DIGITAL COMMON WEALTH Jennifer M. Jones, University of the West of Scotland

WHERE ARE WE AT?

HISTORY

KEY QUALITIES

•  Self-publishing platforms: write, edit and post (read/write web)

•  A place to ‘host’ content that did not require a dedicated server

•  Lower threshold for access, less technical skill •  Basic HTML skills required, emergence of multimedia (image, video, audio) •  Community building, meet & interact with people based on shared interest •  Organise content based on common themes (tags, categories) not just by time or

location.

Take 5 minutes to think about why you might blog?

TYPES OF BLOGS

NEWS AND JOURNALISM

PERSONAL

TRAVEL

EDUCATION

PROFESSIONAL

COMMUNITY FOCUSED

CAMPAIGN

REFLECTIVE FICTION

“HYPERLOCAL” ARCHIVE

PORTFOLIO

EXPRESS OPINION

RIGHT TO REPLY

NETWORKING

CREATIVE

EXPERT

PROMOTIONAL

TO MAKE MONEY

BLOGGING AND SELF PUBLISHING? BLANK CANVAS!

FINDING YOUR VOICE Is blogging right for you?

•  Do you like to write?

•  Do you spend time researching topics on the Internet?

•  Are you passionate about the topic? Will you commit to that topic?

•  Are you willing to learn more about the technology?

•  Will you be comfortable expressing your thoughts online in a public space?

•  Can you take risks?

BLOGGING FOR DIGITAL STORYTELLING Can you think of a story worth telling?

•  From your local community where you live

•  About Edinburgh as we approach Christmas

•  About Edinburgh as we approach 2014

WHAT PLATFORMS?

GETTING STARTED: WORDPRESS.COM

DASHBOARD

WRITE A POST

WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT?

EXERCISE You have been asked to set a Wordpress.com website for a local community group:

List 3 posts that you could make before Christmas

List 3 pages that you would need to include to ensure that the page represented the group

List 3 places that you could share those posts to ensure somebody reads them

WHO ARE YOUR AUDIENCE?

THINK BEFORE YOU POST

EMBED

TAGGING You can use the concept of ‘tagging’ two ways:

To organise your content on your own blog by describing it as a series of keywords to help others uncover it when they search/to include it alongside related post elsewhere

To connect your post to a wider discussion on other social networks, such as Twitter – so the use of hashtags can come into play

COMMUNITY

e.g. #DIGCW2014

STATISTICS

KEEP GOING

FURTHER LINKS

Digital Commonwealth Project: http://www.digitalcommonwealth.co.uk

Wordpress.com tutorials: http://learn.wordpress.com

50 Wordpress tutorials to get you started: http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/wordpress-tutorials-designers-1012990

@digCW2014, jennifer@digitalcommonwealth.co.uk #digCW2014