Unit 35

OCR –
Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in
Media
Unit 35:
Social Media Products
St. Andrew’s Catholic School –
Unit 35 James Pickering 1197

The name ‘Instagram’ derives from the portmanteau of ‘instant camera and ‘telegram’.
The older versions of Instagram cropped the image to a 640x640 resolution (a square image
only), and only allowed for a 15 second video to be posted. The app was updated in July 2015
and now allows images of different sizes and 60 second videos. 23 filters are now available for
photo and video, 7 more than the original 16.
Instagram was bought by Facebook in April 2012 for $1bn (£629m) in cash and stock.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technolo
gy/2012/04/facebook-buys-instagram-
for-1-billion/
Instagram is a mobile photo/video sharing social media
network that allows people to publically and privately share
content. Instagram was launched in October 2010 by Stanford
University graduates Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. In just
under two years the app rapidly gained popularity, with over
100 million active users, to this day, Instagram has around 500
million users.
http://blog.instagram.com/post/534488
89009/video-on-instagram
https://www.facebook.com/business/ad
s-guide/video-views/instagram-video-
views

The denotation of Instagram’s slogan is ‘capture and share the world’s moments’-
“When I think about what Instagram is, I think about moments,” said Kevin
Systrom, the photo-sharing service’s co-founder and C.E.O. “I don’t like the idea of
Instagram as a photo-sharing service.” Systrom described it as “very much a
communication tool, it’s a visual communications tool.”
The verb ‘capture’ connotes the recording of something – a picture/ video or
moment can be seen to be related to Instagram. Instagram aims to capture and
share events from your perspective and share them with the world.

The Creators of Instagram
American entrepreneur and programmer
Kevin Systrom was born on the 30th of
December 1983 and is today the co-founder
and CEO of Instagram. He graduated from
Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree
in management science and engineering.
After graduating, he joined the team at
Google in the role of an associate product
marketing manager, managing Google
products such as Gmail, Google Calendar,
Google Docs and other Google products. In
his second year at Google he worked on the
corporate development team.
He has a net worth of US $1.1 billion 2016
Brazillian born Michael Krieger
entrepreneur and software engineer co-
founded Instagram after gradating with a
degree in symbolic studies at Stanford
University at which he met Kevin Systrom.
Krieger was the producer of the app
updates for Instagram for 3 years. To this
day he has a net worth of US $300 million.

Colour Scheme
The colour scheme of Instagram has no
one specific colour. The app icon was re
designed on the 11th of May 2016 from
this: To this:
The re-design is more basic and has a
slightly more modern appeal to it.
Old -> New
The new app interface offers a black
and white look, bringing a cleaner
layout. Icons have been changed and
given new style to give a more sleek
look. The layout and function of the
app has remained unchanged.
Home – latest
posts of
people you
follow
Search –
users,
hashtags and
locations
Upload –
images and
videos
Likes – see who
has liked your
posts and who
has tagged you in
a post
User profile – your
feed of posts –what
other users will see
when they search
you
Instagram sponsored advertisements
are run through Facebook and can be
set up through ‘Ad Creation’, ‘Power
Editor’ or ‘Facebook Ads API’. This
allows the advertiser full range of
filtering target audience demographics
such as age, gender and interests. This
demographic data is collected through
the user’s Facebook account and tracks
pages visited. This data is then
transferred over to Instagram allowing
the most relevant posts to appear on
the user’s home feed.

Instagram’s use of photo/video can bring negative uses of the
network. For example offensive photos or videos could be posted
in order to offend an individual. Violation of the community
guidelines within the network can result in your posts/account
being banned/deleted. Violation of the community guidelines
could involve posting material that you do not have the right to
share.
Violation of the community guidelines states that sharing of
nude images is strictly prohibited. Additionally, for safety
reasons, Instagram may remove images that show nude or
partially nude children.
Instagram wishes to stay as spam free as possible, asking you not
to artificially collect likes, followers or shares, posting repetitive
content or comments.
Instagram will also remove content as it does not support
breaking the law. The network states that it is not a place to
support or praise terrorism, organised crime or hate groups.
Offering sexual services, buying or selling illegal or prescription
drugs. This includes promoting recreational drug use.
https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119/

Instagram is a widely used social media
platform, therefore it has an extremely large
user base. This makes the product open and
appealing to all different demographics of user.
The largest demographic age of Instagram is of
18-24 years old. With reference to Hartley’s 7
subjectivities, Instagram is target at all age,
gender, ethnicity, family, class, self image and
nation. Instagram is target at being a global
social media, excluding countries it is blocked in
(Turkey, North Korea, Iran, China)
In reference to Katz’ gratification theory,
Instagram fits under the theory of ‘diversion’ –
where the audience are able to escape reality
and immerse themselves into the text. This
relates to Instagram as the user can immerse
themselves into the images and feel like they
are there with celebrity. This could also be
related to humorous posts as it will allow them
to relax and feel comforted by the humor of it
(memes).
The platform is used by many
celebrities, Selena Gomez is the most
followed user on Instagram with 102
million followers (November 2016.)
The majority of Instagram users will come under the
theme of ‘social climbers’ in reference to Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs as the user able to maintain a public
profile and adapt the image they portray on their profile.
They are able to grow their following (seen as improving
their status).
Instagram has around 600,000,000 global users
– December 2016
14 Million of these users are from the UK
http://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2016/01/04/social-media-statistics-2016/

