Everyday our world is introduced to new trends that seem to capture people’s attention, and “selfies” seem to be the new craze. For those of you who have been under a rock for the past year or two, a “selfie” defines the act of taking a picture of one’s self, with intentions of posting it on social media.
With so many fads circulating amongst the internet, IU Southeast has created a slideshow of “selfies” and video clips of people around campus. With more than 1,000 Youtube hits, the video has gained popularity within the IUS community.
Carol Branson and Graham Gohmann, staff members in IU Southeast’s Office of University Communications, are responsible for what is now known as the “IUS Selfie Video.”
Branson, marketing specialist, and Gohmann, lead multi-media designer, said the inspiration for the project came from two separate occasions: watching U of L’s video cover of the song “Happy” by Pharell Williams, and hearing a song entitled “Selfie” by Chainsmokers.
After Gohmann heard “Selfie” and encouraged Branson to take a listen, they both said they decided it was an opportunity to do something “fun” for the campus.
“We talked about it a little bit on a Thursday or Friday, and by Monday I took an iPad around campus during lunch and asked people to take pictures,” Branson said.
Initially, Branson said she intended to collect about 20 pictures from students and faculty, but returned with more than 130. She said she was surprised that so many people were willing to participate.
“I introduced myself and told them I was with University Communications and we were working on a social media project. I asked if they would participate and almost everybody said yes,” Branson said.
Of those participants, Joy Baker, theater communication senior, said she was studying in Knobview when she was approached by “a girl and a guy with an iPad.” Baker said she wasn’t aware of who they were, but was asked to take a picture for a project they were putting together.
“I was thrown off a little bit, but I like when people help me with projects so I wanted to help with theirs,” Baker said.
When the final product was published, Baker said a friend at IU Southeast sent her a link of the video, which was posted on the university’s Youtube account. After watching it herself, Baker said she showed the video to her family and close friends.
“I thought it was cute so of course I wanted my family to see it. They liked it too,” Baker said.
On the other hand, Sierra Hartman, elementary education freshman, said she was unaware of the video until contacted for an interview with The Horizon. Hartman recalled being asked to take the picture, however, but didn’t know what it was for.
After watching the compilation on Youtube, Hartman said she was actually intrigued by it. She said her favorite part, however, was the clips of people dancing around campus. Hartman believes that something like this could benefit our campus. She said it shows that IU Southeast does exciting things for students to enjoy.
“It was a fun video. I thought it was neat even though I really didn’t know I was in it,” Hartman said.
Gohmann said that was the primary intent behind the video: doing something “fun” for the university while getting people involved. Gohmann said he believes students should feel like cool things are happening at IU Southeast, and the selfie video has helped with that.
“We’re pleased with it just because it’s something that we just wanted to do for fun and we don’t get that opportunity very many times,” he said. “Just to do it was cool, but also to see that it’s getting a lot of views and people are talking about it is very rewarding.”
