I’ve got more blog entries published on the Duo Consulting blog about social profiles, blogging policies, widgets for your web content (I like to call it bling for your blog) and general posts about online interaction and learning. I really enjoy blogging for Duo because it’s encouraging me to research in areas that are important for all content management but especially for the content that people make money on, where they content itself is what people are paying for.
If you are interested in web content, you want to take a look at the Web Content conferences that Duo offers – Tampa Bay in February 2009 looks to be a great opportunity to learn a lot, eat great food (according to one of their conference goers!), and meet like-minded individuals. I can swing a discounted registration your way if you email me via my Contact page.
But Mom, Time Online Is Not a Waste
Teenagers do think differently than the rest of us – you probably knew that already or could have guessed that. But did you know that the way teens develop their skills online is actually being studied by the MacArthur Foundation? They have released the results of their study from three years of interviewing young people and their parents. From the article, they conclude, “America’s youth are developing important social and technical skills online, often in ways that adults do not understand.” The two page summary report is a great read, and I was excited when I found danah boyd in the list of authors. Read more
Why Create Yet Another Social Profile?
Some days it seems like an invite to a particular network spreads like wildfire. First you get a smattering of invites for LinkedIn, and then Spock invites spread, and then, out of nowhere, Naymz appears in your inbox, telling you to worry about your personal brand management. It’s enough to give anyone social media overload. Read more
Bling is usually characterized as offering a special extra “punch” to an ensemble or outfit. Bling is an accessory, which is how I would describe sidebar widgets on your website or blog. Accessories can enhance the main site but can also offer eye candy or a shiny bauble to help the main site gain more attention at the social web party. Coco Chanel is quoted as saying, “Before leaving the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory.” Do you need to examine your website to see if it has one or two too many widgets that may detract from your site’s main messaging? Read more
How Did You Get To Work Today?
Have you ever stopped to think about all the signs, infrastructure, access, and coordination it takes just to get people to work each day in a major city? World Usability Day gives us a chance to do just that. The day itself was Thursday November 13. I hadn’t stopped on that day to take notice of what the day is all about so I thought I’d take some time now to look into it. Read more
Blogging and Social Media Policies
A blogging or social media policy describes how an employee or volunteer should represent themselves and the organization online. It also describes whose time and whose equipment may be used for blogging or other social media activities, and it also clarifies when someone is representing themselves, and when they are representing an organization. I’ve written blog entries based on a corporate policy at BMC Software, and it was helpful to know what were the expectations for my time investment and also where privacy lines could be drawn. Read more
From Written Reports to Visualization for Website Analytics
Duo uses a persona-based approach to website designs – which should help answer questions like, “Are potential clients or current clients the most common website visitor and your target for content?” Personas help designers and programmers visualize real people reading and acting on the content they find on a website. But after the design is done and the website is implemented, you have to know what your visitors are doing, how long they’re spending doing that, and whether your website is efficiently “converting” the behavior you want to see – buying a product, signing up for a class, or connecting with other like-minded individuals. So you constantly monitor your website to answer the questions related to your personas’ behaviors. Read more
Searching is Easy – Finding a Community is Hard
Twitter, Twine, and now Twing – I have signed up for all these web applications that start with “Tw!”
Twing is a specialized search engine for deep searches within community discussion groups or forums. So if you want to find niche communities or specialized discussion, actual online conversation, about a topic or a brand, Twing offers a way to search through community content that Google or other search engines may miss. Twing sports a directory listing of different communities so you can click down through the forums that interest you (or may be of interest to your clients or customers). Read more