Podcast – The impact of social media in contemporary politics: the good and the bad

The approach I used for my podcast (see below) is one similar to an essay structure. I opted to use this particular structure as I thought it would provide a clear and comprehensive way of unpacking the assignment topic. The content of my podcast consisted of a welcome message to my audience – something short and sweet. I then attempted to emphasise the pervasiveness of social media. To do this, I incorporated some statistics from a 2018 report by the Sensis Social Media Report 2018. My aim was to make the audience feel the urgency and weight of social media usage today. 

As previously mentioned I went with an essay-like approach and included a section dedicated to context, a section outlining the agenda for the podcast, defining some key terms. This was all then followed by the limitations and benefits of social media. To me this traditional approach is proven and allows for clear and concise arguments to be made that flow and make it easy for the listeners to follow.

In this podcast I attempted to derive information from a wide range of resources – from books, journal articles, and news articles. I tried to draw inspiration from others who are experts in the podcast industry such as Joe Rogan (a favourite of mine), Philosophize This!, and The Economist. 

I also tried to engage my audience by sharing a personal story that I hope will resonate with others as it is very personal. My goal here was to evoke some visceral memories of their childhood and family heritage; perhaps one day they will share their story too and inspire others.

Unfortunately due to personal circumstances and unfortunate IT limitations, I was unable to produce the best podcast I could. I acknowledge that the audio was not crisp as it should have been and that the podcast itself could use some polishing to make it sound more authentic; this is a lesson for next time. 

One of the major challenges I faced was attempting to juggle full time work and studies. I really tried although it seemed like I bit off more than I could chew. To overcome this, I attempted to reduce hours at work and implement a 5% rule although this quickly fell apart as I could not find balance in my life. 

This task taught me the importance of audio and how vital it is when producing something that you intend to resonate with your audience and leave a lasting impression on them – this is simply not achievable if they are constantly trying to understand what you are saying. Something else I wish I had incorporated was intro and outro music to again, add to the podcast experience. Upon reflection, it seems like a lecture recording rather than a podcast – something I am highly disappointed in. 

I know that what’s done is done, and that maybe in the future I can be more proactive and reach out for assistance. I attempted to do so from friends who had impressive sound equipment although again, as mentioned, I did not follow up with them and forgoed the opportunity to have crisp audio. 

Regrettably, I did not use any Creative Common licenses as I did not include any content other than my own.