‘Blogs’

Facebook introduced sponsored ads in the ticker. Many users complained about the ticker, but when the sponsored ads came along, they were already familiar with the constant feed and some didn’t even realise that they now also receive ad updates. For others the whole experience has been just one long annoying ad.

Sponsored Stories Appear In Your Home Page And The Ticker Feed

Facebook considers the sponsored ads as part of the News Feed and as such doesn’t consider it to be annoying when the ads also form part of the ticker. The ticker feature first appeared a couple of months ago and displays on the right side of the page, listing comments, updates, and likes of friends and contacts. If the feeds are not important enough to appear on your home page, they will only appear in the feed.

The main feed on the home page features status updates and comments on your updates as well as some sponsored ads. The idea is to clean up the home page of the user without the user losing out on feeds.  In addition, the user receives notifications of actions such as User X uploaded a photo while the friends now friends with so and so are displayed in the ticker feed on the right side of the page.

One can now automatically share what you like or listen to via the ticker feed. Some Facebook users have responded in anger while others have simply taken steps to reduce the amount of spam appearing in their home page. Users have shown that they don’t like the bar on the right side, never mind all the sponsored stories also now featuring.

Why Has Facebook Added The Ticker?

Facebook obviously needed space for more sponsored ads and with the ticker feed, they get the additional space. Taking into consideration that Facebook is a free social network platform, users don’t really have grounds to complain. The service provider needs to make money and must thus think of innovative ways to do so.

One cannot opt out of seeing sponsored stories, but can hide a specific update, all updates from the sponsor or report the story as spam. Guess Facebook gets many spam reports. Be careful what you like in your profile such as movies and music as well as any likes at sponsored pages since the more you LIKE the more sponsored ads you are likely to see in your ticker feeds and at your home page.

Not So Unfamiliar Concept

If you are already a Twitter or Digg user, you will be familiar with the sponsored feeds, but for the average Facebook user, getting used to it may take some time. One will need to get use to it if you plan on using any type of social media now and in future. Users may want to see the sponsored posts separate from the other updates, but then the ads will be less effective and Facebook will lose ad revenue as sponsors pay to get their ads viewed by as many users as possible and as many times as can be stomached by the users. Most of the social media services mark the sponsored ads as such. Facebook is thus no different to any of the other service providers.

What Is So Annoying About The Newsfeed?

The constant feed features any minute detail. As such it is live and ticking. If you are concerned about bandwidth usage, it will be freak you out, but considering how easy we as humans adapt, it will not be annoying for long. Once the human eye gets used to the ticker on the right side, the feeds can be ignored. Just as you don’t register an ad that has been displayed for more than three weeks, the feeds become part of the page lay-out.

Positives

Although the sponsored stories in the ticker can be annoying, the top news is better organised in the home page. Everything is there to see if you want and as such the user doesn’t have to take any actions. Facebook has become the ideal place for the person with lazy fingers.

Privacy Issues

Users have complained that they can now see conversations between friends and as such must be even more careful when commenting on a post. Considering that a typical user can have several groups of friends which do not normally share the same language, social structure and ideas, it may become difficult to separate work, religion, and social life. For people who want to stay up to date with everything their friends do and chat about, the feature of course, is excellent.

What is less impressive is that you can also see what a complete stranger has said if that person commented at a friend’s post. With possible identity theft and lurking criminals one will want a bit more control. If your friends, however, pay attention to the privacy settings, you will be less inclined to see all their conversations.

Whenever you post, you have the option of displaying the post as public, for friends only or for a custom group of friends. The smart user will thus post updates for friends or a custom list only. If the setting is public all threads on the post will also be displayed in the ticker feed. Simple consideration can help prevent the world from knowing private conversations. For the more private chats use the live chat or the messaging option.

How To Get Rid Of Sponsored Ads In The Ticker

First, be careful of what you LIKE and then also what you SHARE. Then if an ad appears in your home page that you don’t want to see, hide and if you don’t want any of it, hide all. If it is exceptionally annoying, report it as spam.

