Way back when . . . I first started blogging with WordPress.com in April of this year, I never changed my background from the Kubrick default theme. So for four months, my blog looked exactly like my husband Jack’s above.
HOWEVER, now that I know how EASY and how much FUN it is to see a more distinctive looking page, I wanted to help you beautiful your blogs as well. Take a look below at several of the student blogs created in ONE HOUR during class using these instructions and then STEP TWO: Choosing the Theme [or background].
You can click on any of the images below to get a closer look at the blogs. Below you’ll find directions how you can spice up your own Online Persona.
LucieDiana
NghiaKeilToniRhonesia
HERE ARE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS
1. Sign into WordPress.com. [If you have not yet registered, then you’ll need to start with the previous post.]
2. The screen that pops up is the portal to your dashboard, i.e. where you make ALL the changes and additions to your blog. Here is Jack’s portal:
3. Click on the word DASHBOARD [beneath the title and to the lower right of the photo icon]. And the screen below appears:
4. On the left of this screen is a sidebar filled with great categories to explore, but for now Scroll Down to the word APPEARANCE. A little arrow brings a drop down box. Click on the word Themes. This brings the screen shown below where you will find 77 fancy free designs for your blog.
5. This step may take some time.
You can use the “Random” search,
an alphabetical listing of blog titles [which may only be helpful if you already KNOW the title of a blog design,
or do what post people do, select the “Popular” category.
When you see an icon that “talks to you,” click on the Kubrick theme or check out an entirely new theme. Below you can see the part of the Manage Theme screen with the “Preview” option below each thumbnail:
HAVE FUN!!
6. Here’s the one I picked for Jack ALTHOUGH he’ll probably change it later 🙂
I chose Ocean Mist because Jack likes Blue, and there is a Header Photo, which Jack can customize. Here is the way his Dashboard Manage Theme page looks now:
7. When you click on the “View Site” link on the top banner next to your Blog Title, you will get your new design. Here is Jack’s:
That’s all . . . for blogging Lesson Two.
In the future we will look at topics like (a) what to blog about, (b) what to put in your sidebar, and (c) features on your dashboard.
Of course you can already find tons of information on these topics all over the Web AND you can read WordPress.com Documents AND you can ask questions on the site Forums.
Lots of information is out there BUT here’s a caution: DON’T JUST READ . . . JUST “DO IT”
So you’re ready . . . to join the Blogosphere with your own individual views.
It’s not exactly a “piece of cake,” but as my many advisors told me — JUST DO IT, and you will learn a lot as you go.
GETTING STARTED is always the hardest part of a new endeavor. So here’s a step-by-step tutorial to help you use the most popular free online blogging platform — WordPress.com.
If you follow these directions, you can be an “official” published blogger in just about an hour or so, which includes up to 30 minutes to get an email confirmation after you sign in.
Be certain to use the comment section IF you have any questions after you try this process. And keep in mind that this is just the first Baby Step, so don’t be too hard on yourself.
To give you an idea of what you are in for, I’ll list the instructions first. Then I will repeat them with the screens you will be filling out. Here goes:
2. In upper right, you will click on the ORANGE “Sign up now” button
“Fill out the one-step form and you’ll be blogging seconds later”
3. Next screen – BE PREPARED to find a “domain” name AND a blog title.
** IMPORTANT. Give the “domain” name some thought . . . especially if you want to be found by search engines. Try to think of KEY WORDS [i.e., the words people would use to search for your information] for BOTH the domain name and Blog title:
4. The next screen is called Check Your Email to Complete registration.
On this screen — which I am not going to show — you may “update your profile” by adding your First Name, Last Name, and something ABOUT YOURSELF. You will be able to change any of that information later.
COOL! I want to call my blog Cars & Guitars and other sexy things -[my husband Jack]
WHOA, Jack. You might want to re-think that name. Did you really want to attract a slew of pornography seekers?
BUT you cannot move on until you receive an email from WordPress . . . so now’s the time to get out the chips and salsa.
