The Bigger Picture: Peer Commentary

BCM241: BLOG POST 6

Conducting peer feedback has proven to be more useful to my autoethnographic research than I had anticipated. Comparing and contrasting my work with others has been very useful in understanding new techniques and perspectives that can lead to more efficient and effective analysis in my autoethnographic research. I commented on Jess and Alyssa’s BETA’s, as I knew their research projects previously from commenting on their pitches, therefore, I could see how their research had evolved. It was affirming to see that both students had fully considered my feedback and implemented some points I had made. Again they both had very well done beta’s, therefore I was nit-picking from the assessment criteria, and aimed to add any helpful resources that had aided me in my autoethnographic research. When critiquing Alyssa’s BETA I found that she had a very good grasp upon TikTok as a platform and was performing well, something that I have been struggling with. I was specifically impressed with her comparative analysis of TikTok trends and observation methodologies, using excel to keep track of trends to analyse later. This analysis was very intriguing and could be useful to my research in terms of methodology when comparing platforms for my research. Possibly by implementing her technique, of logging the niche’s successes and failures, I may be able to efficiently form a coherent comparative analysis of the content in my niche.

Jess’s BETA was very informative and well structured, I paid particular attention to her analysis of the differences between the platforms of her niche, TikTok and Instagram. As I’m also drawing upon the differences of the niche on each platform to inform my autoethnographic research, Jess’s conclusions were of particular interest to my investigation. For example, Jess observed there was a popularity of Instagram over Tiktok due to slight differences in the communities on each platform, this is something I have also experienced within my niche, seeing this pattern informs me that this observation is apparent across different media niche communities. Through this realisation, I’ve considered that the differences I’ve experienced within my niche could be something to comprehend and consider in terms of the bigger picture of platforms distinctions. Thus, possibly understanding the broader functions of the platforms and then how those different functions inform the content in my niche. I’ve been looking at broad aesthetic differences, however, it may be worth gaining some secondary research broader than this to further inform my autoethnographic research in terms of distinctions in platform functionality and possibly help me figure out TikTok a little better.

Overall, this second feedback experience in my autoethnographic journey has helped force me to focus on implementing reflexivity and flexibility into my approach, withdrawing my bias and consumption of only my niche and engaging in other perspectives and functions of other niches in the social media apps I’m involved with. Thus, allowing for further insight moving forward with my ethnographic research.

Thank you! 🙂