Consider Others

Take time to set up lists and start using such for posting updates. This will help to limit what your friends and then some strangers see in the ticker feed. Only play games and use apps that are really worth it to limit the amount of feeds your friends will get. Encourage others to also move away from the PUPLIC settings.

 

 

You may have heard that Google takes videos serious and if you want to attract traffic in future that you will have use videos in combination with solid and fresh content at your website. If you have wondered about how to market on YouTube, it is your lucky day.

Why Marketing On YouTube Works

One of the benefits of marketing with videos is that you have viral marketing work in your favour. When a user sees something at YouTube that they like, they tend to share the link with friends. Most people share their likes and links at Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. Once there others like it and share it again. Your only important task when you market on YouTube is to get the video noticed, liked and shared. Once done you can be assured that the grapevine will do a lot of the work for you. Rapid exposure can thus be gained at a fraction of normal web marketing costs.

How To Market Effectively With Videos On YouTube

Certain principles must be followed to ensure maximum exposure and optimal return on any video marketing campaign. Note that content must still be good if you hope to attract a large audience, but instead of focussing on long videos giving away everything, you want them to be bite size, just enough to spark interest and a viral campaign.

Short Is Better

As mentioned, long videos are not the best. Keep the videos short ensuring that the user doesn’t have to wait for buffering. Most users want video clips that are shorter than 60 seconds. Respect their time and you are already one step closer to an effective YouTube marketing campaign. If you can, make the videos 30 seconds or less. Rather break up the video than have one long video.

Break The Video Apart

When the YouTube video is broken up in short pieces, you have more videos and thus more exposure. Chances are that once the viewer enjoyed or appreciated the first part that they will also click on the second and third parts.

Remix Concept

You may not like the idea of someone remixing your video, but if you want it to become truly viral, you should make it as easy as possible for others to remix and use the clips in their own videos. Note that they will do you a favour when remixing and reposting. As such help them to do their part of the job.

Stay Away From Direct Advertising

Few people go to YouTube to watch boring ads. They want something funny, crazy, shocking or useful, but don’t give them a straight advert. Viewers may click on the video if it is a straight ad, but don’t expect them to share such. Only ads like the latest Nando ads get viral status. If you thus want to create a straight advert video, know that it will have to be awesome.

Get Attention

Create a public outcry through the shocking technique or one that is so useful that someone will want to return to it often or will want to share it with others. Here the headline will play an important role. You want the YouTube viewers to become curious.

How To Attract Thousands Of Views

Once you have created the video which will be used in the YouTube marketing campaign, you have to get the views. Fortunately YouTube already has tremendous traffic and all you have to do is to tap into the audience power to market your videos. To get the views, you need to land the video on the Videos page and preferably on the most viewed videos for the day. This will make the video more prominent and one that will get the clicks because it will no longer have to compete with millions, but only a few for that specific day. The ultimate goal is to get it as high on the video page rank as possible for maximum exposure.

How To Market The Video To Get To The Top Viewed Page

The vehicles to use for getting to the most viewed page of YouTube can vary. Don’t use only one. The idea is to create an effective marketing mix. Blogs are excellent vehicles. Allow for embedding of your videos in the blogs of viewers. You can even pay blog sites to embed videos. They will become affiliate marketers. Another place to get the wheel rolling is a relevant forum or two. Be careful though, as you don’t want to spam the forums. Just start a thread and then embed one of your videos.

Although MySpace may seem dead to some, it is still effective enough. Announce the new video and then embed the video at one of the sites which will allow for such. Next stop is that of Facebook. With millions of users and people loving the idea of sharing, linking and conversing about hot topics on the Internet, you will have a whole community marketing your YouTube video in a short period.

Start by sharing the video with everyone in your friend list and do the same with your Google Plus account. Next, give incentives for people to share the videos. Place an advert at Facebook to let people watch the video and like or share it. Use the Facebook setup to link back to the original video at YouTube.

