Since Week 6’s blog, I have continued to develop and grow my TikTok account, The Daily Allie.
Additionally, I have also established an Instagram account to post informative content relevant to my target audience.
Throughout the development of my DA, I have encountered a range of issues that contradict the expectations I had for my project and have haltered the growth of my accounts. As part of the design thinking methodology, I have practiced the application of project iteration techniques in an attempt to overcome some of the challenges I have faced.
PROBLEM 1: REACHING TARGET AUDIENCE ON TIKTOK
The videos I posted to TikTok weren’t being recommended by the algorithm to my intended audience. Instead, I observed that most of the likes, comments and page views on my account were coming from people I knew (or knew of). Specifically, from my home town.
SOLUTION: EXPERIMENTING
Moving back to the prototyping phase of the design process, I began experimenting with different video styles and subject matter.
By doing this, I learnt which content my intended audience engages with most. In this case, I discovered that videos with trending audios and chatty vlogs received more likes and comments from people I don’t know in comparison to my other videos. However, I observed that some videos of the same topic (eg, hauls) receive significantly different view counts. Further experimentation is needed to decipher what exactly determines the success of a video.
PROBLEM 2: LOW VIEW COUNT ON TIKTOK
Earlier on, the view count on my videos remained fairly static. My vlogs would consistently receive around 300-600 views- a majority of which were from people I knew.
SOLUTION A: FRAMING & REFRAMING
In an attempt to increase my TikTok’s engagement, I decided to apply the technique of framing and reframing (changing the central organising idea of my DA).
Prior to this reframing, my project was restricted by specific definitions and ideas. By changing the frame, I opened up my DA to new possibilities- increasing the range of content I could produce and the audience that views it.
SOLUTION B: EXPERIMENTING
In line with my project’s new frame, I have experimented with different styles of video to see my audience’s preferences.
As mentioned previously, longer-form talking videos and vlogs received the highest engagement on my account.
VIDEO WITH THE HIGHEST VIEW-COUNT:
VIDEO WITH THE HIGHEST LIKES AND COMMENTS
SOLUTION C: REMIXING
As part of my experimentation, I began researching methods of which content could increase my account’s engagement. As such, I decided to try the project iteration technique of ‘remixing‘ – taking something that exists and adding/modifying it in some way to create a new, slightly different derivative work.
I applied this technique to my project through the use of audio memes.
By using someone else’s audio from a trending video, the algorithm pushed my video to more people. As a result, I observed a fairly large growth in my account’s engagement.
Apologies for the poor quality- my Twitter account was
suspended so I can only access screenshots of my tweets.
PROBLEM 3: ESTABLISHING MY INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Reframing my TikTok account resulted in significant growth, however, I wanted to test my original frame using Instagram.
SOLUTION (IN PROGRESS): PIVOTING
By testing my original DA idea on Instagram, I applied the project iteration technique of ‘pivoting‘- which basically implies the problem may not be my goal, but the path I have chosen to get there.
With the original social utility for my DA being a platform to help Uni students navigate life away from home, I decided to create an Instagram page to upload informative posts for this intended audience.
Moving from TikTok to Instagram proved to be more challenging than I had expected. After several posts to Instagram, the engagement on my page has remained stagnant.
At this stage, the process of creating content for Instagram is not proving worth the significant amount of time it takes to produce. Moving forward, I plan to apply project iteration techniques (such as reframing and experimenting) to this page in an attempt to increase its engagement.
Breaking Good: Why Artists Remake, Experiment, and Smash Tradition
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41265-017-0043-9
How to Get More Views on TikTok: 15 Essential Strategies