ALERT: Your email confirmation will come from donotreply@wordpress.com. Be certain to check your SPAM folder before you panic.
Here is the email my husband Jack received to confirm his account:
5. If you click on the first link http://wordpress.com [in your email], then you will see a screen LIKE this, but with your blog’s information:
6. In the top left corner, you will see four headings: My Account — My Dashboard — New Post — Blog Info
[you will want to explore those options when you have time . . . ]
But for now, click on “New Post” so you can actually write something, post it, and take a well-deserved break.
7. Here is the screen where you will write that first post:
8. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN:
a) Think of a catchy title
b) Write your post
c) Publish [blue button on the right]
How do you add a photo?
How do you use boldface and italics?
There are buttons above the writing box. You can either try them out yourself OR ask a question in the comment section. But here is a screen shot of my husband’s first post:
Q: How many times have I heard people praising the opportunities on Ning.com?
A: Countless times — at least a dozen any way, and three times last week:
During a phone conversation with a fellow social media evangelist
During the #smbookclub discussion I moderated
During the SM ROI panel discussion sponsored by Women in Consulting [for which I took videos now on YouTube@sharisax]
The Time for Ning was NOW
And it was quite easy . . . and more importantly for lots of us . . . did not take much time.
So what is Ning and why did I create my presence there?
Ning is a tool/platform that allows you to set up YOUR OWN Social Network — with what appears to me to have different capabilities and ease-of-use than, say, a Facebook Fanpage. To my mind, it is more personable . . . and, well, less Facebook-y . . . which means more of you, and what you want.
While my Ning site is far from “complete,” what it does have now is a FORUM I set up so that “newbies” can ask me [and my interns] questions about HOW TO GET STARTED WITH SOCIAL MEDIA — the question that plagues so many small business people [mostly Baby Boomers] who are gradually “seeing the light” but don’t have a clue where to begin.
There are a lot of people like me “out there” who do want to help. The people I’m meeting are invited to ask me their questions on the Ning forum.
If you are reading this post, of course, sign in to the Ning forum and ask away.
Here’s a question for starters: Just how do external links help pump your Google Juice?
My Performance Social Media partner Les Ross has been hounding me for months to begin Squidoo-ing . . . yet another link to drive traffic to my blog.
And yesterday was the perfect day, especially since Squidoo founder Seth Godin announced his own new Squidoo launch Brands in Public. You can read on his blog post about how companies can now aggregate everything being said about their brands in one place WHERE they can comment right alongside.
I do want my readers to check out my own Squidoo site, but I just got it started . . . and that is the key: JUST GET STARTED.
BTW, Good luck to my brother Chuck, who is going to start a Facebook fanpage for his Temple in Hawaii. He told me he was going to follow my advice and learn a new social media platform/tool every week.
Part 3: Putting the PUBLIC Back in Public Relations
Add air to molten glass
If you think about the title of this post, I hope you’ll get the message that even though it’s the SM platforms, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, etc. that get the “Buzz,” it’s HOW YOU USE THEM that is their true significance.
Because Brian and Dierdre devote a lot of ink to individual tools in this section of PPBPR, readers should note that some of the content will be outdated by the time they read it — the Web is so dynamic, and the Social Web is even more so.
But that is the Key Point of this section:
“Remember that these are merely tools to communicate with others; they’re not representative of the strategies and methodologies for observing and communicating with people.” — p. 153 PPBPR
Four chapters in Part 3: “Participating in Social Media”
Ch 11 – Technology Does Not Override the Social Sciences
Ch 12 – Social Networks: The Online Hub for Your Brand
These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking.
Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can’t be faked.
Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your call-is-important-to-us busy signal.
Same old tone. Same old lies.
My take-aways:
Conversations will go on — with or without you. Watch that the competition doesn’t get there first.
Negativity in the conversation can present opportunity, e.g., to change a perception.
Basic PR has not changed: YOU are the communication bridge between your company and the people you want to reach.