Use newsletter campaigns where the link to the video is shared with the subscribers to your company newsletter. Your video, once it reaches the top viewed list for the day, will feature for two days and then will go to the most viewed list for the week. Make sure it is a hit and you will have an awesome number of people view it over seven days.

It is hard work, but if you struggle with doing it even when you know how to market on YouTube, get in the help of experts such as iLeadOnline. Such companies can also assist with the title optimization, commenting on the video and releasing it together with other related videos in your profile. In addition, the team can handle the tagging and tracking part to ensure ongoing success.

The SA Blog Awards for 2011 lists three top South African blogs for each category and there are several:

• The Groupon – Best Science & Technology
• The Groupon – Best Entertainment & Lifestyle
• Photographic
• Travel
• Music
• Environmental
• Fashion
• The Pick ‘n Pay Best Food & Wine
• The Evox Advanced Nutrition – Best Sport
• Business & Political

The winners of each category of the SA Blog Awards will be announced on 10 December 2011 at the Crystal Towers. Getting the prestigious award is an honour not to be taken lightly. Various sponsors are involved including that of Evox, Pick ‘n Pay, and The Groupon, Ogilvy, and African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa.

Science & Technology

The three top South African blogs in Science & Technology category are that of:

• D Chetty – a blog about technology also featuring political satire and opinions from the author about cars and business.  The author is 29 years old and has some strong opinions shared in a relaxed manner. (dchetty.co.za)
• Lazygamer – blog features reviews of the latest games, videos, and updates. It covers handhelds, pc, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3. (www.lazygamer.net)
• BWTH Blog – Another tech blog, but with loads of information about the latest news, developments, gadgets, and events. It features interviews, game reviews and the top 5 lists. (www.bandwidthblog.com)

Entertainment & Lifestyle

The top South African blog contenders in the entertainment and lifestyle category are:

• Watkykjy? – Afrikaans alternative blog catering to the not so conservative Afrikaner with updates on events, guide, letters, opinions, and a place to sell stuff. (www.watkykjy.co.za)
• Baydu –  Baydu Adams blogs about entertainment related news, events and also opinions about actuality related topics. (www.baydu.co.za)
• Just Curious – blog with several contributors looking at African related entertainment news and topics (www.justcurious.co.za)

Photographic

In the photographic section the top blogger sites are:

• Londolozi – blog about the African wilderness with opportunities to share photos and experiences. (blog.londolozi.com)
• Rikki Hibbert Photography -  blog page of the photographer containing a profile and loads of tips on photography. (www.rikkihibbert.co.za)
• Diary of Ward – Profile blog of photos taken at events. (www.diaryofward.com)

Travel

The travel section for the best South African blogs contains three rather compelling blog sites:

• Safari Interactive Magazine –  blog of Safari Travel Magazine that provides interactive multi-media travel related content.  (africageographic.com/safari/blog)
• Getaway -  blog of the Getaway Magazine with loads of travel tips, fun stories, photos and destination guides. (blog.getaway.co.za)
• South African Travel Portfolio – contains snippets and opinions of travel destinations, restaurants and more. (travelblog.portfoliocollection.com)

Music

On the music scene, the three top sites are:

• Durban Is Yours – site about Durban featuring a gig guide. (durbanisyours.co.za)
• Alles Gevaarlik – an Afrikaans blog with a personal touch and reviews of bands which includes a guide to events and parties. (gevaarlik.com)
• Funzunzi & Me East Coast Durban Radio – as the name suggests music and entertainment based. (ecr.co.za/kagiso/content/en/east-coast-radio/east-coast-radio-blogs-ecr-life/)

Environmental

The environmental section contains a gardening blog amongst the top contenders:

• Sprig – South African blog about gardening and that is run by garden enthusiasts from Durban. (sprig.co.za)
• Ranger Diaries – a place to visit if you want safari stories, pictures and information. (rangerdiaries.com)
• Africa Geographic  Safari Magazine Blog – the blog features in two of the top contender categories.(africageographic.com/safari/blog/)

