Audiences BP2
Engagement Without the Ring.
When communicating, no matter the platform, the most important thing to consider is audience engagement. There are a lot of factors that goes into making a successful paper, speech, or even blog post, and it all deals with knowing your audience. You want to connect with your audience to engage in conversation or support. However, it's not always as cut and dry when working online. When published online, your work is available for EVERYONE to see, comment, and share. It might not always get the attention you intend for it to get. Some might be positive feedback or thoughtful comments, but typically it's negative toward the content or creator.
While discussing this idea in Dr. Hope's class, she showed a picture of a tweet of a Twilight tattoo and the original author captioned it, "I know you're not supposed to copy other people's tattoos but hear me out." It was intended for those into tattoos as well as those in the Twilight fandom, however there were people who got ahold of it tearing the author of the post apart for her half joking caption of "stealing" a tattoo. It was to show the iconic idea of having Edward Collin's sparkly face tattooed on their body. This brought me to the idea of how "booktok" is supposed to appeal to those who are interested in reading specific genre. It is a wonderful section of Tik Tok for those who enjoy sharing and reading book recommendations. However, the internet is for all to see, so it doesn't always hit the target audience. Sometimes there are people who don't like a certain author or even the book as a whole get to view these videos, and their quite rude about voicing their opinions. Nonetheless, there are always mixed reviews about everything in existence, but that's what sparks conversation. The audience engages in a conversation (sometimes productive, sometimes not) about the reading community as a whole.
By knowing your audience, whether they are Twilight lovers or book lovers, and knowing their commonality you get to spark engagement to amplify your content as a communicator.
Hi Merika! I love your blog. I also did booktok, though I wanted to focus mine more on marketing, but I love how you related it to audience engagement. The for you page can be such a tedious thing. I know I myself have some unwanted videos popping up on my feed, so it's interesting to see how you apply audience engagement to situations like negative posts. Booktok can be a tricky place. There have been too many books that did not deserve to see past the editing stage that have unfortunately made their way to my bookshelf all because of glowing recommendations. On the other side of that, however, there have been many books, like A Court of Thornes and Roses (which I know you didn't care for) that had many negative reviews and ended up being the story to get me out of a four year long reading slump. Audience engagement is everything. Well done.
ReplyDeleteHey Merika! I loved the topics you discussed throughout this blog post. I think reaching one's target audience plays such an important role in the feedback that they receive. BookTok was the perfect example of the importance of reaching one's target audience. Many books receive more hype than they truly deserved because of the audience that they reached and the clout they were given. Colleen Hoover is a prime example. While her books may be interesting and include heart wrenching plots, the quality of the writing itself is mediocre. Despite the lower quality of Hoover's writing her books have become some of the most popular pieces of literature in 2022. Hoover hit her target audience and her career in writing has taken off in a way that she never expected. Her books are now being made into films and TV shows. Hitting one's target audience can truly change an author's life.
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