Social media helps uncover relevant online communities: LISTEN, OBSERVE and, then, ENGAGE.
Reach out to individuals not audiences.
Everything you do online today, whether it’s personal or on behalf of a company you represent, contributes to public perception and overall brand resonance.
Social networks are forcing PR practitioners to evolve — to step out from behind a cloak of anonymity.
“Socialize to Survive” : The days of focusing solely on Web stickiness, eyeballs, and click-throughs is waning. These are the days of immersion, conversation, engagement, relationships, referrals, and action.
NOW FOR SOME QUESTIONS: (especially for those of you who may want to consider discussing this chapter next Tuesday, September 15, at the 8 pm EDT/5 pm PDT meet-up of #smbookclub)
As a “communication pro,” how do you [or anyone] keep on top of Networks and Apps?
What platforms and apps have you chosen to use and why?
What success stories have you had/or heard about that have impacted the way you feel about social media?
How do you feel about “lifestreams” and/or posting updates on multiple sites simultaneously?
Can discussions really take part in micromedia?
Where would you like to see Social Media go from here?
I hope to hear your thoughts in comments below and/or next Tuesday during our book discussion.
Next Post: Description of Community Manager role as organization’s guide along Social Media Revolutionary Road
Want to join the discussion of “How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging PR Business”?
I did yesterday when I began the day writing my take-aways from Part 1: “The True Value of New PR” — Putting the Public Back in PR by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge — and ended the day engaging in an online chat with the Social Media Book Club discussing Part 2 of the book.
The five chapters in PPBPR’s second section covered these areas:
Ch 6 The language of New P’R – suggesting that terms like “user” and “audience” are out-dated.
Ch 7 Blogger Relations – for which Brian has published an entire Ebook, and the main point is that PR people, and anyone who wants to get a blogger’s attention, needs to read the blog BEFORE making contact.
Ch 8 Social Media Release [SNR] 2.0 – includes an actual template for a recommended format.
Ch 9 Video News Release [VNR] 2.0 – features strategies for creating successful video programs.
Ch 10 Corporate Blogging – my favorite portion of this section because of the tips and links to more resources for planning blogging strategies for companies.
Not ever having participated in an online chat before [I can’t believe I’m admitting that], I was surprised to see how easy it was to (a) sign up at Tweetchat through my Twitter account, (b) write in the hashtag #smbookclub, and (c) VOILA, I was in and waiting to begin.
Lara McCulloch, an event planner from Ontario, moderated the discussion for the seven or so Tweeple dropping in. The key points discussed included the following:
For effective blogger relations, PR people need to read and understand what a blogger writes about BEFORE contacting him or her.
If bloggers have a large following, then the comment section can be as valuable as the blog post itself.
Gobblygook [i.e, meaningless jargon and cliche expressions] does not belong in press releases.
Many companies are finding the news releases, distributed by wire services, may only be necessary for huge product launches.
PR is all about relationships, and if you want someone to write about you, you need to establish a relationship.
The problem with most traditional releases is that they are designed for a mass audience — and that’s no longer effective, either for the media person or the end consumer.
Marketers and PR people need to stop thinking about sending messages, but rather tell stories, i.e. telling rather than selling.
Social News releases focus on the facts clearly stated in an easy-to-read format as in the template offered in the book.
Newswriting — and the teaching of newswriting — is a different ballgame these days.
Print media is looking for community engagement and is doing more stories on local residents.
VNRs are time-consuming and expensive, but they are very effective.
Video logs, or Vlogs, are not as common as their likability would suggest because they are more time-consuming to create, and they are not as searchable as text-based blogs.
Corporate types find it difficult to get into the dialogues that ought to be achieved through company blogging.
The final task of the discussion was to list some quotes that resonated with us:
“We earn the relationship we deserve.”
“To be an effective marketer, you must think like the consumer.”
“”The true influencers are the peers of your customers.”
“Blogs are little First Amendment machines.”
“The game is changing: It is no longer about survival of the fittest, but also the most capable and sincere.”
Don’t forget that you can join next week’s discussion of Part 3 to share your ideas on “Participating in Social Media” – Tuesday, Sept 15 at 8 pm EDT/5 pm PDT. Log into Tweetchat and put in the hashtag #smbookclub.
If you missed this week’s chat, but want to add to the conversation, please write your comments below.
Many of us who have taught Shakespeare know that the Great Bard based his renowned plays on history or legend — in other words, his genius was not in the originality of plots, but in the art of his storytelling.
Art, imagination, creation are products of passion. Passion is the way we move forward. Passion is the way I, personally, am moving forward.
Book Review – Part One
This blog is a chronicle of my newly embraced career as a Social Media Evangelist. And one of the people most responsible is Brian Solis, who graciously and enthusiastically accepted an invitation to speak to two Public Relations classes at San Francisco State last spring — despite his hectic schedule advising clients, speaking at conferences, attending mashups, and promoting his most recent book Putting the PUBLIC Back in Public Relations.
To my mind, Brian’s book, co-written with Deirdre Breakenridge, is a conversation about a clash — the confrontation between old thinking and new realities.
Change is hard. People like the comfort of the Way it Was, and the Way They Know: but that is hardly a roadmap for progress.
How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR
Below is a listing of passages I particularly liked from Part I: THE TRUE VALUE OF THE NEW PR
Public Relations has always been about building relationships. It should never have been about spin.
The first thing a PR practitioner should learn is to uphold integrity and credibility at all times.
Listeners make the best conversationalists.
PR 2.0 is creating a new toolkit with which companies can share content with new influencers as well as customers.
PR has begun to look less like a typical broadcast machine and more like a living, breathing entity capable of also participating in conversations with publics.
The new goal for PR is to understand the communities of people we want to reach and how to engage them in conversation without marketing to them.
PR is rooted in democratized content, strengthened by enthusiasm and market intelligence, and powered by conversation.
We no longer Pitch — we Participate. We no longer Sell stories — we Tell them.
The New PR is all about 3 T’s: Transparency, Truth, and Trust.
The Social Media Book Club discussed Part I of the book last week, and here is an archive of the remarks. Tonight at 8pm EDT [5pm PDT] you can catch the discussion of part II: Facilitating Conversations: New Tools and Techniques on Twitter #smbookclub. Here is a Book Club calendar. For more info, contact @ready2spark
Part II: My notes on PRWeb Social News Release show
Images are now expected: photo by my friend Susan Ambrosini
For a long time I’ve been telling my students the “dirty little secret” that the term PRESS RELEASE is passè — and people-in-the-know have been referring to these outreach communiquès as NEWS RELEASES.
However in the New Media World, we now have the SOCIAL NEWS RELEASE with entirely new rules and capabilities. Naturally I was excited by the prospect of sharing the tips for online news releases offered in the PRWeb/Vocus webinar.
SNR’s — VITAL SEO TOOL
Here are three of the broad-based benefits of Social News Releases:
Their incorporated “links” build Google juice
They provide content for both news aggregators and bloggers
They can create viral exposure through social networks
The Webinar listed five steps for a Great Online News Release:
Focus on two or three relevant key phrases — and get one of those in the headline and the other in the first sentence.
Content is Key: Make certain that your story has news value and is not just a veiled sales pitch.
Distribute the release to all social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Optimize with key words and videos or images.
Use targeted anchor tags [URLs with recognizable labels].
It’s All About BACKLINKS
Go to slide #26++ on Optimized Press Releases for examples of SEO-enhanced social news releases. Notice the embedded video, social bookmarking, live search tracking, and embedded hyperlinks. Multimedia has become an expectation.
Here are two organizational points from the webinar transcript:
The Process has changed: new way of working, new approval procedures, new metrics
Leadership must discuss and adopt a new way of defining success for Public Relations
You can use this template for a Social News Release provided on the Web by Todd Defren, widely respected PR/Social Media expert whose blog PR-Squared debuted the recommended format. For more information check out this Fact Sheet on Todd and the relevance of Social News Releases.
