#jenclass tumblr

Buzzfeed's aggregation of tweets about Chris Brown during The Grammys

theunemploymentoffice — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:24:25 -0400

Buzzfeed's aggregation of tweets about Chris Brown during The Grammys

Cody LaGrow-News of the Net

codylagrow — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:06:12 -0500

No longer does the word “Sandy” remind you of those lackluster boxed cookies you can purchase at Wal-Mart.

“Sandy” will now and forever be tied to the frankenstorm occurring on the eastern seaboard. And today, I will focus my “News of the Net” on all things Sandra.

1. LIVESTREAM CAM…WHAT THE WHAT?

MASHABLE

Reporters think differently. When I heard of the monstrosity that will soon hit Manhattan, I began to think of how I yearned to be back in my Financial District apartment, documenting a hurricane in the nation’s biggest city.

Landlocked, warm and dry, I will not be able to experience one of the year’s biggest stories in person. However, I am able to experience it online and on my phone.

Mashable explains “Sandycam” can take a viewer to the storm. Whether a curious NYC wannabe or a concerned family member, this cam puts the rest of the nation in the hurricane as well.

Could this concept be applied to severe weather in a breaking news environment? INTERESTING THOUGHT.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA ABUZZ

iDigital Times

Whenever there is severe weather, many people forget that those who need information the most may not have traditional access to the information. Let’s be real—-no matter the cable provider, the tube will most likely fail if it’s sprinkling.

BUT SOCIAL MEDIA IS CHANGING OUR LIVES.

Twitter, Facebook and Google are tracking this hurricane and disseminating information like bosses. Props to you all.

3. SEEING STARS THROUGH THE CLOUDS

USA TODAY

To end on a positive note, here are a few of my favorite celebrity tweets about dear Sandy.

Alec Baldwin: “Sandy…..that bitch!”

Ricky Gervais: This “Sandy” who’s on TV all the time and is blowing the entire east coast, I assume she’s a Kardashian right?

And my favorite, totes typical Martha tweet:

Martha Stewart: “i am doing last minute errands- trying up top heavy topiaries,wisteria vines, extra heavy apple tree branches-” And, “the winds are growing in intensity in bedford, ny. the news reports are dismal the grandchildren are holed up in zone A i am not happy”

Stacey Kafka: News From the Net

staceykafka — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:06:09 -0500

1) When using a helicopter to break news, it’s important to make sure to verify the news you’re reporting on is accurate. Chicago’s WGN went live with their chopper and just had the anchors describe what they were seeing as they took the live aerial images from the skycam. An article on Gawker had the full video attached, and as you can see in the picture below (photo courtesy of mirror.uk), the anchors were not happy after they realized the plane crash was actually staged for a show on NBC.

This accident serves as a reminder for anyone producing in a large market that just because you have the helicopter, it’s not always best to use that resource if your stories are not confirmed.

This not only serves as a reminder for stations with helicopters when it comes to trying to break a story. When using social media, it’s also important not to jump to conclusions when tweeting. Way too often reporters or social media desk workers tweet out scanner traffic, which ends up scaring viewers into thinking there was say a shooting when in fact the noise was just fireworks.

2) The internet and social media are not just changing the way journalists do their jobs, it also could soon be changing the world of fashion. No, it’s not just that people will be doing online shopping, but according to techcrunch.com, one new website will allow people to design their own clothes.

Bow and Drape, a Boston based company’s website lets shoppers pick out fabrics, waist lines, length, and sleeve type.

Sites like this would allow people to have more unique style, instead of buying the same clothes many other people might find in stores.

From my experience working at high end retailer, White House Black Market, the push for online is very apparent in many stores these days. Just in regular retail stores, people often showroom shop the stores, try on outfits they like, but don’t actually buy anything in the store-they instead wait for the shirt, skirt, or dress to go on sale online before buying.

If fashion sites like Bow and Drape become more widespread and popular, I think the fashion world will be experiencing many of the same changes journalists saw a few years ago.

Alon Gilboa: News from the Net

ag9pd — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:35:00 -0500

1) AllThingsD - “Syrian Internet Outage Raises Question ‘Could It Happen here?”

