Module 4: Visual Communication (Pinterest)

Weeks 10–13 Module 4: Visual Communication (Pinterest)

Nov 06: Social Media Pinterest Board activity due by 11:55pm Using the Module 4 readings as context and theory, curate a Pinterest board. Your board must be related to ONE of our course Modules (Twitter, Facebook, Visual Platforms). You must include 3-5 pins. Each pin must include a description that draws from the Module readings. Remember, you are curating specific and pertinent information artefacts. Cite any references using APA style. Embed your completed board in a blog post on the course blog (this is practise for embedding your Pinterest on your Professional Facebook Page). Tweet a link to your Pinterest blog post. Use the class hashtag #COMM597 and always tweet to your instructors. . Nov 16: Final Assignment Presentations webinar from 6:00–8:30pm. Partnered peer-review activity to follow, on eClass. Dec 04: Final Assignment due by 11:55pm.

Pinterest Board: Twitter for Business

Below find the link to my Pinterest board with content curated to aid in the effective use of Twitter within business to engage followers. The pins found on this board are of special interest to me, as before this course, I had little knowledge of the potential of Twitter for professional use. Contrary to what I may have believed a few months ago, Twitter has the potential to create meaningful and gratifying connection that can fulfill a social need (Chen, 2011). More specifically, "this sense of social presence is formed by immediacy-related characteristics,” meaning that interaction and consistency is required to properly engage Twitter users (Han et al., 2015). 

What “curation” consists of has changed over the past decade, as the Internet has brought about new tools to index collections online (Lambert & Frisch, 2013). However, with these new tools come challenges, as “complex arrays of multidimensional, multimedia data must be displayed on a two-dimensional computer screen” (p. 136). I have been a long time fan of Pinterest, and love that as I browse the web and come across DIYs, recipes, and products that I love, I have an organized way to keep them all in one place. Pinterest replaces the newspaper clippings that used to clutter our drawers, and the recipe cards we used to scribble on in our kitchen. However, using Pinterest to find educational information that might profit a business is new to me, and requires more thought in regards to the validity of sources. 

Sources:

Christine Erickson, ( 2012, June ). Pinterest rolls out curated newsletter for users.Mashable.  Available from http://mashable.com/2012/06/02/pinterest-curated-newsletter/

Han, S., Min, J., & Lee, H. (2015). Antecedents of social presence and gratification of social connection needs in SNS. IJIM, 35(4), 459-471.

Hodis, M. A., Sriramachandramurthy, R., & Sashittal, H. C. (2015). Interact with me on my  terms. Journal of Marketing Management, (ahead-of-print), 1-30.

Lambert, D. & Frisch, M. (2013). Digital curation through information cartography: A commentary on oral history in the digital age from a content management point of view. The Oral History Review, 40(1), 135. doi: 10.1093/ohr/oht035

Masullo Chen, G. (2011). Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 755–762. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.023

Twitter as a Communications Technology

My Pinterest board entitled Twitter as a Communications Technology illustrates the use of Twitter as an influential communications technology tool.

In April of 2010 the US Library of Congress (LOC) and Twitter partnered to attempt to archive all tweets for future research purposes. Their original intent was "to create a structure for organizing the entire archive by date" (Allen, 2013). This linear approach has proven difficult as the information is indeterminately dynamic. The LOC faces the challenge the HUB model attempts to alleviate. 

Twitter as a communications technology tool is dynamic since through hashtags conversations can be had with multiple accounts regarding a single topic. The pathways of conversation are not linear. The hashtag also has the ability to reduce the six degrees of separation to a lesser number. In my Pinterest board through Twiplomacy (Lüfkens, 2015) and the history of Twitter I demonstrate the non-linear connectivity of Twitter as a communication technology.

[NOTE] I kept getting an error message when trying to post a comment with the following pin. This message was meant to go with my infographic on The History of Twitter: Communications and Technology.

In Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies
a need to connect with others Chen states, “Twitter evolved from an online application where users answered a simple question to a ‘’new economy of info-sharing and connectivity’ between people” (2010, pg. 755). I would argue Twitter went from a status sharing tool to an event sharing tool. It became so much more than a group texting technology initially designed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey to let your friends know where you are and what you’re up to. Twitter is now used to broadcast emergency information, document and engage in discourse about events which are history in the making as well as connecting with others. Gratifying a need for connection happens when people share an experience.

Allen, E. (2013). Update on the Twitter archive at the Library of Congress.

Retrieved from 
http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2013/01/update-on-the-twitter-archive-at-the-library-of-congress/

Chen, M., G. (2011). Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how

active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 755–762. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.023

Findlay, K. (2010). An introduction to network theory. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/ervler/an-introduction-to-network-theory

Lüfkens, M. (2015, March 24). Twiplomacy Study 2015. Retrieved from 


http://twiplomacy.com/blog/twiplomacy-study-2015/

Pinterest Board: Maximizing Social Media

For my Pinterest board I have focused on social media generally and how to maximize its uses. My pins consist of a variety of topics touched on throughout this course, Facebook, Blogging, and visual Content. I included my descriptions and references with comments right on my pins. You can access my Pinterest Board here.

References:

Findlay, K. (2010). An introduction to network theory. Available from http://www.slideshare.net/ervler/an-introduction-to-network-theory

Garabian, L. (2013). Digital influence: Blogs beat social media networks for driving purchases [Web log post]. Available from  http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10336/digital-influence-blogs-beat-social-networks-for-driving-purchases

Smith, S. (2013, April 05). Conceptualising and evaluating experiences with brands on Facebook. International Journal of Market Research, 55(3), 357–374. doi:10.2501/IJMR-2013-034. Available at http://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=87975676&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Social Media Pinterest Board: Leveraging the Power of Visual Content

There's a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, technology has certainly made it easy for us to take good quality pictures in an instant with our cell phones and tablets and, there are many social media mediums that embrace the power of photos/images (e.g., Instagram and Pinterest – to represent Pins).

Reports say that our brain processes visual content 60,000x faster compared to text (More, 2104). In my personal opinion, it seems that more of our world is moving towards visual content. As such, my Pinterest board focusses on incorporating images into online content as it relates to the course material -- two sources in particular: Smith (2013) and Stelzner (2010).

The Pinterest board also contains multidimensional indexing in the board's description, which I understand to be essentially hashtagging (something I already do often on Instagram, but just didn't realize there was a concept behind the madness!). Multidimensional indexing is appropriate here because the board contains information that may have multiple uses in different fields, depending on the lens, as well as help facilitate searches (Lambert & Frisch, 2013). 


References:
Lambert, D. & Frisch, M. (2013). Digital curation through information cartography: A commentary on oral history in the digital age from a content management point of view. The Oral History Review, 40(1), 135-153.

More, T. (2014, May 21). The importance of visual content (and how to deliver it effectively). Retrieved from http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/05/21/importance-visual-content-deliver-effectively/


Smith, S. (2013, Apr 5). Conceptualising and evaluating experiences with brands on Facebook. International Journal of Market Research, 55(3), 357–374. 

Stelzner, M. (2010, Aug 2). The inside scoop on how Intel manages its Facebook page. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/intel-case-study

Kaylee's Curated Pinterest Board - Facebook

Facebook, as I have previously mentioned, has always kind of eluded me. For this reason, I chose it as my Pinterest Board topic.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Pinterest, is the ability to post a visual representation which can add value to a follower. If a follower is interested more in a topic, they can click on the photo to access a webpage. If more information is desired, more links and related articles can often be accessed through the webpage the pin brought a follower to. Pinterest is, therefore, a prime example of a HUB model according to Douglas Lambert and Michael Frisch in Digital Curation through Information Cartography: A commentary on Oral History in the Digital Age from a Content Management Point of View (2013).