 

Fashion

 

On the trendy scene the following blogs made the short list of three for top SA blogs:

• Kim Gray – a beauty shop, fashion tips, news about the latest trends, places to shop and items which you simply must have. (www.kimgray.co.za)
• Superficial Girls – A Cape Town fashion conscious girl blogging about everything a trendy young person should know about what’s hot and what’s not. (www.superficialgirls.com)
• Pop Ya Collar – Street fashion blog by La Muse about fabulous clothing and accessories in Cape Town. (www.popyacollar.co.za)

Food & Wine

For the connoisseur of tastes three South African blogs that stand out are that of:

• Food And The Fabulous – Ishay, an independent blogger shares her recipes, photos, ideas and restaurants in a fun and fabulous way.(www.foodandthefabulous.com)
• Drizzle & Dip – a blog by Sam X for the finer tastes in life; full of recipes, travel and restaurant reviews, as well as some of the best food photos ever. (www.drizzleanddip.com)
• Ask Namina? – a home industry portal with recipes, information about charity and projects, a newsletter and some travel info. (www.namina.co.za)

Sport

For the active sport viewer and conversationalist the contenders for the best South African sport blogs are:

• The Bounce -  a blog for men with bounce girls for every month and a lot of talk about sport.(thebounce.co.za)
• Compleat Golfer – blog of the Compleat Golfer Magazine. (www.compleatgolfer.co.za/subscriber/3062)
• Jabu – lists of sport stars, discussions about team sports including hockey and then also interviews. (www.allthingsjabu.co.za)

Business & Political

For the actuality orientated reader, the three main blog contenders in the business & political category are:

• Road Trip 2011 – Old Mutual Sponsored blog taking the reader on a journey through South Africa.(www.oldmutualfoundationroadtrip.blogspot.com)
• ZANews – political humour at its best with videos and commentaries.(www.zanews.co.za)
• Hayibo.com – political satire about contemporary South African politicians and situations. (www.hayibo.com)

To qualify as one of the three top South African blogs for the 2011 SA Blog Awards,  blogs had to be registered  and had to meet specific requirements such as the blogger residing in South Africa. Only two categories per blogger are allowed and then the public vote phase started. Once a blog has taken up one of the three top spots in the public vote phase, it moves to the top three category list and then the judges decide. The winner of a category is one with the most first places as selected by the judges.

Should there be a tie, the two contending blogs go back for another public vote to decide the outcome. The judges are experts related to the specific fields and most of them are already well respected in the social media fields.  The SA Blog Awards 2011 is a prestigious award that gives recognition to efforts and commitment of South African bloggers.

 

Two persons were arrested and jailed four years each for inciting the recent UK riots which have left several buildings and vehicles damaged as well as numerous people dead. They apparently used the Social Media giant, Facebook to create posts for stirring an uprising in London about the killing of a young man by police.

It would be easy to condemn them and applaud the authorities for taking swift action, but even though they have certainly been guilty of creating chaos and causing large scale disruption and injuries because of their Facebook posts, the usage of Blackberry phones and Twitter to distribute false messages and thereby creating complete panic throughout the UK, must also be taken seriously.

Governments Want Control Over Social Media

Perhaps even more disturbing than the usage of Twitter, Facebook, and Blackberry as social media tools to create such uproar is the reaction by governments. The British Prime Minister David Cameron told the UK parliament that they may need to consider means for stopping the usage of social media tools by suspected perpetrators of violence and crime. Not only the UK government, but also the countries in the Middle East want more control over the usage of social media networks and tools.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have expressed concern about the power of social media and from October 2011, some tools available in Blackberry will be on the ban list in the UAE. The sending of messages and accessing the Internet with Blackberry will for instance be banned in the UAE.

What Makes Blackberry So Powerful As Social Media Tool?

Unlike Facebook and Twitter where messages can be public, the PIN associated with Blackberry ensures that messages stay private through encryption. This means that Big Brother cannot access private conversations amongst BBM users.

