TODAY’S AGENDA A Few Words About Blogging A Primer on Social Media

TwitterFacebookFoursquareFlickrManaging Multiple Networks Incorporating Networks on Your Website

Open Lab for Assignment #1

DIGITAL MESSAGE

MAKINGThe Art Institute of California

Winter 2011 (Week 2)

OBJECTIVES Learn how blogging can be a helpful

personal and business development tool Explore a few specific social media

services Learn how these social media services

can help you network and advertise

BEFORE WE BEGIN As graphic designers in the 21st century,

we need to develop an awareness of the digital media and technologies available for sharing information

We may not have the technical skills to do coding or software developing, but having an basic, high-level understanding of the tools out there can be greatly beneficial

Today we’re going to look at some accessible media platforms that are in demand

A FEW WORDS ABOUT BLOGGING

WHAT IS A BLOG, ANYWAY? Short for web log, a blog is a webpage

where an individual or group of people can share “regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video”

-- as defined by Wikipedia

WHY BLOG? Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livzJTIWlmY

WHY BLOG? (PERSONAL REASONS) It’s free It’s a good method to practice written

communicationThe ability to describe your reasoning, your

thought process, your methodology is valuable

It’s a way to share your interests and passions with others

It’s a gateway for possibilitiesNetworking with others in your field Job opportunities

WHY BLOG? (BUSINESS REASONS) It’s free* It’s a way to communicate with customers

Keep customers up-to-date with products In addition to or an alternative to newsletters

Engage customers in conversations Respond to comments left on your blog Have customers write about your business on their

own blogs

It’s an additional means to extend your brand identity Develop personality

It’s a way for large corporations to communicate internally

BLOG PLATFORMS - WORDPRESS Free and open source Register on Wordpress.com You can also install Wordpress on your

web server You can build your entire website using

WordpressWordpress is sometimes referred to as a

Content Management System (CMS)With plug-ins and add-ons, Wordpress can

be more than just a blog

BLOGS POWERED BY WORDPRESS.COM

icanhazcheezburger.compoliticalticker.blogs.cnn.c

om

BLOGS POWERED BY WORDPRESS (INSTALLED ON PRIVATE WEB SERVERS)

PerezHilton.com SmashingMagazine.com

BONUS: PORTFOLIO SITES POWERED BY WORDPRESS

http://portfolio.hauntedcathouse.org

http://hugsformonsters.com

http://thatfresh.com http://mikekus.com

BLOG PLATFORMS - TUMBLR Free Register at tumblr.com A microblogging platform, made for

short and quick entriesGood for “Single-serving” blogs

Tumblr can be used as a supplemental blog for a company’s brand

BLOGS POWERED BY TUMBLR

GarfieldminusGarfield.net ClientsFromHell.net

BLOGS POWERED BY TUMBLR

katespadeNY.tumblr.comabcWorldNews.tumblr.co

m

BLOG PLATFORMS - BLOGGER Free Register at blogger.com Have a Google account? You already

have a Blogger account. Since it belongs to Google, Blogger

users can easily utilize other Google tools (AdSense, Google Reader, etc)

BLOGS POWERED BY BLOGGER

googleblog.blogspot.com blog.twitter.com

BLOGS POWERED BY BLOGGER

PostSecret Strobist®

A FEW TIPS FOR SUCCESS Create quality content

If your post isn’t something you’d be interested in reading, chances are no one else would either

This will come with thoughtfulness, time and practice

Be consistent Figure out a schedule and stick to it Having a few posts already prepared, ready to

publish can help Talk with and promote to your community

Figure out your target audience Engage and participate

QUESTIONS SO FAR? ???

A PRIMER ON SOCIAL MEDIA

How to Utilize It for Networking and Advertising

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA, ANYWAY? Social media is a phrase that’s tossed

around a lot, intertwined with Web 2.0 and the next biggest thing.

Social media is “media designed to be disseminated though social interaction”

--as defined by Wikipedia

Social media oftentimes involves user-generated content (video, audio, text and multimedia)

SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z

5Fm-Ng

SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITIES (SOCIAL NETWORKS) Traditional advertising cannot be the

only way to reach customers these daysYou have to go where the customers are:

their social networking communities As designers, we may (and should) be

asked to design with these communities in mind

Let’s take a look at a couple of these communities

IS THIS WHAT TWITTER IS? Twouble with Twitters: SuperNews!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w

WHAT IS TWITTER? A social

networking and microblogging service

Post status updates in 140 characters or less

Over 105 million registered users

TWINGO (TWITTER LINGO) Tweet – A status update on Twitter Retweet (RT) – Repeating someone else’s

tweet, usually attributing the source with an at-reply

At-Reply (@) – A status update directed at another user (@username)

Hash tag (#) – A way to organize updates for Twitter search engines

TWINGO (TWITTER LINGO) #FollowFriday – A tweet where you

recommend a person to follow, searchable because of the hash tag

Direct Message (DM) – A private message to a user you follow

Fail Whale – When Twitter goes down due to overload, a splash page with a whale appears

WAYS TWITTER IS USED Microblogging

Quick way to keep friends/family/acquaintances/random people in the know, a soapbox…