Last Thursday, Syrian officials decided to shut down Internet access in the country. The government is trying to make it harder for the rebels to communicate with each other. However, after two days, access to the Internet mysteriously reappeared in certain parts of the country.

This is troubling. This development highlights how crucial the Internet is these days to deliver information and the what it means to turn it off. Besides the lack of flow of information between citizens, people were not able to share their experiences with journalists and others around the world. With journalists essentially not allowed in the country, the Internet is serving as the sole window into the Syrian conflict.

The article mentions that “it comes down to control”. The reason the Syrian government was able to do this was by creating a single, easily accessible choke point run by loyal people. That’s because “every Internet connection in Syria is funneled through a single government agency that authorizes them all — the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment — and indeed all of them are run out of the same building.” This makes it extremely easy for President Bashar Al-Assad to order it shut down for any length of time he sees fit.

While this situation is obviously extreme, a company called Renesys looked at how likely something similar could happen in other countries. They created a map that shows countries with a significant risk of a government-ordered shutdown. The maps shows whether its logistically possible, not politically. Those with a higher risk are shown in darker green. The lighter the green, the lower the risk.

2) Mashable - Black Friday Tweets

On a lighter note, a digital marketing company called Silverpop released an infographic talking about the most talked about subjects on Black Friday. The most tweeted subjects were, unsurprisingly, coffee and sale. It also shows the business with the most check-in which was, again not surprisingly, Starbucks. Apparently people were coming in droves to pick up their caffeine fix before braving the lines at retailers.

While most of the stuff listed here seem common-sense, it is definitely worthwhile to see customers habits online during Black Friday. Businesses can use this information to better tailor their Black Friday experience in the future and learn how to better connect with their customers.

3) Upstart - App-titude Summly Founder’s First Fortnight

I originally saw a story about this last week and was instantly intrigued. A 17-year old kid from Britain who started his own company making a news-reading app. He’s already raised $1.48 million in venture capital funding from a variety of people, including Ashton Kutcher, Yoko Ono, and Lady Gaga.

Summly Launch from Summly on Vimeo.

Besides the fact that I am incredibly jealous of this kid, it seemed to be an interesting concept. A way to make news reading on mobile devices more fun, interesting and even engaging. It’s something I had seen before with Flipboard, but I decided to download the app anyway.

It’s a slick app, and the marketing blitz around it with a 17-year old owner is savvy. But using it for news reading was not the most enjoyable. It’s respectable in that it tries to simplify things and get rid of buttons, but the way it goes about it I think ends up making things more confusing. Overall, I’ll stick with Flipboard, it’s the best app I’ve found for reading news in a natural and smooth way. Although, it will be interesting to see where this kid ends up.

Andrew Weil: News On the Net

andrewweil22 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 01:33:23 -0500

1. Retweeting without Reading-Hubspot

As journalists when we share links and information on Twitter we expect people who retweet it to have actually taken the time to have read the links, well new data shows that’s not actually the case.

Hubspot’s Dan Zarella analyzed 2.7 million link-containing tweets and found there was no correlation between retweets and clicks. Zarella also found that 16% of the tweets he looked at had more retweets than actual clicks. Meaning that a lot of times people were simply blind retweeting without reading through the content.

Here’s a look at an info graphic Zarella put together analyzing his findings:

Zarella also points out that this data shows how important it is to have a social media goal and strategy in place for each tweet.

If you’re looking for ways to get more website traffic from tweets, Zarella has put together some key suggestions here in a previous article based off of earlier findings. Some of his suggestions include making tweets between 120 and 130 characters and placing links a quarter of the way through the tweet.

Now if simply getting people to retweet your content is more what you’re looking for then take a look at Hubspot’s “11 Guaranteed Ways to Get Others to Retweet Your Content.“ Some of the suggestions include using relevant hashtags, timing tweets later in the day, and simply asking people to retweet you.

Overall, these new findings should make journalists come to terms with the fact that we must be more engaged when it comes to twitter. Sending out a tweet without thinking about it isn’t going to cut it any more and journalists should know what they hope to accomplish each time they send out a tweet.

