Project Summary
My digital artefact is a Tik Tok account, Daily Ruby. The problem I initially was addressing was boredom in lockdown but once lockdown ended the problem shifted to individuals who are unmotivated. I developed this account because I wanted to inspire people. I wanted to inspire individuals who are like me to get up and do what they think they cannot. I wanted to inspire people to make small changes in their daily routines and see how much of their life will change. Through the world’s first lockdown it was extremely evident how quickly and how intense everyone’s boredom was. It was around this time that Tik Tok as a social media application really took off and expanded its audience of all ages, genders, races, sexuality and so much more. If you are to google ‘boredom in lockdown’ there are countless articles written on ideas to do in lockdown, cabin fever and just about boredom.
A book I have been reading, ‘How to do the work’ written by Nicole LePera speaks about breaking habits and creating new ones. One small habit change at a time, can change your entire life. LePera opens up about how her first small habit was to wake up and have a glass of water. So simple, yet so incredibly effective. She is walking proof that by changing one small habit at a time, can eventually turn your entire life around and change you as an individual. Recognising your patterns and learning how to put in the work to change bad habits and bad thoughts is such an important way to live. This was my goal for this digital artefact. I wanted people to see that by consistently doing one small thing every day, you can change so much about yourself and your life. I wanted to make a difference. In fact, it is because of this digital artefact and this past NSW Sydney lockdown that I have realised how I will achieve this one day. I have just started studying my Certificate 3 and 4 in fitness and through this, I want to change lives. I want to show people the way and help others to achieve their best potential. I think Daily Ruby is a great start to gain the audience that I need for this.
Through peer reviews and speaking to friends about my project, my content idea was related a lot to Anna Paul and her account. I was never someone who followed Anna Paul and so I looked into her accounts to see what these individuals meant. After looking through I realised why they would think my idea was similar to her style of videos however I feel like my aims and goals are not the same in any way. Anna Paul is a great inspiration for young females, and I am honoured to have been compared to her similar style of content however Anna makes her vlogs to share her life, as she lives a very interesting one and at some points will even focus on body positivity which is very needed in the media. My account, however, focuses more on showing what ‘regular’ people do every day and to show how creating small habits changes your life. The type of video though, is very similar.
Important Learning Moments
The above starter pack shows perfectly how Daily Ruby will come across to a regular Tik Tok user. I feel as though it completely stereotypes me, however it is the truth. Just a young female, trying to make the most of lockdown and wanting to live a healthy life, despite the circumstances.
The first video I made went really well. I hadn’t established an aesthetic yet, I just wanted to see what it was like to create the type of video that I wanted too and see if it worked well for me and if it was possible to obtain an audience. This was clear to me as I felt the video did well, with over 700 views and upwards of 20 likes, I was happy with this outcome as it was a good starting point, especially considering the Tik Tok account was new, and nothing was filtered to my audience. I really enjoyed making the video, videoing little snippets of my day then just before uploading I did a voice over of what I was doing in the video. This video received positive comments and a book recommendation. Through lockdown I decided to start reading, despite me being someone who hates reading, to limit my phone screen time and create a small new habit for me, this was starting to work at the beginning of my Tik Tok account. I was getting comments about book recommendations and the book I was reading, however I stopped this as I realised that it was not attracting an audience that I know how to entertain. Through this event I learnt that in order for me to gain a wider audience I needed to upload regularly and ensure my videos are consistent.
For the first couple of weeks, I was on a good posting schedule of 3 videos per week. However, this motivation quickly faded as life started to get busy and one of my videos did poorly view wise. My videos were consistently getting around 300 views which I was happy with, until one of my videos only got 66 views. This was disheartening for me as I felt as though I was giving all that I could do this project, but I knew it was just time to re-assess the account and see what I could change.
After going through the account, I realised how repetitive my videos were. Because I was in lockdown, my videos were basically the same thing on repeat every day … just different outfits. So, I started to brainstorm what other types of videos I could do while still sticking to my goal and I thought to do more aesthetically pleasing videos. These include night-time routines, morning routines, skin care routines and so on. These types of videos are a lot quicker to make and don’t require me to take my whole day aside to film, I am only filming at one portion of my day which I prefer so much more. Also, with lockdown nearing the end I needed to be more realistic with what I could post as the days I work, it is unrealistic for me to film my full day.
I then filmed a morning routine, and it went super well. With over 600 views on the video, I could sense that this type of content was a lot more suitable for me and my audience. I really enjoyed making the video, not only was it quick and easy to make but it motivated me to have a slow morning and do little things for me, which is the whole purpose of this account. The comment section on that video was super positive as well, people seemed to really enjoy it.
I would say the type of comments I get on my videos/whole account are conversational. People like to see what I am up too and are free to ask questions about certain parts of the videos, like what book I am ready currently and so on. I also have friends and my fellow communication and media peers bringing up my account and asking me about it. I feel like it is a great conversation starter and gets the people around me, and my followers talking about finding motivation and what types of things to do.
Through the comments, people talking to me face-to-face and other students peer reviews on my account, I have learnt that my content is super relevant, especially in today’s media. The type of content that I have created on Daily Ruby is the type of content that most girls my age are interested in looking at or even making for themselves. I learnt that in order for my content to reach my intended audience, I needed to post regularly which I can admit I failed to do so towards the end especially. As life started to have some normality and I was going back to work, and picking up extra study commitments, Daily Ruby was forgotten about, and I wasn’t able to allow the account to reach its full potential. It also had come to my attention that I am classified as ‘that girl’. I have never heard of this before until I researched further into it, and it is crazy to see how much it resonates with me and the purpose of my account.
Being ‘that girl’ is a social media trend, more so on Tik Tok, of young females, like myself, who are looking to live healthier lives and basically ‘get their shit together’. They are the girls who drink green juices, go to the gym, and live a fit and healthy lifestyle which over the course of 2021 has been my main focus. I have completely changed my way of being and without even realising, become ‘that girl’. Although I am far from having my life together, being ‘that girl’ is about showing up for yourself and realising that you can do what you set your mind too. All it takes is one small decision to take the leap in the right direction. I can’t help but wonder whether if I had this knowledge of what ‘that girl’ was, before starting Daily Ruby, if the account would have done better than what it did. That was a mistake on my part, I should have researched further into it instead of just diving in and creating content. I could have filtered my content so much more and made the account something for others to go to for inspiration, but I lacked the knowledge on how to do that.
I have uploaded a video of my morning routine this morning (currently Friday 29 October 2021) and so far, I feel as though the video is doing well. With over 100 views, 10 likes and positive comment section, I feel like if I had put more effort into the account, I could have gotten so much further with an audience and feedback. The video was so much fun to make and since being out of lockdown, I feel like my life just has not stopped, and so allowing myself this morning to slow down, Daily Ruby made sure I did all the right things to centre myself and bring me back to a calmer state. Who knows, I may even continue to post after this semester is over.
Overall, I am happy with how my account has worked out. I feel as though, Daily Ruby, represents me and what I am all about perfectly and that is all I wanted for a digital artefact. I have always struggled to come up with a digital artefact as I don’t have a set hobby and I am not super into something, I just like to live life and so Daily Ruby was to showcase what a ‘normal’ person’s life looks like, without the glam of a camera crew, just me and my phone in lockdown. I am however, disappointed in myself for not giving the account 110% towards the end of the semester. I feel like with coming out of lockdown, and not receiving the views and likes I thought I was going too, I just didn’t want to do it anymore. It has been a great learning curve and the best way to end my final digital artefact. A very bittersweet moment for me.
Signing off, Ruby
immerse into media 