This week in the world of digital by Michelle Beckham-Corbin:

Pinterest

Pinterest creates controversy with their TOS causing many creatives like photographers to leave the platform. Read more here.

Facebook

Facebook announced at FMC12 that Timeline will be automatically activated on 3/30/12 for  Pages.  This surprise timing move is causing companies to revamp their Pages and applications to fit the new specs.  Timeline will allow for new ways to market Pages and include a host of changes that admin need to be aware of.  Excellent article by Social Media Examiner discussing key things you need to know to market with Timeline here.

SXSW Interactive Conference:

South by Southwest (SXSW) is the annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin, Texas. Historically, start-up companies have used SXSW to either launch their apps or services or gain exposure to a wider audience.  Notable start-ups coming out of SXSW include Twitter and Foursquare.  Follow mRank Leaderboard to see which companies are generating buzz at the conference.  Read full article here.

This blog post originally appeared on Michelle Beckham’s Blog here.

Additionally, Vickie Sceifers shared some exciting news with the group: Facebook is now allowing Pages to appeal for a name change. This is was not allowed prior to March of 2012 and is great news for businesses and orgs who hastily chose a Page name and set it.  Here’s the link to make the switch.

Each month throughout 2011, we’ve been bringing you news that has moved us. This month, it’s all about the new Facebook changes with a side of Google Plus.

Articles

• TechCrunch: Facebook’s Massive Kitchen Sink Update: Photo Tag Approvals And So Much More
• USA Today: 10 Things to know about the new Facebook
• Mashable: Facebook Is Getting Too Damn Complicated [OPINION]
• Hubze: Facebook’s Secret Project

Videos

What is Google+ (Google Plus) and do I need it?

Introducing Timeline — a New Kind of Profile

A New Class of Social Apps on Facebook

Removing the Facebook Ticker

If the new Facebook real-time Ticker feed bothers you, there’s an easy way to remove it.

This month at our New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday event, we’re talking about the flurry of changes that Facebook has recently been rolling out.  One of them is the real-time Ticker feed, which appears in the upper right hand corner.

It’s a non-stop, rolling ticker of updates. More than some are willing to tolerate. So for our Power Tip this month, we share how you can remove it.

How to remove the Facebook Ticker

If you use the Google Chrome browser, you can try the Facebook News Ticker Remover extension.

If you use Firefox, try the Facebook Ticker Removal add-on.

Image credit: Facebook News Ticker Remover – Chrome Web Store

Related links:

• How to get rid of the Facebook Ticker | ZDNet (zdnet.com)
• Facebook Side Ticker Remover, Hide Facebook Ticker (ghacks.net)

Social Media and Hurricane Irene

Social Media had a profound impact on delivering news during Hurricane Irene.  You could find an NYC Evacuation Center on Foursquare, learn about the aftermath and reaction of Hurricane Irene, view pictures of the calm before the storm, and of course – view “Hurricane Irene” twitter account.

Facebook Sharing – Privacy/Security/Settings

(Source: Facebook Blog)

On August 23, 2011 Facebook organized two areas of content sharing: what shows up on your profile, and what happens when you share something new.

On your Profile:

• Content Sharing – Options such as hometown, latest interests, photo albums and more, now have an inline menu that allows you to control who sees a specific part of your profile. A side benefit of moving most of the settings to inline controls is a much shorter and simpler Settings page. (to view this simply click “edit” next to the content section you want to change the settings for)
• Profile Tag Review – Previously, photos you were tagged in would show up on your profile as soon as you were tagged.  Now – you can choose to use the new tool to approve or reject any post you are tagged in before it’s visible to anyone else on your profile. (to view this simply go to account settings in top right hand corner and select “privacy settings”)
• View Profile As – You can now view your profile as others see it.  If you go to your profile page and select “View Profile As…” you can view yourself from a different perspective.

