More Social Media
Wiki's are a wonderful invention. They are the most visible part of Web 2.0, the basis of a 'sharing economy'. This means that wiki's are basically an enciclopedia written by us, the readers and users of the internet, and usually edited or monitored by an editor, so that no glaring mistakes or falsehoods, are published. So, you can write a wiki page that includes information on your work life, your achievements, connections, prizes and awards, and any other biographical or work-related information you can think of. You can also write about the subjects you know about, and include a footnote to your blog piece that discusses the topic under discussion. For academics, wiki's are mostly used for their footnotes, because being open-source (written by non-academics), not all information on every wiki is verifyable. But some footnotes are invaluable. In some controversial topics, you can actually see one person writing one paragraph, and another arguing against that same premise on the next. So it's best to stick to topics you know well when you wiki, take everything you find there with a grain of salt, and do your own deeper research. That said, wikis are a great starting point for any investigation.
Wix and other free website building sites
It used to be you could only have a website if you paid someone to create it. Now, with Wix.com and Ning.com, you can build your own website onto their platforms, and have a working website within hours. There is a bit of a learning curve, as each has their particular way of working, but they are fairly straightforward. I knew nothing of building a website, and this one took me four days to build. One day to write the content, the next to figure out the way that wix works and upload my pictures, one day to edit and share with others, and one day for finishing touches. Not bad for a (then) newbie to go from zero to website in four days.
My Tumblr page is a wonderful work in progress. It is a visual representation of my unconscious. Tumblr is a new application designed with artists and visual products in mind. It has gotten much press recently because it was designed by a high school drop-out (Gates and Jobs dropped out of college), a kid who in ten years was able to figure out, code, design and launch a new application, and within a year, attract an established internet company (yahoo!) to spend One Billion dollars on it. (I told you, the internet is an updated, tech-ified Wild West!). The quality of visual posts is outstanding on Tumblr, and artists, architects, sculptors, photographers, all love the site. I use it to post everything I find beautiful and alluring. But it is still early in my Tumblr career, so it could lead anywhere.
Storify is another new application, similar to Tumblr, but specifically designed to "Tell a Story" by weaving your own content with other pictures and articles into a "Story" you want to tell. So it is not a mashup of disparateposts or sappy pictures as can happen in Facebook, but a way of weaving everything you post into a context and a history. I am still looking for the right story to tell on Storify.
Google+ for Business (guayabapr)
Let's face it. If you want to find something on the internet, google is the gold standard. Bing and Yahoo are giving it a run for its money, but google basically rules. Nobody says "well, bing that to find out". They say "google it". So it is brilliant of google to help businesses by creating a site where you can "Get found", "Get Connected", and "Get Resources" for your business. In other words, a place where you can leverage google's established search engine dominance to your benefit. The google analytics alone are a huge help to any social media campaign. Try it on, it's worth it. Visit this site for a great primer on google plus.
Youtube (guayabapr1) and Vimeo (Monica Perez Nevarez)
Youtube and Vimeo are websites where you share your videos with the world, and find, catalogue and save videos you want to keep for future reference. They can be on anything - from TED talks to pratfalls; music legends to green guitarists posting their cover of "Hey Jude"; vacation videos to work videos. In order to compete for a cash award, a client of mine produced a 6 minute video at the very last minute, and won the People's Choice award in the 2009 Clean Tech Conference in San Francisco. The prize was a cool $125,000; then they posted the film on youtube, and were able to disseminate information about their work to new investors. Bottom line, it is much easier for investors to watch an engaging short video on youtube than read 100 pages of dry business plan. The new way of doing business is all about communication, and communicating in ways and through channels that people already use and know.
Flickr was the first photo storing website I used. There are many more now,and instagram has really taken over the youth segment, but you can choose which one you like best. Flickr is like everyone's home photo album. Mostly family pictures, but you can see some wonderful talent there as well. It is a great source for informal pictures (the few professionals that do post there have blocked copying rights due to their licenses, but many adhere to the Commons licence of sharing if you give attribution (include the photographer's name when you publish the picture). Check out google's Picasa (I also use them), iStock, bing, and photobucket, also photo sharing websites. If you have any pictures of your business, your employees, or your events, and want a place to share them with everyone, use one of the photo sharing sites; they are also a great archive.
Pinterest (social media and general)
I use Pinterest in two ways: one is to keep up with social media evolution, and one is to catalogue and archive pictures and ideas for gardens, landscaping, food, fashion and other things that inspire me. The social media threads are mostly great graphics that explain social media (there's a whole underground of people that develop and publish these great poster-like graphics of very interesting subjects!). A business can use pinterest as a resource (what are other people in your industry doing?, What are your client's interests?), and as away of letting your circle of friends and clients from other platforms get to know another side of you or your business.
Yahoo groups is one of the oldest ways that groups of people had to communicate with each other in the early 2000's. Now it can still be used for a group that is not in geographical proximity, but still likes to share information privately. Sharing information has become much easier to do on Facebook and LinkedIn, so choose one or the other. If not, your work will be redundant.
Feedly and Hoot Suite (management of RSS feeds)
Feedly and Hoot Suite are both applications that help you manage all the threads that all your friends and clients post. It is also a way to keep your RSS feeds (syndication of newsletters, blogs and authors you are particularly interested in), all in one place, where you can scroll down and see them all, or see them through filters you create (I have over 1500 RSS feeds, and filter them through business, environment, economics, food, water, farming, climate change, sustainability topics, for example). This is where you keep your treasure trove of resources for interesting posts, and the seeds of your articles.
Skype is an internet phone app that allows you to call anywhere in the world to anyone that has a computer (or a smartphone/iPad with the skype app) and speak to them (on video!) or message for free.You can upgrade to better services, and it is invaluable if you cater to global clients that might have questions or partners that need to speak to you from abroad, or employees that need to contact you from the field. It is another option in your communications arsenal.
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Contact Monica at 646-863-3388, or guayabapr@gmail.com