused on vegan food; taste testing and recipe videos. Throughout this process I created 3 videos:

• a youtube video taste testing/recommending the best vegan junk food
• a youtube video reviewing a vegan burger alternative
• a youtube video on an easy vegan chocolate cake recipe

Making YouTube videos has been the least enjoyable part of this project. I don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera and really struggled to find motivation to start recording or make my videos artistic or original. I would put the bare minimum into them and just upload them for the sake of adding another thing to my Digital Artefact. I hadn’t got many views and gained one subscriber. This can definitely be attributed to my lack of motivation, my inconsistency and somewhat poor quality videos.

Another mistake I made during the first stages of the process was relying too much on other people to make content. I valued other people’s experiences more than my own and wanted people to send me photos, videos, interview answers so that I could make my project more inclusive and interesting. But I soon realised that not everyone was willing to cooperate or was reliable. I also made the mistake of not interacting much with other students or engaging with their Digital Artefacts. However, I realised that #FEFO is an important part of the process and decided to learn from these situations.

Although errors were made, I am proud of what I have created. I believe my content is useful to those who are interested in going/are vegan and think that it is extremely relevant to the animal rights and climate change discussions that are occurring in today’s society.

Although my Digital Artefact was not conventionally very successful, the ideating, prototyping and making stages have been extremely insightful and have allowed me to be creative and channel my energy into something I am interested in.