Forums and Blogs also offer great places for relevant backlinks, but you need to take care: Participate in a MEANINGFUL way, which means Adding Value and Making Friends.
Note from Google
Google’s Matt Cutter posted a webinar and transcript further explaining SEO and how you get more “Google Juice”:
The more PageRank you have, the faster you are likely to be found, the deeper we [Google] will crawl in your site, and the more often we will visit your pages to see if they have been refreshed.
PageRank at a 50,000 foot view is this: it is the number of people who link to you and how important those links are.
So PageRank is not just getting as many links as you can. It is also how important they are. So having high quality content can really make a big difference.
Now it’s time to check out some of the sources listed above.
Why not research one of the article publishers and see if you’d like placing your content on that platform?
Read one of your favorite bloggers and leave a thoughtful comment.
Check out a forum that discusses issues of interest to you; you can simply Google your area of interest with the word “forum,” i.e. “car forums” or “writer forums.”
Then, of course, JUST DO IT — Write your comments.
Next post: Part II of Notes on PRWeb’s webinar: Online News Releases are one of the most important SEO tools out there.
A few weeks ago, I felt like I’d died and gone to Heaven.
That’s the sensation one has when a passion is being filled to the brimming [tipping?] point.
For a student of the Social Media Revolution, nothing could be more gratifying and fulfilling than to hear a panel of highly influential Social Media Mavens describe what’s happening “out there” . . . Now . . . and what’s likely in our Future.
EVENT DETAILS
Sponsored by The Next Bench, an official HP destination for innovation and computing enthusiasts.
Wednesday, Aug 19 – San Mateo, CA
Moderated by Tony “Frosty: Welch, Community Manager for The Next Bunch, responsible for Web, Community and Social Media Strategy.
Panelists:
Steve Rubel, SVP Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, div. of the world’s largest independent PR firm.
Richard Brewer-Hay, Senior Manager Social Media Strategy & Chief Blogger for Ebay
THE MORE YOU LOWER THE BAR, THE EASIER IT IS FOR THE WORLD TO GO ROUND
IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT CONVERSION — CONVERSATION IS CRITICAL
Selected quips from the conversation:
* Experts are looking to lower the bar.
* Being “Gracious” is vital to being IN with Social Media.
* The Social Media Revolution is like a fast-moving sushi train.
* The Four Basic Means of Measuring Social Media Value: (1) Reach; (2) Engagement; (3) Reputation; (4) Trial/Transaction
* The Top Ten websites from a decade ago had one social network site; today more than half are social media.
* Digital Embassy Strategy: Fish where the fish are — have Embassies in all the venues where your customers are
“People don’t buy products; they buy LifeStyles.”
* Companies are screwing up as they experiment with social media, BUT these mistakes don’t seem to hurt the Bottom Line.
* Innovation really matters: *****INNOVATE IN SMALL WAYS – Those who innovate and iterate in small ways are positioned to pull ahead when things go mainstream. When something becomes a winner, you’ll be there.
* Social Media is NOT YET MAINSTREAM!
“Those who innovate and iterate in small ways are postioned to pull ahead when things go mainstream.”
* Smart companies will take advantage of people with strong personal brands.
* Do not look at Social Media in a vacuum: Look at all stakeholders and determine where social media fits. Where’s the HIGHER PURPOSE?
* Social Media, conversation media, whatever you want to call it — it’s all about one-to-one.
* We’re on THE CUTTING EDGE: The Internet is always changing.
Frosty Welch, HP Panel ModeratorMichael, the Voice of Intel
Two weeks ago I made a commitment to manage my online presence. Discipline is key, but broadcasting intentions into cyberspace has a way of keeping one on the straight and narrow. Too many people to make excuses to if objectives aren’t met.
So how have I done?
