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Happy Friday! We are wrapping up our first week of classes here at Shepherd University!
This semester I am teaching 2 classes related to social media and strategic comm: Social Media (syllabus), and Writing Across Platforms (syllabus).
I find myself using textbooks less and less. Perhaps this is because i am not finding what I am looking for, or maybe I am just not looking in the right places. Here are the books I am using in each class.
Content Rules: How to create killer blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, webinars and more that engage customers and ignite your business by Ann Handley & CC Chapman
Recommended: 1) AP Stylebook, and 2) Public Relations Writing: Form & Style (10th edition) by Newsom & Haynes
I have only used Likeable Social Media before so am excited to see how they others go!: What books are you using? What would you recommend?
(Note, I put the Amazon links in here but this is not an endorsement of Amazon nor are these affiliate links).
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.
I recently posted on the impact the change to Google’s link schemes is having on what we should teach students about writing press releases for the web. But what does this change mean? There are some concern around the web that this is going to have a very negative impact on PR. There again, some seem to be completely ignoring this issue.
Here is my reaction.
(Note: I should have more clearly emphasized in my original post that this lesson extends beyond press releases into other online articles distributed on other websites – like online article marketing campaigns and widespread guest blog campaigns).
Is Google’s update to its link schemes the beginning of the end of PR as Foremski warns?
Clearly this update places greater importance on creating compelling content that folks want to share organically, or to use Google’s terminology “naturally.”
Will this change devalue the press release? From my standpoint as an educator: Honestly, I’m not too worried about it. I don’t think you should be either.
I like Jason Kintzler’s view on the subject in 5 Ways Google Just Helped the PR Industry (And I like what his team is doing at PitchEngine. Maybe that’s why we are using PitchEngine for our social media release assignment). Particularly, I like his point on engagement – that relevant content is content that meets what an audience is looking for which increases the likelihood that it will get shared. But he also warns that unless folks “wake up” (his terms) “they will be replaced by other seemingly unthreatening parts of marketing and communications.”
So why am I not worried?
Because the savvy strategic communicators you and I are seeking to educate are storytellers, not press release machines. They are creating content for an interactive and interconnected multimediascape that users will find, enjoy, and want to share, naturally.
Wherever communication industries are going or not is fine with me. And I think it should be with other educators as well.
That’s because I believe If someone is going to come along and lead communication and relationship building online, it is going to be the type of student I and many others want to teach. That is what excites me about students. They aren’t afraid. They learn, adapt, innovate, and are not confined by “how something has always been done.”
I believe our goals as educators should be to strive to prepare ourselves and to help our fellow educators prepare our students to be the ones with the skill sets to lead that wave, whatever it is going to be. I don’t know everything, things keep changing, and I’ve got a ton to learn! Isn’t that empowering and motivating?
I am not one for “how it has always been done.” And I know of a ton of educators who are they same. They are the folks bravely driving innovation and new ideas, experimenting, thinking about what’s around the corner, and not afraid to take risks and learn from them. The dozens of educators I have met, follow online, or otherwise observed (such as wonderful Promising Professor presentations at AEJMC!) are not stagnant. They are passionate about change.
Whether this or any future change by Google or some other entity means the press release has less value than ever or not, it shouldn’t matter if we 1) are adaptable and innovative educators, and 2) are teaching our students to be strong writers for the web with an eye for engaging content.
Maybe what I’m trying to say is, what an exciting time it is to be an educator!
I hope you all have an amazing semester! Today is our first day. I look forward to learning from you and growing over the coming months!
Next week I will share how I am teaching writing press releases for the web as part of my Writing Across Platforms course.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.
Matt meets Scout for the first time.
I know… I know… this blog is about social media education. But I thought I’d quickly share an update on our adventures into dog ownership as many people have been asking! Kelin and I have been planning to get our puppy since last semester – I told my students all about it and we talked names – so we are both very excited to have finally brought home Scout last night.
Scout (a literary reference, of course) is a bergamasco and right now peacefully napping! The car ride home was peaceful and she remained calm through the night. We spent the morning wearing her out, freeing me up to writ this quick post.
