My online presence

Online presence is extremely important now a days as 40% of the world population have access to it in their very own homes – that 3.14 billion households. Your name on the internet is the first thing that any future employer will do when they receive your application or if they even hear your name. You need to make sure all things related to you on the internet is clean and respectable, be the person you want to hire. You don’t want drunken videos of having a firework up your ass or misbehaving on a trolley in the middle of Tesco running up and down – that stuff stays private. You don’t hear about the Queen doing that.  Online can be damaging. But, having a online presence for your work enables you to display any projects you have completing or are doing giving the potential client a easy, quick way of understanding where your abilities are at.

Before doing this assignment my online presence was near enough non existent for personal and safety reasons. I have always gotten my work through word of mouth and recommendations from previous clients. My work is stored on the cloud which can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, so i can show them who i am and what i do with a click of a button.

But now i know how vital it is to get your name out there, i need to think of a way around it. I know for sure i cannot display a mobile number or an address or even a location where i am currently residing. This is the obstacle i have to work around.

Here is an article of How to be Safe on the internet when starting up a business which is also relevant to getting your name out there in a portfolio way:.

 

Website

I know i want to create a website. But that costs money and a lot of time and effort to maintain which unfortunately i don’t have at this present moment. I have checked out whether my chosen url is available and it is – the perks of having an unusual last name!

When i get paid next week i will purchase the name so it doesn’t get snapped up then find a decent server to maintain and build on when i can.

I could do a simple website for now with the template already done but  I feel that having a website that you don’t have your own url is very child like and unprofessional for example chloegreatorex.wix.com. It is also lot to remember too. I need to find another way to display my work. Therefore for the time being all projects will be uploaded too…

Logo

I have decided to create my own logo for my work and place it on any documents I have. This is because through my evaluations I realised in order to be a proffessional you need something that shows the people that all your work is united. It gives confidence for your work too, putting a stamp on it. It’s a simple design of my last name and the word productions at the end. This is because my last name is unique and strong sounding, I added some paint in the background to add some colour. For now this will be placed on a banner for my youtube page and picture for Vimeo. Hopefully when I become more confident in using animation I can adapt my logo as my work progresses. I was thinking having the paint initially splash on white canvas with the words quickly finger painted on and the paint continuous dribble. This would be an animated logo. I will place this logo on my website, and work, anything associated with my filming.

Business Cards 

Advertising. Credibility. Convenience. Although this is not a online presence as such but it is a quick way of handing over details to potential clients in a social event or if you bump into someone in the street. The information on it can be anything but i have chosen to do a simple, clear and effective card. My name, what i do, website and phone number. I chose the camera design as it is cute and is relevant to what i do.

 

 

Social Media

Apart from my vimeo and youtube i will create to put my work on i feel like i am not in the position to open any accounts for other media. This is because again i don’t have the time and effort to put into keeping them updated regularly with decent posts about my work, this will make me lose popularity. But when i am ready i will open a instagram for photos of my work behind the scenes – tagging my clients url giving me the followers access to  my work and my followers access to theirs, twitter to allow me to connect on a broader scale as its impersonal and you don’t feel awkward following someone like you do adding a person a facebook you hardly know. I already have a facebook for closer contacts.

 

My target audience for my work is for future clients, students who are in the same situation looking what to do.

Presentation for my final major project.

For the past few days i have been thinking how i shall present my Final Major Project in the terms of online presence and i am still not convinced i know how to. As an upcoming professional working in Freelance already i want to separate my educational work and professional work as they are of different standard. Educational work is were i practice, experiment with new techniques and sometimes i pass and sometimes i fail and i don’t want that work to be out their for future clients to see, only my peers and you, the marker. This is where i am struggling and in a dilemma on what to do.

I have thought about putting up a separate Vimeo account for this project and i think this is a good idea to do because it has different privacy settings on who can view my work and i can add a description stating this was done for practice, i would probably show it to my family and friends then so they can see what i have being doing and stressing about. Obviously my final major project will be available to view here on wordpress.

After researching into different celebrities with good web presence for the target audience i want i think i want to start up a blog, something that people can read and follow if they please and watch my progress as a filmmaker. If that become successful turn it into a blog. I already own facebook to connect with people where i do publish my work on occasion for my friends to get feedback, i cannot get on with twitter though so that is my only downfall. I will set up an instagram too. 

 

My target audience is for the college only.