The largest demographic age of Instagram is of 18-24 years old. With reference to Instagram’s ABC1 profile,
the users of Instagram are most likely to be in the E profile of the socio economic needs. This is because
they are younger people, still in education, meaning they are unemployed. The ABC1 profile cannot be
generalized to one sector due to its mass appeal. This can be seen by the use of the platform of people in
higher employment. Instagram can be used to share other things than capturing moments. It can be used by
large companies to share release and use of products.
With reference to Malsow’s hierarchy of needs, users of the
platform can be characterized into the theory of ‘Social Climbers’
in which they can be seen to be driven by improving their social
status. This is through the social status they will be achieving by
posting content of their lives onto the platform.
In accordance to the
psychographics chart, the users
of Instagram fall into the category
of ‘Aspirers’ as they are posting
their personal lives online for the
world to see.

Instagram is able to create a source of revenue
through the use of sponsored posts. Owned by
Facebook, Instagram uses the same sponsored
style posts to create revenue through the
platform. An Instagram/Facebook user is able
to pay for their post to be distributed across
different peoples timeline’s/feed’s. The price
they pay will allow the post to be highly
circulated and will mean a large quantity of
people will view it. This can be used in a
number of ways for the user: to advertise, to
create awareness or to receive likes.
The demographics of the target audience can be changed to the most appropriate options,
according to the advert. The ‘potential audience’ is predicted, and the circulation reach will
be reduced with how specific you are when choosing the demographic options.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjorO-
X4trSAhWsLcAKHRAVAtMQFghBMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen-
gb.facebook.com%2Fbusiness%2Fhelp%2F976240832426180&usg=AFQjCNGUCAUmmcalopF4xhOEuGuX6Xwfjw

Launched on February 4, 2004 by Harvard student Mark
Zuckerberg along with other room mates Eduardo
Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris
Hughes, Facebook has become the most popular social
media network in the world. The network was originally
limited to only Harvard University students, but it gained
such popularity it was expanded it to allow higher
education institutions in the Boston area, the Ivy League
schools, and Stanford University students to use the site.
Facebook gained huge popularity in 2008 and the
network of users has continued to grow in 2016.
However, Facebook now competes with other highly
popular social media sites such as Snapchat, Twitter,
Instagram and WhatsApp (now both owned by
Facebook). Facebook has attempted to purchase
Snapchat for US $3 Billion, but snapchat refused.
Computer programmer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and
Facebook’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has a net worth
of US $55.3 billion (October 2016)

The denotation of Facebook’s slogan is ‘Facebook helps you connect and share with
the people in your life’. – This is seen on the sign up page to Facebook on which you
will receive your first impressions and interactions with the platform. This simple
message aims to inform the new users what the platform offers. The verb ‘connect’
suggests the bringing together of two or more things. In this context, it is used to
demonstrate the connection between the Facebook users, connecting through:
statuses, messages, photos and videos.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&sour
ce=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiB1PvFidbSA
hWDLcAKHXQHAbAQFgghMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen-
gb.facebook.com%2FFaceboak-helps-you-connect-and-
share-with-the-people-in-your-life-
314476721897372%2F&usg=AFQjCNFLlp1DkQloTxrABo-
NYUQPcvYo2g

Facebook has a basic colour scheme, the dominant colours being
blue, white and light grey. These colours are simplistic and make for
a clean look. The notifications icon appear with a red box with
white numbers in, telling you how many of the certain notifications
you have. Fore example in the image, the user has 419 friend
requests.
As can be seen to the left, a Facebook page. The site is
made as easily navigable as possible to help appeal to all
ages. At the top left can be seen the home button that
will take you to your home feed which will show all posts
from people you are friends with and pages you have
‘liked’. In the top right can be seen the profile button that
will take you to your profile. Further to the right can be
found ‘find friends’ in which you can search for friends
through the use of contact information such as email and
phone number. ‘Home’ will take you to a control panel,
allowing you to control various thing such as settings,
events an groups.

With reference to Hartley’s seven subjectivities: gender, ethnicity, family, class, self image and
nation, Facebook is designed to be appealing to everyone. Facebook has pages/forums that
could appeal to huge varieties of people. For example a pensioner could use Facebook to keep
up to date about a knitting club via a Facebook page. Where as a 13 year old could use
Facebook to talk to their school friends. Facebook has potentially the widest target audience
of any social media product. Facebook has recently seen a decline in younger uses of the
network possibly due to other rivals such as Snapchat being more appealing to them.
With reference to Katz’ uses and gratifications theory;
Facebook fulfils two theories of ‘Inform and educate’ as
there will often be news posted on Facebook, therefore the
Facebook user is able to learn something from consuming a
Facebook post. This makes for a more relevant and
potentially ‘softer news’ headline that could be shown on a
news website such as the BBC. For some, Facebook may be
their source of news. The theory of ‘diversion’ is also relevant
as the user is able to explore the social media stories and
immerse themselves in the text and escape reality.

