First lesson about surviving social and digital media, learn it! No matter what your field is, you are likely behind the competition if you don't blog, use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or YouTube. This video helped me understand the basics of computing online today.
Web 2.0; The Machine is Us/Using Us
Lesson #2: Talk the talk A major part of social media involves understanding the translation of online jargon. Many sites use symbols as part of their language. A good example is Twitter which uses symbols like @, # or RT to direct the conversation to the rightful receiver. Using the language equation appropriately is important because a conversation is meaningless unless the receiver understands. There is no leeway for faking it; technically, it is a right or wrong, black or white situation and if you don't know it, it shows.
Lesson #3: Walk the walk Engaging online everyday ensures an effective online presence. The tempo of the time has sped up and online networking is no different. As quickly as the news arrives it passes, and we're on to the next story. The online parlay via social media is a flash flood you don't want to miss. Make it part of your routine every day.
Lesson #4: Contribute meaningfully News moves rapidly. You have a fleeting window of opportunity to take part in its analysis. Instead of superfluously acknowledging what's already being talked about, accrue to information with a unique angle. Adding your brilliant interpretation initiates additional arteries of discussion. This is meaningful social media.
Finally, meaningful contribution needs support. Ensure your opinions surround relevant sources of information. The source of your input is as pertinent as the input itself.
Eating is required. Drinking too, required. Everything in-between those two broad statements regarding food and drink is where you find Chowhound. Chowhound is a social media application that connects people around the world to a public conversation about a common interest and often a common problem, that is the who, what, where of nourishment.
Chowhound is simultaneously a foodie's podium, a new restaurant's successful opening, a wine connoisseurs' InTouch magazine, a traveler's hope in hell and a learning cook's easy answer. Chowhound is an easy-to-follow, free with registration (also easy) service broad enough that it could tell you what restaurants to avoid in Nairobi, if you needed. The site's format is easy to follow and isn't overwhelmed with semi-relevant photos that are often distracting. Catchy headlines like,The Juice, work great to catch the 'question attention' of visitors probing them further into the site.
Chowhound has an up-to-date blog portion so users can keep up-to-date with their online foodie compadres and international food media. Most visible on the site is a consistent thread of comment conservation organized by"Boards" in a geographical area that subsists itself with a steady flow of interested users. If you're not already convinced that Chowhound is worth your attention, maybe a visual, numerical breakdown of Chowhound's popularity might help. The site Crunchbase, another easy-to-use social media application, is comparable to Wikipedia except that it focuses on evaluating tech companies, people and investors. Crunchbase is free and unofficial and provides graphical breakdown on the flow of use for websites to help gauge popularity. Chowhound does itself well as reflected on this Crunchbase.
Chowhound is owned by CBS as of 2010 and runs out of San Fransisco. It has a production staffof just under 30 and even includes a contact for public relations! This site is the real deal and validates itself by selling out to a well-known and trusted media outlet, CBS. On the foodstuff spectrum, Chowhound content is broad and involves great marketing and public relation opportunities for restaurants and food companies alike. For example, that bakery wagon on the corner of What and Where is the only place that offers fresh that great cookie you had once in Venezuela and now you know and so do many via Chowhound. Or, the argument surrounding the best wings in Whoville rages on and now you've gotta try them all so you can decide for yourself; a restaurant's free advertising dream!
You don't need to be a food or drink expert or even relatively interested in foodstuff to learn something from Chowhound. Everyone has had a first date to impress with the perfect dining experience, or the uncle who surprises the visit every time with a bizarre must-have like Argentinian shortbread or, the beloved wine snob father who you can never keep with on the pairing part and finally, that lactose intolerant, gluten-free, organic, vegetarian friend who insists that you choose her birthday dinner spot. Chowhound proves itself to cover it all, a true foodfilling experience!
For some supporting evidence that Chowhound is noteworthy social application, please confirm with Debbie Wainesand Michael Thomson.
Keep up to date on my musings by following me on Twitter @amphrotrite and while there, follow the ever-changing posts of #humberpr.
Consider the world wide web. Consider specifically the amount of words printed each second within the web. How can we organize the relevancy of the online content flurry as it pertains to our own interests and how can we connect it with the interests others?
My post today intends to provide leadership amongst many explanations on the Internet to the better sources I found on what is atagand how to use tags in your blog posts. But first, to differentiate between an oft-referred to idea of tagging; I don't mean this kind of a social tag!
We need to filter what we're interested in and share what may be of interest to others? Using tagsis a good place to start. Tags are what the 'fancies' call meta-data which, simply defined, is data about data.
To use tags correctly, we must understand that the HOW and the WHAT of tags are mutually important; what tags are and how to incorporate them into our online work.
What's a tag? For example, if I published a post about the Haiti earthquake but specifically, I'm interested in what's happening to the needs of women with small babies or pregnant women imperiled by recent events. I would write and publish my blog accordingly but at the end, I could use some key words a.k.a. tags such as Haiti earthquake, pregnant women, or urgency so as to lead readers to my post and to organize keywords within my own blog.
This concept explains well what tags are and how they can be used effectively in our blogs. I liked it because it is simple and practical. Some people may need to top-up their understanding so, for a more in-depth written explanation on the what of tags, CLICK HERE.
Next is the HOW. Although tags are essentially very simple to input, we all learn differently so I've attempted to include the best how-to's for different learning types. This is the simplest pictorial explanation I found on how to input tags.
For a video explanation on how to tag, check out this video posted on YouTube.
Now that you're an expert, where can you practice your new savvy Internet tool? You can tag most things that you publish on the Internet. Other sites you can tag in addition to your blog include Twitter, Facebook, your mobile phone and most online sites that allow you to leave comments include a place to tag.
Here's what other two taggingpros have to say on the subject. Check them out as well! Juggernaut Jaymes and Racey Rachael.
To link to more savvy how-to's, check our social media class list CLICK HERE!