2. ThingLink meet Twitter—10,000 Words

Another level of functionality and opportunity is presenting itself with ThingLink as the site’s user-created interactive images now can show up on Twitter. It turns out the company actually announced this back in September, but it took until recently, for the perfect ThingLink candidate to appear for the blog 10,000 Words to bring it to the forefront.

10,000 Words’s Kevin Locker recently took the White House picture of Olympic gold medalist McKayla Moroney doing her “not-impressed” face with President Obama and ThingLink’d it and tweeted it out.

Before I took the blog’s word on whether or not this worked I double checked Loker’s tweet on Twitter and found it worked exactly as advertised seen in a screenshot below:

The image contains a number of interactive elements including Maroney’s tweet about the photo, the White House’s tweet confirming the photo and a link to some of the original “not-impressed” memes.

Another great find is that the interactive image even works on mobile devices.

Right now, ThingLink’d images can only work directly on Twitter if sent out using ThingLink’s site. In this article, the tool’s creators explain exactly how to send out a ThingLink’d image using Twitter.

3. Washable Keyboard—Mashable

Black Friday is long gone but that doesn’t mean holiday shopping has to end. As part of its “gift a day” series, Mashable highlighted the Logitech Washable Keyboard. It seems like the perfect gift for that messy friend or co-worker that is always spilling their drinks on everything.

Now if Logitech were to take this product one step further and create a washable keyboard that has Avid editing buttons then there could be a real market for it in TV newsrooms across the country.

But be warned, its handwash-only so don’t even think about putting your keyboard in the dishwasher with your plates and glasses.

You can check out a video of the washable keyboard below (If nothing else it’s good for a laugh to see someone spill a cheeseburger on a keyboard….and the song’s pretty catchy as well):

Stacy Ike: News on the net

onetakestace — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:56:03 -0500

1. Instagram Info (Media Bistro)

During our last class (at Jen’s adorable house!) I expressed my concerns with Instagram moving to an online profile so you can imagine my face when I saw this post on Media Bistro referencing the Instagram Blog and their announcement of the profile along with the benefits; perfect timing.

This is an example of what the online profile looks like:

The author of the article says initially, he was not happy about the collaboration between mobile and web (which I agreered with) but then he listed a few reasons this would help news organizations, I was intrigued.

1. News organizations can now display a full gallery instead of just one snapshot. Viewers want to feel like they are a part of the story but when you Instagram a photo, it stays in one medium, the phone. If viewers are without a phone, or at least a phone that does not have certain capabilities, they feel disconnected from the story.

2. Viewer engagement:

“Leading users to exploring more content can lead to three desired outcomes: likes, comments and shares.”

3. And finally, this is also a way for viewers to participate in a monetary way. According to the article, ”we all know these social platforms are all about reaching audiences and building communities, there are monetary gains news organizations take from these networks, and Instagram may soon be able to provide these types of opportunities for brands on the Web.”

2. Ad Age

Ad Question: How can Brands Best Plug In to the Social-Media Revolution?

This article focuses on the idea behind strategic marketing. The author gives some great examples about how she conveyed to many different people (from a cab driver to a business CEO) the importance of branding yourself and using technology to do it for you.

The main thing I got from this article was to Be Valuable. It’s like what the #JENCLASS social media group is trying to do for our anchors. People want to know what we are up to as a station so we have to be there. We have to be available, accessible, and transparent.

3. CyberJournalist

Cyberjournalist featured Social Media Today in an article about the hit Korean new song, “Gangnam Style.” The question the article focuses on the question, “HOW DID GANGNAM STYLE GO VIRAL?”

This is particularly interesting because this song has attracted SO much attention from a wide range of people that one must wonder, what tools were used to promote this song?

This video explains the strategy behind this song and the importance of building a solid platform online and in the overall media.

Kayleigh Milas - News from the Net

kayleighmilas — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:42:16 -0500

1. TECHCRUNCH - “Why does there always have to be an app for that?”

The article discusses the necessity of smart phone apps for every aspect of life. The author recognizes the importance and benefits that come along with them but also argues “efficiency” shouldn’t be the goal of an app, rather “joy”. I would have to agree with him, however, I still see the benefits.

