In this lesson, students will analyze the data of a music artist’s social media account to assess audience engagement. Using Beyoncé’s social network as a case study, students survey the total platforms in her network and identify her preferred platform, Instagram. Students then practice calculating ratios using the data from Beyoncé’s Instagram account to assess audience engagement. Next, students continue their practice with ratios and assessing audience engagement by comparing and contrasting Beyoncé’s Instagram account with another highly popular Instagram account. The lesson concludes with summary activities that discuss predicted audience growth trends for the analyzed accounts and the estimated monetary value of audience engagement on Beyoncé’s Instagram account.
A social network can be essential for a music artist. The network provides an artist with a digital ecosystem to publicize events, promote their content, and connect with their fanbase. It is a direct connection between the artist and their audience, without an intermediary such as a record label or publicity agency. The network consists of a variety of websites and apps, including many social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram. Networks also provide data about the size of an artist’s audience and identify how the audience is engaging with the artist’s various platforms.
The music artist Beyoncé’s social media network contains platforms that have an audience in the hundreds of millions. Her preferred platform is Instagram and her posts have set records for the number of Likes they have received. Her Instagram account is consistently one of the most followed. Monetary estimates on the value of one of her posts is about $1 million. But the actual percentage of her Instagram audience directly engaging with her posts is unclear without an analysis of the account’s data. Algebraic ratios provide an excellent way to analyze the numbers and identify the depth of her audience’s engagement with her Instagram account.
