Week 5 and 6

Hello, welcome back to my blog! I combined my week five and six blogs. During week five, we  created three videos. In one, we used the AI function on instagram to create outfits that a taurus would wear. In another, we showed  a new compostable necklace made of bioplastics,  as well as a video with new bags that recently arrived. At the beginning of the week, we talked about a video that Kelly produced a couple of weeks ago that got 42,000  views which continues to get more and more views every day. We looked at the insights of that video and found that the average watch time was about 10 seconds, meaning that people stayed engaged throughout the majority of the video. We assumed that it was a combination of the anticipation and the simple filming style that made it appealing to followers. Therefore,  for these videos we tried to build that anticipation and interest in the hopes of engaging more customers. 

During week six, we wanted to change the type of content we were making since we have been doing a lot of product content. We decided to do street interviews about sustainability. Myself and another sales associate went outside of the store and asked people walking by questions about sustainability. We asked three questions and split this into a three part series (one video for each question). This was a fun way to switch up the type of content while also spreading information about the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Additionally, we did a couple more videos following trends we had seen on either tiktok or instagram, adapting them to fit the store to see if those types of videos would generate more views or likes as a result of simply  showing products from the store. 

Outside of my placement I researched more about the history of influencers and social media’s impact on thrifting and buying clothes second hand. I read  “The effects of instagram-based information dissemination and the perceived green value on z-generation’s interest in thrifting” from the Ilomata International Journal of Social Science. Their research found that social media was extremely effective in promoting thrifting. They found that thrifting became trendy because of Gen z’s concern for the environment and sustainability. Gen z had always been more environmentally conscious than previous generations, while social media has increased awareness on the issue. 

Additionally, I released my survey online, but I still need to print flyers out and plan where in the city I will put posters up because the results can vary depending on the location. 

We planned our posting schedule this week and we will try to see if Friday is a good day to post while we will continue to monitor the views and watch time for that video. In the upcoming week I will pose  my survey in more places and in turn observe how certain trends become trendy on social media.