He points out an app that allows people to order drinks from the bar so they don’t have to deal with the messy line. It’s called “Coaster”. He points out, “It’s just the latest example of this craze to digitize all the fun out of life.” He understands the benefits of a app that hails a cab or books a hotel, as it may be easier than talking to someone on the phone or waiting for a customer service holding song.

However, it makes me wonder if we’re all getting too lazy to function. If we’re too dependent on our technology, what happens when fails? Are we becoming less social as humans?

He ends on “People connecting via technology, not technology replacing people”, which I think is smart.

So… yes there is a huge advancement in technology with all these new apps, but are they really helping? I think that’s an interesting question.

2. LOST REMOTE - “Bringing your social graph to TV, meet Stevie”

So. This sounds pretty awesome. It’s an idea that combines TV and social media, which is exactly where news is heading, isn’t it? Stevie is a “personal TV experience” created around your social networking (FB and Twitter) and what your friends are saying. It provides videos and news articles. The latest development is information surrounding Tuesday’s election. I’m all about this creation. Rather than just sitting there consuming the news or videos like people do while passively watching TV, people can be a part of the discussion while it’s going on. It’s active. It’s engaging.

What I’m not certain I understand if this is on a computer or on the TV, but to me, it seems like it’s on a computer. If it’s not on TV… it should be. Imagine watching a show and having related Twitter and FB posts pop up or other stories and you could use your remote to click on them. I know the article also mentioned use on X-Box which might be more conducive to what I just suggested. Either way. I think this is going in the right direction in terms of journalism. It’s all going to the web anyway, right? Why not try to merge the two while we still can!

3. MASHABLE - “With Sandy, Instagram Gaining on Twitter for Citizen Journalism”

Citizen journalism exploded when Sandy hit last week. The article discusses how people used Instagram to share the damage on the east coast. However, people still use Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to share those photos they take. There are also still a lot of people (like me) who don’t have smart phones and can’t use Instagram.

Still, people snapped thousands of pictures with Intagram, so it can’t be ignored that it’s building in credibility.

Citizens played a huge role in telling the story last week by using hash tags and personal photos. People had access to things that journalists didn’t. People on the outside could see what was really going on. The citizen journalism and journalism in general last week was incredible (except for the false information and pictures going around, but that’s another story). Technology really is amazing!

Twitter is actually good for you! At least that’s what a...

jenleereeves — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:38:43 -0400

Twitter is actually good for you! At least that’s what a Michigan State University study says. Basically, it says taking notes through Twitter helps you learn. (I could have told you that years ago!)

Wendy Mader - News From the Net

wmader — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 18:08:54 -0400

1. Techcrunch - What Investors are looking for in the next big social media site.

In this article, the columnist talks about why sites such as Facebook are remaining successful. But it also talks about what will sustain a social media site long-term. According to investor Joe Medved, the next biggest site to succeed (and the one that should receive investment) will have to achieve mobile success. He thinks Facebook will not sustain long-term, because they have not succeeded in mobile as much as other sites.

He discusses Thumb and Path. He says the average user spends over 5 hours a month on Thumb, and it’s supposedly twice as active as Pinterest. Path is showing three times the engagement as Facebook. So both are giving Facebook something to sweat about.

2. Mashable - Why some people love Apple products and others don’t.

In this article, the writer breaks down the reasoning behind some people’s disinterest with Apple products. He also discusses what aspects are loved amongst Apple users.

Some of the most interesting data…

The most desired Apple product amongst non-users is the iPad.
iPods are the most owned devices out of every Apple product.
Gender does not make a difference of opinion.
Apple owners are 2.3x more likely to make $75k + per year.
Non-White Americans are more likely to be Apple consumers.
You’re more likely to be an Apple “hater” if you’ve owned an Apple product before.

3. 10,000 Words - How a news organization can use Pinterest

A more recent article on 10,000 Words led me to an older one from January. Although slightly outdated, it aligns with something we talked about in class. Jen was asked whether or not KOMU would use Pinterest, and her response was pretty much no.

