So far I have discovered my media niche, identified my field site and mapped my media niche. The next steps in my autoethnographic approach involve immersing myself in this community through participant observation.
I have followed an abundance of accounts on Instagram who fit into my media niche and have begun interacting with them to uncover the basic workings of the community. Through becoming an active participant in this community I will be able to identify and analyse significant moments from my personal encounters. In addition, I will be conducting my own background research by studying a range of relevant academic and popular sources. This will allow me to broaden my knowledge through the study of comparative analysis and will assist in the analysis of my epiphanies. All ethnographical research will be summarised and shared with my audience through a video essay at the conclusion of my study.
I aim to post to my Instagram account 3-5 times a week, taking advantage of stories and reels to variate my content. I will spend at least 30 minutes each day interacting with similar creators, primarily through likes and comments. Utilising the information in this article I will schedule my posts and activity around the most active hours on the app to ensure I reach as many individuals as possible. At the conclusion of each week I will spend time writing about what I posted that week, how it was received and what interactions I had. I will focus on how I felt about my engagement and take note of what I aim to improve on. Doing this weekly will provide me with data on the evolution of my online persona.
References:
C. Moore (2021) Autoethnography (a brief howto) online via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBHpedvkWs0
The curated column by armoire (2019) 9 Easy Ways to Join the Sustainable Fashion Movement online via: https://blog.armoire.style/sustainable-fashion-movement/
J. Warren (2021) The Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2021, According to 35 Million Posts online via: https://later.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-instagram/
Georgie O'Brien 