Facebook has a worldwide user count of 1.71 billion monthly active users and 1.13 billion daily active
users. 1.03 million users access the platform from their phones on a daily basis. The UK is said to have
32.5 million Facebook users, the largest sector of this 32.5 million being 20-29 year old males. The
largest sector of Facebook users fall within the 20-29 year old sector. There is a huge gap in
correlation between stats of 13-19 year olds to 20-29 year olds. This is likely to be due to the growth
of other platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram ‘murdering Facebook’ – (Casey Neistat 2014). The
younger generations deem other platforms more fun as they allow for a more interactive experience
of conversing with someone. The notion of seeing someone’s face through the use of a ‘selfie’ allows
for a more intimate conversation, as if it was almost face to face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKSr6h5-fCU
The Facebook user can be characterized into
‘Social Climbers’ (Maslow) in which they can be seen
to be driven by improving their social status. This is
through the social status they will be achieving by
posting content of their lives onto the platform.
Malsow’s hierarchy of needs characterizes
personality types by social integration.
In accordance to the psychographics chart, the
users of Facebook fall into the category of
‘Aspirers’ as they are posting their personal
lives online for the world to see.

Facebook is able to create revenue through the use
of sponsored Facebook posts. Through sponsoring a
post an individual pays the relevant amount of
money according the post. The post can be tailored
to the ideal target demographic through the use of
the deciding factors such as location, age, job titles.
The ‘edit audience’ page you are given is shown to
the right. The purpose of the post can vary such as
for advertising (corporate post) or to create
awareness (charity post).

Facebook’s community standards outline the desire
to keep Facebook users safe. They give a detailed
description of what they will do in order to ‘Keep
you safe’. This page informs users of what will
happen if they risk posting potentially abusive
content, being: direct threats, self injury, dangerous
organizations, bullying and harassment, attacks on
public figures, criminal activity, sexual violence and
exploitation and regulated goods.
The aim of Facebook is allow anyone to share
content and voice their opinions. This come with
risk of that content/opinions being offensive to
some. It is paramount that Facebook works as a
community and keeps the network clean. This goes
with the option to report/flag posts you see and
deem to be inappropriate for the Facebook
community to view.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwigiZ7QkMHQAhWlLcAKHdfKAl0QFggc
MAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen-gb.facebook.com%2Fcommunitystandards&usg=AFQjCNHNMvu8ieJN_q_Fbt_o2mnEdpZ3QA

In September 2011 Stanford University graduates Evan
Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown launched an
image/multimedia app called Snapchat. Today, snapchat is
the third most popular social media product to Facebook
and Instagram. The concept of the network was to allow a
more natural interaction, using explicitly short lived and
self deleting images/messages. This encourages a
frivolous interaction, over the possibly ‘faked’ and unreal
take that other image networks such as Instagram may
portray.
Snapchat allows for a more raw interaction between two and allows the use of facial
expression unlike a message, possibly giving the wrong impression.
The network now allows you to send text messages on which they can be optionally
saved, unlike image/video messages. This addition was added in on the 1st of May 2014.
The app allows you to save photos and videos onto the camera roll of your phone. The
images/videos can be drawn on with multiple colours, as well as writing and using
emojis. Other features such as ‘Geofilters’ have been added allowing you to show your
location if there has been a ‘Geofilter’ created for the area. ‘Lens filters’ were also added
into the app, allowing you to add real time effects using face detection.

The denotation of Snapchat’s slogan
is ‘Life’s more fun when you live in the
moment’. – This connotes the
platform’s instant photo/video
sharing feature. The platform focusses
on sharing current moments, as you
can only send pictures/ videos from
your camera, not from your camera
roll. This differs from Instagram as
pictures and videos can be uploaded
from your camera roll, presenting a
less ‘in the moment’ experience. The
noun ‘moment’ denotes a period of
time. In Snapchat’s cases, they are
referring to current time and
capturing the current moment
through the use of instant photo and
video sharing.
The slogan
is shown in
the
description
of the app
on Apple’s
app store.

The colour scheme of Snapchat is based around yellow. The other two
colours used are light blue and green and red . The other parts of the
app use a basic color scheme of white and grey. The navigation of the
app consists of ‘swiping’ in which ever direction. This minimizes the
need for navigation buttons, which would make the pages look too busy.
Additionally, the act of ‘swiping’ could be seen as being more satisfying
to the user.
There are three main features of snapchat: sending ‘snap’ (photo/video), sending text
messages that can be optionally saved, and stories. A story can be uploaded up to 10
seconds and will last only a day. The story can be viewed by as many people, in contrast to
the private video/photo messages. ‘Stories’ are an often insight celebrities can use to
document and share their lives away from the public media. This allows for a more
instantaneous interaction between public figure/fan base. As many ‘stories’ as you like can
be posted, however, they will remain there for a day. Then the photo/video is deleted
forever, unless saved.