As a way to combine my need to get more hands on experience with Instagram along with my desire to be an ambassador of this rare breed, I’ve decided to create a Scout Instagram profile. If you are interested in following the puppyhood and beyond of our new bergamasco scout on Instagram, check out instagram.com/scoutbergamasco. I promise lots of photos. I’ll try not to overdo it but in all honesty I probably will post far too many photos.
What is a Bergamasco?
Not many people have heard of bergamascos before. I hadn’t. And in fact, some people mistake bergamascos for komondors while others incorrectly think that bergamascos are messy or unclean due to their unique coat (more on that below). This unfamiliarity is a major reason why I want to share our adventure with Scout.
Bergamascos are Italian sheep herding dogs and come from the Italian Alps. Their unique feature is their coat which consists of 3 different types of “hair” and forms flocks that look a bit like dreadlocks. They are hypoallergenic. Despite appearances, they shed very little and coat maintenance is minimal. They are said to be very clean dogs and the coat does not smell.
According to the American Kennel Club, “The Bergamasco is a sociable, highly intelligent breed that possesses a deep desire to please its master. The breed thinks independently, however, and often sees itself more as an equal partner than as a subordinate to the members of his family.” The Bergamasco (Comprehensive Owner’s Guide) describes these dogs as “intelligent and balanced,” “peace-loving,” loyal, great with kids, among other qualities that drew me to the breed.
When doing research on what type of dog would match our lifestyle, the bergamasco came up again and again. I did a great deal of research (I tend to overdo it sometimes!) on this and other breads and Kelin and I decided this was the right dog for us.
From time to time I will post updates on this blog about our life with Scout as I know many people are interested. But this blog is a social media blog and I know that is why you read this blog. I promise not to lose sight of that. I will also label all Scout-related blog posts under the category “Scout” (see “blog topics” on the left menu).
Feel free to contact me via other social channels (twitter, G+, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) or via a comment below if you have any questions about Scout or our experience with her, or thoughts on raising puppies. While I am a novice with dogs and bergamascos, I am more than happy to share my experience.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.
Google recently updated its link schemes and it means an important change to how we teach students to write press releases for the web. This is because the change directly targets articles or press releases distributed on other websites, like an online wire service.
I’ve written a lot on this blog about teaching students to write for the web. And this is the biggest change I’ve seen to what we should teach since starting this blog.
Google wants links to your site to emerge naturally, that is organically via its popularity on the web because others like it and link to it via Tweets, blog posts, etc. That doesn’t include a press release, because essentially a press release is seen by Google as an advertisement you are putting out to drive traffic to your site. Google calls this “unnatural.”
“Lots of links, lots of repeated key words, and multiple postings of a press release to different sites, are all red flags to Google under the new rules. Such actions are viewed by Google as blatant attempts to trick its algorithm into ranking a site higher than its allotted position,” writes Tom Foremski.
When Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable asked Google Switzerland’s john Mueller “Why were press releases called out?” during the July 29 Webmaster Central Google Hangout, Mueller replied: “It is something that a lot of people are doing to try to promote the website. That’s something that we want to make clear, that we essentially see this as an unnatural link…” Later in the hangout, Mueller likened a press release to an advertisement. He is saying this in the sense, again, that the purpose of the press release distributed on the web is to drive traffic to a client’s site, the way an online advertisement does. I.e., an “unnatural” link. Of course, the purpose of a press release is to do more than drive traffic to your site, but not in Google’s eyes.
You can see this exchange by watching the first 10 minutes or so of the below video:
So what to do?
Having keywords be linked has been Best Practices for press releases over the past several years (in fact, if you have old press releases up it is best to go change them to the new format or risk hurting your client’s PageRank). I was planning to go into my Writing Across Platforms class (See syllabus. See other blog posts about the class) this fall with the advice to optimize keywords with links in the Social Media News Release assignment. As a result of this change by Google, this is what I’ll be telling my students:
Be safe:
Link Sparingly
nofollow all URLs in press releases and distributed articles on web.
Code for no-following: Why I’m telling them this:
I spent a great deal of time researching this new change and reading through varying opinions and reactions to the new link scheme update. While opinions differed slightly, Mueller’s own advice seems to be to no-follow all URLs just to be safe.