An Evaluation of Zoella

Overview

Zoella is another You tuber but this time she doesn’t specialise in comedy but beauty instead. She has over 1 billion views on her main channel and 10 million subscribers! She has become very established with her online presences and is sporting a number of social media sites. She is continuously a trend on twitter as she is very active on her account at least posting once every 2 hours just to say what she is doing whether that is going out for a meal or watching a movie. This gives everyone the impression she is one of you but in hind site that is ludicrous, she lives in a 7 bedroom house with 24 hour security but you don’t see that side.

She posts pictures of her at a maccies aiming for her young generation when retrospect she has only driven by it on her way for a wine and dine meal. She is very clever with her online presence. Through her writing she speaks in slang (like you and me) and is very “open” and friendly, to make you feel like she is one of your friends not an upcoming celebrity. She has facebook, twitter, snapchat, Soundcloud,tumblr  all of which you can follow her or befriend her making you feel important and involved with Zoe. She goes to all these sites as they all attract different girls for example. Tumblr: the place where fandoms are alive and cults are gathering, no one fits in in tumblr and everyone somehow has a story to tell. This is where she talks about her body dysphoria and social anxiety, to make you feel like you are alike. Twitter: this is where she posts meeting up with people who are famous and tags them in, and twitter is for famous people and people you want to admire and follow, she is trying to be all that.  She is aimed at girls though which does exclude masculine females or guys, you can tell this by all of her website and banners on twitter etc. Im talking pink, glittery filled with make up etc. Her writing is all elegant and dear diary childlike.  She can afford to do this as she has so many girls wanting to be her.

Instagram/snapchat

Zoe is clever what she posts on these sites and she posts fairly regularly to keep her fans updated and to keep them keep checking her page throughout the day to earn more money in her view count. This is rather intellegent thing to do. The actual content layout is basic, it’s already set up the social network site so all she does is posts pictures. After looking at her page she tends to post atleast 3 times a day. Her pictures are sometimes of her spending time with friends. Not just friends but the famous friends she has made by doing her work in YouTube, the friends you wish you have. She puts pictures of luxurious buildings and all things girly representing her personality throughout. Cute, not too serious pictures. She has continuous quite within her photos about dreaming, and never stopping making you subconsciously think I could be like her. If I try, if I study for my exams or start my own YouTube channel, it makes the fan want to be her, aim to be her but not jealous of her. Her taglines along the videos are just casual for example: just chilling with sprinkle of never posts anything that could get her bad press as her target audience is for pre teens and teenagers. So even though on Saturday night she probably did go out drinking and got drunk that is not uploaded to protect that sweet and innocent vibe she has got going. All clothing is always respectable too. She is coming across the role modal you want your children to have.

 

Facebook

Her Facebook is not really used that much in the terms of its is accessible to fans. I think she uses this form of social network as her own escape from the public and be able to posts her pictures without you there of being blacklisted by the dailymail as the privacy settings on Facebook can be very strict. The page she does have is just a public figure page. One were she posts to tell her fans that she has a new video out or a new book. It’s not really dedicated to a certain aim of advertising herself. It’s not kept updated either.

Twitter

Zoella twitter is the only form of social media that separates her between her and her fans. The other site are all personal but twitter allows her to have a platform above her viewers. She is automatically given a verified tick so people know it is her, the real person. She uses the site to promote her work like other social medias but she does also use it to talk to her fans in a safe way. Not a direct message but actual online on her page so everyone can see her talk,  she gives a connection to a viewer to make them important. Zoella is clever how she works her hashtags as she almost always has one trending she has made up. This gives people the opportunity who didn’t know her to view her page, essentially free advertisement. She also jumps on the bandwagon of other peoples trends.

 

Website

Her website is the only thing she runs herself. Her print on the internet. Its simple, pink and flowery. It just screams girly. It represents her personality. The name of her website is her Youtube channel name forming a brand that she is recognised by, this helps her progress onto selling things such as her make up and other merchandise. It benefits the sale of t shirts as it has her logo on, free advertisement and money made from the sale. It creates an army of supporters. Her merchandise is available to buy from her website, its basic to do for teenagers to understand. It had security for the parents who will be probably paying for the t shirts, this addresses everyones needs. Her other pages are her main go by beauty with little techniques to do. She adds her youtube channel for further information on each post, this is directing people to her main money earner. The layout is cute and easy. She also has direct links to each one of her social media accounts. This is where people who want to work with her or do business can contact her people and you know they will definitely get the message and respond to it.

sample of Zoellas photos from her website. They are look professional, crips and fresh:

 

Youtube Channel

This is where Zoella was born, where she was found and established her place on the internet. Her banner is the same as her website and twitter showing a unity. She uploads regularly showing a good professional person who takes her job serious. The videos are of high quality. They also cater for everyone from beauty videos for girly girls to challenge videos for both genders. She constantly is doing collaboration videos with other youtubers to engage other peoples fans and get more subscribers and likes. She connects her social media underneath the video. Her thumbnails and titles are also misleading to what the video is making people clicking on it. For example: “me and Alfie have some news”. You instantly think she is pregnant, getting married or something extremely exciting when in fact its something like they actually bought a newspaper.

