Blog comments and dates

September 1st, 2010

As part of my job at Liberate Media, I am constantly reviewing blogs, online news outlets and similar for our clients and Liberate’s own ongoing R&D.

Two things really annoy me!

First is the huge amount of effort that some blogs/news outlets make you go through to add a comment. It’s really off putting!

To read more on this subject check out the Tamar’s excellent post entitled, Dear bloggers – if you want interaction, make it easy…

There are some great blogging comment solutions out there which are incredibly easy to use and install, so there are no excuses not to have one, i’ve included a few below:

Disqus

Intense Debate

Echo

Cocomment

I feel commenting should be a simple three-step process.

1. Add your details such as:Name, website and email address, all of which should be displayed only if you give permission, or alternatively sign in with Twitter, Facebook or via your LinkedIn profile.

2. Add your comment, preferably through some sort of WYSIWYG editor, and post.

3. Your post goes into moderation and is then added to the site. SIMPLE!

The second thing that really annoys me is:

No dates on posts.

It’s incredibly frustrating when you have searched for a blog post only to land on it and discover it has no date, this makes it hard to work out how recent it is.

Personally speaking, if I find a blog post that isn’t dated I will avoid it in favour of a dated version, I wonder if that’s a turn-off for others reading similar blog content as well?

Is there anything that really annoys you when reading a blog post or commenting on one? Please let us know via the comments section of this post.

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Content | No Comments »

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Don’t be a social media optimisation (smo) H.E.R.M.I.T

June 30th, 2008

Social Media Optimisation (SMO), not to be confused with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has been around since 2006. A gent called Rohit Bhargava was credited with inventing the term SMO according to Wikipedia. View his orginal blog post here.

If you want to learn more about Social Media Optimisation, I can recommend The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Optimization.

Here are some other relevant posts I have read on the subject:

Ultimate Social Media Optimisation List

SMO (Social Media Optimisation) and Social Media Marketing - Case Studies in Viral Marketing

New Rules for Social Media Optimization

Just to recap the smo is an optimised site that can be more easily linked to and bookmarked, is highly visabile in social media searches, and has added and extra user generated content like embeddable videos, photos and podcasts ect.

Most of the blogs we follow in the technology field have got their Social Media Optimistation down to a fine art, resulting in small blogs being catapulted into massive, mainstream, must-have RSS feed subscription and go-to sites. Getting your SMO strategy right can launch you into mainstream media and beyond!

So remember if you don’t want to be a social media optimisation H.E.R.M.I.T you should:

H: Help your content travel

E: Encourage the mash-up

R: Reward inbound links

M: Make tagging and bookmarking easy

I: Increase your linkability

T: Think about great content

This diagram below sums up smo very well:

Posted in Blog, Emerging technology, Social media, Trends and research, Useful resources | No Comments »

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Is Twitter becoming an extension of your blog?

May 23rd, 2008

Over the last few months I have been noticing a growing trend in the use of Twitter. What is it?, you might ask.

It’s called the new blog post!

My Twitter client is Twitterfox, a FireFox plug in, and every time one of the people I follow Tweets a neat box pops up to alert me to the fact they have just Tweeted. One of the most common phrases to pop up at the mo is ‘new blog post’, then a few words to describe what the post is about. Go and check it out for yourself. I used the word ‘blog’ as a keyword search in Summize and Tweet Scan, and to support my case came across a high volume of the words ‘new blog post’!

So my point is that maybe some people only use Twitter as an extension for their blogs, almost like Digging your post, promoting it to a wider audience. I have to admit I have done this myself on occasion, but only with posts that I think add weight and value to current topics of conversation and are targeted to my followers. Everybody wants to read quality posts, but using Twitter as a press release service is not on. If your followers like your stuff they will have the RSS feeds already set up for it!

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Content, Digital communications, Social media, Trends and research | No Comments »

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Blogging: is it becoming a propaganda tool?

February 29th, 2008

‘Propaganda’. Now that’s a word I haven’t used for a while. Probably not since my politics A-Level! But yesterday’s report by US blog the Drudge Report, of Prince Harry’s stationing in Afghanistan, has brought to light the propaganda influence a blog can have.

Tonight Jon Snow is referring to events over the past 24-hours as a “propaganda war”.

Without wanting to state the obvious, the shocking reality of the situation is that one blog report, which ignored media censorship rules, has led to Prince Harry being flown home from Afghanistan. Public opinion is very divided on whether Druge should have published the classified information or not, as it would be on such a highly contentious issue…but for me what’s more concerning is the political power a single blog has managed to achieve.

The potential for abuse is deeply concerning. The uncensored openness of the blogosphere is what makes it what it is, but are we heading for an abuse of that freedom? If blogs of influence begin to harness the power they have within their network, and use it for the wrong reasons, that could take us to a very bad place…

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Digital communications, Journalism, Social media | No Comments »

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Coca-Cola blog - the real thing

February 4th, 2008

Excuse the pun, but the sentiment is spot on in my opinion. Coca-Cola’s corporate blog has been causing a bit of a stir in the blogosphere over the last few days, and for once it’s for the right reasons. I’ve lost count of the times that corporate blogs have been hounded and despised by the masses of eager blog critics, but Coca-Cola conversations has been roundly welcomed.

I checked out the blog recently and have to say it’s certainly a breath of fresh air. No hard sell, no stuffy marketing messaging, it’s not even focused on Coke’s business model, corporate opinion or any thinly veiled marketing message. It focuses on Coke’s core strengths of brand and heritage.

Allow me to introduce you to Coca-Cola’s chief blogger - his name is Phil Mooney, director of Coke’s archives…hang on - not CEO, CMO or any C-level position? A real guy with a passion for his subject and access to the seemingly endless Coke memorabilia and advertising materials. Madness i tell you.

Here’s a quote from Phil’s first post: ‘However, the blog only works if there is a two-way dialogue.’ Brilliant!

Now admittedly that does go against my earlier point that this isn’t a just a marketing vehicle - of course at the end of the day it’s about bringing you closer to the brand, but the way it’s carried off is unique, refreshing (no pun) and interesting.

So, credit where credit is due - i think this is a triumph of corporate communications. The test will come when Coca-Cola’s next phase of blogs are launched, on what i assume will be more wide-ranging and serious subjects.

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Social media | 3 Comments »

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