Tinyurl’s are an essential online tool (leave out the fineprint)

This post may be a bit of a personal gripe but I think I have a point and perhaps print journalists will adapt their thinking when it comes to quoting online points of reference.

With the advent of complicated site structures and navigation that takes one into the deep depths of a website the url (address) links have become longer and more complicated. There are a few ways of quickly modifying these addresses by generating unique ‘one time’ tiny urls or tiny links. This means that any url link can be shortened - this is very useful for notes on twitter or e-mails - by using a smaller url creation tool you also lessen the risk of dropping / missing certain characters that could render the link broken.

The following links are to three different methods that will allow you to create instant shorter urls there are also extensions or plug-ins available for various web browsers (this means that tinyurl creation is just a ‘right-click’ action.)

Tinyurl
Timesurl
Tinylink

It’s a great tool for online communication I don’t think anyone can dispute that. What I’m not sure about however is why tinyurls are being quoted in newspaper columns??? (specifically in the Sunday Times and The Times.) Let me point out here that the awesome multimedia team at The Times were forward-thinking enough to create their own timesurl firefox extension, my issue is with the print editions.

Let’s look at a very basic example to illustrate my point, consider that a typical tinyurl looks like this:  http://tinyurl.com/32djv4, consider that this tinyurl represents www.facebook.com - in PRINT which address (url) is easier to recall? The non-tinyurl because it represents something memorable and more unique. The numbers mixed with letters only serve to confuse the issue and encourage number-dyslexia.

My point is that I don’t understand why print mediums are utilising tinyurls - rather use the branded web address and if it’s too long then instruct readers to follow the X menu to reach Y for example.

I think that technology is created to suit a certain medium and in my opinion the tinyurl generators do not lend themselves to print, in fact it’s likely that your average 5 hour a week web user and avid newspaper reader is currently of the opinion that the same websites are being quoted each week!

Communications professionals need to know how to ‘work the web’

If you’re a communications professionals who would like to employ social networking and WebPR tools to enhance your communication and marketing strategies then I’d suggest you chat to Gugu at the IAJ….The dates for the ‘Working the Web’ course at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) have changed to the 2 & 3 June.

The 2 day workshop will investigate topics like Web 2.0, Blogs, Wikis, Social Media, WebPR, User-generated content, Online Reputation Management, folksonomies, RSS, Podcasts, Social bookmarking.

The aim is to give marketing, advertising and communications professionals the knowledge and confidence to be able to motivate why web 2.0 concepts have a place in a communication strategy.

Book now to avoid disappointment.

No moeRSSe problem it seems

Weird - as I published my RSS validation problem it seems to have been fixed.

Hooray, hold thumbs that my feed continues to validate.

I have a moeRSSe (huge) problem

I seem to have landed in RSS hell…..a while back everything was fine and my rankings were climbing on Amatomu. Around the time that WordPress upgraded their software platform my RSS Feedburner feed (and the normal one btw) stopped validating - the feed still delivers posts but does not validate. This means that my rankings on Amatomu are dropping….fast! It’s sad…my readership and stats are increasing by the day yet my listing is taking a real dive.

Both Henre and Alan offered advice via IM - the bottom line is that I don’t know what to do and I’m about to rip all my hair out and that would be a real shame because somedays that’s all I have going for me I’ve removed as many extras as possible but as I’m on a WordPress hosted blog I don’t have any weird extras or plugins (because it’s not allowed - this is another debate.)

This is the error message
- after trawling tech forums I know that I’m not the only one suffering from this error.

I’m no techie but it seems that I’m missing a / (forward slash) after a line of code that ends in mrss.

I can’t edit my CSS though so am I stuck and doomed to be listed as the 3587th blog in the SA universe? *sniff* that would hurt…..suggestions / help / advice anyone???

links for 2008-05-13

• Google Friend Connect
  (tags: Google socialmedia web2.0)
• Top 50 Innovations in Social Networking and Online Dating
  (tags: socialnetworking trends research socialmedia)
• The future of social networking: mobile phones
  (tags: socialmedia trends mobile socialnetworking)

links for 2008-05-12

• Social Media Press Releases: A Step Forward or Two Steps Back?
  (tags: SMPR, SMR, socialmedia, WebPR, OnlinePR, PR 2.0)
• The Evolution of the Press Release
  (tags: SMPR, SMR, WebPR, OnlinePR, PR 2.0, keyword, socialmedia)

The Top 6 web tools that improve my productivity

To state the obvious - things happen and change very quickly on the web. To keep up and access information that’s relevant to you it’s essential to manage the process and focus your attention otherwise you run the risk of investigating everything, yet learning nothing. Investigate new applications and sites to fill different needs until you find out what suits you and what your basic requirements are.

For example; on a daily basis the two mimimum essential needs that I have are:

1. I need the latest information / stories / news / updates that I am interested in delivered to me.

2. I need to be able to contact various people quickly and easily. I have an issue in that I hate the telephone - if you know me well you know not to call me on the phone too often as I honestly don’t come across very well (perhaps it’s the easily distracted thing, I tend to sound bored sometimes when I’m not - it runs in my family.) Get me face to face however and that’s a different story

For point 2, I use various forms of instant messaging (IM) in addition to e-mail, I am on skype, GTalk and msn - I run them all through one chat client called AdiumX.

