TASK TWO

Task two.

Where are they?

How will they find me?

If I am thinking of being a writer I need to decide what I want to write and whom it will be for. I don’t want to pigeon hole myself here so I am not just going to say the BBC because I could be writing freelance for games developers etc so I don’t want to limit myself to just one specific type of client.

I have found a few websites that may be of use to me, one of them is the BBC writers room, here anyone can submit a script for a TV drama, kids programme or radio play etc and they will look it over, I think this is very good for me and am considering writing something to submit to them.

Another site I have been looking at is Playfish games, they make games for the social networking site known as “facebook” and they are looking for people right now to write scripts for new games, come up with ideas, design characters and help with art direction, I find this very exciting for me and would absolutely love to be involved with some of their projects, I am very familiar with their product and it is very “up my street” and in line with the kind of “stuff” that inspires me and gets added to my “thought-bubble” if that makes sense.

If I were to look at this area for the sake of doing a PEST analysis I would concentrate on young people who use social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, myspace, msn, flickster, and Friendster etc.

I would say that the reason people go on these sites is to fulfil their love and belonging needs, i.e.: socialising, fashion and trends, expressions of love, symbols of shared interested and values, peer groups etc. as identified in the Maslow Hierarchy, and also a percentage of people will use these sites for esteem needs such as demonstrating status symbols, qualifications, awards, technology, personal grooming etc.

Only 19% of the populations spending patterns go on love and belonging, with the highest percentage being physiological.

Internet gaming is bigger now that it ever has been with more and more people engaging with interactive content, also thanks to third generation games consoles such as the Nintendo Wii we have seen a demographical change in who is playing these games, it is no longer dominated by teenage boys but we now have middle aged women playing games consoles, families are engaging in them together and almost everyone who is using a social networking site is playing pet society or mafia wars, country story or similar, regardless of their age or cultural background.

Of course mobile communication also has a large role to play in these changes, with most phones having internet browsing capabilities that not only business people are using but single parents, teenagers, children and the unemployed.

People are also especially open with what information they give out about themselves on the internet in this day and age, especially younger people who don’t really know any different as they are growing up in this technological world where social networking is the everyday norm, whereas a person in their 40’s, 50’s and upwards may engage with this technology but they are much more wary about giving out certain information and using the internet.

I am also very interested in developing interactive stories such as this one:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-monster-shopping-trip-popup.htm

The British council website has an interactive section for kids full of games and stories that are interactive and educate children at the same time, I am very interested in learning more about this as a career choice and think that by building my own website with demonstrations of my work and story-telling ability would be a good start, then I could contact the BBC and other companies informing them of who I am and what I do, I could then forward them onto my website, as this is an interactive field I think a website would be very appropriate as a way of marketing my potential and skills for future clients.