The article discusses how users of Pinterest’s are probably not looking there for hard news, and may not even be looking for news at all.

But here’s how they suggest journalist’s use Pinterest:

Pin a picture followed by a link to a story.
Pin teasers to your show — if there’s an interview with someone popular, post a picture of them, book they wrote, show they were on, etc.
Create a board that highlights the station’s feature stories. People love to see themselves on TV, so that way they can go back and see a recap of what was shown (and possibly see themselves or people they know).
Make a “Staff” board showing all employees at the station and things about them.
Ask viewers to contribute to the site by posting things they find interesting —might come up with some story ideas.

Stacey Welsh - News from the Net

stacewelsh — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:48:25 -0400

1. The PoMo Blog

The talk of social media over the weekend has been Felix Baumgartner’s skydive from space! The PoMo Blog capitalizes on this and discusses the video’s impact.

Prompted discussion over what kind of free fall could have saved astronauts from the Columbia space shuttle when it exploded on re-entry in 2003
YouTube provided live streaming to about eight million viewers, 16 times more than ever before
Impact on Twitter- would Evel Knievel or David Blaine been bigger in “YouTube” era

2. Washington Post Technology

Facebook is limiting “Open Graph” apps from automatically posting ads to the right of users’ newsfeeds. For example, those apps can only post a related add when a user has been on an article for more than 10 seconds. This could cut down on spam and ads people don’t care about.

Facebook also said it will disable a feature that lets apps post stories to friends walls. People mostly hide those updates or mark them as spam.

3. Techcrunch

Techcrunch reports an announcement about the iPad mini is likely for Oct. 23. Price estimates are between $199 and $349.

Display and battery affect the price, so it could cost more with a retina display and if there is a model with more storage.
Screen expected to be 7.85 in.
Could this stop advance of Kindle Fire, Android tablets, etc.?

Joe Chiodo - News From the Net

jchiodo1 — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:45:57 -0400

1. Mashable

With voting season quickly approaching, we’ll soon be heading to the polls. And those polls, in many places, hav remained somewhat, well, “old-fashioned.” But in Mashable’s ‘6 Apps You Don’t Want to Miss’ article they show us one app that puts a modern spin on voting. AT&T’s VoterHub App doesn’t exactly let you vote from your phone, but it does give you all the other voting/election knowledge you could ever need right in the palm of your hand. The app was just recently launched, check it out:

What it does:

Shows how to register to vote in your state
how to find the nearest polling place
provides sample ballots
gives candidate info
allows political debate/argument with users through nearly all
BUT — only available on Android right now. Don’t worry though, iOS is on the way

Check out a slideshow of the App Here!

2. Gizmodo

Speaking of a modern twist…how about modernizing something that’s already pretty modern. A Gizmodo article shows us some not-so-well-known tricks to take your google chroming experience to a whole new level. Almost everyone, or at least everyone I know uses Chrome — so these tips may come in handy. Or at least make your life a little easier for a while. Here are two of the tips I had no idea existed:

Chrome in Split | View. I hate jumping back and forth between tabs…but this article teaches you how to have one window with two tabs open at the same time. Pretty much PIP (picture in Picture) for browsing. Pretty cool.
SOCIAL MEDIA SOLUTION: I always hate instagramming a picture and sending it to facebook and twitter….knowing that most of my followers follow me on each of these accounts. So, chrome, solved that problem. It’s called Buffer, and it spaces out something you want to share over the course of the day. So when you hit share, it may post to Twitter in the morning, Facebook in the afternoon, and Instagram at night.

3. Mediashift

This mediashift article gives us a little insight as to where our presidential candidates stand in the online/social media world. The article dives deep into how much the two candidates use social media and the public perception of their online presence. The most surprising thing I found … Romney’s Twitter usage compared to Obama’s: 1 to 17 a day. It shocked me that it wasn’t equal as this would be easy to stay on top of, and surely help get votes and change opinions of voters heavily indulged in social media. Here’s a graph I pulled from the article:

Stacy Ike- Let's talk about news... from the net!

onetakestace — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:52:00 -0400

1. MEDIA BISTRO

From Twitter’s Headquarters, Data-Driven Best Practices For Journalists

We have been talking about the power of Twitter for quite sometime now but I thought this article laid out and pretty much confirmed everything we have been taught in #JenClass.