Below is my “roadmap” list, followed by my actions:
1) Make a list of WEEKLY goals {I believe I can hold to that) and check off my accomplishments EVERY Sunday night.
OOOps, I didn’t exactly write the list — except on my blog. But I am checking this Sunday night.
2) Prioritize those goals to make certain that the ones on the top of the list are done for sure.
The priorities were in my head since I didn’t write the list . . . except on the blog. Is this admission helpful to anyone? Maybe it’s a way to show the importance of ACTUALLY WRITING DOWN the list, especially if it’s a “check off” list.
3) My original intention, way back when I first posted onApril 23, was To Become an A-List Blogger — and that continues to be my Long Term Goal —
Blogging is my NUMBER ONE priority; the first week I only got to write two posts. This week, though, I’m doing well . . . one-a-day since Friday.
🙂
4) Next, because I really believe that Twitter will become all that its creators are envisioning, my goal will be 3-5 Tweets Every Single Day! I will continue to follow my own advice on What to Tweet.
I went to check on my exact progress by looking at my profile page @sharisax: That was actually Cool as it reminded me of some of the “insights” that I’d tweeted, especially one that was RT’d several times: “If success=receiving, then first comes giving.” Anyway, I met my goal of at least 3 Tweets a day.
Most of my Tweets are posted via Friendfeed, but not always. Even though both are “microblogging” platforms, I don’t personally feel they are “interchangeable.” Friendfeed’s capacity for conversation makes some updates more appropriate for that site.
5) Facebook is a HUGE priority, especially since my partner Les Ross and I are building our Social Media/Internet Marketing consulting business Performance Social Media, which recently set up a Fan Page. We’ll be including the opportunity for small and large companies to find social media interns through us, so I’ll be monitoring and updating both my Facebook Profile and my Facebook Page EVERY Day. That means NEW content on the Facebook page at least four days a week.
Check 🙂
I’m even adding more Business Apps to the Page, and I’ll continue reading everything I can on “Facebook for Business.”
6) I may be running out of time for Daily Tasks, but I thinking checking in and updating LinkedIn is essential. So besides that commitment, I plan to contribute to at least two LinkedIn Group Discussions every week.
OOOOps, I really did want to engage with LinkedIn groups, and TSK TSK . . . have not gotten to that yet. 🙁
7) Finally, my new Road Map will highly suggest that I check out at least one New social media tool, strategy or app every week; by checking out, I do mean more than reading about it.
HOORAY, this one I did in spades. My previous blog post is the proof: 15 social media sites my students and I checked out last week.
Looks like I get a few gold stars and a few TSK TSKs. But the great thing is that I’m traveling faster along Revolutionary Road. And I hope I’m pulling some of you along with me. Anyone else want to report progress in managing online presence? Let us know.
Every day we hear of “new” or “new-to-us” social media tools and platforms. How is a person, or a company, to choose what to use?
The Top Three: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are “no-brainers,” i.e. you really do need to sign up and start experimenting and/or incorporate your participation into your daily routine.
But what about the rest of the dozens and dozens and dozens [100’s] of sites?
We ask this question a lot in PR class, so the students worked in teams to examine 15 online sites: Google Reader, Zemanta, Flickr, Technorati, Squidoo, Ezine Articles, Del.ici.ous, Stumbleupon, Friendfeed, Digg, RSS, BlipTV, Hub Pages, Truveo, and Vimeo.
After brief team reports, the class as a whole voted on one of three options; (a) They would definitely check out the site for personal use; (b) They “might” check it out; or (c) They had NO intention of seeking out more details about the site.
The most popular platform by far was Flickr, followed by Delicious and RSS, with Technorati and Google Reader also scoring high in the (a) option. The lowest scoring sites included Ezine Articles, Truveo, and Vimeo.
Below [in the order seen by the students] is a brief description of each site, with a student comment, and the reported “scores”:
Google Reader:Helps you follow all your favorite sites by managing RSS feeds on one page. Free and easy to use: “Google Reader is a great site with sharing capabilities. You can subscribe to blogs and other sites on a regular basis, which reduces search time considerably” – Jason Khorge.