Snapchat is primarily targeted at the younger generations. This is likely
to be because of the ‘selfie’ nature that it has built its platform around.
Meaning older generations are less likely to be interested in as it may
appear un natural. Nearly half of Snapchat’s users are of the ages
between the ages of 18-24. This demonstrates how reliant Snapchat is
on the younger generation to make their platform function. Snapchat
aims to offer a service appealing to all gender, ethnicity, family, class,
self image and nation. However, the Snapchat user is now reasonably
well defined and can be assumed to be a Female under the age of 25
with an income of below $50k. (Hartley)
The user demographic of snapchat is
largely female dominated with a female
to male ratio of 3:7. The same patterns
are shown in the age of Snapchat users
being 71% of the users being under the
age of 25. The user demographic in
accordance to ABC1 profile is most
likely to be C1-E due to the young age,
with the majority of the users being un
employed and still in education.
With reference to Katz’ uses and gratifications theory, Snapchat
users come under the role of ‘Personal relationship’ as the
Snapchat user is able to build a close bond with their friend(s) via
seeing each other’s face and being able to express themselves
through the use of emojis and facial expression. The Snapchat
user is also able to be informed/educated about someone’s life if
they are to post daily Snapchats (Inform and Educate)

Snapchat uses few, subtle ways of creating
revenue. The most common source of
revenue is from users creating ‘Geofilters’
there are two types of filters, being:
‘Community’ – where artists and designers
are encouraged to create and submit a free
community Geofilter for their city, university,
a local landmark or another public location.
No brand logos are allowed to be used due
to the non commercial, non promotional
nature of the feature.
‘On Demand’ filters are used by businesses
and individuals for an event. Brand logos and
trademarks are permitted, but the filter will
only last for the event (usually 24 hours) and
is paid for.
Snapchat has started using advertisements
to create a further source of revenue. The
most interactive feature of advertising is a
revolutionary source of promotion for the
company. If the company creates a ‘Lens
filter’ the Snapchat user is able to use the
face detection feature and take a ‘selfie’,
unknowingly promoting the product
advertised. Snapchat charges $750,000 a day
for advertising.

Snapchat users have the free desire to ‘snap’ whatever they wish. This comes with
huge risk for Snapchat’s reputation as content posted cannot be dictated by
Snapchat’s work force. However, stories that post inappropriate content can be seen
by the work force, allowing them to delete the stories and even delete/temporarily
ban the account.
Snapchat has a ‘Community Guidelines’ page that suggests ‘what not to snap’. These
are: Pornography, Nudity or sexually suggestive content involving minors (under 18s),
Invasion of privacy, Threats, Harassment or bullying and impersonation. Snapchat
originally had a bad name from the huge use of Snapchat for sending inappropriate
content due to the self deleting nature of the images. This perception has been
minimized with the stricter guidelines and monitoring of what people send, receive
and post.
Snapchat states they may remove the offending content or terminate your account.
Screenshots can be taken of Snapchats, notifying the sender the receiver has done
so. Snapchat states - “It’s ok with us if someone takes a screenshot, but we cannot
speak for you or your friends”.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjLw8DdmMHQAhVMDcAKHRc2D1QQFggcMAA&
url=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.snapchat.com%2Fa%2Fguidelines&usg=AFQjCNFizAah-N-qdrCERZqUtpj5RBOUnw

Pros Cons
Instagram • The site allows you to apply filters and effects to the
image. This can be useful to transform the look and
appeal of your images.
• The feature of having a ‘private account’ allows you
to remain safe and keep a low profile on the
platform as your account wont be suggested to
other followers. This is ideal for anyone with privacy
concerns.
• The site also allows you to gain followers and gain a
reputation. This can allow sharing of images to help
spark bonds and connect people with the same
interests through hash tags.
• The site can be used for spam accounts as it is not meant
for. This can be through the use of fake accounts for
celebrities and often can be seen as people trying to
posed as someone they are not.
• The site can also be used in integration with third party
apps the allows you to pay for followers and likes. This is a
poor representation of the purpose of the app as it can
leave bad and false impressions. The purpose of the app is
also to make you work to gain a following through posting
quality content and following and liking other users
content. Therefore paying for follows and likes goes
against this theory.
Facebook • The site allows you to connect with people in
different countries such as friends and family. This
allows to maintain contact and can bring happiness
between the connections.
• It allows you to upload photos and videos to share
with your Facebook friends. This can be great for
sharing photos of events such as parties and
holidays.
• The site can be seen as a opportunity for over sharing
personal information. By putting personal information
such as birthdays, occupation and place of residency can
allow for people to find this out that you may not want
such as hackers. This could lead to them being able to
access bank accounts etc if they are able to find this
information online.
• The site has various safety options, but can be quite
difficult to set the right settings in order to remain safe.
Unless you a ‘friends’ with a person, you will not be able
to access this information , which the person is able to
either accept or decline in order for you to see this
information.
Social Media Platforms – Pros and Cons
(Continued)

