In one of my last blogs I wrote about my Natural Niche in the live sound industry and initiating a project looking at the culture of Audio Engineers. After discussing the project and considering my options, I’ve switched projects to align with one from another project.
Get up to speed by checking out my pitch and brief for The Zone:
The first thing I did was pitch this to our existing discord community. They were super supportive. Together we brainstormed some ideas and I mapped out as many things as I could from the Minecraft world. I tried to touch on everything from the physical to the digital to the social.
Each heading focuses on a different element of the Minecraft Niche. I mind mapped this to break down the relevant pieces of the niche and identify user activities on different platforms. I focused on the platforms relevant to my use first, as this helped me discover the uses for different platforms.
For example, Discord has largely been a tech support space for me in building The Zone, whilst instagram often recommends creative inspiration. As I expanded the map more came into focus and I identified the different ways people play Minecraft.
Some mentions on my map are vague or don’t have many strands. This is because these are areas I am going to research in the coming weeks.
Things like “What kind of content is popular on Twitch?” and “Where do people go to find like minded players?”. These ethnographic questions are part of my plan to understand this niche further. Researching and addressing them should give me a way to participate in the niche myself.
Caitlin Lawson in her 2020 article says “to gain and maintain popularity, micro-celebrities cultivate a sense of authenticity, intimacy, accessibility, availability and connectedness with their audiences” (Lawson, 2020, pp.4). I think this touches the bones of how content creators have to participate and engage with their audience. If they’re not participating in the same niche, then their audience will move on to a micro-celebrity that does.
One particular aspect I am intrigued by is the public persona of these micro-celebrities. Lawson continues to say “They do so by sharing details of their personal lives, interacting with followers across social media platforms, and encouraging a sense of community. In doing so, micro-celebrities publicly perform their private self for their followers, and such intimacy helps them generate a sense of authenticity.” (Lawson, 2020, pp.4). I think this complex blend of private and public personas to appear authentic and intimate is the heart of the feeding consumers.
To keep up to date with my research, follow The Zone on its social media and become part of our Discord community…
Boswell's Brain 
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