The basic rules which everyone “says” they know but always forget to use are:

1.Tweet your beat and tweet it live

2. Use Hashtags for context (I forget this like everyday)

3. @Cite your sources

4. Share what you’re reading.

I thought it was going to be easy for me to point out one of the recommendations are especially important, but I think all of them strongly contribute to the power of Twitter. Especially as a journalist, it is so important to cite your sources and use #hashtags for almost everything. Sharing what you are reading is a great one too because it let’s people know what you are interested in and the stories you tweet can hopefully inform other tweeters about the latest news. You really have to check this article out, and see the list of recommendations with an example on Twitter’s blog.

2. ENGADGET

I mostly was drawn to this article because it was the only thing NOT talking about the IPHONE. It looks like the 7.5 update for Android adds smart page for social and news updates. I like this because, well, I have an Android and I am always trying to figure how to get my news faster. Now, since the articles says that the news is generated from the most frequent sites the first thing I thought about is “how do I contribute to getting information out to my viewers?” Answer is….be present online! For instance, if I am constantly tweeting, hashtaging, retweeting, etc. than when this new smart page looks at the most frequently viewed pages (which means Twitter is inevitably on that list), things that I as a journalist will be apart of that news feed because I am constantly present in that space. Try it out for at least a month, you won’t be sorry.

3. CYBERJOURNALIST

I am a lover of LinkedIn so when I came across this article I initially thought, “wow, it’s almost time for us to officially switch from Facebook to LinkedIn,” and then I thought how much I would hate that. I am only saying that because LinkedIn is a place where you can be connected with your boss and best friend (just like FB). In my head, it’s an avenue for me to get a job, but this article says if you target the right people, you can gain overall followers. #ListenUp #TakeSomeNotes

FOUR THINGS NEWS ORGANIZATIONS CAN LEARN FROM LINKEDIN:

1. Be Targeted

2. Be focused

3. Be interactive

4. Be viral

Overall, i’m actually really excited to see how different journalism platforms decide to use LinkedIn to their benefit.

4. I just thought this article was funny. The IPHONE has only been out for just a few days and already people have something to say. #FirstWorldProblems

breakingnews: iPhone 5 preorders top 2 million in first 24...

jenleereeves — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:02:47 -0400

breakingnews:

iPhone 5 preorders top 2 million in first 24 hours

CNET: Apple says the iPhone 5 got more than 2 million preorders in its first 24 hours, doubling last year’s 4S launch. Apple says demand exceeded the initial supply. While a majority of orders will be fulfilled on Sept. 21, the company says many are scheduled to be delivered in October.

Photo: The iPhone 5 is seen next to an iPhone 4S. (James Martin / CNET)

Did you order yours?

Kayleigh Milas - News from the Net

kayleighmilas — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:18:00 -0400

1. MASHABLE

Facebook Boosts Voter Turnout

Mashable discusses an experiment on the effect of Facebook posts on voter turnout. The results weren’t that surprising. People are more likely to pay attention to something if their friends are paying attention to it too—so why wouldn’t it be the same when it comes to politics? When scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed, what do you find yourself checking out the most? The post with the most likes and comments. We naturally want to be a part of the conversation and be in the know. We don’t want to be left out.

The research group that saw the number of people who clicked the “I voted” button was more likely to look for places to vote. Social networking peer pressure captured interest. It’s research like this that shows news stations should continue to communicate on social media and encourage others to be a part of it. The more people we get talking and paying attention, the more information we get from our audience and the bigger the variety. It’s also something to keep in mind come election time.

2. ALL THINGS D

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors: Please Don’t Pick Up Your iPhone!

It’s bad news for advertisers but possibly good news for us. A graph on the site shows most people pick up their phones at the top of a commercial break. While that means they’re not paying attention to what our advertisers are trying to see, it does mean they’re checking out the internet and social media.