Pros Cons
Snapchat • The app allows you to have an immersive almost
face-to-face conversation with someone and is
instantaneous. Therefore nothing can be faked and
allows you to share your first person experiences.
• The features such as location filters helps tell a
story almost a video blog like format. This can be
used to log experiences that people are able to
share in first person
• The application can be seen to have bad press for its
‘sexting’ appeal that was largely popular when the
application was first released. Although the application
has been updated to create a safer and more user
friendly platform, they cannot completely minimize the
use of the platform for inappropriate use.
• The application can also be seen to have cons of the
‘story’ feature on which you are able to post an image
that you friends will see. Since Snapchat’s innovation of
the ‘story’ Instagram and now Facebook have integrated
‘stories’ into their products. A con of this feature is that
it can be used negatively i.e. to expose someone or
something. It could be used to share information about
someone or something that the individual may not
want.
Social Media Platforms – Pros and Cons

According to Noam Chomsky, social media “erodes normal social behavior” –
I see this as being true as people you are ‘friends’ with on social media platforms such as
Snapchat and Facebook may not necessarily be friends to you outside of the platform. The
classification of ‘friends’, is rather different to another user you are able to interact with
them. This ‘erodes normal social behavior’ as people may feel more inclined to call
someone they know, however are not friends with a friend. This may also transpire through
use of online communication as someone may feel more comfortable communicating with
someone on the platform apposed to face to face. This erosion of normal interaction can
brainwash people into thinking they are free to voice their opinions to another via a social
media platform. This may alter their perception of reality and make the believe
communication with strangers is the norm.
The 21st century has seen the evolution of the ‘Keyboard warrior’ – This is the theory that
someone may have a different online personality as to how they would act in person. This
may be because of ‘shamelessness’ (Andrew Keen 2011) – the belief that the ‘troll’ feels no
sense of shame through the use of audacious web attacks, otherwise known as trolling.

The ‘LADbible’ is an example of technological convergence in synergy with a social media platform. ‘LADbible’
is largely based on Facebook and shares various soft news amongst Facebook timelines. They often share
stories of current affairs, along with photos and videos that may be perceived as humorous by the target
audience being 18-34 year old males. As a UK based page, it has 24 million Facebook ‘likes’ – when you ‘like’
the page, you are subscribed to their updates and your Facebook news feed will fill with updates posted by
‘LADbible’. They have their own site on which it is based, however the majority of the sharing and viewing of
their posts is done over a few other social media platform on which they base their fan base. The social media
platforms they associate with, being Facebook (primarily), Twitter and also Reddit. The majority of the fan
base comes from Facebook, due to its larger user group.
The soft news site’s share news stories with headings such as ‘Huge 25ft Shark Washes Up Dead On British
Coast.’, ‘Rhys Jones’ Killer Fears Little Boy Blue Has Left Him A ‘Dead Man Walking In Jail.’
The page provides a sub heading, and a link to ‘LADbible’ on which the article is written. The articles can be
directly shared on Facebook, commented on or ‘reacted’ to. There are options to share the link to twitter and
WhatsApp.
The site has advertising titled as ‘Sponsored Links’ – the links are based on what ‘LADbible’ thinks is most
appropriate to the target audience – such as: ‘The Truth About Scratch Cards Revealed’.
www.ladbible.com/

In accordance with Andrew Keen, social media creates a sense of ‘shamelessness’. An example of this is
the shamelessness American high school students felt/acted with the introduction of the new
anonymous social media ‘Yik Yak’. By which the bullying took place, American high school students
would be anonymously targeted and bullied, causing huge discomfort to the pupils.
The site was intended to ‘make the world feel small again’ with anonymous communication within a
five mile radius. They quote on their site ‘FIND YOUR HERD’ – ‘Yik Yak helps you feel at home within
your local community.’
Creators, Tyler and Brooks, wanted to create a way for people to instantly connect with everyone
around them, and so Yik Yak was born. What started on one campus has now grown to over 2,000
campuses across the US and is expanding internationally.
The app is described as an anonymous social media app for iOS and Android. Developed by Tyler Droll
and Brooks Buffington and launched in 2013, Yik Yak allows users to anonymously create and view
“yaks” within a 5-mile radius. Users can contribute to the content by writing, responding and up- or
down-voting “yaks.”
Andrew Keen’s theory of shamelessness can be related to the students that felt no shame of targeting
and bullying victims, using anonymous hate speech, meaning they personally feel no threat.
https://techcrunch.com/topic/product/yik-yak/
https://www.yikyak.com/about

Purpose
The purpose of my product is to connect car spotters around the world and allow them to share images and
locations of cars they have spotted, in order to allow others to experience the cars.
Target Audience
My product will be targeted at car spotters, the majority being 15-25 year old males. The product will be
used in wealthy urban areas.
Katz’ Uses and Gratification Theory
The target audience will come under the theme of ‘Personal Relationship’ – as the product users will be able
to communicate with others with similar interests and create a bond by meeting them in person, after
seeing their posts on the product.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
With reference to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, my product will be used by ‘Social Climbers’ as the users
desire developing their social status and can become well known and create new friendships.
Hartley’s Seven Subjectivities
My product will be tailored to be as intuitive as possible, allowing anyone to use it. However, the car spotting
community is predominately males of ages 15-25. The age will vary dependent on the city being used in,
bringing the five different variables of class, ethnicity, self image, nation and family.

