Monthly Archives: June 2008

The Ira Glass Guide to Compelling Content

Jun 29

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A couple of weeks ago, Brian Clark (aka “copyblogger”) posted about a podcast from Ira Glass, host of NPR’s This American Life, discussing the art of storytelling. First, if you’re not already reading Brian’s blog on a regular basis, I’d highly recommend it. The fact of the matter is that while social media of course depends upon key applications and tools to facilitate online conversation, it’s the content that makes us all care.

There’s a reason you visit or subscribe to your favorite blog, obsessively log in to facebook throughout the day to check your news feed or pass along a video that makes you laugh like you’ve never laughed before. Content, content, content. It’s the way a story or news is told that makes us perk up and listen to hear or see the end.

For anyone like me who is obsessed by TAL and Ira’s presentation style (seriously, I often look forward to taking a flight just so I can catch up on TAL episodes), you’ll want to check out the video below. It’ll definitely make you really think about the next news story/blog post you read or video you watch.

Enjoy,

Scott

Posted in Blogs, Facebook, Social Media

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MySpace Tackles Redesign

Jun 27

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An article in this week’s issue of PRWeek talks about MySpace’s redesign and their shift in focus to draw in more users over the age of 30.

First, kudos to MySpace for tackling the redesign by applying feedback from its users. Obviously a logical step, but I’m always curious about whether MySpace is over its heyday and what approach the company will take to change their current market position. Hard to argue that the site is going anywhere fast with more than 117 million profile accounts recorded on the books.

I will say that I’m enjoying the redesign much more than the old platform. They’ve definitely cleaned things up quite a bit by simplifying the nav bar with buttons and edged toward a simpler vibe. That being said, I’m concerned that one of their ultimate goals in the redesign is in fact to ”allow more immersive advertising opportunities.”  The site already tends to bog down a lot during the day with traffic and I can’t imagine an increase in advertising doing wonders for page load time. 

On top of it all, I’ve got to be honest…I’m not sure how many more times I can deal with Match.com’s “interactive” ads trying to lure me to their site with some random girl pretending to hold a conversation.

I look forward to seeing how the site progresses.

It’s Friday, cheers.

-Scott

Posted in MySpace, Social Media

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Defining The Social Media Landscape

Jun 25

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So I think it’s only fitting that we start with a general understanding of what “social media” is and how we’ll address it here at Social Media Snippets (SMS). A quick hop over to the wikipedia definition of social media (speaking of social media) lands us with this:

Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings.

Two key phrases above that stand out in my head are “social interaction” and “shared meaning.” How true. Without ongoing conversation and dialogue, we’re left with a bunch of one-way technological channels that push content, but fail to engage others and flourish in a “push-pull” approach.   

In addition, if you follow the link above, I think it’s important to call out the key point about social media not being finite. There are no boundaries or constraints around social media. The potential is limitless. How great is that?

There have been amazing tools and technologies (blogs, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) created to foster social media but at its foundation, social media relies on two-way conversation. At the heart of it all, we’ve been provided with ways to connect with one another in faster, more dynamic manners and it’s only going to get better.

-Scott

 

Posted in Social Media, Wikipedia

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