When You Share:

• Inline Controls – Before in order to control who saw your posts you had to click around within the settings page.  Now there is an inline option for each post to control who and how you share your content. Also, when you tag someone the audience label will update to show that the person tagged and their friends can see the post.
• Change your mind after you post? – You can now change who sees your update even post you post through inline options.
• Tagging Locations – Before you could only “check in” to locations using a smart phone.  Now you have the option add a location to anything from your home computer.  Currently, there are no restrictions on your location post.  For example, you can say that you are currently in Paris, when – for example -  you are laying in bed from your home in Cincinnati.

This didn’t really seem fall within the categories above, but is really cool.

Your options for removing tags or content on Facebook are presented more clearly. Your options are: removing from your profile, removing the tag itself, messaging the photo owner or tagger, and requesting the content get taken down. (More details on tagging can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/about/tagging)

Update: The article I wrote above is a summary of social media news that I found interesting.  I kept the tone relatively formal and intentionally left out my opinion.  After sharing this with the New Media Cincinnati committee, I thought it would be fun to share my “two cents”.  So, if you are still reading at this point, here it is:

I thought it was really interesting how social media played a part in delivering information on Irene.  The actual @Irene account was a Product Strategist who was delivering information and communications about the hurricane.  While the tone was light, a lot of sources reported that “her” tweets were informative.   I was also impressed with the option to “check-in” to an evacuation center on foursquare.  It was designed to reveal a list of local evacuation centers and make it easier for residents within the area to find a center.

On the Facebook section of my post, I am really glad to see Facebook taking steps to make privacy easier to manage.  I like that I have control over accepting or rejecting tags of photos and locations.  The inline controls to make content sharing easier among certain friends was also a great added value for me.  While nothing is ever truly private online (especially Facebook), it brings me a bit of solace to know that controlling my privacy has gotten a little easier – even if it’s just an illusion of security.

Welcome to episode 003 of the New Media Cincinnati podcast, with your hosts, Daniel Johnson, Jr. and Matthew Evins. This episode was recorded on Thursday, September 1, 2011.

Shout-out to sponsors: Jazzmania Productions and BlueHost.

Download this episode directly: 

Questions, Trends in Social Media, and Chabot Seizing Cameras – New Media Cincinnati Podcast – Hosts: Daniel Johnson, Jr. and Matthew Evins

Running time: 22:41

01:35 Thanks again to Daniel J. Lewis for coming on last week to talk about PodCamp Cincinnati.

02:05 September 2011 Second Saturday event coming up on the 10th. Questions From A Hat. Loosely based on the Scenes From A Hat game from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

04:35 From the LinkedIn group: Krista Neher shared 5 Biggest Trends in Social Media

05:25 Google Plus. Public and private posts, like a combo between Facebook and Twitter. Some other similarities to LinkedIn and even blogging.

07:24 Google Plus mobile app has a Nearby stream that lets you see what others are posting. You can connect to others you might not already know. Photos added to a queue that you can opt to share with others. Can share to individuals or circles or to all circles.

08:50 Social Media Overload: Remember your goals and what you’re looking to get out of it.

11:07 Businesses are offering incentives to encourage those who engage with them in social media.

12:10 Other trends… Accessing social media via mobile devices, virtual commerce, and gamification.

14:26 Why Seizing Cameras at the Rep. Chabot Town Hall Is A Big Deal. We cannot expect privacy in public places anymore. Especially at events funded by taxpayers for our elected politicians.

Connect with Matthew:

Twittter: @evinsmj
Website: http://evinsmj.net
Professional: http://mevinsconsulting.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/evinsmj

Connect with Daniel:

Twitter: @danieljohnsonjr
Website: http://danieljohnsonjr.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danieljohnsonjr
New Media Cincinnati meets on the Second Saturday of every month, except for December.

Add yourself to the NMC email signup list to get email from us.