My own Pinterest board, expanding on the HUB model, uses multidimensional indexing (MDI), also known as CVS (Chinese, Vegetable, and Spicy), referring to the classification on recipes based on taste (Lambert & Frisch, 2013). In this case, the classification of my Pin is under Social media, further classified as Facebook. According to Lambert and Frisch, this will make the content easy to find by “creating filters that identify material responding to complex thematic inquiries” (2013, p. 141).

              Follow Kaylee's board Facebook on Pinterest.  

PLEASE NOTE: An error message prevented me from including a description relating to the readings on my post: “How Do I Post a Question or Poll on My Facebook Page?”. Although I knew of this error, I still wanted to include this pin for a couple of reasons. 1. I wanted to include not only the still-media such as infographics, or visual representation like the GIF, or a cover photo for a blog, but I wanted to include a video, and a tutorial on an engagement topic on a Facebook page felt relevant and necessary. 2. It allows me to discuss Text Interface, or Transcription. While Lambert & Frisch state that: “In a HUB database, we can rely on summary (and searchable) annotation for broad mapping of content and postpone transcription until a particular need arises” and that “Transcription is an option to be carefully and strategically determined” (2013, p. 149). YouTube offers transcription even in the digital world where artefacts are more accessible through visual and oral media. For writing, or comprehension purposes, I would agree that transcription can be postponed, but remains necessary to some degree, which YouTube provides a great example of.

I hope my descriptions provide enough contexts to understand why I chose the other pins that I have not mentioned here. Please let me know in the comments if they don’t, and I will happily elaborate! As a general curation purpose, this board helped me to understand and provided ideas on how to engage a Facebook page following, and I hope it helps you too!

Lambert, D. & Frisch, M. (2013). Digital curation through information cartography: A commentary on oral history in the digital age from a content management point of view. The Oral History Review, 40(1), 135. doi: 10.1093/ohr/oht035

Kaylee's curated Pinterest Board - Facebook Link 

Here is my Pinterest Page:

find us at:   https://www.pinterest.com/janm0112/

Module 3 Feedback: Employing Brian C. Clark's Advice

99% of students completed the assignment (shocking statistic)





The Assignment: Post an introductory blog post about you and your field of study, and what role communication play in your work. Practise what you read in Brian Clark's article, and employ some of his ideas.

Our Feedback:

Brian Clark suggests five ways to hook readers in:

1. Ask a question

1. Share an anecdote or quote

1. Invoke the mind's eye

1. Employ an analogy, simile or metaphor

1. Cite a shocking statistic

Now, many of you did just this!

Titles like: How important is communication in a work place? A school? What if it’s both…? or How Twitter Saved My Business make the reader ask for more. How important is communication really and how on earth could Twitter save a business. Both of these headlines ask us to wonder about the implications. As Clark notes, asking your readers to think is a way of promoting active engagement and engaged readers do just that, they read and follow through and sign up for newsletters and keep waiting for more from you.

Imagine now, as you keep reading the post, the ending just doesn't satisfy you. You don't learn about the outcome of those statistics on how Twitter might really work for you. What happened to that 1% that we implied in our title? Concluding your post, as you would conclude an essay for coursework, is about pulling the ideas together for the reader and letting them have key take-aways. Maybe you'll hint at what's coming next week or invite them to think about your post and share their comment or simply share your post. How might you induce reader engagement and participation; keys to successful social media use.

This example of an ending, encapsulates the post as well as invokes a shared pop culture reference (humour is almost always welcome):

"That day, should you decide to come to the 'dark side', will either be the day your alma mater will be proud of you or you really, really earn that bonus!"

Slogging through the oil and gas industry

Are you considering a client change?  Maybe you're contemplating a world of fresh perspectives and innovative technology?  70 % of your colleagues are and I say, by all means do it -  but think twice before saying yes to the seemingly lucrative field of Energy Communications.

