Using Tumblr to conduct diary based research

www.bedrockinsight.com.au

Digital technology is now so ubiquitous that it offers meaningful alternatives to diary based

research

Source: Nielsen Report: The Australian Online Consumer Landscape 2012

81% of Australians aged 16 years and above can be classified as an active online user (i.e. has used the internet in the past month).

92% have some sort of home internet connection

93% use the internet daily They spend a weekly average of 21H 54M online 69% use it multiple times a day

Of these:

Familiarity with blogging and social media makes running diary studies on available blogging platforms

simple and straightforward to respondents

1. Facebook – 13,200,000 users (according to Ad tool)2. YouTube – 12,700,000 UAVs3. WordPress.com – 6,150,0004. Tumblr – 4,800,0005. LinkedIn – 3,500,0006. Blogspot – 2,800,000

All figures represent the number of Unique Australian Visitors [UAVs] to that website over the monthly period unless otherwise stated).

Source: http://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-april-2014/

Most popular social network sites in Australia – April 14

Social media platforms offer several different options. Two we like:

• Tumblr – private diaries in the form of a blog. Respondents each have their own account, where they post their entries. (Private if constructed that way, or a shared diary for collaborative learnings)

• Facebook groups – collaborative diaries and shared experiences. Allows researchers to use group effect to optimise learnings (Shared)

The ability to easily add media (like photos and video) and website links to a digital platform allows the content to be lively, inspiring and compelling.

The flexibility of digital platforms allows for rich and compelling content in the diaries

Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_eevl'>eevl / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

• Learnings are timely and continuous, and can be built on through the length of the study.

• Because you can interact within the online space, new areas of investigation can be explored and depth around particular issues can be probed.

• A big advantage is that respondent compliance can be monitored in real time

Using digital instead of traditional diaries allows real time monitoring and learning

As with normal diaries, it is still important to over-recruit

Although compliance can be monitored in real time and you can see if people are not participating properly and take action to remedy it – it is still worth over recruiting right from the start of the study. An additional two or three respondents will help if some of the original respondents are unable (or unwilling) to contribute later in the study.

As with normal diaries, it is important to explain how to fill the diaries in and what sort

of information to add

Even when giving clear written instructions, a voice call prior to the diary to talk it through with the respondents is essential.

People don’t always read the instructions, and even when they do they can miss important bits of information!

Keep instructions clear and simple.

Track progress and learnings from the diaries on an ongoing basis by transferring the diary entries into a separate power point file.

We simply grabbed screen shots and pasted them into each respondent’s off line diary.

This also means you are analysing as you go, rather than at the end, shortening the overall process.

Track progress and learnings by creating off-line copies

So, how do you create research diaries using tumblr?

Start off by creating a new email address for each respondent

• Create a NEW EMAIL ADDRESS for each respondent conducting the diary.

• You can use an online provider like hotmail, yahoo or google • Create simple, but content non-specific email address like resp343• The email address will be the login address for the tumblr account.• For privacy reasons, don’t use the name of your respondents!

Because we wanted each respondent to fill in their own diary, each respondent was given their own Tumblr account.

By creating specific email addresses and tumblr accounts, you maintain control over the diaries, and are able to access them yourself to review inputs and post additional questions

Use the email addresses you’ve created to set up a different Tumblr account for each respondent. This becomes their login.

Keep a good record of emails, associated Tumblr accounts and passwords in a separate spreadsheet.

Has no use later on – make it the same as the email address

Use the email address to create a new tumblr account for each respondent

Tumblr blogs are automatically public. You need to create a second private blog if you don’t want the

diaries to be in the public domain

Click here to create a new blog.

Step 3

Tumblr blogs are automatically public. You need to create a second private blog if you don’t want the

diaries to be in the public domain

Click here to make it private. You will need to give it a password.

Tumblr provides an intuitive user interface for adding multiple types of

entries to the online diary

Most useful for written thoughts

Two final learnings on getting the most out of Tumblr

• There is no date function – so ask respondents to put in the date of each entry

• Entries are in reverse order (last post first) – important to remember if you are analysing something like a journey.

www.bedrockinsight.com.au

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