Point 1 requires a few more tools and this is what I’ll focus on.

These are the 6 tools I use everyday to ensure I manage my information flow and time, (this is what works for me, your needs may be different it’s a process of trial and error.)

1. Google Reader:

This is my RSS reader of choice. I’ve used it for a long time to have the latest blog posts delivered to me, it allows me to categorise information easily, share posts and now it makes recommendations of blogs to read based on my existing subscriptions. It’s a web based RSS reader and all that’s required is a Gmail e-mail address (which I think everyone should have as it gives you access to more Google services.) It’s an easy application to use but there are a few Google Reader tutorials available should you need more info. Take a look at my shared items also as a starter if you’re interested in anything web 2.0.

2. Google Alerts:

I always say ’somewhere, someone has something to say about your brand’ - you should know what is being ’said’ about you and your brand on the web. Google alerts offer you a service where you stipulate search terms and every time that search term is mentioned on the web an alert is delivered to your e-mail inbox. A simple service that gives you a quick ‘heads up’ and means that you’ll pick up on positive or negative publicity as and when it happens, a great free online reputation management tool. Also include a mention of your own name - you’re a brand after all and if someone is talking trash about you on the web you need to know - it’s not vain or stupid to Google yourself, it’s essential.

3. twitter:

I’ve really grown to love this application - a quick micro-blogging tool that answers the question ‘what am you doing?.’ As I’ve said before it’s a way for me to chat to industry opinion leaders and I learn at least 5 - 10 new things every day through twitter by picking up on people’s links and alerts. I like to use a desktop application but after trying four methods I still haven’t found the one that suits me best. Follow me on twitter here.

4. Facebook

I know some folk think it’s a productivity destroying monstrosity of a website but for me I use it daily to monitor feedback for some of my clients and now with the Facebook chat app it means that I have contact with people who ordinarily may not use a ‘chat’ service. It’s a popular site in South Africa and it’s allowing brands to connect with customers in an informal, honest way.

5.del.icio.us

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking service which means that if I read an article of interest I can virtually bookmark or clip that article, this is added to my list of bookmarks and I can then share it with others. It’s a great way of cataloguing relevant info using subject tags, it also is a great learning starting point as you hook up with like-minded individuals and have an opportunity to read what they’re reading - there’s no better way to get yourself up to speed. Check out my del.icio.us account and my network.

6. Slideshare

I may not use this every day but it is a site that I feel deserves a mention. Slideshare is an online slide show sharing site - it allows me to upload power point presentations I’ve done as well as browse other presentations on topics I’m interested in. It’s a learning opportunity for me and a place of research when it comes to preparing talks.

That’s my top 6, it’s not a definitive list but I’ve narrowed it down as much as possible and it may be a good start for you.

That being said I also LOVE stumbleupon for discovering new websites based on my areas of interest and WordPress naturally hosts my blog so I use it daily - think it’s the most user-friendly, professional blogging software available. Investigate what’s out there then manage the process and find out what works for you.

What an odd day…

Not so cool things:

• I threw coffee on my right breast – did not notice and then went to the mall in my white coffee stained shirt.
• I kakked myself when I was stopped at a robot and they decided to do a Gautrain blast RIGHT next to me at that exact moment – I thought I had been shot.
• I got stuck in traffic and then took a ‘clever’ detour and got lost.
• I mixed up Mail & Guardian with The Times when messaging Colin (tres tres blind schoolgirl error – I may never recover, perhaps the sneaky link will help ;))
• Someone shouted at me at Makro for going OUT the IN….pffft woteva.
• The Edgars tills took up about 1 hour of my day (I can’t even expand on this point as I’m too angry with the apathy.)

Good things:

• I bought the shoX speaker – cute n cool.
• I bought a pair of adidas takkies.
• The new Gold Fish album is super cool.
• I’m part of the SA Blook writing team.
• It’s sunny.
• I enjoyed my morning walk.
• I love my work.

The shoX mini speaker rocks.

I LOVE innovation. I LOVE gadgets. I LOVE music.
So imagine my sheer excitement when I discovered the shoX mini speaker. I’d heard about it and seen pictures and knew it would be useful for giving my presentations as I like to show a few videos.

R199 (ridiculously cheap) about 5cm x 5cm when fully extended to enhance the bass (ridiculously small) and the sound that pumps out of this little thing is unbelievable, (let me just say though that if you’re expecting sound that matches your Tivoli or similar then you’re missing the point.) Better yet is the fact that it charges using a USB port so there’s no need to fiddle around with batteries. What a win!

You can plug the speaker directly into your laptop, iPod, PSP or similar plus if you buy an extra small connection you can listen to tunes (or a conference call I guess) from your cellphone.

Awesome - I am seriously seriously impressed, I almost feel like I want a few scattered here and there so I’m always on!

Check out the detail here.

links for 2008-05-06

• A Business Case for Twitter
  (tags: socialmedia twitter business strategy)
• trendwatching.com ECO-ICONIC, ECO-EMBEDDED, ECO-BOOSTERS
  (tags: eco design trends trendwatching)