The penalty for upsetting Google? Possibly having your client’s site drop in ranking on Google search results – and no one wants that! In fact, in an article with the alarmist title “Did Google just kill PR agencies?” Tom Foremski warns ” PR agencies could be held liable for the damage they caused to the online reputation of client businesses through the execution of normal practices. It could lead to legal action and compensation claims on millions of dollars in lost sales. ”
So it seems best to me to not risk it.
Some great articles to learn more about this change and see what others are advising (note: I got many of these from a great podcast on For Immediate Release last week – listed below):
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.
After a great trip to Washington DC and a wonderful #AEJMC2013 conference, I am back in West Virginia enjoying the last few days before classes start. Though I didn’t get to do all the things I had hoped nor meet all the great people I’ve gotten to know on social media at the conference, I came away from AEJMC having learned a lot.
Two quick observations:
1) As a field, our understanding of social media is growing exponentially! – When I started researching YouTube and the 2006 election, not many scholars were looking into the new medium. Walking around the conference, I saw tons of very interesting and exciting studies and had a great time talking to folks with great research questions and findings.
2) Coverage of #AEJMC2013 on social media was robust, insightful, and engaging – Here are a few cool stats:
The PR division of AEJMC was a clear leader when it came to coverage across platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Storify.
Though my own access to the Internet was limited by poor to nonexistent cell phone coverage, I was able to follow along via my tablet. At the 2008 NCA conference in San Diego, I met one person using Twitter via an iPhone at the conference (it wasn’t me) and we later connected online. This year, I’ve met a number of great people either in person or via the #AEJMC2013 hashtag. I’m excited to learn from them! In fact, the difference between people Tweeting about the conference and “thinking social media” to express their experiences was noticeably up from just two years ago in St. Louis, a great deal in part due to the proliferation of smart phones I imagine.
A few articles with big implications for Education this week:
Majoring in a Professor – Insight Higher Ed – This study finds that a student’s choice of major is most influenced by the quality of introductory professor” This article explores the role that a student’s first experience with a major via a professor teaching an introductory course has in whether that student will major in that field. As the article states: “Maybe it’s much more simple: Undergraduates are significantly more likely to major in a field if they have an inspiring and caring faculty member in their introduction to the field. And they are equally likely to write off a field based on a single negative experience with a professor.” Read more on the potential implications of this finding. —
A letter from a high school teacher warns college professors about the incoming group of students went viral – The author, retired teacher Kenneth Beirnstein, argues that mandating testing and the No Child Left Behind program have hurt critical thinking and writing among the burgeoning student population and asks professors not to hold high school teachers who have little control over these matters responsible. But not many people have seen the follow-up. After I tweeted this article, he Tweeted me back stating he was returning to the classroom, and here is why. The piece is moving and motivational, as Kenneth proclaims “because even with the restrictions that exist I believe I can make a difference for my students” and ” because public schools are too important for me to abandon the field of conflict on their behalf.”
That’s all for now! Hope you are relaxing before the semester starts! Kelin and I are so excited to be picking up our new puppy, Scout, on Wednesday. Scout (pictured above) is a Bergamasco, an Italian Sheepherding dog! I’ll admit, as a first time dog owner I am a bit nervous! Advice gladly accepted!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.
The start of the semester is right around the corner. So I thought it’d be fun to do series of posts titled #trythis! on teaching tools and techniques I hope you will try this fall. The first is an invaluable tool I’ve been using for years that makes teaching technology more efficient!
Want to teach students how to use software or a web tool for an activity or assignment but don’t want to waste class time?
Try screencasting! It is a wonderful way to augment your teaching materials and ensure student learning. Plus, it is easier, and quicker than you might think!
Screencasting is a video of a computer screen and is used to demonstrate tasks on a computer. For example, I have used screencasting to show students how to set up social media accounts, edit wikis, complete complex processes such as on SPSS, and much more.
Benefits:
Saves time in class – I already said this but it is worth repeating. Rather than stand before the class using valuable time to show 1 or 2 students how to do a task at the risk of losing the attention of the rest of the class, you can 1) point students to screencasts you’ve already made, or 2) tell them you’ll make a screencast after class and post a link to it on the class website.
Visual component makes it easy to follow.