I’m no social media guru by any means, but I think news stations could look into having someone be in charge of checking out tweets and Facebook posts at the top of a commercial break to see what viewers are talking about—whether it be something about the news or not. We could also be using that as a prime opportunity to do most of our posting when we know most of the TV audience will see it.

3. MEDIA BISTRO

Photo/Video Sharing Habits

A bar graph on Media Bistro had surprising results. A Pew Study on photo/video sharing habits on social media websites shows more people are actually using LinkedIn than Twitter. Is there some way we can target our news audience through LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is obviously a place for professionals, so a news station would not try to reach out to a younger audience there. And it’s interesting to see the small percentage of people using Tumblr compared to the number using Pintrest and Instagram. I’m still not certain how we can get news across to people through Pintrest, but I think we should try to push Instagram if we can figure out a way to keep the coverage constant. We can’t just post one good picture a week and only use it again when something eye-catching comes along.

Cody LaGrow-News of the Net

codylagrow — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:18:42 -0400

1. LOST REMOTE

Social Media Drives Younger Viewers to TV

I read the headline and thought, “Cool. Not surprised. Annoying teenagers love to rant about every detail of their lives.”

But the further you read, you see that people as old as 34 participated in the survey. Equally interesting, this survey is parallel to several others that look to answer who is online talking about television.

The article made me ponder questions about social media’s relationship with news broadcasts, entertainment television and advertisement. In reference to U_News, I began to analyze the show’s concept and how a news program can attempt to engage a younger audience.

2. MASHABLE

How Small Businesses Should Use Hashtags

Tweeting smarter seems to be a topic for users in the Twitterverse, especially those of us in journalism.

One hundred sixty characters do not always say everything you’d like, so the people of Mashable offer some tips for small businesses. And since a journalist is his or her own business, the tips still apply.

1. Seek business-specific conversation

2. Keep it simple and consistent

3. Create your own hashtag

4. Organize social dashboards by hashtag

5. Take advantage of Follow Friday

As a journalist, I think we should focus on number two, three and five. I’m now even thinking of adding #CodyReports or #CodyConcludes or #COCOsoLOCO to my news-related tweets in an attempt to generate a following.

Number five is also very important. While spending my time at a network this summer, executives always pushed on-air talent to tweet back at those who tweet them. It makes the viewer feel appreciated and makes them a dedicated viewer.

3. GIZMODO

How to make a GIF

Have you ever loved something so much while not really knowing how to operate it?

Very similar to the dust-covered Ab Lounge in my apartment, I have a love for the humor that Tumblr provides without knowing how to do it myself. It’s the main reason I took #jenclass because I wanted to impress McKayla Maroney.

Read this article. ‘Tis very informative. Buy PhotoShop…or a black market version of PhotoShop.

However, I question how valuable GIFs are for things not meant to be humorous. Could they be applied to hard news? The jury is still out.

Perhaps they could be used as a technique for story promotion.

I took a look at Jen’s list of suggested sites for the ‘News...

wmader — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:37:40 -0400

I took a look at Jen’s list of suggested sites for the ‘News From the Net presentation, but I decided to go do some of my own technology site research. I found three really cool sites that seem to have good things going on.

1 The Verge

This site covers mostly product review, but I found it also does a lot of live blogging. They live blog and tweet technology conferences while they’re happening. That way, if a major mobile operating system like Android is coming out with a new product, consumers can learn every aspect of what the product has to offer without going to the conference or reading an overview later that day.

This is not just a great site to learn about products, but it also carries valuable technology news. They have reporters who cover big technology stories—like most recently topics revolving the Apple vs. Samsung case.

They also covered Facebook stock and Facebook buying out Instagram. To relate to a younger audience –and in an attempt to cover something outside new technology—they have their staff write about books, music, movies, etc.

