DP #2: Encourage Duality in Social Media

 

The audience I’m choosing for my second digital project is going to be the street wear NYC fashion creators on tiktok. I know this may seem odd, especially thinking about the problem in Chinatown with the disappearing street signs. I think this specific audience is a great one thinking about this issue because these tiktokers create videos romanticizing New York and its culture, possibly unsure of problems citizens of New York face or just not touching base upon them. I think it’s understandable why these people just want to make silly fashion videos, but it is also important to show the negative things going on as well and to raise awareness. 

Thinking generally, this group would only know that this problem is in Chinatown in New York. I’m sure some of them know about this issue because a lot of these creators do make content in Chinatown, but I don’t believe that most of them do. They need to know the history behind this issue and why it is increasing, currently. They need to know how crucial these bilingual signs can be for the community of Chinatown, especially for residents who do not speak English. They also need to understand how these attacks on the signs are hate crimes. I think they should use their platforms to raise awareness on this issue because it is not so commonly spoken about, and there should be duality in content. Only creating content that fulfills what is appealing to viewers and leaving out real things that happen does not make these issues less real or less damaging, it is a form of bystanding especially when you are constantly in that area where these problems exist. 

The best method of appealing to this audience would most likely be through using facts to explain historical content but also pathos could be helpful so they can understand it from others perspectives. I think the pathos is not as important because a lot of Chinatown residents don’t fully understand this issue either. You can reach this audience through tik tok, or possibly youtube as well. I say that both platforms could be appealing because a lot of these tiktok creators have a youtube channel where they make longer videos of what they similarly post on tiktok. I’m thinking of two specific examples of these type of creators who I am a fan of. Their names are Jaidabunni and Queturah.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8R42aWL

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8R4NmCr

These are examples of what they have posted. Queturah posts more about her growing up in NYC more on her youtube channel and Jaidabunni lives in Minneapolis but she visits NYC a lot and makes a lot of content there with her friends. I think these girls remain as a good general example of this type of community on tiktok.