I was once you, trying to escape the mundane, thinking outside the career box I had made for myself in the newspaper industry.  I applied, interviewed and power-lunched until I finally made my decision - I was moving to the dark side (tar sands).  Yes, that's me, the liberal arts grad going along to get along with an executive management team who believe scientific evidence of climate change is just liberal propaganda.

But onto more important things, like money.  As you may already be aware, oil and gas jobs, even in the communications department, pay more than most.  You have a base salary, generous vacation time and nice retirement packages (although, given market fluctuations, you may not be there long enough to open one).  But if you can put aside your guilt over environmental issues, the your reward will be the annual shareholders cheque.  Yes readers, I'm here to testify, all of those moments spent biting your tongue, rolling your eyes and thinking your head was going to implode due to the intellectual vacuum you slave in day-in and day-out - God love it - here comes the bonus cheque! 

At my alma mater they're quite proud of their students ability upon graduation to stand-up to authority.  I believe our commencement speaker, Brian Lamb of C-Span, beseeched us to go forth and "speak truth to power".  While I love my alma mater and the passion for which Mr. Lamb spoke, I personally wouldn't recommend it.  If you're in oil and gas, you may be looking for a new career sooner than you think.  The energy field promotes from within, generally speaking it's men who started out as boys working 'in the patch' they know hard, awful, stinky, work from the ground up.  The boys who last become the men of management; vice presidents of operations and the like.  Along the way to picking up their grandiose titles they've grown large egos accompanied by shallow mentalities and short tempers all this with nary a day of higher education (some never finished high school - which they will proudly tell you has not affected their ability to earn an income that is completely disproportionate to their education).  So imagine when you have to go into their corner office and speak your truth "well, Mr. Moneybags, I'm unable to send out this internal communication they way it is, uh - huh ...yes, we need to fix your poor sentence structure, grammar and punctuation to say nothing of your inability to frame an argument - honestly Mr. M, we need to re-write this whole thing - and what is it you're trying to say? Because frankly, I don't understand " - I dare you.

That day, should you decide to come to the 'dark side', will either be the day your alma mater will be proud of you or you really, really earn that bonus!

References:

Vivian G.  (2012, Oct. 10) 70 Percent of Your Colleagues are Looking for a New Job [Web blog post].  Retrieved from:  http://www.businessinsider.com/70-percent-of-your-colleagues-are-looking-for-a-new-job-2012-10

DiChristopher ( 2015, July 22) Oil and gas jobs' pay is still big, but not booming retrieved from:  http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/22/

Employing Brian Clark's Advice Due October 30

Practice what you read in Brian Clark's article and employ some of his ideas by posting below an introductory post about you and your field of study and, what role communication plays in your work.

Collaborative Honeycomb

This might be of interest to you, especially if you're thinking about how important networks are (Facebook, Twitter, blogs) and how to facilitate collaboration and valuable sharing:

15 Blog Content Ideas With Examples And Tips

Looking towards Module 3 and our blogging; have a read of these great ideas from Heidi Cohen. You can read all 15 ideas on her post here.

1. Audit your existing content for ideas

Ideally, every business should regularly audit their content to ensure that it’s up-to-date and relevant. From a blogging perspective, a content audit provides many blog post opportunities. 

Actionable Blogging Tips:

• Fill holes in your content offering with new blog posts.
• Transform product manuals and other customer related information into easy-to-follow blog posts. Simplify the information and sound human to help your audience.
• Update and transform older information into blog posts. Add images and other media to make them more appealing and easy-to-consume.

Download The Ultimate Blogging Checklist

2. Create core resources

Copyblogger’s Brian Clark calls this cornerstone content since it’s fundamental to the overarching content strategy of your blog. 

Neil Patel has published a number of Advanced Guides. They’re over 40,000 words in length and provide useful information that keeps generating visits and links.

Lists are another form of core resources. While lists are high on every blogger’s post idea generation catalog because they attract attention, to remain a key resource, you must organize them by topic and continually update them. (This later point is key for any evergreen content.)