Class vote on Google Reader: (a) 13 will definitely check it out. (b) 31 said they may check it out; (c) 4 voted against.
Zemanta:This free Firefox add-on download that offers related web content — both text and visuals — that can help bloggers link and use valuable online information. “Zemanta is a great assistant for bloggers because it is easy to use, cuts down research time and enables content producers to enrich their publications with just a few clicks.” — Alisa Guan “I’m interested in checking out Zemanta to help me upgrade my blog. The suggested articles could help me give a more informed and useful opinion.” — Angelica Maduell
Class vote on Zemanta: (a) 14; (b) 24; (c) 13
Flickr: Online photo management and sharing web community. “”In my eyes, Flickr has garnered a lot of attention from reputable photographers and amateurs alike. It’s definitely a haven for people who want to share their passion for picture-taking and connecting with others of similar interests.” — Sarah Awang Razali “I personally thing that Flickr is really useful because of the quality of content provided on it. There are personal pages and professional pages, and all users are equally respected within the community. A lot of the photos are also the basis for much online content. They say, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ so thousands of pictures must be worth a lifetime of endless content.: — Frank Lin
Class vote on Flickr: (a) 31; (b) 18; (c) 2
Technorati: Top rated blog search engine that indexes more than 1.5 million blog posts in real time. “I’m always looking for new blogs to follow and I think Technorati can really help me enlarge my collection.” — Petya Somleva
Class vote on Technorati: (a) 17; (b) 15; (c) 18
Squidoo:Content publishing on steroids: Free community website that allows users to publish pages [lenses] on line in a wide range of topics, virtually anythinhereg a person is passionate about. “Squidoo appealed to me the most, and I believe it has the greatest opportunity to grow. Providing such a diverse collection of material means it can reach a wide variety of interests.” — Liz Looney “I like the free Squidoo community website where content you’re interested in is easy to find. It is easy to use, simple to post comments, and you can earn money for charity.” — Brandon Wong
Class vote on Squidoo: (a) 13; (b) 31; (c) 4
Ezine Articles: Publishing site for original articles including tips, strategies, techniques, analysis, and case studies. Great for sending links back to a website. Sadly, no students chose to write an opinion about this site.
Class vote on Ezine: (a) 2; (b) 14; (c) 27
Del.ici.ous:A social bookmarking service that allows uses to save websites online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking. “You can build a mountain of information before ever adding a single bookmark. You find Del.ici.ous users who have saved articles you enjoy reading. Add their names to your network and with a single click, you can save all their bookmarks. That was amazing to me.” — Sarah Awang Razali
Stumbleupon:An Internet community that allows users to find, share, and rate favorite websites. “I was really impressed by Stumbleupon, particularly when someone said it was ‘a good site to waste a lot of time on the Internet.’ That being said lightly, it did strike me as the kind of site you could go on and be entertained by by topical content. I could see this website becoming part of my daily routine.” — Anna Rahnvonih
Class vote on Stumbleupon: (a) 5; (b) 20; (c) 16
Friendfeed: This microblogging site offers users a stream of updates which, unlike Twitter but similar to Facebook, allows comments and conversations to attach to updates. “With the decreasing popularity of MySpace and the growth of Twitter and Facebook, I think Friendfeed may just be the next best platform, using features from all three of these social networking sites.” — Sheena Diaz “I like the added Friendfeed feature of receiving feedback underneath your post.” — Ashley Dordan
Class vote on Friendfeed: (a) 12; (b) 27; (c) 5
Digg: A user-driven sharing site that is divided into categories for easy search. It also allows you to connect with Facebook and Twitter to share sites. “I am considering Digg because it filters news and other topics by what is important to other people.” — Caroll Vongsouthi
Class vote on Digg: (a) 6; (b) 35; (c) 7
RSS:Stands for “Really Simple syndication” and simplifies the process of getting information. It is a data format used for supplying frequently updated content. “RSS feeds allow you to easily get the latest information that you are interested in and they build Google Juice for shared sites.” — Bo Zhang
Class vote on RSS: (a) 22; (b) 21; (c) 3
BlipTV:Website for video distribution intended for anyone who wants to create a webshow to share with the world. “This site offers free hosting in any video format and tells you who is looking at your page and how they found you. I will definitely check it out.” — Ashley Hall “It’s interesting that you can find sponsors and earn revenue.: — Diedre Moseley
Class vote on BlipTV: (a) 10; (b) 28; (c) 4
Hub Pages:Website is designed for sharing advertising revenue for high quality, user-generated content. Members create individual pages on narrow topics based on the users interest. Not as popular with students as Squidoo.