Target Audience
My product will be targeted at car spotters, the majority being 15-25 year old males. The
product will be used in wealthy urban areas.
The target audience will come under the theme of ‘Personal Relationship’ – as the product
users will be able to communicate with others with similar interests and create a bond by
meeting them in person, after seeing their posts on the product.
With reference to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, my product will be used by ‘Social Climbers’ as
the users desire developing their social status and can become well known and create new
friendships.
My product will be tailored to be as intuitive as possible, allowing anyone to use it. However,
the car spotting community is predominately males of ages 15-25. The age will vary dependent
on the city being used in, bringing the five different variables of class, ethnicity, self image,
nation and family.

The colour scheme of my product will be using colours often seen on
supercars, to go with the theme of the product. The basic colour scheme of
the product will be red, white, black and grey. However, this can be taken
further and tailored to the theme of the product using ‘Rosso Corsa’ - the
red international motor racing colour of cars entered by teams from Italy
such as Ferrari and Maserati. This will be recognized as a symbol of car
knowledge, hopefully creating interest and attracting car enthusiasts.

Social Media name ideas –
SuperSpot
SpotIt
CarSpot
Idea One – Text One ‘QUARTZO’
http://www.dafont.com/quartzo.font
Idea One – Text Two ‘CODE’
http://www.dafont.com/code.font
Idea One – Text Three ‘Souses’
http://www.dafont.com/Souses.font

Slogan ideas
• The age of the Supercar
• The Supercar Universe
• Supercar Spotting Made Easier
• Smell The Rubber
• Get Ready for the Arab Invasion
• Open Your Eyes To The
Horsepower

My social media network will compete with
Instagram. This is because the network uses
photo sharing with location to direct the users.
Instagram is widely used in the car spotting
community. The use of the hashtag #liveupload
is used by spotters to share what they have
seen and share the location for others to
experience the cars in the area. My network
offers to fulfil the needs already demonstrated
by Instagram and take the activity to the next
level.

The application will use an
Instagram account to sign up. This
will allow for easy and fast sign up,
additionally, the Instagram account
can be used when linked to view
photographers images from days.
Features such as ‘Photo of the Day’
can be used to inspire the spotters
to take and share their images.

The application will be purely smart phone based. The product will first launch on Apple’s
App store for iPhone users, and if enough interest is created, a Google Play version will be
launched to allow Android users to use the app. The app will be based on sharing images
and locations, showing people what they have spotted, where and when. The application
can be used on an Apple watch with link to the phone app. The watch will display a map and
allow the user to track their location as they are walking. This will ensure the user does not
walk into anything if they are on their phone.
There will be a feature that shows when the user has taken the image to ensure reliability.
There will be another section for sharing videos where the user can upload a video clip of
the cars. However, this will not be part of the spotting feature.

SuperSpot on the
Apple App Store
SuperSpot Installed
on an iPhone
A SuperSpotter user
profile
The Google Maps
integration leading
you to the car

The website for SuperSpot will function in much the same way as Instagram’s web page. A user able to log
into their account and see posts from users they follow. My webpage will function in the same format:
users will be able to view posts and maintain their profile. However, the user wont be able top post
‘spots’, neither be able to comment on the posts. This encourages the most genuine interaction through
the community and allows users to stay in tough with the app, however, not use it to its full potential
online.

This is the profile page for SuperSpot.
With a similar layout to Instagram, The
page features a 3x3 feed of the user’s
spots. After 12 hours of the car being
spotted, the location of the spot
disappears, however, the image and
details still remain. This is because the
car will most likely have moved. The
user’s profile can be followed to see their
most recent spots. This allows user’s to
gain reputation and become a well
known spotter. The profile includes the
option to link your Instagram profile and
YouTube. This is to further share
photo/video that you have captured and
share it with the car spotting community.

This is the logo for my social media platform. I
have used a template for an iPhone application
icon to make sure it is correctly dimensioned. This
design is as basic as app icons are. The majority of
app icons don’t use text, however this design does.
I may remove the text as it may not be necessary if
the name is shown below the icon.