Music played on this podcast comes from MusicAlley by Mevio. Used by permission.
Intro music is “Surf Babe” by Alamantra
Closing music is “I’ve Got So Many Questions” by Ken Kurland feat. Penny Towers Wilber

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Related articles

• Podcamp Cincinnati And Nothing About Steve Jobs (newmediacincinnati.com)
• Paul McCartney, Tech Hotspots, and WordPress Blog Spam (newmediacincinnati.com)
• The ROI of attending an in-person social media event (danieljohnsonjr.com)

Welcome to episode 001 of the New Media Cincinnati podcast, with your hosts, Daniel Johnson, Jr. and Matthew Evins.

This episode was recorded on Thursday, August 11, 2011. We met in-person at an Arby’s in Fairfield, Ohio and shared some of the discussion going on in the LinkedIn group, as well as about Sir Paul McCartney playing in Cincinnati recently.

Shout-out to sponsors: Jazzmania Productions and BlueHost.

Download this episode directly: Paul McCartney, Tech Hotspots, and WordPress Blog Spam – New Media Cincinnati Podcast – Hosts: Daniel Johnson, Jr. and Matthew Evins

Running time: 27:04.

01:40 Excitement around the August 13, 2011 NMC Second Saturday event. One in three people registered are coming for their first time. In 2011 there have been many new faces showing up at these events, demonstrating a continued interest in this space.

03:00 Sir Paul McCartney in Cincinnati last week for a concert at Great American Ball Park. Some are suggesting this might have been his last concert ever in Cincinnati.

04:23 Other bands from the 80′s in Cincinnati also last week: Journey, Foreigner, and Night Ranger. A couple days beforehand, Journey played on the Today show, sounding just as good as ever.

05:17 Business Week names Cincinnati 3rd most booming city for technology jobs.

07:05 NMC LinkedIn group – open for discussion but beware of the community banhammer for self-promotion.

08:41 Lisa Desatnik asked about suggested for preventing spam trackbacks on her WordPress blogs. Daniel uses the Disqus commenting plugin; Matthew uses a commenting plugin that uses Facebook Connect. Try Akismet (no longer free), Bad Behavior, Spam Karma (neither of have experience with that one)

14:17 Poll shared by Joanne Maly: Will You Abandon Facebook for Google Plus? – Most people say they won’t just yet.

15:14 Charles Egerton shared a link: Why Texting Is the Most Important Information Service in the World

16:50 Props to Crystal Thies, the LinkedIn Black Belt Ninja, for sharing things you didn’t realize you could do in LinkedIn for Tech Tuesday at the Clermont Chamber of Commerce. Very interesting are the different applications, honors/awards, projects, custom company pages, and using Signal to search status updates.

Connect with Matthew:

Twittter: @evinsmj
Website: http://evinsmj.net
Professional: http://mevinsconsulting.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/evinsmj

Connect with Daniel:

Twitter: @danieljohnsonjr
Website: http://danieljohnsonjr.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danieljohnsonjr
New Media Cincinnati meets on the Second Saturday of every month, except for December.

Add yourself to the NMC email signup list to get email from us.

Music played on this podcast comes from MusicAlley by Mevio. Used by permission.
Intro music is “Surf Babe” by Alamantra
Closing music is “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Blake Morgan

Image via Wikipedia

This is a guest post by Andria Carter, President/CEO of Andria Carter Consulting, who spoke at the July New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday event. I put the call out to the community for people who would like to speak about the creative process, and Andria was one of the first to respond. With over 20 years experience in journalism, she presents some tips for writing for the web. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Writing is like a blind date: you try everything hoping to impress who you are writing for and once that’s achieved, you keep them wanting more.

But how do you keep your content fresh and exciting? The web audience is fickle, and they will like you or hate you in an instant. As a print news reporter, I learned early on that I had only 3 seconds to entice a reader to read my story; otherwise they move on to the next story or photo. Today, web users give you only 1 second to impress them before they stay or click away.

Again, dating is a tricky thing.

Defining Value

All websites and blogs are based on this basic formula:

Audience +Content+Platform=Value.

