online journalism: thinking about platforms

2: Platforms

#cityOJ - JOM800 Online Journalism

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

This week in 3 bullets:

• Choose your platform - based on you and your users’ needs

• Customise according to the same• Blogging is about more than your

blog


Choose your platforms

..


Where are your networks? What is your content?


CMS (Content Management System)

Making it easy to publish, lay out and distribute contentAdding functionality through pluginsAdding distinctiveness through themesAdding connectivity through feeds and APIs


Customising your platforms

..


Style - knowing CSS

Change colours, fonts, column widths, etc.Find option to edit appearance or theme in Settings (have to pay on Wordpress.com)


body { background: #EFEFEF url(images/content.gif) top center repeat-y; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; margin: 0px auto 0px; padding: 0px; }


(Which often means knowing HTML)

<a> = a, a:hover, a:visited etc.<h1>, <h2>, etc.<ul>, <ol>, <li><p>, <b>, <em><div id="content"> = #contentCombinations, e.g. #content ul li


The CSS styles anything within the HTML

h2 { color: #333333; }

(will style all headers using the <h2> tag)


Hexadecimal colour codes (a good place to start)

ol { background: #EFEFEF color: #333333;}Change #333333 to #000000 (black) or #FFFFFF (white) - Google others


Categories vs tags

Categories are thematic, consistent(e.g. 'Newspapers, Data Journalism')Tags are specific, unique(e.g. 'Telegraph', 'Martin Belam')


Functionality - plugins

Sharing - e.g. TweetThis, Like buttonsCommenting - e.g. Disqus, FBManagement - e.g. contributor permissions, analytics, donationsPresentation - widgetsContent - series, ratings etc.


Functionality - mobile publishing

Post by email (FB, Posterous, Tumblr)Mobile app?Blog widgets Auto cross-posting (Pixelpipe)...


Automate visibility - but focus


Back to the networks...

Use a consistent username so you can be found elsewhereCross-link in your bylines and bios (with contact details)Use Twitterfeed or other tools to cross-post RSS. Too easy? Play with IFTTT


Avoid shovelware

You wouldn't read a newspaper article on radioPlay to the strengths of each medium Know who each audience is, and talk to them.


Why social capital is the currency of the

webTips on blogging beyond the blog


What is a blog?

‘Blogging’ functionality now embedded in almost all online platforms


Why?

Editorial advantagesCommercial advantagesProfessional advantages


How?

ConversationalIncompleteInformal


An introduction to social capital

Blogging is more than what you do on your blog - it is the sum of exchanges


“This is the number one asset of the news organization: stored trust, reputational capital. Any competent journalist knows how to benefit from that: your calls get returned… like magic! But as to how that capital is created, the professional journalist is minimally involved.

Jay Rosen, http://archive.pressthink.org/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html


Bloggers are “building their reputations from the ground up,” and to do this they have to focus on users. They have to be in dialogue. They have to point to others and say: listen to him! The connection between what they do and whether they are trusted is much alive and apparent.

Jay Rosen, http://archive.pressthink.org/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html


How? 'Brokerage relationships'

Save search costs (filter)Reduce uncertainty (ratings)Trust (verify)Negative ties (don't shoot messenger)Emotional involvement (vox populi)Coordination (campaigns)Expertise (translation)

Daniel Brass, in Social Capital (2009) ch10


Some suggestions

Behind the scenesRunning storyNiche blog(s)


10 ideas for blog posts

Respond InterviewEvent QuestionFight ReflectVisual ListHow-to Guest post


Where to go from here:

Customise your platform for you and your usersIncrease accessibility through RSS-powered automationMove beyond the story to social content


Guest Q&A: Sunny Hundal,

Liberal ConspiracyA blogger


This week's lab.

Identify the best platforms for your projectCustomise the colour schemeIdentify plugins if WordpressAdd widgetsSet up pixelpipe/Twitterfeed/IFTTT etc.


Continue to customiseWrite at least one post answering a question from your network - but not an ‘article’.

Independent study


Delicious.com/paulb/cityoj02Delicious.com/paulb/bloggingRosenberg: Say EverythingSee Moodle for links & reading

Further reading.


online journalism: thinking about platforms

Education

social capital blogging

blogging functionality

functionality plugins

reputational capital

content combinations

social capital isthe

blog widgets auto cross

social contentwednesday