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Posted on December 7, 2007
The Rise of Web Surfing
BY JENNIFER EUBANKS
Surfing (the kind with ocean and a surfboard), has seen a rise in popularity over the past few years. Part of this popularity can probably be attributed to the ease with which the internet provides surfers with valuable information. What once required more guesswork or actually going out to physically inspect the ocean, can now be done from the comforts of home.
Surfing blog sites will often talk about what they have encountered each and every day, and in what spots. Bigger, more commercialized sites, such as Surfline, provide links to webcams, reports, forecasts, and other news that can help a surfer decide when and where to catch their next wave.
Being the sole member of my company who lives in a beach town, I was inundated last weekend by reports of an "epic swell" that was expected to hit the coast of California mid-week. Talk of the huge impending surf popped up everywhere, from localized blogs, to local newspapers, from local news to widely circulated newspapers. Everyone had something to say about the topic, which is interesting considering that I don't believe I've ever heard traditional media focus so much attention on high surf advisories in past years. Certainly one would want to be aware of when it is dangerous to be walking along the beach, but in the winter, the majority of people who would dare venture out in the cold are those who go to partake in the sport of surfing. More likely is that in this increasingly digital age, the media has noticed how much is out there in terms of online resources for surfers, and want to cash in a bit.
Like many other niche groups on the internet, surfers have a lot of resources from which they have formed a community--there are forums, swell charts, video, podcasts, reports updated several times daily, blogs to share experiences, and of course Flickr and Youtube to post all those photos and videos you took to share that perfect barrel with friends and other like-minded individuals. When the swell peaked on Tuesday and Wednesday, photos were almost instantly available--something that validates the hype of the day, while getting to share and compare experiences from all over the coast.
The ease with which one can find information on surfing can easily correlate to the increased number of people out when the surf is at its best. Gone are the days when one had to get up before dawn and see what was in store and then use word of mouth. Now with live webcams, the conversations revolve not around "is it good today" but "what time should I meet you there?"
Posted on November 29, 2007
The Societal Impact of the Internet and Social Media
BY JENNIFER EUBANKS
It's time once again for a look at one of my favorite topics, one practically guaranteed to bring me out of the deepest hole of blogging hiatus--social networking. It seems that American University is showcasing the relevance of the internet and social media by offering a course that "examin[es] the many ways that individuals and groups are using the internet to alter the nature of community, civic engagement, and social relationships."
As the author of the blog post, as well as the course instructor, Professor Matthew Nisbet lays out the subjects up for debate in his class. Besides posting about his course on internet social interactions, things get more interesting when he states that students will engage in classroom debate via blog comments. Using blogs as a way to debate online social media is a great way to really capture those conversations. Points that may eventually get lost in an oral debate are retained for posterity and immediately available for all to see in the online realm. Debating in this written manner also allows one to reflect upon his/her statements and make sure to provide compelling evidence to backup the claims.
It also allows those of us no longer in college to see the kinds of views that are held by those in their late teens and early 20's--views that, because they come from a vantage point that may not remember a time without Instant Messaging, Match.com, Myspace, Facebook, blogs, etc. may not realize what an impact they have made on traditional methods of interaction.
Even among those of us who remember the "olden days", we may also be too accustomed to the ease of keeping in touch that technology provides to note the impact it has on face-to-face communication. Does online social interaction detract or enhance traditional interpersonal communications? Only time will tell, and I suspect the debate will still rage on long after the semester ends.
Posted on February 14, 2007
Link Blogs with Google Reader: Pros & Cons
BY JASON CORMIER
Link blogging (quickly posting recommended links to a weblog) can be a valuable way to keep your site findable and your online community engaged -- especially if you sometimes don't have time to write "real" posts.
As our new video tutorial Getting Started with Google Reader explains, one of the rather unique features of this popular free RSS feed reader is that it allows you to automatically publish a link blog.
In fact, Google Reader is perhaps the easiest link blogging tool I've found. On any feed item you wish to share, just click the "share" link and it will automatically appear on your link blog. No configuration required.
