Exploring social media tools
Melanie Moran
Vanderbilt University
May 17, 2008

Today
Discuss podcasting
Discuss YouTube
Discuss blogging
Discuss Twitter
Discuss mobile

First off, what’s RSS?
Web “feeds” used to publish
content
Stands for “real simple
syndication”
Allows for subscription
Allows for aggregation of content
Must-have for any site with regular
updates
Built in to any blogging / social
media software
Google Reader

To succeed with any or all of
these tools...
Be a consumer
Know your audience
Be relevant
Be honest
Be timely
Understand and watch your stats
Links and comments rule the day
Content is still king

Podcasting - What and
how?
Plan - live event? Scripted story? Images?
Shorter is often better
Equipment: Recorder, microphone, software, RSS feed
More info. on equipment and how to:
http://itunesu.vanderbilt.edu/contribute.html
(Check out Talkr)

Marketing your podcast
Register with iTunes Music Store
Register with podcast search engines
Include podcast information in your news
releases and printed materials
Feature podcasts on your Web site, blog,
calendar, etc.

Online Video
Over 60% of American
Internet users on
broadband
57% of internet users
have watched video
online
76% of 18-29 year olds
watch video online
Most share what they
watch with others

YouTube 411
Launched in 2005
Chad Hurley, Steve
Chen, Jawed Karim
June ’06 - 100 million
videos watched daily
Aug. ’06 - 6.1 million
hosted videos
20 million unique
monthly visitors
Doesn’t turn a profit

Capturing and uploading
video
Camera
Microphone
Editing software
File format
Permission
Lots of good how-
to info. online

Building a solid YouTube
presence
Brand your page - colors, logos, graphics
Work to bring consistency to video
Playlists
Links
Subscribers
Comments

YouTube and embedding
YouTube tools allow you to embed videos and
playlists in your Web site
Great jumpstart if you don’t have support / ability
to host your own videos
All hits to your videos - wherever they are
embedded - count towards your YouTube views
YouTube adding more tools / functions all of the
time

Blogging
9% of Internet users have created a blog - 6% of all
Americans - 11 million people
25% of Internet users read blogs - 1 in 6 of all
Americans - 32 million people

Some blog content options
About your organization
About your field
About your profession
About a particular area of expertise
About an event
From the painfully obvious files - Don’t blog unless you
have something to say!

Blogging platforms and how
to choose
Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad
Decide how you want content to be hosted (domain)
What are your audiences using?
What features are offered and how easily with this
merge with your other tools

Twitter
Immediate, brief, global
Social messaging
Mobile
Mini, constant blog
Increasing news use
Learn more from Common Craft
Let’s look...

Going mobile
62% of American adults
have used mobile devices to
access internet, take photos,
text, etc.
Market will continue to grow,
particularly with 18-24 year
olds
Content is being captured by
mobile devices
Align your content with these
devices
Check out Qik - live video
streaming from your phone

Contact
Melanie Moran
Assistant Director
Vanderbilt News Service
(615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu
blogvu.wordpress.com
twitter.com/melaniemoran
www.slideshare.net/melaniemoran