(This page is only one section of the thesis. To view the full thesis, click here.)

Social Media Platforms Being Used

Throughout the film’s social media marketing, three platforms were used—Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—these three platforms will also be analyzed for the study. These social platforms are some of the most influential forms of media in the world, and in terms of accessibility, they are completely free to use. As of 2019, Facebook has 2.5 billion total users (Facebook 2020a), Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users (Facebook 2020b), and Twitter has 330 monthly active users (Clement 2019). Users for all these platforms are located around the world, which allows for film marketers to reach all different types of demographics to see which connect with the film the most, ultimately gaining the most financial profit during release. For an independent documentary, the objective for using these platforms is slightly different. The goal is to target people who are interested in the topic of the documentary to the point where they are willing to engage with the content on the platforms and in discussion during their own time. Luckily, due to the features on this platforms, such as the ability to use hashtags, tag profiles, and interact directly with other users, reaching the target audience is simple, even with the large amount of users that each of these platforms have.

Each of the platforms also have different forms of allowing for engagement which will be covered in more detail during the analysis in the following sections. For all platforms, the ability to like and comment on posts is allowed and Facebook allows for ‘shares’, while Twitter allows for ‘retweets’ (there own form of sharing).

Account Management

For the I am Belmaya social media accounts, the profiles were managed by the director/producer Sue Carpenter and three interns. Having a small group of individuals managing the accounts follows the idea that independent documentaries are made by a small crew. With limited financial budget for marketing, the filmmakers relied solely on themselves to take control of the marketing through social media. By having individuals directly related in the filmmaking process also manage the account, this established what type posts would be made on these social media profiles with varied input from interns. Carpenter’s input into what was posted will be discussed in further detail along with the impact of these posts within the detailed analysis section of the thesis. It is important to note that interns also had influence into what would be designed to be posted onto social media for the film.

The social media accounts were constantly being managed and viewed during all days of the week, with post being done with final approval from Carpenter on what specific day and time posts would be made. Because of the variance of when posts are made, a direct study and examination of this aspect of the social media content cannot be made without acquiring data that is radically inaccurate, so a better option for this current study is to focus on the type of posts; this can give a more accurate depiction on the impact certain posts made on followers.

Pictures, Videos, and Tweets

The social media posts that were made for all platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) included picture posts and video posts. For Twitter, along with the pictures and videos, tweets were being made throughout the week. During I am Belmaya’s social media presence, there was no decision to make picture posts or video posts for just specific platforms. For example, if a picture post was designed and approved, it would not be limited to Facebook or Instagram or Twitter, it would be posted on all platforms, either at the same moment or at different schedules (this final decision would be made by the director).

Both Facebook and Instagram would have similar contents being posted as the capabilities allowed within the platforms are related to each other. Twitter had the additional motive and capability of posting simple text posts while having those posts be ‘retweeted’ by those who decided to engage with the content. Overall, the important information is to recognize that the two main sources of content being posted on all three social media platforms were picture posts and video posts, with plain text posts not being the focus. Below is an example for a picture post, video post and text post, respectively: