Advancing an Artefact: Curiosity's Final Season

Contextual Report for BCM302 - Advanced Digital Artefact

This semester, I’m releasing new episodes for my Digital Artefact, Curiosity in Rising, a podcast series which focuses on lifestyle and spirituality topics. My project aims to educate and inspire, through 20-40 minute episodes. In this blog post, I’ll summarise the recent weeks of work on my artefact and reflect on learning moments, also touching on the notion of Paradigm Shifts which relate to Curiosity in Rising’s (CiR) social utility. 

Promotional Image for this semester's first podcast episode

The first episode of the semester features fellow BCM student Kai Ahern. We discussed music marketing and pop culture. Kai, a self-certified live music expert, and I study marketing together, and after a (northern hemisphere) summer filled with big pop music moments, we had a fun, inspired chat which blended both our interests and Uni majors together! Before dropping this episode, I wanted to drum up some engagement and anticipation via Curiosity in Rising’s Instagram page, due to me taking an unexplained four month hiatus from podcasting. I didn’t want to just come straight back to shoving promotional posts in my follower’s face - one of the key successes of CiR has been the forward facing persona that I’ve attached to the podcast.

Thus, I came back to posting on the page for the first time in months with some more simple posts like photo dumps, inspiration graphic quotes and a reel which reminded followers of an episode from earlier in the year. As expected, the photo dump garnered the most likes, this communicates that aesthetically pleasing and personal posts are always going to be my audience’s preference and that was a good learning experience. 

When it came time to promote new podcast episodes, my strategy remained similar to what I had been doing in 2023. Dropping links in relevant subreddit communities and posting 2-3 promotional posts on Instagram (1 reel before podcast episode release which teases, 1 reel after which promotes, 1 standard/carousel post upon release which announces). For the upcoming episodes I am also considering using Tiktok to promote, due to its incredible For You page algorithm, but I frankly dread this due to negative experiences with Tiktok in the past - finicky and confusing editing system, strict guidelines, censorship and strong sense of memetic warfare.

Podcast Analytics on September 15, 2024

My Digital Artefact serves as a direct example of how paradigm shifts manifest within modern media. Paradigms—those deeply ingrained sets of beliefs and assumptions—shape our understanding of the world, yet they are always subject to change as society evolves. My podcast reflects these shifts by challenging traditional ways of thinking about spirituality, culture, society and technology. In episodes where I’ve discussed personal growth or mindfulness, there’s an emphasis on questioning conventional practices in favour of more introspective approaches. This can reflect a broader societal shift towards valuing emotional well-being and self-awareness over material success and traditional values. Moreover, Curiosity in Rising engages with ongoing cultural shifts, particularly around inclusivity and identity. Episodes like the one featuring Monique McQuire in 2023 highlight how discussions around LGBTQ+ spirituality reflect new, more inclusive ways of understanding religion and self-expression. These conversations contribute to a larger movement that is reshaping how society views both religion and personal identity, reflecting a shift away from rigid, traditional norms. An upcoming episode which will be released in Week 9, focuses on stories people will share whereby they believe they were sent a sign from a deceased loved one, thus continues CiR’s spiritual and new-age themes, and may perhaps open the mind of a ‘sceptic’. 

My DA captures how digital life and cultural phenomena are reshaping relationships, self-presentation, and community interaction. My ability to bridge these discussions between the personal and the societal illustrates how media, like podcasts, not only reflect paradigm shifts but also facilitate them, offering adjacent possibilities for exploration and encouraging listeners to reframe their understanding of the world around them. The Internet has an immense amount of texts, images and even sounds and films that document much of contemporary and traditional religious practices (Shoji, Matsue, 2020). Paradigm shifts are always at the core of CiR, no matter the topic.  

I’ve learned that taking hiatuses isn’t ideal—a podcast needs momentum, and comebacks are tough. Using trending, relevant hashtags has helped maintain “non-follower” engagement on Instagram, though I’ve noticed hashtags are less effective now compared to when I started this DA in 2022. A new episode drops in a few days, with two more coming later this semester. It will be interesting to see how these episodes do, considering I am about to announce that they are the final episodes ever of the series. Through this DA, I’m learning to navigate digital platforms and enhance my podcast’s social utility by growing reach and connecting with its ideal listeners by offering an inspiring space to chill and learn something new! 

REFERENCES: 

Shoji, R. and Matsue, R., 2020. Digital spirituality as paradigm shift? Religious change during the COVID-19 epidemics in Brazil. Religious Change during the COVID-19 Epidemics in Brazil (July 13, 2020). 

[Ed Reiner - What is a Paradigm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D55ctBYF3AY&ab_channel=TED ] 

Lindgren, M., 2016. Personal narrative journalism and podcasting. The Radio Journal–International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, 14(1), pp.23-41. 

Lambiotte, R. and Kosinski, M., 2014. Tracking the digital footprints of personality. Proceedings of the IEEE, 102(12), pp.1934-1939.