Each of these components help to make a website or blog successful both in traffic and revenue.

But the tricky part of this equation is knowing your audience and writing your content. Remember, online the conversation is king but the content gives them something to talk about.

Your audience is fickle. If they like your subject matter and you entice them enough they will take a look at you and if they love you, they will share your link with others to generate more traffic.

Don’t Be Afraid Of The Blank Page

Creating content is the hard part. I know Daniel was telling me at times he has writer’s block and its hard facing that blank page, thinking, “What am I going to say today? The clock is ticking….”

Don’t be afraid of the blank page. The blank page and the delete button are your friend.

If you suffer from writer’s block and stepping away from your computer, laptop, netbook, smartphone or tablet does not work then try free association. One thing that I do is just type away on the computer. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense just type, eventually it will. Or pretend you’re a little kid discovering a piano for the first time banging on the keys. It’s nonsense, disturbing but fun and can trigger an idea.

If that doesn’t work then you can jump start your brain by answering a few simple questions:

• What is your favorite childhood toy?
• Growing up I loved to play?
• If I could be a child again I would do?
• I would love to be a?
• My best friend is and why?
• I once met……
• If God could…….
• I secretly enjoy……
• 20 things I enjoy doing…..
• What is your favorite exercise position and why?

By asking yourself personal questions, it jogs your memory, distracts you from your struggle and jump starts your brain. And if this doesn’t work go watch a bad, bad movie or reality TV. And then think how could I have done that better and the ideas flow.

One of the better tricks I use when I a looking for ideas is to keep a notebook or use the memo nearby for brainstorming. You never know when a good idea is going to pop up – in the shower, driving, watching a movie, talking with someone or just observing people on the street – great ideas come and go, but when they come you want to capture them at that second or you will lose it.

You Are News Gatherers And Content Generators

You have to remember now you all are media publishers and are in a sense news gatherers or content generators for your websites. If you have a laptop, smartphone, wireless card and a video camera, you are as powerful as any news organization.

News reporters write on a variety of topics; here in this community we all write about topics that we know. You have a certain way of thinking about the topic. Your point of view or experiences shapes how you write about that topic.

I encourage you to change how you approach the topic. If you always approach writing your content from one point of view, change it. People come to all topics from different viewpoints and you should try thinking from different angles. If it gives you a fresh point of view, you create new topics to write about and it eliminate any guesswork on the reader’s part.

Write For An Active Audience

Remember, when writing for the web it is an active medium. Web users are engaged readers who want to go places and get things done.

Always write in an active voice, never passive. Your readers or content consumers are multitaskers who want their content on their time, at their place and in their way. They don’t want to be bored because bored readers leave a website a lot faster than entertained ones.

Listen, Watch, Play and Chat:  this is what your content consumers are doing when they are reading your website. They are distracted from the beginning, but you want them to be distracted by your content.

Lead With What’s Most Important

What you say is important, and I advise everyone to write their content using the inverted pyramid. The inverted pyramid is the writing style news reporters use when writing a story. If you read any news story you always have the most important information on top and the background information in the bottom part of the story. By using this style you allow your readers to skim what you have written, which keeps them informed and entices them to stay longer on your site.

Also, keep your paragraphs short. One to three sentences paragraphs are fine. Brevity is key here. Write tight and omit all unnecessary words.

If you find your content exceeds 300 words use subheadings to break up the content. The subheadings help the reader scan the page more efficiently and keep the reader on the page.

Tell Stories

What entices people the most is great creative story telling. Michael Eisner, the former CEO of Disney, told Ad Age magazine, “..the missing part of the internet is imaginative storytelling.”

Well, we aren’t Disney, but in this room we all have a story to tell. Using anecdotes or a descriptive passage is the best way of telling that story. It keeps you entertained writing it, keeps the reader entertained reading it, and then if they love it they will share it with the world. Again, conversation is king and the content is what people are talking about.

