Social media can get pretty complicated. I have a relatively small social media presence – the links/icons in the sidebar at left, plus Flickr – but at times I’ve forgotten how each of my pages or sites are connected.
Take, for example, the video blog below, which I uploaded to Youtube yesterday and intended to post here today. A few hours after the video was on Youtube I received a message from my sister on Facebook saying she had watched it. I had forgotten that I had a feed from Youtube to Facebook, and it probably cost ianhillmedia.com a few pageviews.
It’s something I’ll keep in mind in the future. Perhaps I need to create a flowchart mapping out the connections between my social media pages.
Read more »
This video by Amani Channel has its issues – he spends the first 50 seconds or so reciting his resume – but it also sends a clear, important message: The user has to come first in today’s news business.
Read more »
In 2007, as we began working on 209Vibe.com, a friend told me I should check out self-described Internet punk Rob Curley. Curley had been the online editor at the Lawrence, Kan., Journal-World, and my friend recommended I research (what I was told was) his work on Lawrence.com. The site was, and still is, a model for hyperlocal entertainment coverage. It’s interesting, engaging and its design always seems to be ahead of the curve.
Curley later went on to other media companies in Kansas and Florida before joining Washingtonpost.Newsweek and, in 2008, Lasvegassun.com. There he’s continued to earn accolades and, according to a story this week on Lasvegascitylife.com, he’s ruffled his fair share of feathers. The story says in part that Curley’s Web-first emphasis as well as his efforts to generate revenue have earned him the scorn of some in the newsroom.
Read more »
Over the past few months I’ve been intrigued by the growing popularity of the free blogging platform tumblr. In some ways – OK, many ways – it resembles Blogger.com; tumblr and Blogger both bring together blogging and social networking in a site that is incredibly easy to personalize and use. They allow users to modify and create their own page themes while also following their friends and keeping up with their blog posts.
Blogger and tumblr differ, however, in their presentation and how they are being used. Unlike Blogger, where the text is the star, Tumblr focuses on visuals and design. Many tumblr templates feature dominant, chunky fonts on simple yet eye-pleasing backgrounds – like American Apparel ads without the nudity.
Tumblr users seem to have picked up on this idea and are focusing on visuals on the site. Take, for example, former 209Viber and local musician Dan Faughnder’s tumblr page, which has a large image in every post.
Read more »