2 Engadget

The thing I love the most about Engadget is their Podcasts. They talk about the latest news and weather (fluffy news), but they leave room for Q&A about latest technologies. Their latest podcast talked about the media’s influence on people’s opinions about news and how opinions about new products can be swayed just by “what people have heard” about it. Very interesting to listen to if you’re in the car and it’s easily accessible through iTunes, mp3, RSS, Zune.

3 Social Media Today

This site is a lot more newsy than the other technology sites I have been to. It is less product driven and more focused on conversations surrounding social media. There is a really interesting post about new options for Facebook pages that have accumulated over 5,000 likes. They can now target viewers based on age, gender, language, and location. This option will be really helpful for advertisers.

They also have articles that compare sites and what they offer. This article argues Pinterest is the uncreative version of Tumblr.

It’s a great read if you’re considering whether or not to open an account with either site.

All in all—liked this site the most out of all the ones I looked at, because I am less into upcoming products and more interested in hot topics and new social media sites.

4 Techcrunch

Out of the sites Jen posted, I liked this one the most. They have really cool articles about products and sites (like the others), but they break everything up based on topic. An entire column is solely devoted to Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Android news. That is really helpful, because a reader can be up-to-date on every story surrounding the biggest companies without having to look in multiple places to find it.

I also found this amazing article about women in the technology field. It shows the field is optimistic about what women can offer, and that makes me smile :)

Class visit: Joy Mayer

jenleereeves — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:37:30 -0400

Class visit: Joy Mayer:

Here’s an article that explains more about what Joy Mayer did during her Reynolds Journalism Institute fellowship and is extending it into her work at the Missourian.

Instagram as a news source

jenleereeves — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:36:01 -0400

Instagram as a news source:

I’m curious to hear what the class thinks about the explosion of Instagram sources during the Empire State shooting. Read this article… Is an Instagram photo worth the price?

futurejournalismproject: fjp-latinamerica: LibreBus to roam...

jenleereeves — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:41:23 -0400

futurejournalismproject:

fjp-latinamerica:

LibreBus to roam South America

The LibreBus Project was born last year in Central America aiming to foster a new dialogue among open-software communities scattered throughout the region, in order for them to share relevant experiences and amplify their networks. The touring bus roamed through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, making constant stops to also chat with locals about open software and freedom of expression, among other topics. Here is a documentary video of the whole journey.

Now, the second edition of the project is about to take place in South America: 5000 miles in 5 weeks, following a route that starts in southern Chile and then goes on to Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. This time, the producers revamped the core concepts of the project and the one on Freedom of Expression specifically caught our attention:

The massive incorporation of ICTs into civic life has permitted an expansion and enhancement of the possibilities for people to turn themselves into producers and broadcasters of information. At this moment, we exercise our freedom of expression across multiple virtual media, such as blogs and social networking sites, and we also use numerous virtual tools to coordinate and organize plans and strategies for activism. Nonetheless, we can see that our freedom of expression on the internet is constantly under threat, whether from corporate interests which want to interfere with network neutrality, or various laws which –under the pretext of cybersecurity, or crackdowns on piracy or pedophilia– seek to exercise control and record every citizen’s activities on the network.

Bonus: You can follow all day-to-day activities of @librebus on Twitter.

Image: LibreBus 2012 logo, via LibreBus.

FJP: Love this project. — Michael

This is super cool to see… mainly because I had a chance to brainstorm the idea of an engagement bus back during a workshop led by Joy Mayer in May 2011. Check out some of the details Joy presented last year.

futurejournalismproject: I Can Haz Job? The Cheezburger...

jenleereeves — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:33:28 -0400

futurejournalismproject:

I Can Haz Job?

The Cheezburger Network, which includes sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger?, FAIL Blog, Memebase, and The Daily What, has a full-time Reporter/Moderator position open in its Seattle offices.

What would you do? Scour the Web for kittehs, of course.

Via Cheezburger:

We try to look at the world a little differently, with an open mind and a desire to test new ideas and take risks. We’re serious about making the world a happier place and that starts with a results-focused environment. We work hard and have a lot of fun when we succeed…

…We’re inventing as we go along. We need people who constantly think about changing the world to be a better place and have the ambition to do it.

Interested? Apply here.

Now this is a cool job opportunity.