Three months ago, I had no idea what Netprov was, so I tried to do some research online. What I found was an example of Netprov that used Twitter as the platform, and the result seemed very random and disjointed. So, prior to starting our own Netprov project, I was still confused and also a little anxious.

When I finally learned about the idea behind Air-B-N-Me, and the decision to use a website created specifically for this project as the platform, I was relieved and excited to participate. This was such an interesting and unique project idea! I also appreciated the opportunity to get creative in developing a character for the game. I don’t know if I would have been very successful in trying to find creative ways to market the real me…

Originally, I wanted to create a character that was a young child and have the pitch be something about being able to “be young again” and “have endless energy again”. Interestingly, Dave had a very similar idea, and in the end, neither of us went with our child characters. I decided that it would be too difficult to try to film the scenes that were necessary. Also, after signing up for the website, I realized that you had to choose a birth-date for your character (the minimum age was eighteen).

The idea for my serial killer character came about from joking around with the group as we were working through possible character ideas—thanks Dave, Melissa, and Omar! Having such an easily identified character type actually made it more fun to participate. I created Lurk4You, a lovable murderer in a bit of a killing rut. He hoped that by putting himself out there on Air-B-N-Me and having other people lurf him, he could once again learn to love murdering other dudes.  

It was also fun to stay in character when I reviewed other user’s ads. Although I watched plenty of videos, I had to choose which ones to respond to based on the character that I had created. For example, I watched some of Debbie and Martha’s videos, but, alas, I couldn’t come up with a murderer-esque response. I did get to review Laura, Colin, Melissa, and Maria’s ads. 

As far as accessing and creating videos, I agree with what others are saying about it being a little messy and confusing. Some people chose to use Periscope, others used YouTube to upload their clips, and some people just had a paragraph describing the lurfing opportunity. When the project was first introduced, I was an advocate for using Periscope; it seemed like the perfect tool for this project. In actuality, it turned out to be a nuisance--and a nightmare. 

I think it might have worked better if we had all downloaded the app, traded usernames, and followed one another before the project began. (Although I will say that I was beyond relieved that none of  you were following me when my son broadcast his NAKED LEGS to random internet weirdos and they thought it was ME! He is still grounded for that one...) 

YouTube was a more successful and accessible tool for creating and viewing ad videos.  Although, I will also note that sometimes I didn't even need the videos in order to interact with other users. Sometimes their written descriptions of the lurfing opportunities were enough. 

Overall, (well, other than that Periscope horror story) I really enjoyed the experience! The best part was creating a character and interacting with the other characters that everyone had created. It was interesting to see what everyone came up with. If the creators were going to experiment with Air-B-N-Me 2.0, my only suggestions would be: 1) make sure everyone is on the same page (especially concerning video creation); and 2) have the project take place over a longer period of time (it felt a little rushed, and it would have been fun to see this play out over the course of a semester).