Particularly useful for complex subjects – If a student is confused, he can pause, rewind, etc. I’ve had students comment that they were so thankful for a screencast I’d posted on using Spundge.com because the task I was requesting was rather complicated and they were having a hard time following paper instructions.
Students can watch screencasts at any time
Less time repeating the same instructions over and over in your office hours, via email, etc.
Less excuses from students that they couldn’t complete the assignment because they couldn’t follow your instructions.
Here’s a video I made teaching students how to use Piktochart for an Infographics assignment:
Don’t be nervous – though you might be saying to yourself, ‘why would I be nervous!?” you may find yourself a little timid when you go to record. A lot of us don’t like the sound of their own voice or you may worry you are going to sound unorganized or say “um” too much. Just relax. Be yourself.
Plan but don’t over plan – if you over plan every little thing you are going to say, you will come across rigid. In fact, I find it impossible to plan everything I want to say or do. Sometimes I am recording and in the moment I’ll think of something to add, or to show. Embrace that. Those little insights add value just like they do in the classroom. What I do to plan, is make a list of the things I want to cover in a video and have it in front of me.
Don’t be afraid of doing a ‘redo’ – sometimes I get 5 minutes into a recording and make a mistake or forget what I was going to say and have to stop, delete, and start over. Because I don’t bother to edit the videos in order to save time, I end up having to do a redo now and again.
Consider the video length – It is easy to get going and going when doing a screencast and quickly find 5-6 minutes have flown by. I try not to record videos that are longer than 7 minutes. I find students won’t watch a video if it is too long. So if I can keep it shorter by all means, I try!
Shorter and more is best – Ideally, I’ve found a few short videos beats 1 long video. Students are going to fast forward in searching of the content they want anyhow.
How to Make a ScreenCast
To make a screencast, all you need is: a microphone, screencast software, and an account for a free online host like YouTube or Vimeo.
There is paid software with more advanced features. But the options I will show are free and will suffice for all your needs:
First, check your built-in or plug-in mic to make sure it is working.
If you have a Mac computer, you can use the free software QuickTime. Open QuickTime, Click File -> New Screen Recording. Click the red icon to start the recording. When you’re done, click the stop icon. The video will be created. Watch it to make sure you are happy with it. Export it for uploading by clicking “Share” from the menu. Select the account Vimeo or YouTube you are using and follow the prompts, including entering your username and password.
If you have a PC, there are a few options. One option is the online screencasting software screencastomatic. I used the free, open source software Cam Studio (http://camstudio.org/) to create the TeacherTube screencasts. The software is easy to use. But getting it installed and working is easier explained through screencast. So, in the spirit of this post here are two great videos on getting going with Cam Studio:
Installing and getting started with CamStudio version 2.7
A detailed look at Cam Studio 2.7 Settings (for those wanting more guidance)
In sum, screencasting is a great supplement to any class where you need to teach students how to do things on a computer. Any educator who wants to improve the way they teach software and web tools to students can benefit from using this easy and effective tool.
I hope you will try screencasting this semester! If you do, stop back by and share your screencast and let us know how it went! If you currently use screencasting, what do you find it most effective for? What tips do you have for someone new to screencasting?
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.
A quick post from #aejmc2013 via my tablet.
Though there have been many highlights such as seeing old colleagues and seeing creative and innovative scholarship, I want to take a quick second to share one thing that I have really enjoyed.
I came across this great infographic summarizing a study by Alhabash, Quilliam and Zeldes from Michigan State at my high density session Thursday on Social Media, Attitudes, and Behaviors (I apologize for the poor photo quality). At high density sessions, presenters are supposed to provide a summary handout of their article. This is a visually engaging way of presenting complex info – making me realize yet another great use of infographics I hadn’t considered.
I plan to keep a hard copy to show my social media class as an example for their infographic assignment. Note to self for future conferences: An article summary is a perfect candidate for an infographic. Though I haven’t seen any yet, I imagine an infographic would make for a great poster at a scholar-to-scholar session.
This is why I love conferences.
As an aside, I am getting no service on my phone at the conference. My apologies for the lack of tweeting! Got to run.
Off to the scholar-to-scholar Advertising session at the grand ballroom south. Saw some interesting social media and advertising studies listed in the program!
A Social Media Education Blog by Matthew J. Kushin, Ph.D.
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