Trends in Online Media
Trends in Online Media Cindy Royal, Ph.D Associate Professor Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication [email protected] www.cindyroyal.com www.onthatnote.com tech.cindyroyal.net twitter.com/cindyroyal facebook.com/cindyroyal linkedin.com/in/cindyroyal Milestones in Multimedia 2001 2007 Pre-1995 DotCom Bust VA Tech Shooting Wired Magazine - 1993 9/11 Tributes Twitter tips at SXSW NY Times on AOL - 1994 Wikipedia launched Invention of the Year Nando -1994 2002 iPhone 1995 Google News CNN/ YouTube Debates Craigslist launched 2008 2003 Slate, Salon, USA Today, CBS acquires CNET RSS Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Candidates embrace social media Google Buys Blogger 1996 Inquirer EveryBlock.com MySpace launched Washington Post 2009 2004 Wall Street Journal Hudson Plane Crash photo Jon Stewart on Crossfire Chicago Tribune Iran elections Rathergate LA Times Politifact wins Pulitzer Press Credentials to Bloggers MSNBC MSNBC purchases Everyblock WikiNews, Facebook, Digg 1997 Foursquare & Gowalla 2005 Blackhawk Down 2010 YouTube 1998 iPad released News Corporation buys Drudge Report Wikileaks MySpace Google Facebook -500M Users; 2006 1999 Zuckerberg Person of the Macaca Blogger Invention of the Year -YouTube Year; The Social Network IndyMedia 2011 2000 Person of the Year - You Egyptian Protests AOL/Time Warner merger Google Buys YouTube $1.65B Coupon sites AOL/HuffPo merger Web Development Categories Basic HTML design Programming emerges Blog Platforms Content Management Systems Other Basic HTML Design HTML – early 90s, language of the Web Became XHTML to add structure, conventions – early 2000's; next gen is HTML5 Cascading Stylesheets – CSS – 1996; next gen is CSS3 Javascript (1995), Flash (1996), AJAX Web programming – PHP, ASP, Ruby, Python, etc. Web Hosting Domain registration/hosting – lots of options; I've used doteasy.com; avahost.net, godaddy.com, bluehost.com FTP Tools Fetch (Mac, free) - fetchsoftworks.com WS-FTP (PC, free) - ipswitch.com Net2Ftp – net2ftp.com - Web-based FTP FireFTP – fireftp.mozdev.org - Firefox Add-on HTML Tutorials Barebones Guide to HTML - werbach.com/barebones W3 Schools - w3schools.com/html Beyond the basics there's Flash, Javascript, PHP, audio and video editing... Blog Platforms Started as platform for online journaling; Web sites for people who didn't know html. Early platforms – Open Diary, LiveJournal late '90s Blogger -started 1999 by Evan Williams (also Twitter) and Meg Hourihan; purchased by Google 2003 Movable Type – 2001; Six Apart Wordpress – 2003; can host yourself or on their site Posterous and Tumblr – fully featured blog platforms; social media usage a Content Management Systems Wordpress has often been modified as CMS – free on their site or monthly fee of $< 10/month in most cases on another host – With WP, pay for domain and access to CSS to customize – Customization requires knowledge of html/css Drupal Joomla Other hosted CMS My.HSJ.org system Provided by ASNE Simple to use CMS Ability to upload text, photos & video Have blogs Editing and admin Other Turnkey Solutions • School Newspapers Online – schoolnewspapersonline.com • Wordpress-based, but they design and customize for you • $400-$600 setup fee depending on theme you choose - includes domain registration, site setup, hosting, and support • $200 renewal per year - includes domain renewal, hosting, and support • Instruction manual available at Other Online Tools YouTube Facebook or MySpace – set up groups; post content; stay in touch del.icio.us - social bookmark manager Niche Social Networks LinkedIn Flickr/Picasa – photo sharing sites Animoto/Vuvox – online tools for developing slideshows and video Second Life – virtual world Wikipedia - discuss credibility, have students contribute, wisdom of crowd vs. gatekeepers Twitter – microblog; good way to add new content to a website on a regular basis, breaking news, connect with audience. Free (or cheap) Software! SoundSlides – make a photo slideshow Must be hosted on a Web site Difficult, but not impossible, to embed on a blog Soundslides ($39.95) must include audio (you can tweak with a silent file); new Soundslides Plus ($69.95) lets you choose whether or not to have audio Audacity – free; edit audio, create mp3 files iMovie (Mac) or Windows MovieMaker (PC) – video editing SnapZPro (Mac, $69) /Camtasia(PC or Mac, $99) – screen capture; use for developing online tutorials On The Go... Rise in mobile technology UStream and Livestream – live stream with camcorder and laptop Qik.com & Ustream – stream LIVE video from your phone! Equipment You don't need expensive equipment Most students have digital cameras or cell phones that can shoot photos/video Low-end cameras with video Digital audio recorders Camcorders Developing An Online News Operation Integrated with your print operation Digital-first journalism – Web and mobile A Web editor can approve online stories, assignments for Web-only projects 1 or more Web producers can be responsible for multimedia aspects Integration with print and reporters to add visual interest to stories A content-management system with editor approval that allows multiple people to post to site A person with design responsibilities to oversee layout and design issues A social media editor who can oversee and integrate Twitter, Facebook presence, engage audience Multiple Twitter accounts, staff. Develop a policy with guidelines for how these accounts/personal accounts should be used. Use social media to engage audience • Make it easy for people to share and talk about your content • Twitter • Facebook – pages or groups • Social bookmarks on posts • Add widget on site • Foursquare or Gowalla – location-based promotion/events • Flickr/Picasa/Instagram • YouTube Keeping Up • Google News/Yahoo News - Technology • NY Times Technology/David Pogue • Wired News • Scobleizer • TechCrunch • Digg • Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang • Techmeme • SensibleTalk.com • Social Media Today • Mashable • Smashing Magazine • 10000 Words Resources SXSW Interactive - www.sxsw.com/interactive Wired Magazine - www.wired.com Fast Company Magazine – www.fastcompany.com Cyberjournalist.net - Great Work Gallery www.cyberjournalist.net/category/great-work-gallery Online Journalism Awards - http://www.journalists.org/ Knight Digital Media Center www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org Online Journalism Review Archives - ojr.org Interactive Narratives - interactivenarratives.org/ We The Media by Dan Gillmor Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins The Long Tail and Free by Chris Anderson What Would Google Do? - Jeff Jarvis Journalism Next – Mark Briggs Editor & Publisher Awards royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2008.html Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication jcmc.indiana.edu Key Concepts • • • • • • • • • New media Social media Social network Convergence Interactivity Hyperlinks Hyperlocal User-generated content User experience Key Terms • • • • • • • • • • • Web 2.0 Blog Microblog Mobile Mashup RSS Tag/ Tag Cloud Content Management System Podcast Wiki Web-first or Mobile First Journalism • Programmer/Journalist • Widgets/Plugin/App • Location-based Search Engine Optimization • • • • • • • • • • • • • Most important thing – get others to link to you Google Page Rank algorithm Link to others, they are more likely to link to you Participate on comments, forums – tactfully include links to your content Write meaningful headlines – different than print Write strong teasers – not necessarily your lead Use phrases (keywords) frequently that you think people will be using to search for relevant content Fresh content – update regularly and often Use keywords in URLs Consistently use alt tags for images and videos; put content on video/slideshow pages Pages should have meaningful titles Use social media to spread your content, allow users to share Monitor your search standings and traffic – Google Analytics or other services Why Learn HTML Regardless of the platform you choose, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of HTML/CSS – the language of the Web Ability to customize a CMS Ability to troubleshoot and add advanced functionality HTML provides the structure CSS provides the formatting Control the entire Web site with a single stylesheet; make global changes quickly and easily Basic HTML Markup language – surround text with proper markup Open and close tags properly (i.e. <html></html> Sample html page <html> <head><title>Cindy's Web Site</title></head> <body> <p>This is a paragraph</p> </body> </html> Basic CSS Use a stylesheet to control the design/layout of a Web page Save sheet with .css extension Insert into the <head> section of each page with the following code: <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”style.css” type=”text/css” /> Styles are defined in this manner: h2 { font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; Image and Graphic Manipulation • Web resolution – 72dpi • .jpg for photos; .gif or .png for graphics • Optimize photos for file size; crop and adjust • Photoshop • Picnik - http://www.picnik.com/ • Webresizer http://www.webresizer.com/resizer/ Video editing iMovie – available on Macs for free; easy to learn, use Final Cut Express or Pro – more comprehensive, but more expensive Other video options include Window Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere, Pinnacle, etc. Ability to import, crop, add transitions, titles, sound Keep it short Choose your editing software Practice visual storytelling Publish online Start small, but make sure you start Gear • Lots of camera choices • High Def? • Accessories – tapes, batteries, microphone, tripod, headphones, lighting • Focus, zoom, exposure • Solid clips – avoid panning and zooming • Get good audio Digital Video • Cheap cameras and editing software • One person can produce high quality • YouTube 20 hours of footage uploaded every minute • The only way to learn video journalism is by doing it - Angela Grant (a former student) • Video journalists or backpack journalists • Both broadcast and non-broadcast Plan Video • • • • Different approaches for different projects Storyboarding Focus story Choose interview and demonstration sequences as well as b-roll • Mix your shots – wide angle, medium, close-ups Five shots • • • • • • Close-up on the hands Close-up on the face Prepare your subject Wide shot Over-the-shoulder shot Creative shot Interviews • Select a location – think sound and lighting • Have several pre-written questions – some can be discussed ahead of time • Remain silent • Use a stand-up, just in case • Effective use of voiceover Great Multimedia – Photos and Video • • • • • • New York Times Statesman MediaStorm Washington Post The University Star – star.txstate.edu Links and examples at cindyroyal.com/asne Telling Stories with Data • New York Times • Texas Tribune • Tools – Google Maps; Charts and Visualization; Fusion Tables Wordle, Chartle • Links and examples at cindyroyal.com/asne Student Projects • Learn skills in XHTML, CSS, Flash, graphic design, photo, audio, & video editing • Digital Storytelling via integration of tools • Firestation Studios - http://www.jonzmikly.com/final/ • Hill Country Concours - http://cars.martin-whitaker.info/ • Farm 2 Table - http://farm2table.nicmartinez.com/ • NPPA – Future of Journalism Workshop http://www.onesonia.com/nppa/index.html • South By Texas State – www.sxtxstate.com • Mass Comm Week – txstatemcweek.com • University Star – star.txstate.edu • Course sites Web Design – cindyroyal.com/webdesign Social Media at Work – cindyroyal.com/social Advanced Online Media - cindyroyal.com/advanced
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