Headlines: The Heart And Soul Of Your Content

Another way to entice readers to your website or keep them on your websites longer are headlines. Headlines are the heart and soul of your content. They sum up in just a few words what your content or story is all about.

When I was working for a daily newspaper in New Jersey some of the web headlines we used

• He took it in the butt – Roger Clemons and steroids
• Death by Chocolate – a man died in a chocolate stirrer
• McBurned – A million dollar mansion burned down

Terry Gross on Fresh Air had a headline on Facebook – Project Nim: Monkeying around with a chimp.

I changed it to Monkeying around with Nim.

Another NPR Headline – Georgia Farmers Hail China’s New Taste for Pecans.

I changed it to – China loves Georgia Pecans.

To practice short headlines look at the headlines that appear on news websites and change them so they are shorter but keep the same meaning.

Headlines are enticing, sensual, funny, unbelievable, shocking, etc. They are your marketing tool to get the word about the latest content on your blog or your website.

Have Fun!

Always remember when writing for the web have fun. Don’t agonize if the what you are working on is not right, make sure its accurate and you can always go back and change it. That’s the beauty of the web: you can correct anything just as fast you can delete something.

Related articles from Zemanta

• Weird Al Talks to Tim Siedell about The Creative Process (planetpookie.com)
• That Website Ain’t Gonna Visit Itself (socialmediaexplorer.com)
• How to Conquer the Blank Page: 10 Tips That Really Work (dailyblogtips.com)

Image by archer10 (Dennis) via Flickr

This month we’ve got LinkedIn going public, Facebook changing privacy settings (again), and Google honoring guitar great Les Paul.

LinkedIn Goes Public

Big news last month as LinkedIn launched on the NYSE (LINKD), the biggest internet IPO since Google’s in 2004.  The Wall Street Journal reports:

Shares opened May 19th at $83, up 84% from its initial public offering price of $45. By the market’s 4 p.m. close, the stock had soared 109% to $94.25.

Could this set the stage for other internet companies like Facebook, Zynga, and Groupon?

Facebook’s Facial Recognition App Controversy

Facebook again has stirred up controversy with its new Facial Recognition application. We talked about this a bit back in January.  You can tag groups of photos in an album, and Facebook uses its facial recognition technology to suggest the friend you should tag with. This means that a Facebook friend could potentially tag you in any photo they’ve uploaded, whether you want it or not by default.

There are three ways you can manage this, should you be concerned. In a recommended order of importance:

1. Don’t put yourself in compromising situations where a Facebook friend could snap an upload a picture of you to Facebook.
2. Manage your Facebook friends so that you’re only connected to those you trust.
3. Update your Facebook privacy settings.

To disable this feature in Facebook:

1. Log into Facebook, click the Account drop down and select Privacy Settings.
2. Click Customize settings.
3. Scroll down to the Things others share section.
4. Next to the Suggest photos of me to friends option, click Edit Settings and change the setting from Enabled to Disabled.
5. Click Okay.

Google Honors Les Paul with Playable and Recordable Google Doodle

Google is known for commemorating special days and anniversaries by changing the logo on its homepage. Earlier this week, they put up a special Google doodle to honor Les Paul, shaped like an electric guitar. Mousing over the strings played notes, and you could also record and share your recording with others.

Playable Les Paul Google Doodle

Before long we’ll be getting ready for the next Second Saturday event. If you’re unsure what to expect, then this post is for you. (Actually, this post is for the rest of us as well!)

What We Believe

• We believe in promoting digital literacy in the Greater Cincinnati area.
• We believe that connecting online is easy; connecting in-person is more important.
• We believe in creating a forum where people interested and involved in social networking tools can meet those whom they have connected with online, to better get to know one another.
• We believe in creating a stimulating environment where participants can learn and share something through a themed, topical discussion.
• We believe in experimenting, trying new things, making mistakes, and learning as we go. As the tools we use continually evolve, so we will as well.

