Practicum #4- Brian Oliver

From this class, I have become a lot more comfortable and confident using other social media websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and other online communities. During my time researching these social media websites, I remembered what we learned about in class about an online community, and how in this community everyone shares a certain language and social norms. I’ve been on blip for about two months now, and I was just starting to understand the social norms on the website. I realized that on social media websites, people want to be interacted with, they want you to blip something at them, or reblip something that they did, and when someone reblips something you did or gives you props, it is socially recommended on blip.fm to say TY (thank you) in your next blip. Today I really paid attention to the social norms that people are adhering to on my news feed. I looked at all of the blips that were popping up and tried to notice any patterns in their blips to try to decode any All of these social norms are not official, but I noticed that it is standard procedure to blip at your blip listeners and members, and thank them for listening to you. I think this is a way to keep your listeners, or gain new ones. An example of this can be seen from today: A blip member wrote this when I added them as a new listener. “Thanks for props and new listeners @DJBOLIVERTWIST and @Dragonface.” They are making me feel special by blipping at me. Noticing these types of social norms, from looking at other people’s profiles, I thought that my future blips should incorporate some of these social norms, and maybe this will enhance my listenership. I continued my blipping with a playlist that I dedicated to my listeners of 10 songs.

I still want more listeners. So far, my ideas have been working to increase my listenership but I still want to become more popular. After being timid for months on blip.fm, not knowing what TY meant or some of the other social norms, I decided to get past my fears and act in the language and practices of this online community. Today, I acted like how I thought people were supposed to act on Blip. I reblipped songs that people had done, and blipped some songs at random blip members, as well as my listeners, and thanking them for being my listener. I personalized some messages to people saying things like, I thought you would enjoy this song, and blipped it straight at them. As to say, here from looking at your profile, I thought you would like this song, so I blipped it to you. I have seemed to be getting favorable responses, and maybe it is because that I am starting to seem like I am a regular on blip. I am using the common language, and telling people thank you, or other things that would make me stand out as a blip veteran, and these veterans are the people with the most listeners. Interacting with others is what social media is all about, and this is what my goal was for today; to interact with as many people as possible on the website.