A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

We all know that a picture can be worth far more than words when trying to convey a message.  Sometimes other media types are even more important in sending a messages. For example, kids are crazy about making loom bands bracelets which are made from weaving small rubber bands together. If instructions were only in written language, it would be far more difficult to learn new techniques than it is by watching a YouTube instructional video such as this one:

If someone were to explain this technique without any media to show how to make this, it would be rather difficult; however by watching the video, almost anyone, with the right supplies, can learn how to make a bracelet like the one shown in the video.

Other great examples of how multimedia enhances messaging are food blogs. A good quality food blog will enhance recipes with either photos or videos of ingredients and/or cooking techniques techniques. One food blogger that incorporates multimedia is thepioneerwoman.com/‎. The writer, Ree, has a food blog where she uses photos to show her recipes in a step-by-step manner as well as a television show where she demonstrates her cooking techniques.  Another aspect of using multimedia with food are restaurant reviews.  These reviews will generally include photos of the restaurant and the food that is being critiqued to give the reader a feel for the presentation. Yelp.com (or the mobile app, Yelp!) allows users to post their own reviews along with photos, which can be incredibly helpful when browsing for new restaurants to try as one would have a preview of what to expect. Now if only there were a way to share scents and smells via the internet. Someday!

Multimedia can enhance messaging in a shopping experience.  A customer can view items of interest in different colors and varying levels of detail, including zooming and spinning to see the item from different angles.  On Timberland.com, a customer has the ability to customize many components of their boots. Without the ability to show the customer exactly what their custom creation would look like, it would be difficult at best to sell such an item at a high price point as the final product would be left up to the customer's imagination and the item that they receive might look very different than what they expected it to look like. This configurator tool is key in ensuring customer satisfaction for this type of product.

Without multimedia, the world would be a very bland, black and white place as multimedia is key to bringing a message to life. A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth even more.

Blog Critique: Pintester

One of my all time favorite blogs is Pintester.com, written by Sonja Foust.

Sonja finds ideas on Pinterest and tests them. Hence the name "pin" + "tester".  Pinterest is on online equivalent to pulling pages from a magazine that might have recipes, fashion, craft ideas, etcetera. and saving them to try later. Sonja finds pins that are generally highly re-pinned (saved by many), tries them out, and blogs about them. Not many are overly successful; most are usually failures.  She uses ordinary, sometimes profane - well maybe often profane, language along with photos to describe how she was able to recreate the pin with her own results, which are usually genuinely hilarious.

Sonja does an excellent job at identifying her audience and writing in such a manner that would appeal to that audience. When Pinterest was very new, she realized that it was a fantastic tool, but at the same time people see a lot of ideas there that simply do have the same results when attempted by an amateur. She is endeared to her audience, because she is not afraid to poke humor at herself and isn't shy about potty humor. Let's face it, no matter how old and mature we become, potty humor is still pretty funny. She portrays herself as an ordinary person without any special skills trying out these pins that we are all pinning, but generally do not find the time to execute. She saves everyone else the hassle, by showing us that even if we had the time to try these pins, it really wouldn't be worth it anyhow.  If there is a pin that goes well for her, then we know that ANYONE can succeed with that particular recipe, project, or nail polish idea.

Pintester.com mixes both written media and video. I think this makes her blog a bit more interesting as the videos give a deeper appreciation of who she as a person and really brings her to life as an online personality. Some of her best blogs are the "Cock-nails" videos, which combine a cocktail recipe and a nail polish technique. The drinking generally has a negative effect on the nail polishing, but funny nonetheless.

Sonja, the Pin Tester, really nails it when it comes to form, function, and substances. She keeps her blog on topic. All posts are related to testing pins. She engages her readers and encourages comments on her posts, which makes her even more "real" by adding the element of interaction with her readers. The function of her blog is very helpful to learn which pins to avoid as they simply will not end well. The substance of her writing is excellent in consideration of her audience. The comedy is well written and not forced, which makes reading her blog so enjoyable.

Now, if only I had more time to read Pintester.com...

The Loss of a Penn State Legend; Joe Paterno Dies at Age 85

Joe Paterno, a Penn State Football coaching legend also known as "JoePa" has passed away today, January 22, 2012, at age 85 due to complications relating to cancer that he had been diagnosed with in November 2011.

Mr. Paterno was a driving force behind the Penn State football team as the head coach of the team from 1966 until 2011. JoePa let the team through more than thirty Bowl games winning eighteen of them and holds an NCAA record for the most showings at Bowl games with a total of thirty seven throughout his career.