 

I have learnt from Zoella to be manipulative and use all forms of social media as a weapon to contact fans on a personal basis and also promote video content and merchandise. To never show the bad side of yourself on the internet as reputation is everything you need, there is many people like you and you need to be your best.

 

 

An Evaluation on Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks is a British run soap aired on channel 4 Monday to Friday at 6.30pm and over the past years have almost quadrupled their views. Yes the show deserves the viewer as it does have intriguing storylines and decent actors but i believe the rise of watchers is also to do with them getting involved in social media and becoming more online. The other soaps do not do this, there production team and marketing team believe their viewers do not access online as regular as Hollyoaks fans do, and why?

Because there target audience members are teenagers, these of which are surrounded by online every minute of every day. Hollyoaks are increasingly become more online from their live accounts on facebook, to there hash tag trends on twitter and there revealing photos on snapchats. They are even creating memes in the hope they go viral. They are trying and succeeding in engaging teenagers from every social media angle, they want to be talked about and be gossip. There website is professional but “trendy and cool”, the way they type is in slang as they are trying to behave like teenagers to attract them. There website colours are not gender stereotypes, they are well balanced for example every blue circle you find a pink one close by. Its like they are not trying to isolate any gender creating the show suitable for all, to support this idea they also have equal amount of female and male characters photograph displayed on there website, some topless to attract the viewers sexually.

I think this helps me because it makes me realise why hollyoaks is so careful on not trying to isolate anyone, this is why they have managed to generate so many views. They are using the internet as a weapon which is an excellent idea.

An Evaluation on Shane Dawson

I have chosen to do Shane Dawson as one of my researchers as i feel that his web presence is one that needs to be noticed. His entire career he has established for himself was solely done online, attracting over 15 million people world wide and has over 2 billion views on one channel he runs. What does he do? He is a you-tuber, those kids with cameras who film themselves doing really stupid challenges begging for likes and subscribes. Shane Dawson is different, yes he is extremely immature but he makes comedy sketches and directs, writes and stars his own short films. He is now even a Feature film director!! All thanks to his little YouTube channel.

He has been known on the internet since the age of 16 and will be soon celebrating his 28th birthday and he still going strong. His web presence is very much talked about especially with the preteens and teenagers because that is who is target audience. His humor is very crude, stupid, immature and i would say would offend most adults. However teenagers they will laugh hysterically even if you yell boobs and seen as well Shane Dawson is not a teenager himself anymore he is turning into a big brother figure for the next generation. People are starting to look up to him and that his reflecting on his web presence. He reaches out to the children in many ways as he know children just love their technology. He know teenagers are obsessed with twitter so he has a twitter account, that fans can connect with, talk to him in a safe way and follow him. This is good for Shane as he gets to see where his fans are and what he needs to do to reach more people and concentrate on the areas that have more fans and host a signing or show etc. He connects through Facebook and tumblr, basically all the social media going. He wants to be talked about and trending to achieve more fans and i think this is working for him greatly. Looking at his website his personality just screams at you, you have the crude language which he is known for. The quirky writing and pictures of stupid things and memes.But you can tell he wants to be the big brother of the internet, he has a chatroom so people can talk to each other and help each other through bullying etc. He doesn’t want to seem to different either, he wants to be one of the fans too. You can tell this by his Instagram, you don’t see flashy cars or luxurious holidays even though he does do all of that it is contained for his privacy. Being a comedian, all of his online presence has the touch of comedy too whether its his animated logo or the way he types. He does keep everything professional though to allow other professional to know he does take his job seriously, its not a hobby like it used to be. You can tell this by how efficient he runs his media, he has set times on his YouTube channel on when he will upload the same with his podcasts from soundcoud. He also has clearly displayed business emails and addresses.

I will definite take notice of how Shane Dawson operates hi name on social media as i do find it extraordinary that one day he was sitting in front of the came with one person watching and now it is over a million each episode. I now know how important it is to reach people though the means of social media all over the world.