With Blackberry being cheaper than smart phones such as Android based handsets, more than 36% of the UK youth has Blackberry and thus access to completely private means of communication. It should not be a problem, but with Egypt brought to its knees through the usage of social media to stir protest action against the government, China already on the receiving end of the power of Facebook, and the Middle East fearful of losing control, one can appreciate the disruptive power of Blackberry. Governments want to have access to messages which can be used to stir the crowds into action, but with the encrypted Blackberry messages they can only speculate. There is no audit trail to follow unless the government authorities can get the PINs, but such would only be possible by court order.

Twitter, Facebook & Blackberry Become Social Media Scapegoats

To make Blackberry, Twitter, and Facebook the culprits is wrong. Although the social media tools encourage communication and are potentially dangerous weapons in the hands of terrorists, the applications have also been used to create awareness of legitimate causes. Although the Internet is filled with child pornography and has opened a whole new world of crime, it is also an essential tool for communication and information retrieval. The same applies for telephones. If one is to use telephones to create a stir, the governments will not be able to ban all phone calls. The postage system cannot be shut down if a terrorist organisation uses it to distribute letters calling for the overthrow of a government. In the same sense then, the social media network tools cannot be blamed or banned, and nor should the governments invade the privacy of the users.

Governments Use Social Media Such As Flickr

The UK government used Flickr to post photos of the people participating and stirring the London riots and did not consider privacy issues when they did so. One has to dig deeper. Governments are concerned with the power that social media gives to users. Instead of the governments being in control of the media and usage thereof to create the desired image and control over the masses, the people have realised that they have the power of communication. With such then, governments become more accountable to their citizens and it must be a scary thought.

Legitimate Concern Of Governments Regarding Power Of Blackberry, Facebook & Twitter

At the other end of the spectrum one must appreciate the concern regarding such tools and how easily Twitter became a tool for sending false messages and thus creating panic. Some form of control may be needed, but it does make a person uneasy to think that someone is viewing your messages and if they don’t like how you express yourself, you may land up in jail.

Facebook Exerts Control Over Some Sites

Facebook blocked a site earlier this year and came out to say that it was done by error. Some journalists and users don’t believe it since the site was blocked, unblocked upon investigation by a journalist and then blocked immediately after. Every user who tried to access the site received the same message of site blocked. In addition, all links to the site and any articles about the incident were also blocked. The site was about the June strike and promoted a peaceful action, but some speculate that Facebook was not too happy about such and thus not impartial. When it was used in the toppling of the Egyptian government, management was quite happy with the role of Facebook, but closer to home and their attitude may have changed. Users have expressed concern with the partiality displayed by the social media giant.

Is Social Media Too Powerful?

It begs the question of whether social media tools have become powerful communication tools or instruments of potential war. Another question raised by the London riots is whether Blackberry should open up its messages for investigation to ensure protection for governments and citizens. It does seem reasonable, but who determines the potential danger to the stability of a country? In some Middle Eastern countries even mentioning concern with fuel price hikes can land one in deep water and as such encrypted Blackberry messages protect freedom of speech.

If governments, such as the UK government, are allowed more control over social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry, the very next step may be government manipulation of emails, the Internet and then also landlines, wireless networks and not too long, and the whole world succumbs to dictatorship while the freedom of speech principle takes a backseat.

Although many people still see WordPress as the ultimate blogging platform, it has also developed into one of the best Content Management Systems (CMS) for the web. More than 12% of the world’s largest websites make use of WordPress as a CMS system. The only real competitors in the same class are that of Drupal and Joomla. In terms of user-friendliness and ease of creation, WordPress outperforms the two main competitors. A brief discussion on why WordPress is the best CMS system is provided below specifically to highlight the many features of the platform. It is definitely the program to use if you are new to blogging, but advanced website owners benefit most from usage of WordPress because of the functionality offered by the program.