Class vote on Hub Pages: (a) 3; (b) 25; (c) 18
Truveo: Video search engine that allows users to embed videos through a third party site like YouTube. It has a rating feature, and you can save favorites. “Truveo has many ways to search, e.g., by categories like business or comedy, by TV stations, by name of show. You need to become a member if you want to rate videos and add them to your favorites.” — McKenzie Hanson
Vimeo: Video file sharing and uploading site specifically for noncommercial content.Caters to a high-end artistic crowd. “Users can share or embed. Other options include title, byline, and portrait of the video listing beofre it starts playing. Videos can be enhanced with site tools.” — Riciaig Panlaqui
Class vote on Truveo & Vimeo: (a) 11; (b) 11; (c) 23
Student comments after the two-day experience:
I’ll be honest, I’m not a blogger. I don’t use Twitter and at times I don’t understand all the hype about these forms of social media. However, after seeing these presentations, there is no doubt in my mind the importance of these new media platforms. It’s plain and simple — if you want to spread the word, you MUST use these forms of social media. — Liz Looney
It was interesting to see how social media has exploded in recent years. Seeing all the sites — big and small — showed how each has its unique features. A lot of people do not realize that a small not very well known site today might in fact be the most popular six months from now. Anyone starting to use social media for business needs to check out many of these sites. — Eddie Neyman
From these presentations, I learned a lot of useful tools that will come in handy when I start looking for a job. Some of my favorites were the ones that help you find related articles on certain topics. Too often, I have the hardest time finding good information. — McKensie Hanson
With all the information presented, I feel like I’m already falling behind in the online social media world. To really be able to participate in all the social media sites, I will have to invest an outrageous amount of time. I plan to get involved by signing up for a handful of sites that I can keep up with. This was a great opportunity to learn that many sites can bring news and articles I like, rather than for me always having to search. — Caroll Vongsouthi
Many of my students have begun blogs, and their first questions seem to revolve around, “How do I get more readers?” and “How do I get people to comment?”
My standard answers have been these three:
* Comment on other people’s blogs
* Announce your new posts on Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, and LinkedIn
* Enable a more user-friendly comment device.
However, after reading several of their posts, I have another simple answer — but, first, a story:
My Story about Peter
Several years ago, when I was teaching beginning journalism students at Southwest Missouri State, the students’ daily chore was to write in a log. And I read them.
Big mistake: both the assignment and me spending time reading them.
When left to their own devices . . . students wrote about such earth-shattering events as breaking up with their boyfriends and flushing letters down the toilet to buying a pair of boots at the mall to the scores of basketball games in the local conference. Needless to say, I was questioning my sanity for having asked for these papers.
Until Peter, that is.
Peter wrote plays and poetry. Peter analyzed the news. Peter shared intelligent conversations he had had with friends. Peter reported on books and articles he was reading.
And his writing was so flawless that I was envious.
But I loved reading his stuff and looked forward to every entry.
I was in awe of his talent and wondered what I could offer him.
So I went to several of my colleagues to ask their opinions; one comment stood out: “Peter’s stuff is good because he writes about things that are important and interesting.”
When you blog — and you want people to read and comment — WRITE ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING.
HAVE FUN!!
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