Of course, there are pros and cons about using Google Reader to create your link blogs. Before you decide to do this, you should consider these questions:
- Is driving traffic or improving your site ranking a key goal? If so, then realize that a link blog generated by Google Reader will not be part of your site. Rather, it will appear under a Google-related domain -- and with a long, ugly URL, to boot. For instance, the URL for my Google Reader link blog is: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/17484824062998564750 You could try declaring a subdomain (such as links.yourdomain.com) and map that to your Google reader blog. That way, it would superficially appear to be part of your site -- although it may not count that way in your site statistics or search engine rankings.
- Do you want to tell people why you're sharing items? For many people, it's not enough to see which items of content you're recommending. They prefer to know why you thought each item was worth a look. If you think this is true of the people whom you wish to engage through your link blog, then Google Reader probably is not the right link blogging tool for you. At this point, it only allows you to share items -- not to make and share your comments about those items.
It seems to me that if your link blog is intended as part of your general search visibility and public content strategy, you'll probably need a more sophisticated tool that Google reader to generate it. I'll be covering such tools in future tutorials.
What is a Google Reader link blog good for?
If you currently don't have a blog at all, a Google Reader link blog is a very simple and fast way to get started. If you make sure to set your Google Account nickname to a term you want to be easily findable (such as your company's name), then that will show up in the title for your link blog and increase your findability somewhat. Be sure to subscribe your link blog's feed in feed aggregator services such as Technorati or Icerocket, for extra findability.
Personally, I think the best use of a Google Reader link blog is to share items with people you already know, rather than trying to engage newcomers. If someone already knows you or your company, that familiarity provides context so they can probably guess why you recommended certain links -- which partially makes up for the fact that you can't post comments about items you share via Google Reader.
Therefore, if you do create a Google Reader link blog, consider publicizing it mainly to people with whom you already have an established relationship. View it as a relationship maintenance strategy, not a general publicity tool.
Tag Blogs
As covered in my video tutorial, Google Reader also allows you to create separate link blogs where you share specific tags. These "Tag blogs" are link blogs, but they tend to be more specialized.
An excellent use for a Google Reader tag blog is to share links of interest to a smaller, defined community -- such as a project team, or users of a specific product or service.
For instance, the head of a professional association's conference committee might create a link blog that shares only conference-related links, such as potential speakers, issues to address in the program, or news about the conference venue or location. Committee members could subscribe to that tag blog's feed to keep abreast of that stream of project-related content.
...Regardless of which tool you use to create them, link blogs and tag blogs should only be part of your online content strategy. Engaging effectively with customers, colleagues, and communities generally requires original content, not just pointers to what's available elsewhere. If you're trying to engage people, they expect you to have something worthwhile to say.
Posted on January 3, 2007
An Excellent List of Must Read Search Marketing Blogs
BY JENNIFER EUBANKS
Today, to help kick off the new year, Lee Odden over at his Online Marketing Blog has posted an OPML file containing over 250 "must read blogs" dealing with the subjects of search engines, SEO, online PR, and social media.
This list will undoubtedly prove useful for anyone looking to start tracking the latest online marketing buzz or simply to augment their own lists with a few hidden gems. I'm not telling you to download the OPML simply because our Capture the Conversation blog made the list (although it did), but because by providing this list, Lee has made a great contribution to the online community.
If you find the list to be overwhelming in terms of information overload, you can take Lee's suggestion and import the file and then weed out blogs that aren't as relevant for you. It's a whole lot easier to filter out what you don't want than it is to search for some of the lesser-known blogs on these topics.
Posted on September 19, 2006
The Problem with Ghostwriting Blogs
BY JASON CORMIER
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| Debbie Weil, author of BlogWrite for CEOs |
Yesterday on one of my other blogs, The Right Conversation, I wrote about why most CEOs shouldn't blog. And I mean it -- generally it's not the best use of a blog or of a CEO's time and abilities.
Coincidentally, yesterday on the weblog of the International Association of Online Communicators, my colleague Debbie Weil pondered "Is it OK to ghostwrite a CEO blog?" -- followed up today with "Should a ghostblogger for a CEO reveal him or herself?"
My answer to Debbie's first question: Nope, I think ghostwritten blogs are almost always a bad idea -- possibly a worse idea than starting a CEO blog in the first place, at most companies.
And to her second question: If you try to ghostwrite a blog, I doubt you'll have to worry about whether you should reveal that fact. Instead, you'd better believe someone will "out" you about it, and that probably won't be fun.
Here's why I think ghostwritten blogs are a bad idea...