Content Management Systems

Web developers appreciate the end-user updating facilities. One doesn’t need to be a coding expert to update a page and can even add pictures, sound and video without any advanced web building knowledge once the CMS is in place. Companies needing update abilities from various offices around the country benefit in the sense that authorised users can login and update content. This helps to spread the workload of updating the site amongst several employees and makes it easier to ensure a completely updated website at all times. The user doesn’t have administration abilities and as such cannot change areas such as theme of the CMS or structure of the site. With the administrator thus still in control to limit changes to content rather than structure, the integrity of the site is not compromised.

Benefits of WordPress as CMS System

WordPress is certainly the best CMS for the small business owner and the preferred website and blogging system for web development companies needing updating abilities for their clients.

Quick & Easy To Install

Once the web developer has done the tweaking and adapted the site to your liking, it is easy to install new plug-ins. All you need to do is to select the one most appropriate and click to install. Uninstalling a plug-ins is as simple as clicking on a button.

Ease of Use

Apart from easy to use and free SEO tools, the WordPress CMS system has been created for the novice as well. Even if you only have limited HTML knowledge you will be able to create stunning posts and pages. There is no need to send the information to the webmaster who will then update the page. You can add content without fear of changing the site structure. Once the web developer has done the setup and lay-out of the site on behalf of the client, the client gains complete control over the adding of new pages and content.

SEO Advantages

WordPress is known as the best CMS system for a reason. It has several advantages including that of immediate search engine optimisation. Google loves WordPress sites as the sites can be well optimized and already fit the profile of a site that can be indexed with ease. If you want content to be available, searchable and ranking well almost immediately then make use of the program.

Superior Support

There is ample free support available from forums, WordPress, and blogs. If you need help simply type in your query at the search engine query box and there will be numerous sites covering from the most basic to advanced features of the program.

Loads Of Plug-ins To Enhance Functionality

A characteristic of an excellent CMS is that of flexibility. In the case of WordPress, the large number of extensions available by means of plug-ins is what sets it apart from other web content management systems. Whether you want to add a poll, calendar or more advanced extensions you will not be disappointed with the large range of free plug-ins to improve functionality of the site.

In-Depth Look At WordPress Extensions

As mentioned earlier numerous extensions are available to improve functionality. A brief look at some of the extensions will give you an idea of the power of the program and why so many website owners agree that WordPress is the best CMS around.

Customised Navigation

Apart from plug-ins available to create custom navigation, WordPress as CMS also allows for easy creation of custom navigation. This ensures a unique look and feel to your site. You can edit the header area of a template to include navigation or exclude such to your liking.

Multi-User Functionality

For the company that has numerous users, there is a User Access plug-in which enables restriction and organisation of users. It allows for the creation of groups of users and access settings accordingly. The CMS system gets a complete boost in terms of user management as you can even create a distinction between editor access and reader access restrictions. Comments and posts can be regulated ensuring a cohesive theme and of course, spam free website or blog. This is ideal for sites where content collaboration is essential and shows why WordPress is considered as the best CMS.

Time Saving Posts

For the person new to blog posts or content generation, the Flutter Plug-in is rather useful. With the plug-in post templates can be added and previous templates used to minimize time in writing pages or blog posts.

Static Page Creation

One of the features which make WordPress the best CMS is the functionality of static page creation. Instead of all the information appearing in the form of date stamped posts with newest ones at the top you can add a static page where information can be shared in the normal web page lay-out format. This can be used for the About Us, Home and Contact Us pages or can even be used for all of your pages except for the blog.

More Fields

If you need to add more fields for input, simply make use of the More Fields plug-in. It will enable you to add boxes where additional information can be added and updated such as publisher details or perhaps news flashes. These field boxes can be placed on any side of the Edit page.

The above features are only a few examples of the functionality offered by the program. There are many more plug-ins and superior features in the program, making WordPress the best CMS for small business and large multi-user corporate client companies alike. Contact iLead Online for assistance in setting up a WordPress web content management system.