JoePa was well known for his philanthropic contributions where he and his wife donated over $4 million dollars back to the university for which he worked, Penn State. He was also instrumental in raising over $13 million dollars for an expansion to the University library which was subsequently named, "Paterno Library".

With all of the work that JoePa did with Penn State, he was a larger than life legend within the Penn State community and will be sorely missed.  Rest in peace, JoePa.


Reference:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Paterno



Facebook:
A Legend is Lost. JoePa Dies Jan 22, 2012. <insert link to press release>

Social Media Tools

So many social tools, so little time!  One of the most important concepts to know about social media tools is understanding that each tool serves a different purpose and should be used to reach certain audiences based on the tool's capabilities. Here are my short explanations of some of the most popular:

Twitter - short, quick comments that are topic specific
Instagram - share your life in photos here
Blogging - ramble on endlessly & often on a specific topic
Facebook - share your life here or your business or play some games with friends virtually
Pinterest - digital scrapbook

I will focus on Twitter, Blogging, and Pinterest in an attempt to showcase some examples of how to use these three social media platforms in an effective and engaging manner that will encourage information sharing.

TWITTER -- tweet, tweet, tweet. Have something to say?  Tweet it!  So many uses for this tool. Want to follow someone famous or have a specific interest in a certain topic? Twitter is the place to be. One of my favorite uses for Twitter is to follow news outlets. Two great examples of news outlets to follow on Twitter are Huffington Post and GMA (Good Morning America).  Each of these agencies will post a short blurb with a mini link to a full article. Using Twitter, one can quickly browse through the current events and only click on the links when they are seeking additional information.  Twitter allows users to quickly see lots of little snippets, which is ideal for today's busy lifestyles, because let's face it, who really has time to read the newspaper everyday when they can see the headlines quickly and efficiently in this format?

BLOGGING -- have a topic of interest that you would like to write about? Say maybe an upcoming life event or something that you are currently enduring?  Are you good at photography or saving money?  Why not blog about it and share your knowledge?  If you get really good at blogging and establish a group of followers, then add some advertisements and make money on your blog. My all time favorite blogger is Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  I read her blog and recipes when she was newly into blogging. Her blog was "discovered" and now she has her own cooking show. This is a great example of you never know where your blog could take you.  Ree's original blog consisted of random daily, here's what's going on in my life posts along with photography tutorials, and recipes that included many photos.  Over the years, Ree's blog has become more and more robust and more professional to the point where it is very likely that she has a staff to assist in keeping up with all of the content.  Let's face it, who has time to manage a family, work on a ranch, host a television cooking show, publish cookbooks, AND write a very robust, photo heavy blog?  Through her blog, Ree has managed to build herself into a brand, much like the early days of Martha Stewart. Not bad, for a rancher's wife that started out with nothing but a computer and a camera!

PINTEREST -- Oh Pinterest, what a love / hate relationship we have... so many crafts, projects, tips, ideas... but then we are so busy pinning that we don't have the time to do the crafts, projects, tips, and ideas!  My absolute favorite Pinner on Pinterest is the Pintester (also known as writer, Sonja Foust). She might be a little crass, but oh so funny!  True to her screenname, "Pin Tester", Sonja maintains a blog where she shares details of her Pinterest projects, crafts, recipes, etc. Oh my. The Pintester brings Pinterest to life like no one else can -- or maybe we all can, because the truth is, in so many cases, that original pin was posted by someone that knew what they were doing instead of an amateur like the rest of us. Sonja, the Pintester, also incorporates the use of YouTube, another social media outlet, in her Pin Testing with her classic, Cock-Nails videos where she tests a cocktail and a manicure idea at the same time. You can only imagine how this goes. If you haven't heard of her or seen or blog, it's definitely worth a look for a good laugh.

Now that you have the jist of those three platforms, I would encourage you to take a look and see what one suits your fancy. No hard and fast rules, but I will admit one of my pet peeves is when one media outlet is used for a purpose that is better suited for another. For example, that person on Facebook who gives sporting event updates every fifteen minutes. Hey, I have an idea, go and TWEET about that! OR the person who shares every recipe that comes their way on Facebook. OH, I have an idea for you, why don't you PIN that recipe on PINTEREST! I recently realized that I am an offender as well as I enjoy posting photos on Facebook to share with friends and family. Once I realized that there was a more appropriate space for that on Instagram, I started sharing there with only select photos being shared across to Facebook as well.

One day, we will all get the hang of social media, but until then, there will be the tweets and recipes on Facebook and once we all figure it out, there will be a new platform and everything will change. Again. Fun times with technology and media tools!