Online Presence Creation

Aim: To create an online presence for a fictional character from my feature film Zombie Undead.

Questions:

1 What is an online presence?
2 What applications create this presence?
3 Which applications would this character use for his demographic?

I answered these questions through researching on the web and also asking people what they thought the components of an online presence were.

Answers:

1 A footprint of an individual which may encompass home and work life both of which, by the nature of the presence, become public. The footprint can include : blogs, social networks, video diaries, websites, social bookmarks, aggregators, comment posts, forum posts, photo sharing, social messaging.

2 Blogger, Facebook/MySpace, Seesmic, any web space provider, Delicious, Retaggr, blogs/Delicious/Flickr, specific subject forum, Flickr, Twitter.

3 A blogging, social networking, social bookmarking and photo sharing appear to be the most used methods of constructing an online presence. As my remit is to create such a presence then I need to use several of these. As social networking by definition involves raising your online profile as high as you can then it makes sense also to use the most successful of these applications. Also demographics are important. I wouldn't use Bebo as this is for younger people. Also MySpace is often for a younger demographic or musicians. Both of which he is not.

An interesting part of this for me was the comment posts. Posting comments on others blogs would add an interesting aspect to the presence. Only having a blog, joining social networks etc would limit the realism. Most of us while blogging also comment on others posts if the blog is of sufficient relevance to us. It is this swarming of social connections that would raise the bar on this project. Also that is how I hope to get entangled with the 'real' social presence online. If i only create blogs, Facebook profiles and the like there will be no interaction with others as, obviously, the fictional character has no friends. Barry Wellman's concept of 'networked individualism'

Note to self : as character dies in the film, why not have posts about him missing online? Have his avatar die in Second Life?

Problems:

1 To construct a digital footprint which reflects the fictional characters personality and profile but with all the nuances, inconsistencies and contradictions inherent in a real human presence. Drunken posts at 3 AM? Rants about Facebook pokes that get no response? Again an interesting point is to see if the character can get any Facebook friends - do people accept friend requests even if they don't know this person?

2 Time need to create real media e.g. photos

3 Obtaining permission from actor to use likeness.

4 Need to create multiple emails so can post comments?

5 Time constraints - this could be a VERY large piece!

6 How do i record it?

Note to self : character uses mobile in film. On release could have him send a Twitter message when he is trapped.

Note to self : Need to create email address for character in Hotmail.

Trans-Literacy Tools

Spent most of today going through the tools in the workbook. Registering, playing, learning. First impressions, how they work, how can i use them.

Facebook - what can i say. Intensely annoying yet incredibly powerful. Can connect with other like minded people across the globe but we use it to tell people what we had for breakfast. It's value for me is in how you use it. Great for events and happenings, smart mobs and protests. I use it for my feature film group Zombie Undead.

Blogger - Well here we are. I use it for my movie and for a journal of my time at DMU. I equate my use to that of Facebook. Non-personal and creative. This Web 2.0 business is great to a point but there is very little interest to me reading someones diary unless there is some create insight or knowledge to be gained. Search i guess is the key. As with Facebook its how you use it that creates value.

Twitter - take the worst feature of Facebook, 'What are you doing right now' and make it into an application. Surely no sane minded person could have thought this would work? But it did and it does. Used this briefly a while back with the question 'Filming zombie film in Leicester. Need toilet location for xx/xx/08'. The responses i got all wanted a location fee but i got answers from people i didnt know. My network was widened. Twitter is a concept which i initially detested, see Facebook, but am gradually understanding and coming round to.

It would be very naive academically or personally to write off these tools as they do have great value. I just have to find that value and take a leap of faith.