My product will use a quintuple button bar, similar to rivals such as Instagram. The network
will be based on the five feature within the app: the primary source of the app use, being
able to upload a post of a car you have spotted, your user profile, likes/comments you gain,
a map showing the locations of all the cars in the local area that have been tagged and
finally a message forum type interface allowing you to message the user that has posted an
image/location. This can be to investigate a certain post.
The product will use information recorded to submit the most accurate post. When an
image is taken the date/time and location will be posted with the image to ensure an
accurate post as people may try to fake car spots as well as potentially not knowing where a
location is.
The ‘SuperFind’ feature will direct the user to the location using google maps. This will
include options to walk/drive/cycle to location and will provide journey length/time and
ETA.
The quintuple
button bar found on
Instagram

This is the homepage of my product. The
quintuple button layout at the bottom can
be seen using the different icons to
navigate around the product. The top bar
includes only a back arrow to help navigate.
The use of swiping between pages is also
used to make the product more user
friendly.
- Search
- Map
- Home Feed
- Messages
- User Profile

This is the house style of my app
interface. The app uses four colours:
red, black, white and grey. These
colours give a sleek and professional
look to the interface. The app
features a quintuple button bar at
the bottom of the page for
navigation. The background of the
app is black, to create contrast
against the white text. This will make
the white text stand out visibly and
will allow the user to read
information with ease.
Quintuple
button
navigation bar
Header
Content
Title
Logo

This hand drawn draft is the
website homepage of my
social media product.
The site uses four colours:
red, black, white and grey.
These colours give a sleek and
professional look to the
interface. The site features a
search, message and profile
menu. The use of the
webpage is to offer an insight
to the app and allow you to
access messages, profiles,
however not allow you to use
the app to its full potential.
Header
Content
Logo
Search/Messages/User Profile

The colour scheme of my product will be using colours often seen on
supercars, to go with the theme of the product. The basic colour scheme of
the product will be blue, black, grey and white. However, this can be taken
further and tailored to the theme of the product using ‘Nitrous Blue’ – A
bespoke colour created by Ford for use on the Focus RS, an extreme and
vibrant colour, seen top stand out, a well recognized tone of blue. This
colour scheme is also similar to Facebook’s colour scheme.

This is the logo for my social media platform. I have
used a template for an iPhone application icon to
make sure it is correctly dimensioned. This design is
as basic as app icons are. The majority of app icons
don’t use text, however this design does. I may
remove the text as it may not be necessary if the
name is shown below the icon. I used
‘THEBOLDFONT’ by DaFont for my logo. This is
because it is a clean looking and bold font.

Social Media name ideas –
Horsepower Hunter
HP Hunter
Power Hunt
Idea Two – Text One ‘DevilBreeze’
http://www.dafont.com/devilbreeze.font
Idea Two – Text Two ‘AMERICAN CAPTAIN’
http://www.dafont.com/americancaptain.font
Idea Two – Text Three ‘THE BOLD FONT’
http://www.dafont.com/the-bold-font.font

This hand drawn draft is the
website homepage of my
social media product.
The site uses four colours:
blue, black, white and grey.
These colours give a sleek and
professional look to the
interface. The site features a
search, message and profile
menu. The use of the
webpage is to offer an insight
to the app and allow you to
access messages, profiles,
however not allow you to use
the app to its full potential.
Header
Main options
Logo
Search/Messages/User Profile
Car feed

About
Founded in 1998, The Web Standards Project (WaSP) fights for standards that
reduce the cost and complexity of development while increasing the
accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the Web. We work
with browser companies, authoring tool makers, and our peers to deliver the
true power of standards to this medium.
This integration of WaSP will allow for the highest standard of website/social
media platform, integrating complex development in order for a professionally
functioning product without the requirement of a skilled web developer. This
allows integration of website features such as search bars, without the standard
complexity of installing a feature such as this.
http://www.webstandards.org/about/
http://www.webstandards.org/

Terms and Conditions are a set of rules and guidelines that a user must agree to in order
to use your website or mobile app. It acts as a legal contract between you (the company)
who has the website or mobile app and the user who access your website and mobile
app.
SuperSpot will rule a strict set of terms and conditions being:
1. At no point what so ever are SuperSpot held responsible for your own road safety.
Look up!
2. SuperSpot does not oblige the illegal showboating of vehicles such as revving,
burnouts or driving over the speed limits. The rules on the road are set for your own
safety.
3. At no point is SuperSpot to be used whilst in control of a motor vehicle. Urban areas
are busy and dangerous, therefore using the application whilst driving is strictly
forbidden
4. SuperSpot respects the owners of the cars, if they wish not to be named or ‘spotted’
please respect their requests.

The purpose of my product is to connect car spotters around the world and allow
them to share images and locations of cars they have spotted. My product will be
targeted at car spotters, the majority being 15-25 year old males. The product will be
used in wealthy urban areas. The target audience will come under the theme of
‘Personal Relationship’ – as the product users will be able to communicate with
others with similar interests and create a bond by meeting them in person, after
seeing their posts on the social media platform. With reference to Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs, my product will be used by ‘Social Climbers’ as the users desire to develop
their social status, becoming well known and create new friendships. My product will
be tailored to be as intuitive as possible, allowing anyone to use it. However, the car
spotting community is predominately males of ages 15-25. The age will vary
dependent on the city being used in, bringing the five different variables of class,
ethnicity, self image, nation and family. The application will use an Instagram account
to sign up. This will allow for easy and fast sign up, additionally, the Instagram
account can be used when linked to view photographers images from days. Features
such as ‘Photo of the Day’ can be used to inspire the spotters to take and share their
images.

