Our thoughts, rants and inside knowlege of web design & development!
Social Media
Why Independent Schools Should Start Effectively Using Facebook
Aug 24th
Many private & independent schools are reluctant to use social media due to many of them fearing the unknown or because many newspapers have associated social media with cyber-bullying and other issues with students. The real risk of social media is actually that some students spend more time vacantly refreshing their social media news feeds, than they do revising. But most of these small problems will still exist whether your school is on Facebook or not.
Social media has become a must for any business, organisation or school. Facebook alone has a total of 400,000,000 registered users. People are spending a considerable amount of their time “living” on Facebook. Your school needs to be “living” there too.
Facebook is a great tool that can be used to keep people informed. You can set up a group or business page for your school and then you can invite all students (and parents) to follow this page. Giving all your followers regular updates. There is also a “create an event” feature on Facebook, which allows users to create an event and then invite followers; this is a great way to promote upcoming functions and events at the school. Another benefit of Facebook, is the More >
Hackers get Hacked – the power of online action
Jul 20th
The recent ’phone-hacking scandal which has tainted the reputation of Rupert Murdoch – who was already a hate figure in some media circles – and his News International corporation seemingly caused an online reaction so extreme that international hacker collective “Lulz Security” (often known as LulzSec) took steps to infiltrate the website of News International’s Sun – the best-selling newspaper in the UK. LulzSec officially renounced their retirement from hacking in June; however, they have claimed responsibility to the attack, at first posting a fake news story about the death of Rupert Murdoch on the Sun’s website with the headline “Media mogul’s body discovered”. Minutes later, any attempt to access thesun.co.uk caused an automatic redirect to LulzSec’s Twitter account. “How can we read this morning’s breaking Sun stories when there is no Sun website?” joked @LulzSec. Twitter has been for days the go-to site for information about the hacking scandal as it continues to break, and online pressure in the form of petitions and retweets has been blamed partially for the collapse of the News of the World, sister paper to the Sun and now closed down permanently. However, although News International still stands, its official website has previously been More >
Reporting in 140 Characters: Twitter’s Guide for Journalists
Jul 5th
Social media rears its head whenever news breaks. Facebook, once the pinnacle of information-sharing, held its own for fast news stories, with Reuters, BBC News and Sky all using it – in conjunction with their websites, news tickers, and YouTube channels – to get news out onto the Internet fast, so that it can be used on the blogosphere, and perhaps even get noticed by the general public. However, in recent years, nothing can hope to beat Twitter, the fastest-updated social networking site ever created, which journalists have praised on account of the fact that typing a headline and hitting “send” is remarkably easy, wherever you are.
To work on this, Twitter has launched its own guide for journalists – “Twitter for Newsrooms” – encouraging the hashtag #TfN. TfN defines a “common bond” between news reporters: “the desire to make a difference in the world, bringing reliable information to the communities you serve”. The four sections of the service – report, engage, publish and extra – provide support for journalists across the globe, providing support for those not yet au fait with the power of microblogging, and networking for those who are.
Facebook itself has also launched a resource for journalism, encouraging news More >
Is Google+ the answer to social networking behemoth Facebook?
Jun 28th
Google have unveiled their latest attempt at cracking the world of social media, titled ‘Google+’. After previous attempts such as Google Buzz turned out disastrously (and even resulted in privacy scandals), it is particularly important for Google to get it right now before they lose an irreclaimable amount of ground to Facebook.
In fact, Google+ looks very promising. The tool will be baked in across the entire suite of Google products – search, maps, GMail, Reader, YouTube and many other successful services. A notification drop down similar to the red icon you see on Facebook will be accessible and omnipresent across all of these services, ensuring that take up and continued usage is high.
Circles
Google have presented some innovative ideas to the status quo of social networking. They noted that granular sharing is ‘tacked on’ in many current social services, like ‘Friend Lists’ on Facebook, to which you can restrict access to your posts. Google wants to slip this on its head and make their social network reflect reality – hence their ‘Circles’ feature. A fun interface will allow you to drag and drop you friends in and out of your different social ‘circles’ – like ‘University friends’ or ‘Colleagues’ or even More >
How can I get customers to review my business listing on Google Places?
Jun 23rd
Good reviews on your Google Places listing will encourage potential customers to choose your company, they can help create a positive image of the company, and people are more likely to choose your business over one which is similar but has either no comments or negative ones.
There are several ways to get customers, who are satisfied with your products/services, to review your listing. You could use a newsletter to suggest the idea, or when you send a receipt or confirmation email of a recent product purchased, you could suggest that they review your business on Google Places.
You will need the link of your listing for them to review it, to find the correct link, you need to go to your Google Places Listing page, and in the top right hand corner, there will be a tab, marked “Link” click this and it will automatically copy this for you, you can then paste this link in to emails/newsletters etc and send this link to clients.
If you are interested in getting reviews to your Google Places listing, contact Areatrade. We understand how important social media is. Areatrade can create your listing, optimise it and help with getting your clients to review the listing.
