CONTEXTUAL REPORT
Disclaimer: AI assistance was used to refine this report’s structure, ensuring it is concise, coherent, and meets the required format
Camperyachties started as a personal way to document my shift from working on Superyachts to van life. What began as casual lifestyle content has evolved into a more hands-on project, exploring how to create meaningful content in today’s digital media landscape. In my rapid prototyping blog post, I wrote about wanting to grow Camperyachties and understand why, despite having strong content, it hadn’t gained traction. This report builds on that and reflects on the key learning moments that reshaped my approach through the lens of the Attention Economy, as described by Goldhaber.
One of the first major mindset shifts came during a class discussion when Travis encouraged us to use uni as a chance to collaborate and network. Until then, I assumed I had to finish my degree before I could make an impact. I saw the qualification as the permission slip to start. But I’ve realised I don’t need to wait. Uni isn’t just a stepping stone. It’s a space to experiment and connect with people already doing what I want to do. That idea gave me the confidence to take action and start networking both at uni and beyond.
I reached out to people working in social media and digital marketing to learn from their experience. I was surprised when one marketer I spoke to, without prompting, brought up the Attention Economy. They said that as a creator, your job is to give people a reason to engage. It aligned perfectly with what I was learning. As Goldhaber suggests, in a world overwhelmed with content, attention is the real currency. That conversation made me rethink my strategy. I used to focus on consistency, assuming quantity would help me grow. Now I understand it’s about quality and intention. Every post needs to offer something meaningful. It has to earn attention.
This new mindset led to one of my favourite creative moments. I walked around the maker space and when I saw a Cricut machine, I got excited about making physical branded items. I wanted Camperyachties stickers for our van, something to grab attention in real life that could attract people to look for Camperyachties online. Unfortunately, the Cricut wouldn’t cut properly (misaligned cutting), even with staff helping me troubleshoot. However, instead of giving up, I pivoted and used the laser printer to etch the logo onto a piece of wood. It turned into a beautiful little sign that now lives in our van. It’s a subtle but eye-catching nod to the brand and still allows for a bit of promotion.
That process helped me understand that creating something new involves two key steps: ideation, which means coming up with and developing ideas, and iteration, which is the process of testing, refining, and improving those ideas over time. It’s rarely a smooth or predictable journey. Trial and error is a natural part of it, and constant iteration is important because the first version often doesn’t work out. But by staying open and flexible, you can still create something valuable, even if it turns out differently than you first imagined.
Later in the semester I got sick and couldn’t try the stickers again, but I used that downtime to focus on what content has been going well and what I should make next. One of my biggest wins was the superyacht reel I mentioned in my previous contextual report. It’s now approaching 20,000 views. That reel taught me that every second matters in the Attention Economy – I made the reel to be fast, visually clear, and instantly engaging to hold the audiences attention and the positive response (high amount of views) proved this worked.
We knew our content was strong, but it still felt like no one was seeing it – so we decided to boost the reel with a small paid promotion to test whether it would help increase reach. As a result, not only did the views go up, but our follower count grew from around 1,800 to 2,080. This showed us that boosting can be a useful tool for visibility, but it’s not a magic fix – without good content behind it, those views wouldn’t have translated into real engagement or new followers.
This semester I experimented with TikTok after heading from classmates on Discord that its “easier to get views”. So far, I haven’t found it as effective as Instagram — possibly because I’ve mostly just been reposting Instagram content and don’t spend enough time on the app to understand how it works. I’m realising each platform has its own style and audience, so what works on one doesn’t always translate. I’m now more focused on tailoring content to each platform and plan to create original TikToks moving forward.
This was our best viewed Tiktok reel – we uploaded it to on ANZAC Day (it’s about our trip it Gallipoli), putting content up that follows significant calendar dates seemed to work well for engagement:
Another experiment was reaching out to brands for collaborations. I wasn’t doing it to get free things. I genuinely wanted to create content that fit the Camperyachties vibe, as well as grow our page and the other businesses. One collab post ended up hitting 18,000 + views. That moment reinforced the power of authentic attention. It wasn’t about pushing a product. It was about sharing something that made sense for my audience.
That experience really showed me that the best kind of attention is earned through honesty and value. Moving forward, I’ll keep collaborating, with companies I feel align with what I’m building.
In our final peer discussion, our same group came together to reflect on how far our digital artefacts had come. We shared our wins and struggles and talked about how easy it is to get stuck in your own head when you’re creating. The biggest takeaway for me was how valuable it is to talk to people about your creative processes, because often other people can provide ideas that you did not think of yourself.
This project has been a really enjoyable growth moment for me. I’ve experimented, failed, pivoted, and succeeded. I’ve learned that meaningful content isn’t about perfection. It’s about listening, adapting, and offering something real. Moving forward I hope to focus more on having a firm content strategy in place for my content so that I have clear direction – but I did enjoy playing around and just testing the waters. Viewing my work through the lens of the Attention Economy helped me understand what makes content connect – creating something valuable that can hold attention.
I’m proud of how far I’ve come and excited to keep building from here.
To end, here is a fun little video my partner and I made with our new insta360 action camera using the “tiny planet” setting – we aim to use this camera to document our travels to Africa next month. Be sure to check out our page!
REFERENCES:
Canva (2025) Canva Design Platform. [online] Available at: https://www.canva.com/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
CapCut (2025) CapCut Video Editor. [online] Available at: https://www.capcut.com/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Discord (2025) Discord. [online] Available at: https://discord.com/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Facebook (2025) Camperyachties. [online] Facebook. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/camperyachties [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Goldhaber, M.H. (1997) ‘The Attention Economy and the Net’, First Monday, [online] Available at: https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/519/440 [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Instagram (2025) @camperyachties. [online] Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/camperyachties/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Insta360 (2025) Insta360 X4 Action Camera. [online] Available at: https://store.insta360.com/product/x4 [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Insta360 2023, How to get Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Tiny Planet’ effect, blog post, 23 November, viewed 3 June 2025, https://www.insta360.com/blog/news/kendrick-lamar-tiny-planet-effect.html
Meta (2025) Meta Business Suite. [online] Available at: https://business.facebook.com/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
TikTok (2025) @camperyachties. [online] TikTok. Available at: https://www.tiktok.com/@camperyachties [Accessed 2 Jun. 2025].
Mikaela's San Giorgio - Digital Portfolio 
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