For my digital artefact this semester for DIGC335, i’ve decided to continue my digital artefact from last years DIGC202 class, Chattr. What began as a weekly video series with my friends, became a registered business over the summer holidays. So for my first blog post, i’ve decided to give a brief overview and introduction as to what Chattr was, what Chattr is, and what Chattr will be. You can check Chattr over on Facebook!
Was:
Last year, Chattr recorded and released a video series called “Uni Life Savers”, where we aimed to interview students around campus about topics regarding the university lifestyle. As well as just recording and editing a short video series, we also did extensive research into media platforms to release onto, advertising through Facebook and did some serious statistical research. We also experimented with looks for the show, and using different equipment to create a different feel to the show. I’ll be going through the practical side of Chattr in a later blog post, where i’ll talk in depth about how we film and what we use. Here’s a great example of this video series:
Now:
Chattr has now become much more than one video series. It’s become my full time job. Chattr has become a media and entertainment business, almost like a mixture between Buzzfeed, Vice and College Humour. We have a group of dedicated people who all see the potential of what Chattr could become, and want the chance to learn and be involved in this industry.
Chattr has evolved into a popular media entity around UOW, as well as other universities. We moved our intended demographic to outside of the university, and broadened our reach to Sydney and Wollongong as a whole, aiming for 16-25 year olds.
We’re planning on releasing 7-8 videos per week, including; Our classic Vox Pop series, Surround Sound (music) segments, Staff Videos, Shorts and our own twist on the news. We’ve also invested into a website chattr.com.au which is still in it’s development stage, where we intend on earning revenue through online advertisements, and publishing all our videos and articles.
What It Will Be:
While it’s too early to really see what Chattr will become, I can only really speculate with what i’d like it to become. We set out with Chattr in 2016 with the aim of creating our own paid full-time jobs by the end of the year, along with everyone else in the team, so that we would be able to jump straight into jobs that we’ve created ourselves.
With the growth that we’ve seen so far, i’m confident that Chattr will pick up throughout this year, and will become a recognisable brand throughout certain uni’s in the next few years, especially with the partnerships and opportunities we’ve had at Western Sydney University, Macquarie University, University of Technology Sydney and University of Wollongong.
Conclusion:
Chattr is something that i’m investing my time, money and life into, and both everyone helping out and myself hope that the success of it reflects the time and effort we put into it. I’ll be writing about Chattr for my blog posts, and reflecting on the theoretical and practical sides of it.
jakepascoe.com 
Reblogged this on cybercultures blog.
Hi there
I checked out some of Chattr’s content, good stuff. As a graphic designer and marketing student you guys are definitely on track to creating a brand and visual identity that will resonate with your target audience. I hadn’t heard of Chattr before, but glad I stumbled across it. Creating a website is a great next step; will the website be your centralised point of contact or will that still be your Facebook account? Your content is really relatable to your chosen demographic so excellent choice there. Have you considered making a ‘competitive set’? Basically in design and marketing its about analysing the competitors finding patterns (what are their strengths, weaknesses etc.). From there you can see what works and what doesn’t, this will also give you insights into your point of difference (what makes your content different and better than others). Once you know what that is capitalise on that. Here is a link to get you started http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250963. The source is amazing and a definite read bout Buzzfeed and their strategy. Additionally you might want to investigate other social medias (Are you guys on snapchat?). Loving your work, will be keeping up on the latest content.
From, a fan. 🙂
Found this other article http://www.smartinsights.com/content-management/content-marketing-strategy/ 🙂
Chattr really stands out from the crowd in terms of success stories for digital artefacts across the media and communications cohort, due to what I believe is the time and research invested in it. I remember the progression that was obvious from video 1 to 2. Things that people wouldn’t consider when making a project like this seemed to be effortless covered by the personnel involved. The content has been regular in production which is also a commandment to the time spent in making sure there were regular videos uploaded. The integration of Facebook would definitely be one of the smarter moves the project saw, due to the current involvement from students (and staff) knowing they can access it easier, through the platforms automatic player and the higher population using Facebook than YouTube. In terms of direction, the plans to take this further is really exciting to which I wish you all the best. I don’t have a lot of new ideas for you guys, however I know of a visual service that could benefit your social media statistics. Gephy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLiv3xnEepw) as shown to another user, can help in generating what’s normally statistical and numerical graphs into visualisations that enhance cross platform results and analysis. I look forward to continuing to follow the progression of this, and seeing it act as a go to business for university achievements and innovations.
Coming from an outside perspective (study abroad student) that has never heard of Chattr before, I think that this is a really cool idea! Since I haven’t seen your progression from last year to this year, I am very interested in how this project/company grows. And from the perspective of a video editor (or at least an aspiring editor), I am looking forward to reading your post about the practical side of Chattr.
In today’s society, many millennials find themselves getting their news sources from media companies such as Buzzfeed or Vice (both of which your company has molded around). A lot of my friends back home give me crap for going on Buzzfeed all of the time, saying that I’m giving into their click bait. Do you see your company adding to this phenomenon? I think that it would be interesting to look into this marketing strategy and see how your company has or has not fallen into this click bait category. Also, do you think that this type/genre of news is changing the way people look at journalism?
Another thing to consider: I know you had mentioned that you have broadened your target audience to those in Sydney and Wollongong, but have you considered expanding even more, say like, to the States? Is it a long-term goal to reach a global audience and if so, what would be the steps in achieving this? Or if not, why are you choosing to stay within Australia?
I look forward to reading your upcoming blog posts and seeing how this project/company/digital artifact unfolds! Best of luck to you.
(Sorry if this comment is all over the place! Hopefully it makes sense!)
A good start to the session, and a solid post introducing those who are unfamiliar to Chattr. What do you think makes the project a product of cyberculture? What are the conceptual elements of networks, computation, cybernetics and the cybercultural paradigm that are challenging or potentially positive elements for your project?
Hey Jake!
I am really excited that you chose to pursue the whole idea of Chattr that emerged from your 2nd year DIGC topic. It’s been amazing to see it develop from a video series to a complete online community of young adults creating interesting and relatable content!
Your uni-life savers video series from 2015 was a perfect way to engage university students at UOW and get the name out there for what now is not only a Facebook page but appears to be becoming a business.
I definitely agree that you have the potential to allows this to become a page or communication media company similar to buzzfeed of collegehumour etc! It has the potential already to become an amazing online community! For your next blog I think it would be cool to look at the rise and fall of other media companies similar to Chattr, you could maybe analyse why they’re relatable or why they’re as big as they are today. And also look at old social media or online businesses and why they are no longer successful or why they became unpopular. This would both allow you to relate it to the topic of cyberculture and the internet and also give you some cool data and analysis to help build or learn from other companies successes and failures.
Some advice I would potentially make for Chattr itself is giving the titles of the videos more “clickbait” to allow (sucker people in) more viewers. Also with your video content, the thing that drew people in with the Uni-lifesavers video series was the opening of the video. I believe its always important to capture the attention of the viewer in the first 5-seconds so that the viewer (which will most likely be an impatient university student) is interested immediately in what they’re about to watch!
Hoping that Chattr continues to grow and reach not just UOW students but other universities around our state or even country!
Excited to see your next blog, hoping you can bring in topics about cybercultures, online communities and maybe even the rise and fall of other media companies!