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Twitter’s Tribute to Ryan Dunn
Jun 21st
Ryan Dunn, 34-year-old star of popular student stunt programme Jackass, died in a car crash in Pennsylvania on Monday morning, and within minutes of his death, he had appeared as a trending topic on Twitter.
Dunn – @ryandunntv on Twitter – used not only the microblogging feed, but also the picture-based social network Tumblr – posted a link (which has since been removed) via Twitter to a picture of himself drinking with friends on his Tumblr, hours before his crash.
As news of his death spread, celebrities and Jackass fans alike were posting tributes over the Twitterverse – with one user of photo-sharing service Flickr snapping the wreckage of the car.
Although film critic Roger Ebert has drawn controversy for his harsh comment – “friends don’t let jackasses drink and drive,” @ebertchicago said, most of the tributes spanning the social networking services Dunn used – Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr and even Facebook – have been overwhelmingly positive, remembering his sense of humour, friendly manner, and willingness to shine in the eyes of the camera.
The Power of Social Media – Anthony Weiner vs. Twitter
Jun 14th
The effectiveness of social networking has reared its head again in the United States Congress. Congressman Anthony Weiner has reacted to his mistake in unwittingly sending an allegedly indecent message – and image – via Twitter, forgetting to hit the ‘direct message’ button. Thanks to the speed at which social networks run, the image was gotten hold of by other users of the popular micro-blogging network, and subsequently re-tweeted around the world.
President Obama, who has called for the resignation of Weiner, is familiar with the impact of social media himself. Throughout his presidency, and even his initial electoral campaign, Obama has kept his supporters updated via his own Twitter account (@BarackObama has over eight million followers worldwide), his Facebook account, and YouTube – a speech by Vice-President Joe Biden concerning health reforms was an instant success on the video-sharing website.
Weiner, who initially denied that the indecent image was posted by him, has apologised via Twitter, but Obama is still insistent that “if it was me, I would resign.” Interviewed on US channel NBC about the incident, a clip including Obama’s comment has been seen circulating – appropriately enough – on YouTube.
Twitter’s New Follow Button
Jun 7th
The team at WordPress.com have been working hard with the guys at Twitter to unveil the new Follow Button to the online world for the first time.
The new Follow Button is designed for your readers to easily follow you on twitter without ever leaving your WordPress website. This is a huge benefit for businesses that previously had to redirect users back to their respective Twitter accounts and risked losing customers once they had left the company web page. The new Follow Button will act similarly to the Facebook “Like” button. You can incorporate the new Follow Button into your site by:
- Adding the new Follow Button to posts, pages or text widgets. You can customize the colours, show a count of your followers and display a link to your Twitter page.
- Using Twitter’s Blackbird Pie tool to embed fully functioning web Tweets on your posts and pages.
- Displaying the Follow button on your site’s side bar using the Twitter Widget.
The new Follow Button should help increase your site’s reach and exposure. If you would like to know more about incorporating this feature in to your website or would like to know more about the social media services that Areatrade provide, contact us here.
More >
How To Use Facebook To Promote Your Business
May 27th
Introduction
Facebook, if used correctly and efficiently, can be a great tool for generating interest, brand awareness and sales in your company. With more than 500 million active users, Facebook offers a huge platform for your business.
As a business, you will use a Facebook Page rather than a personal profile page. This allows you to invite Facebook users as fans and also promote your website and blog posts.
Ideally you want to be posting as regularly as possible, not excessively, but with the intention of updating your fans and keeping them interested in your business.
Before you start posting you should develop a content strategy. If you think of your Facebook page as being similar to a magazine, then your fans are following your page because they are waiting for something interesting to read.
What should I write about?
- Give your opinion on a new product or service that you are providing. Giving your opinion will create interest, fans will want to know more about the product or service and this will attract people to your business. Encouraging people to comment on your post is also an important part of this. Interaction is crucial as you want to appear on the “Top News” tab rather More >
Reformspring How the Q&A site just got cooler
Apr 6th
Formspring.me, a popular social website which works with a unique question-and-answer format, unveiled a new look for its site yesterday, which has sparked comments about its similarity to the new Twitter interface.
Designed seemingly with egotists in mind, the site’s primary system is a function which allows anyone – member or not – to ask a specific user a question about themselves, their opinions, or their lives, with the prompt “ask me anything”, which can (and often is) cross-posted to Twitter or Facebook, to gain more questions. A ‘follow’ function, not unlike the aforementioned rival social networking sites, allows you to ask, contact, or smile at the people you know. You can also answer their questions, too.
“One of the most significant design evolutions in Formspring’s history,” according to the company, adds a top-screen navigation bar, allowing for instant navigation back to your profile or questions – saving those precious two seconds one previously used up scrolling back to the top of the page – and shifts the site’s layout to 760 by 490 pixels by default. Formspring claims that the new layout is suitable for all sizes of computers – desktops, laptops, netbooks and even tablets, like the new iPad 2, More >