Needing a Feeding – Contextual Essay

Needing a Feeding is my Instagram cooking account where I produce recipe videos. I originally developed the account to document my love of food and interest in nutrition. The content is aimed at a younger audience that might have limited cooking experience, equipment and ingredients but still want to make tasty nutritious dishes. So I wanted to encourage my audience to try cooking new dishes and provide them with meal ideas. 

Instagram analytics

My instagram audience reflects this utility as the majority of my followers is 18-24-year-olds. So by making content that is aware of their limitations, I wanted my content to stand out against the vast amount of food content that may involve complicated methods and expensive ingredients. 

Filming set up

This semester I experimented with the format of Instagram reels in order to create short-form 15-second videos. So once I decide on a recipe that matches my audience utility, I set up my filming equipment in my kitchen which includes my phone, a self-made tripod and my laptop for easy viewing of my phone screen. Once I finished filming my meal, I edit the footage within my phone through an app called “VLLO” in order to save time on exporting. I then upload and draft the reel so I can later post it at a time when my audience is active.  

Active times for my audience

@fitgreenmind & @hannah.banana182

By first experimenting with the format of Instagram Reel, I reduced my videos to 15 seconds. As discussed in my beta, my initial Instagram reels would bounce between 500 to 80 views, which I suggested was due to the algorithm encouraging the use of a new update. 

When comparing this to my latest reels that I would share to an uni engagement group chat, the initial interaction from the chat helped to spread my content to accounts that were not following me.

Comparison of Reel views from beginning of semester to now

The scarcity of user’s attention addressed in the lecture also encouraged me to create short form reels as I am competing with the abundance of similar content on Instagram. Especially because I have already addressed that my audience is short on time. 

Cross-media experimentation was also an important process to “Needing a Feeding”. Since Reels are already in the same format of Tik Tok I began posting to the site. An issue I encountered with Tik Tok is that you have to heavily rely on the “for you page” in order to gain views, so while I could receive 1700+ views on a video the algorithm has favoured, it would not drive new followers. 

Similarly when posting to the subreddit “r/budgetfood” I would received more interaction then any other media site, especially in the form of comments. This was encouraged by the international posters on the subreddit that would create discussions. 

Audience differences

Both accounts lacked the ability to maintain a following as neither account would receive an increase in followers from popular posts. This meant that my posts could not fall back on reliable followers that consistently engaged with my posts, like my Instagram did. 

Follower differences

Experimenting with cross-media production was influenced by convergence culture. Although I was posting the same content, the different cultures formed in their dedicated site meant that the participation and engagement with the content was completely different. 

How utility of posts change between each social account

Resources:

Bera, M (2020) “ Why You Should Use Instagram Reels To Build Your Following” Backstage

Deuze, M (2006) “Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work” Indiana University, Department of Telecommunications, pp. 19-20

Instagram (2020) “Intoducing Instagram Reels” Instagram Blog

Mitew, T (2020) “The attention economy and the long tail effect” Prezi

Mitew, T (2020) “The chronic task of sorting: information flows and liquid labor” Prezi

Vaswani, J (2020) “Trends On Instagram For Food Bloggers” Kicksta

Coffee in the Cloud

It’s no surprise that all kitchen appliances now have the capability to be a part of the Internet of Things. Mitew notes that this gives objects “a unique identity”. These sort of “networked objects” each have their own set of capabilities. Although a smart coffee machine might set you back a few hundred dollars, it can address each of these capabilities.

When set up the machine will have a unique network address, allowing it to be connected to other devices such as a smartphone. 

It uses sensors to track coffee bean amounts, water levels and milk temperature.

Information about your coffee can be stored, such as the style and levels so you store the precise measurements.

The coffee machine may automatically begin warming up at a certain time in the morning which is initiated by the cloud’s algorithm.

Then you are able to remotely begin brewing a coffee whilst getting ready.

All of this is done through the interface of a smartphone app for your smart coffee machine.  

My remediation gif, coffee made by the cloud

Botnets – The Not So Fun Robots

A network of robots sounds fun until it gets shortened to Botnets, and instead of getting up to fun antics together it just infects your computer and tries to steal your identity. This is the unfortunate side of the internet, that uses unsuspecting computer users to gain information, continue a scam, commit fraud or distribute spam all through remote controlled software. 

Although an email virus sounds like obvious that your mum would click on, Schreier discusses the sophistication of programs such as Storm Worm in “On Cyberwarfare”.

In terms of these viruses being fun robots, these capabilities include:

• Self morphing – throwing on a disguise to avoid police
• Self defending – rebuilding itself after you thought you killed it
• Self replicating – making little clones to make army bigger
• Self cloaking – distracting and confusing you so you can’t track it
• Self encrypting – hiding in an out of metal poles so it is not detected 

This week’s remediation is a take on a Storm Worm compromising your computer with random TikToks

Credit to all of these TikToks:
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQBeRpU/


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQkWajr/


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQk4CKr/


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQkEd9F/


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQkcmn3/


https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSQkn8vo/

Needing a Feeding Beta

A big part of my DA has been experimenting with formats and platforms, in order to see any changes in results. 
Instagram Reels offered a different experience in content interaction compared to regular Instagram posts, it is unfortunate that they do not yet offer insights for Reels so you are unable to pinpoint where your audience is coming from. Though an important piece of evidence that would explain a higher amount of views through Reels would be the Instagram algorithm favouring posts that take advantage of new updates with a dedicated section in user’s explore feed. So when assessing a difference in views from my regular posts to Reels, a driving factor would be the exposure through the explore page. 

