Rising Tide's Community over Competition (COM 610)

Over the past two decades of technological growth, it’s become increasingly apparent that the human need for real connection has had to adapt to our new way of communicating. This has become even more apparent in big versus small business. The gap between consumer and provider has become increasingly narrower with companies being able to advertise directly onto someone’s phone with just a simple photo. This has made advertising for small business increasingly difficult, with ads and social media engagement becoming a necessity, and financial burden, for entrepreneurs and creatives. This concept of small business, entrepreneurial, and creative-led innovation has been largely produced with emergence of self-made content creators and digital influencers who have “upended” the status quo of “business as usual” and put the spotlight back onto the local upstarts (Duffy, p. 48). This is what broke web 1.0 into web 2.0, skyrocketing not just businesses past just promoting but actually generating content (Carney, p. 359). Luckily, with these new challenges has come sense of community, fostering an environment of small business owners not only sharing their experiences, but advice and services to benefit the whole of their communities.

Throughout the course of this analysis, we’ll be reviewing one of Franke’s “vlogs” where she connects with not only her community but her potential customers in a way that is not only authentic, but leaves a lasting call-to-action. We’ll be using the systems theory to not only observe how she not only communicates with her audiences, but ensures that the community continues to thrive in the online space.  Understanding the concept of why digital content enhances not only her brand but the systems she’s built to enhance her community will guide us into a larger understanding of the new content driven web and how virtual communities will be the surrogates for authentic connections.

References

About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2017, from https://www.honeybook.com/risingtide/meet-us/

Alahuhta, P., Nordbäck, E., Sivunen, A., & Surakka, T. (2014). Fostering Team Creativity in Virtual Worlds. Journal Of Virtual Worlds Research, 7(3), 1-22.

Carney, R. (2009). The Internet’s Impact on Culture: Shifting the Balance to the Center. Review Of Communication, 9(4), 355-364. doi:10.1080/15358590903151112

Duffy, B. (2015). Amateur, Autonomous, and Collaborative: Myths of Aspiring Female Cultural   Producers in Web 2.0.Critical Studies In Media Communication, 32(1), 48-64. doi:10.1080/15295036.2014.997832

Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L., Jr., & Trethewey, A. (2010). Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint (6th Edition). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Franke, Natalie. [NatalieFranke]. (2017, July 19). What Started it all… Retrieved September 2, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f8UZJ584Mo