AC2.2 - Write-Up
Blogs are an effective but outdated source of media. It involves an individual or a small
group of people updating a website regularly, written in an informal or conversational style. It
allows you to express yourself, share knowledge and connect with others who have similar
interests. This allows the authors to connect with similar people who would actually like to
read your blogs and grow a stable fanbase. For campaigners, this builds a foundation for
loyal followers and potentially be a diary to show insight into how the campaign is doing.
Blogs tend to be kept up to date by the owner/s, allowing people to learn more about recent
events. This is great to learn about changes/incorporations that a campaign has made or
perhaps daily cases of somebody who has been helped by the campaign physically or
mentally. It is also accessible by everybody, allowing it to grow over time by nature due to the
internet's exponential growth in a few decades. However, blogs are very limiting in actual
followers as not all people will want to sit there and read copious amounts of text as they
might prefer a more light-hearted escape from reality as they scroll through the internet.
There is also the element of blogs being outdated in society as the younger generations
have a shorter attention span and with social media apps (like Instagram or Facebook) being
more “interesting”, blogs are being used less and less. Some social media users do still
prefer blogs and take an interest in the app, Reddit, whereas some like to listen to audio
versions of blogs. As well as being out of date, blogs also take extensive amounts of time
and effort from the author/s which can be hard if a campaign grows in popularity and they
need to manage the media and the physical campaign (unless they use an online
campaign). For example, the Unlock campaign has successfully used blogs that are
accessible to anybody on their website and are always up to date to upload statistics. They
were successful because they managed to reach their target audience (mainly ex-convicts).
They even included a personal, heartfelt story about the charity and share its impact
month-to-month. As blogs are outdated, social media is a much better source of media to
reach younger target audiences who more actively want change in the world. As blogs don’t
hit this target audience and reaches the older audience, it isn’t as effective as getting its
message across for change to happen in the world.
, Viral messages are where a message is passed from one person to another via social
media. This could involve individuals ‘tagging’ friends and family in posts or sending direct
messages/posting things to them. A huge advantage of this is that it will work quickly and will
have a wide reach to the public which campaigns for change need in order to get their
message known and for action to be taken place. As more and more people see it and send
it to their friends, the quicker the message will spread and overnight, or a few
days/weeks/months, it can become a sensation from just one post/account and can lead to
increased visibility of the campaign. Viral messaging is cost-effective as it can spread a
message without having to buy air time or newspaper slots as it is all online. Even if you
wanted a promotion on a popular influencer page, it would be a lot cheaper to do so than
other alternatives such as advertisements. Messages tend to be sweet and short to get
people’s attention so that it’s easy to pass on. This makes them more memorable and could
lead to a long-term impact on individuals, leading to the long-term success of the campaign.
However, most viral messages have a short span of impact as there are always new things
being shown on the internet all the time. This leads to trends dying down quickly (ie weeks or
months) till the next trend begins and requires the campaigns to find other sources of media
to keep their popularity. There is also the possibility of the message being interpreted in the
wrong way as once the message is out there, the owner has a lack of control over what the
public view it as. Adding onto this, getting a viral message is entirely based off luck as it
depends on the platform's algorithms if they are to show your message to a wide range of
individuals or just a select few. Barely any messages go viral and there are hundreds, if not
thousands, of messages trying to get viral at the same time as you are trying to get yours
viral. Most things that go viral are also supposed to be simple and simplistic as complicated
messages will be interpreted completely differently and political topics don’t go viral without
receiving huge amounts of backlash. Despite these limitations, #metoo campaign did well as
they were successful in trending with their hashtag and let women have a voice on platforms
and share their survival stories. Viral messages are an unreliable source of media as hardly
any viral messages will become trends and go viral.
Blogs are an effective but outdated source of media. It involves an individual or a small
group of people updating a website regularly, written in an informal or conversational style. It
allows you to express yourself, share knowledge and connect with others who have similar
interests. This allows the authors to connect with similar people who would actually like to
read your blogs and grow a stable fanbase. For campaigners, this builds a foundation for
loyal followers and potentially be a diary to show insight into how the campaign is doing.
Blogs tend to be kept up to date by the owner/s, allowing people to learn more about recent
events. This is great to learn about changes/incorporations that a campaign has made or
perhaps daily cases of somebody who has been helped by the campaign physically or
mentally. It is also accessible by everybody, allowing it to grow over time by nature due to the
internet's exponential growth in a few decades. However, blogs are very limiting in actual
followers as not all people will want to sit there and read copious amounts of text as they
might prefer a more light-hearted escape from reality as they scroll through the internet.
There is also the element of blogs being outdated in society as the younger generations
have a shorter attention span and with social media apps (like Instagram or Facebook) being
more “interesting”, blogs are being used less and less. Some social media users do still
prefer blogs and take an interest in the app, Reddit, whereas some like to listen to audio
versions of blogs. As well as being out of date, blogs also take extensive amounts of time
and effort from the author/s which can be hard if a campaign grows in popularity and they
need to manage the media and the physical campaign (unless they use an online
campaign). For example, the Unlock campaign has successfully used blogs that are
accessible to anybody on their website and are always up to date to upload statistics. They
were successful because they managed to reach their target audience (mainly ex-convicts).
They even included a personal, heartfelt story about the charity and share its impact
month-to-month. As blogs are outdated, social media is a much better source of media to
reach younger target audiences who more actively want change in the world. As blogs don’t
hit this target audience and reaches the older audience, it isn’t as effective as getting its
message across for change to happen in the world.
, Viral messages are where a message is passed from one person to another via social
media. This could involve individuals ‘tagging’ friends and family in posts or sending direct
messages/posting things to them. A huge advantage of this is that it will work quickly and will
have a wide reach to the public which campaigns for change need in order to get their
message known and for action to be taken place. As more and more people see it and send
it to their friends, the quicker the message will spread and overnight, or a few
days/weeks/months, it can become a sensation from just one post/account and can lead to
increased visibility of the campaign. Viral messaging is cost-effective as it can spread a
message without having to buy air time or newspaper slots as it is all online. Even if you
wanted a promotion on a popular influencer page, it would be a lot cheaper to do so than
other alternatives such as advertisements. Messages tend to be sweet and short to get
people’s attention so that it’s easy to pass on. This makes them more memorable and could
lead to a long-term impact on individuals, leading to the long-term success of the campaign.
However, most viral messages have a short span of impact as there are always new things
being shown on the internet all the time. This leads to trends dying down quickly (ie weeks or
months) till the next trend begins and requires the campaigns to find other sources of media
to keep their popularity. There is also the possibility of the message being interpreted in the
wrong way as once the message is out there, the owner has a lack of control over what the
public view it as. Adding onto this, getting a viral message is entirely based off luck as it
depends on the platform's algorithms if they are to show your message to a wide range of
individuals or just a select few. Barely any messages go viral and there are hundreds, if not
thousands, of messages trying to get viral at the same time as you are trying to get yours
viral. Most things that go viral are also supposed to be simple and simplistic as complicated
messages will be interpreted completely differently and political topics don’t go viral without
receiving huge amounts of backlash. Despite these limitations, #metoo campaign did well as
they were successful in trending with their hashtag and let women have a voice on platforms
and share their survival stories. Viral messages are an unreliable source of media as hardly
any viral messages will become trends and go viral.