Comparison of plays and likes from Instagram Reels and regular posts

TikTok’s has a way of choosing particular videos to push into peoples For You Page, while other videos may remain without much interaction. One video in particular received more plays and likes then I have ever gotten on my Instagram, but when comparing it closer this interaction is not significant enough for me to solely focus on TikTok. 

Differences between my most popular post on different platforms

So this slight interaction percent change is a good indication that I should continue posting to TikTok, as a simple difference like popular music, trending hashtags or similar content can be favored by the algorithm. 

Reddit was the most different to any other platform, as posting to subreddits such as “Budget Food” opened my content to a new audience. Especially considering 67% of my Instagram followers are from Australia when I would receive comments stating they were from places like South America, Canada and Switzerland I was shocked. This sort of global participation also translated in the comment section as Reddit instead encouraged many different conversations whether they were substitution options, recipe questions or people discussing when they are going to make my recipe.   

Differences between my Instagram comments vs my Reddit comments

Spamming for Internet Freedom – Hacktivism

In 2009 the Internet Censorship Bill was proposed through the Rudd government, which was aimed to filter and blacklist websites under “refused classification”. To combat this risk, an internet attack was coordinated under the professional name “Operation Titstorm” where members of Anonymous would send spam to government websites which would disable them for three days.   

This sort of hacktivism allowed for global participation, without a central identity. Matthew George, who was apart of Operation Titstorm said “Anonymous isn’t really a group, it’s an idea” and “there are no ringleaders, there is no set place for Anonymous to meet, Anonymous is everyone and no one”. Without these physical boundaries hacktivists are able use actions such as the “distributed denial of service attacks” used in 2009, in order to protest for the freedom of knowledge. 

This week’s remediation combines themes of the Anonymous group with important words about climate change from David Attenborough, so instead of a menacing video it is a calming lofi audio. 

Egg Boy and Meme Warfare

Meme warfare utilises the internet’s behavior of spreading and copying content in order to spread narrative or ideas. The ability to contribute, go viral, remix and share on open source networks works as the perfect platform for spreading and influencing political systems.

#EggBoy (Will Connolly) was known as hero for smashing an egg on the far right senator Fraser Anning after he blamed the Christchurch attack on Muslim migration. As this headline and video went viral, #eggboy became a sensation with many memes created to accompany. 

The egg smashing video, photos of Will or just a single egg was used as a symbol against racism in protest of the senator’s highly criticised views. Anonymous users were able to remix egg boy content and post it to sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook where people were able to further circulate and share this content to demonstrate their support for Will. 

Week 8 remediation

The Walled Garden and Copyright

As we fill our socials with more and more information about us we need to consider where it is and how it is being used. Sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Netflix and Google operate under a Walled Garden. This sort of system ties everything back to them, and places more control in their hands. This can be done through copyright and licensing. 

Boldrin points out that part of copyright is enabling the owner to control the use of intellectual property after it has been sold. But what if we are no longer the owners of our content? Senator Jon Tester said to Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook “You’re making about forty billion bucks a year, and I’m not making any money—it feels as if you own the data”. 

My remediation is based around this notion that although many companies claim they do not own our data, it seems strange that they are still able to sell it.  

Netflix Algorithm and the Attention Economy

How do you market mass content to separate niche communities? Well you can start by changing the thumbnails, at least that is what netflix does… This week’s Mark Manson’s reading points out that the ability to control your own attention and focus is a valuable asset. Becoming more self aware on how businesses profit off your attention is useful to identify where they are trying to push you.    

For instance, it is now more well known that Netflix will customize series and movies thumbnails based on what the algorithm says about you. This is to encourage users to watch content because it may seem like something they have already watched, or already enjoy. 

Artwork personalized at Netflix

So in the case of Netflix, attention to a particular series/movie will create user dedication towards their Netflix subscription making them less unlikely to cancel it. 

This week my remediation is based around then many thumbnails for Netflix’s Stranger Things, what kind of viewer are you?

The Liquid Life

COVID’s impact on working from home is a realistic example on the liquid life. Deuze’s concept of “personal information spaces” is the environment that many of us are locked into when working remotely, as the separation between uni/work/home becomes blurred and intertwined. This contrast between social isolation and connection to the world occurs everytime we close our bedroom door and log into a group call for uni, although we are by ourselves we are also connecting with our peers and tutors kilometres aways. 

The Black Dog Institute and other mental health organisations have many checklists and sources for advice to help assist people in essentially the liquid life, as many people undertake remote work. A big part of this is setting up “boundaries” between work and home by organising a schedule. But a huge part of the liquid life is the “blurring of modern life’s traditional boundaries”.

Needing A Feeding Pitch

Needing a Feeding is an Instagram DA that I am continuing from last year. You’d think that since I have already run this page for one semester that my content style would be more concrete, but experimenting with different post styles will still be a big part of my account. Since Instagram recently introduced the new content format “Reels” I would like to see how this format changes my post reach. I am curious to know whether the algorithm is similar to Tik Tok, were one post could reach suddenly reach thousands of “for you pages”, or if this reach affects my post’s engagement. 

I will continue to target a younger/student audience with content that is aware of their limitations, yet love tasty nutritious meals. This type of specific content has proven to perform best in the past, so I will continue to interact with this audience and meet their needs.