WHAT IS YOUR MEDIA NICHE?

Media ethnography is the practice of exploring genre readings, issues of race and gender, family living and identity to develop an understanding of active audiences in order to understand them as a cultural form (Murphy, 1999). Ethnographers must turn their full attention to the actions and verbal responses of individuals to ultimately discover how people build meaning in relation to their experiences and actions through their existence and world views (Ardévol and Gómez-Cruz, 2014).

 

For my Digital Artefact, I have chosen to explore the human experiences that come from the niche market of poetry. Poetry in our society often has three main effects on the human psyche; it triggers our emotions, strengthens our brains, and provides an environment for self-reflection. Poetry as an autoethnographic tool and research method explores both the past and present lived experiences of individuals within our forum. Poetic autoethnography is created when the poetry is written by the researcher themselves in relation to their own life experiences (What is Poetic (Auto) Ethnography?, 2022), which is what I intend to create.

 

It is understood that there is no singular audience of poetry that can be generalised into a category of certain people. This is because poetry is written in themes and therefore is appreciated by those who can resonate or empathise with these certain ideas. I believe that every varying stream of poetry is in itself, its own niche, with its own group of people who follow and feel the meanings of the writing. For example, there are poems about love, loss, healing, hurt, danger, self-reflection, journeying, change, and particular environments etc. Hundreds and hundreds of varying subject matter, all connected by individuals who feel the same similar sense of emotion and crave the new understanding that comes with reading or writing your perceived unaesthetic thoughts, simply. The major personas of this niche I believe are those seeking a new perspective or outlook on personal experiences, and in doing so, we may project a perfected version of ourselves in the pursuit of mental rejuvenation or connectedness to the subject material.  

 

I wish to create a digital space through Instagram and Pinterest to publish my own compositions of poetry about healing from hurt and reconciling with your inner afflictions.

To both explore and explain my personal experiences, and form connections with likeminded or experienced individuals. This is ultimately, to further understand the unique and unpleasant histories we all hide, and to find comfort in the knowledge of a similar community.

 

The main ethnographic skill I will employ to better understand these shared human experiences is observing the online interaction with my content, to measure the relatability of this niche in the public sector. However, first I will create my own poetic content to immerse myself into the world of writing as a creator, strengthening my understanding of the emotive value necessary to create workable art.

 

 

 

Resources:

 

Ardévol, E. and Gómez-Cruz, E., 2014. Digital Ethnography and Media Practices. The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies, First Edition., 7(1).

 

Murphy, P., 1999. Media Cultural Studies' Uncomfortable Embrace of Ethnography. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 23(3), pp.205-221.

 

Poeticethnographers.com. 2022. What is Poetic (Auto) Ethnography?. [online] Available at: https://www.poeticethnographers.com/p/what-is-poetic-auto-ethnography.html#:~:text=Poetic%20(Auto)%20Ethnographers&text=Poetic%20(Auto)%20Ethnography%20is%20research,different%20poetry%20research%20writing%20methods.  [Accessed 5 August 2022].