News FeedSports, local happenings, breaking news…

WAYS TWITTER IS USED Promotions

Coupons/deals, current and future events…

Classified Ads Job listings, recruitment…

WAYS TWITTER IS USED Organizing Events

Coordinating attendance, checking in…

Sharing KnowledgeSharing new content, forwarding good

links…

WAYS TWITTER IS USED Customer Service

Resolving issues, giving service updates…

ActivismEnvironmental issues, political issues,

economic issues…

HOW TO USE TWITTER EFFECTIVELY Follow people in your

field Keep up to date with the

movers and shakers Engage in conversation Cross-promote one

another Encourage people to

tweet about you Create tweets that can

be retweeted Create a hash tag for

your event Add a Tweet button to

your blog or website

WHAT IS FACEBOOK? The leading

social networking website

More than 500 million active users

FACEBOOK (FAN) PAGES Formerly known as Fan Pages, Pages can

be created for a business, product, brand, artist, etc.Convenient way to connect to users who are

interested in your businessProvides more search results for your

business

TIPS FOR PAGES Fill out all information in your profile Engage fans regularly

Post often, but not too often Tag fans in pictures and videos

Provide fans with unique content Video streams to special events Coupons and deals

Create a landing page Use the Facebook coding language FBML to set

up which tab loads first when users visit your page

Landing pages can include links to pages outside of Facebook

EXAMPLES OF LANDING PAGES

H&M Lacoste

FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON Effortless way for users

to show approval or interest in a post

Can be used anywhere, not just on Facebook Add a Like button to other

websites and blog posts Clicking on Like button will

create a post on the user’s Facebook page, linking back to your website

Code available from developers.facebook.com

FACEBOOK CONNECT Enable users to log

onto a website with a Facebook account Used million of times

a month streamlines a user

experience Code available from

developers.facebook.com Intermediate-

Advanced coding knowledge helpful

WHAT IS FOURSQUARE? A geo-location

application “Check in” at a

location using a mobile device

Leave “tips” about locations

Set up like a game Earn points and

unlock badges Gain status by

becoming a “mayor”

WHAT FOURSQUARE OFFERS TO USERS Way to share with

friends where you are

Get the inside scoop on a location

Get special offers from some locations

Game aspect encourages continued usage

HOW BUSINESSES CAN USE FOURSQUARE Add your business to

Foursquare Use customer tips as

feedback to build upon

Offer discounts to people who check in

Use Foursquare “personally” Check-in at locations

and leave tips Build credibility as a

Foursquare user

RECENT CONTENDERS

Yelp Check In Facebook Places

MANAGING MULTIPLE SOCIAL NETWORKS Being on multiple websites may be

beneficial but not necessarily practical Different customers use different social networks

However, be selective about where you are signing up Sign up for networks where you will actively

engage your customers Do you know where you are currently signed

up? Use the website http://namechk.com Having a single username across multiple

networks will make keeping track easier and will build consistency

MANAGING MULTIPLE SOCIAL NETWORKS

Visiting multiple websites can be time-consuming and cumbersome

Consider utilizing programs and services that allow you to log-in into multiple websitesTweetDeckHootSuite

TWEETDECK Desktop client, also

available for iPhone/iPad, Android phones

Update and manage Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Google Buzz, and Foursquare

Customize your experience with groups, saved searches, automatic updates

HOOTSUITE Desktop client, also

available for iPhone and Android phones

Update and manage Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Wordpress and Foursquare

Statistics, customized groups, saved searches, automatic updates

LANDING PAGES ON YOUR WEBSITE When drawing users

from other social networks onto your website, consider creating a special landing page. A subpage of your main

website Provide an enhanced

experience by tailoring the content of this subpage

Design the subpage based on your understanding of the users from the social network

MICROSITES Related to landing

pages, a microsite is a supplemental website, most often used for a campaign or special event from a larger organization Movie trailers often

have microsites Microsites have their

own URLs, sometimes their own branding

WHAT IS FLICKR? Online photo/video

sharing and management

Easy photo/video uploads

Enables users to set privacy and licensing settings

Enables users to tag location and topics

HOW BUSINESSES CAN USE FLICKR Useful for restaurants,

hotels, event venues, retail stores and advertising firms to showcase locations, products, etc.

Proper titles, tags and descriptions will allow users to find you, on Flickr and via search engines

Engage users in groups Enable users to use

photos with Creative Commons licenses

Encourage users to upload their own photos and tag them with your business name

A COUPLE USERS OF FLICKR

The White House Republic of Chile

INCORPORATING SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUR WEBSITE (OR BLOG) Make it easy for visitors to share your

contentsharethis.com provides easy Tweet and Like

buttons (as well as other networks) for websites

INCORPORATING SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUR WEBSITE (OR BLOG) Utilize widgets

provided by the networksa patch-work

solution, widgets might clash with the website

INCORPORATING SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUR WEBSITE (OR BLOG) Build your

website with a content management systemuse a theme or

design specifically created to handle social media incorporation

THE END Thoughts and/or questions?

OPEN LAB You have the remainder of the class to

work on Assignment #1. Have your notes and sketches ready to

show the instructor your progress. Did you write your concept paragraph

yet? Make sure to do that before the day is over.

Not working on your assignment? Participation points may be deducted.

Toward the end of class, be sure to scan or take pictures of your sketches to post to the class blog.

REMINDERS ABOUT POSTING Write in complete sentences, spell-

check and proof-read. Title your posts appropriately (follow the

naming convention given). Check off the appropriate categories. Post grading (starting today):

0.5 points for correct title0.5 points for correct categoriesUp to 4 points for content (well-written,

pictures included when assigned)