The reason behind my launch date being Monday 10th July 2017. This because it’s before ‘The
Great Arab Invasion’ – this is also coined as the ‘Ramadan Rush’ – the attraction of huge
numbers of wealthy Middle Easterners. The flock of the wealthy Arabs brings around £120
million spent in London’s Bond Street and Mayfair retailers catering the Middle Easterners with
Arabic speaking staff and providing tax refund services including ‘Global Blue’ and ‘Premier Tax
Free’. The temporary residency of London is favored by the Arabs after escaping the extreme
heats of the Gulf States, paying around £20,000 in costs to fly their vehicles 3,000 miles from
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait.
The ‘Supercar Season’ sees Supercars worth anything from over £150,000 to sometimes £2
million. The London neighborhoods are flocked with the visitors showcasing their supercars
between the months of July to September.
The showcasing of their cars often ends in the hands of the Police due to the obnoxious
showboating of their vehicles such as extreme speeds down busy high streets, loud revving and
burn outs.

The cost of producing ‘SuperSpot’
Set-up cost: £44,477.60
Post set-up cost: £33,907.20
Apple MacBook Pro with
Retina Display 13.3″
£889.00 x 8 = £7,112
2 Person desk
£746.90 inc. VAT x 8 =
£2,988
Adobe Creative Cloud
Office Desk Chair
£58.80 x 8 = £470.40 Office Space - KT22
£300 per person, per month.
£300 x 8 = £2,400 per month
£28,800 per year
Yearly domain rent

The denotation of the name of my product is ‘superspot’ which is the
combination of the verbal codes ‘supercar’ and ‘spotting’ – this
produces ‘superspot’. This name is unique as it hasn’t been used in the
car spotting world before. Many supercar spotting social media
accounts use names that are repeated and copied. This name choice
should stand out and become well known to its unfamiliar name.
I used the font ‘Souses’ – a Dafont type style. This font was the most
appealing and fits the best with the product.

The product will create revenue through the use of a free and paid version
of the application. The application will not use advertisements as I feel it
would interfere with the user’s relationship with the product. If
advertisements come up, interfering with the use of the product, the user
may not wish to use the product if the user runs risk of accidently clicking
onto advertisements as this may seem less professional. The free version
of the application will only allow you to spot one car per day, and will only
show cars with the least amount of ‘visits’. The paid version will show all
information provided by other users, and will allow unlimited posts of car
spots. The paid for version will cost £2.99 on the Apple App Store.

As another source of revenue for my application; I will use ‘pay per click’ advertising.
The source of revenue would come from the company/product I was advertising.
The company would pay me a certain amount for each user that clicks on the advert
and is redirected to the advertiser’s site. Therefore it is paramount that the
application is highly trafficked, creating revenue for the application.
‘PPC stands for pay-per-click, a model of internet marketing in which advertisers
pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it's a way of buying visits
to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. Search engine
advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC.’
Pay-per-click ($) = Advertising cost ($) ÷ Ads clicked (#)
http://www.wordstream.com/ppc

Paris
Home Page
About Locations YouTubeInstagram Profile Search Messages
Behind
the name London
Monaco Zurich
(Instagram feed
shown)
(YouTube feed
shown)
Profile
Image
Account
Settings
User
Feed
Location
Filter
Search
Message
Settings

The website for SuperSpot will function in much the same way as Instagram’s web page. A user is able to
log into their account and see posts from users they follow. My social media page will function in the same
format: users will be able to view posts and maintain their profile. However, the user wont be able to post
‘spots’, nor be able to comment on the posts. This encourages the most genuine interaction through the
community and allows users to stay in touch with the app, however, not use it to its full potential online.

This is the website sign up page to my social media platform ‘SuperSpot’ – this page
allows current users to sign into their account, and new users to sign up to the platform.
The users also have an option to log in or sign up via Instagram. The layout is basic and
simple, allowing for easy and straight forward access. The background image of the page
is of multiple supercars on Sloane Street in London. This will be the London hotspot for
car spotting and where the app will be used the most.

In conclusion to Unit 35 social media products - I have developed a thorough
understanding for the features and operations of various social media platforms,
specifically Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Through this, I have researched
the ins and outs of the product creators and where they stand today with their
platforms.
I have taken into consideration the operations of various social media platforms,
and tried to best replicate a functioning platform. The application that was closest
to the function of my platform is Instagram. This is because they both use the
posting of information and sharing it with other platform users. My product is
niche as it appeals to Supercar spotters. Although my product has a niche market,
it is still hugely functional in operation around wealthy urban areas around the
globe. The product can be integrated into many different cities in which supercars
are present. Monaco, as well as Zurich sees huge numbers of supercars driving
around, as does London. My application will easily integrate with these locations.
My social media platform is new, innovative, and there is nothing like it.

Unit 35

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Unit 35

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