The Synthesis and Knowledge gained from BCM241 During This Research and Media Niche Activity:
BCM241 has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of research, using it as a tool to uncover truths about my niche and gain insight on this audience. First and foremost, I learnt that autoethnography is a qualitative method of research that allows the researcher to emerge into the topic on a personal level, drawing on their own experiences to further understand a societal phenomenon (Wall, 2006).
Based on this understanding, I have been able to develop a true crime niche persona on Tik Tok, mapping a field site, to narrow my focus on this niche (Moore, 2021). I then began participant observation, keeping notes and deriving this data from audience interactions where these virtual communities have emerged and carried out discussions (Airoldi, 2018). Being a member and creator within this niche has allowed me to grasp a better understanding of this community and how to shape my content to their liking.
I have done so by revolving my information about the most significant moments in my research… or epiphanies ( Moore, 2021) of the audience’s psychological reactions, which sparked great interest among my niche audience. This interest can be attributed to Zillman’s excitation theory, which argues that suspense and resolution are important responses to the horror/crime genre. Suspense brings the audience a feeling of enjoyment, however once the issue is resolved, this suspense converts to euphoria (Martin, 2019).
Once looking deeper into these epiphanies I was able to see past the assumptions surrounding true crime, and understand this audience’s fascination with darker and mysterious things was due to our natural tendencies as humans to be drawn to the psychological responses we receive from these, such as adrenaline and suspense.
Video References:
- Anderson, L. (2006) ‘Analytic Autoethnography’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35(4), pp. 373–395. doi: 10.1177/0891241605280449. Available at: https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1177/0891241605280449
- Beston, A. 2013, ‘Dying in Print & Despised Online: New Zealand Newspaper Long-Form in An Online Age’, Auckland University of Technology. Available at: https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/5571/BestonA.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
- Cooper, K.L. 2019, ‘Is our growing obsession with true crime a problem?’, BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47474996
- Fieldstadt, E. 2016 ‘New Crop of True Crime Shows Seduces Audiences, Compels Them to Dig’, NBC News. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-crop-true-crime-shows-seduces-audiences-compels-them-dig-n546821
- Marshall, D. 2013, ‘Persona Studies Mapping the Proliferation of the Public Self’, Journalism, 15(2), pp. 153–170. Available at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ec8qnaitmq1fas4/Marshall%20-%202013%20-%20Persona%20studies%20Mapping%20the%20proliferation%20of%20the%20.pdf?dl=0
- Moore, C. 2021, ‘Introduction to Persona’, Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnx1t23pgEA
- Moore, C. Barbour, K. & Lee, K. 2017, ‘Five dimensions of Online Persona’, Persona Studies, 3(1), pp. 1–12. Available at: https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/106027/3/hdl_106027.pdf
Blog Post References:
- Airoldi, M. 2018, ‘Ethnography and the digital fields of social media’, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 21:6, 661 -673. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324769808_Ethnography_and_the_digital_fields_of_social_media
- Martin, G.N. 2019. ‘(Why) Do You Like Scary Movies? A Review of The Empirical Research on Psychological Responses to Horror Films’. Frontiers in psychology, 10, p.2298. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298/full
- Moore, C. 2021, ‘Autoethnography (A Brief How to). Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBHpedvkWs0&list=PLRc77RLclrdw68G7y74SeFYunmuNC5tNr&index=9
- Wall, S. 2006, ‘An Autoethnography on Learning about Autoethnography’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5 (2). Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/160940690600500205
Ally vs the Universe 
Hi Alex! I love how your beta and pitch had the same aesthetic. I must admit your blog post and your beta video is packed with knowledge and research which is such a good thing to see. It shows me that you have really delved into this niche and your research, makes me feel like I need to step up my game but in a good way! You have very evidently shown you have kept up with the weekly topics. I wish you had hyperlinked your epiphanies blog post and your analysing epiphanies blog post so I could have a quick read of them as I wasn’t really able to understand what they were from this. Hyperlinking your research as well as referencing it at the end was really well done. I’ve enjoyed watching your DA blossom and I’m eager to see what else will come from it. Understanding that your audience preferred listening more about the criminal was really good. it shows you really listened and adapted your DA. You have done a really good job with your DA, beta and blog post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Olivia I appreciate that!! It’s always the hyperlinks letting me down haha I’m such a grandma with tech!!
LikeLike
Hey Alex!! I loved the structure of beta video presentation as well as your blog post. Your beta ticked all the dot points in the requirements, and answered all the necessary dot points. It was so well structured and kept me engaged throughout the whole video, through just that video I learned so much from just your video not only about your media niche but about autoethnography. I sometimes struggle with how to understand certain topics within ethnographic research, however following along in your beta gave me a whole different insight on another media niche on how you went about it which gave me an insight on how I could have done it different. The only thing i found challenging for me during your beta was the amount of writing on the screen, which distracted me in the sense where I was not sure whether you were saying the same things on the screen or if you were saying a whole completely different thing. That was the one thing that caught me off guard, however your digital artefact online presence is doing so so well! Keep up the great work! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks so much Stella!!
LikeLike