Related articles

• Connecting is easy – it’s what happens next that matters (danieljohnsonjr.com)
• Social Media Tragedies: Second Saturday Preview (newmediacincinnati.com)

What does it take to build an online community?

Well, TBH (to be honest), it takes nothing less that complete commitment, passion and patience. It’s not an easy road, nor it hasn’t been an easy road for me (DEBBA HAUPERT, of Girlfriendology.com). I’ll share with New Media Cincinnati (aka: #NMCincy) some of the things I’ve tried, mistakes I’ve made and lessons I’ve learned at the February 12th, 2011 New Media Cincinnati meet-up.

The upfront disclaimer: “If you build it, they will come” – doesn’t really paint the whole picture. They may come or they may take their time to come, or they may not come at all. I am not an ‘expert’* at community building online – I’m just a passionate, persistent believer in ‘what-the-hell’ marketing who loves to see what will work and, honestly, won’t give up until it does work.

* For the record, I don’t believe in ‘Social Media “experts.”‘ Social Media is a moving target and we’re all learning as much/fast as we can and learning from each other. I’m happy to be a passionate ‘student’ of Social Media and a dedicated community manager for Girlfriendology.

Girlfriendology Overview (so you understand what this community is about and how it’s grown):

• Girlfriendology began as a blog five years ago – 100 podcasts, 100 BlogTalkRadio shows, products, events. Now doing a cruise, eBooks, Webinars, Kindle, licensing. Have worked with Frito-Lay, Kroger, Healthy Choice, Crystal Light, and last year did a tv and print ad for Biz.
• Make money through (since you all want to know!) corporate sponsorships and advertising, freelance social media marketing, products and strategic partners. Looking for sponsors – P&G, Kao Brands, other women’s national brands.
• Community has grown to 14k female Facebook fans, 21k Twitter followers (& block most men and spam accts), Facebook delivers 20-80k daily post impressions

10 Tips for Building your Online Community:

1. Define your Community Objectives & Goals –TIP: Be flexible but forward-moving.

2. Survey your Community –TIP: Ask your community about their social media preferences and then go where they are!

3. Plan your Updates to fit their Schedule and ‘Likes’ – TIP: Know your audience, their schedules and be consistent with your Facebook updates.

4. Schedule Your Updates –TIP: Plan ahead, create a schedule then pre-load your Facebook updates.

5. Use Social Media to Grow your Mailing List –TIP: Make it easy for your friends and fans to join your mailing list.

6. Create a Promotional Calendar –TIP: Create a Promotional Calendar with your different social media sites and opportunities for monetization (like affiliate links or products that you sell).

7. Ask them to ‘Suggest to Friends,’ RT, Forward to Friends –TIP: Ask your community to share your website and social media sites with their friends, then make it easy to ‘suggest your site.’

8. Every Blog Post, Interview, Guest Blogs, etc. … SHARE! TIP: Share your updates and links. And, share a link in a large portion of your updates.

9. Add the Facebook LIKE/Tweet this/Join my mailing list button on your Blog –TIP: Use Social Media to build your blog community, and your blog community to build your Social Media ‘friends.’ Make it easy for them to help promote your community!

10. Create a Conversation –TIP: Ask questions, listen to their response and don’t hog the conversation!

Debba Haupert, Girlfriendology

About the Author
Debba Haupert founded Girlfriendology.com in 2006 as a community of women based on inspiration, appreciation and celebration of female friendship. She speaks on friendship and social media and has worked with ConAgra, Healthy Choice, Frito-Lay, Kroger, Biz detergent, Crystal Light, etc. You can find her at Girlfriendology.com, on Twitter @Girlfriendology and Facebook.com/Girlfriendology.

Note: This is just the highlights from the New Media Cincinnati presentation. This presentation was based on a guest blog (9 Tips to Managing a Growing, Successful Facebook Community) I wrote for Feedblitz.com (Email, RSS and Social Media Marketing Automation – a service I use and highly recommend). Thanks for reading, listening and sharing!