An Investigation Into Social Media Sites

Digg

www.digg.com

Digg.com is social reading site, similar to Reddit or Mashable.  “Digg’s”, on this site are votes, and the users that participate on this site vote via Digg’s for material that they encounter, and those pieces with the most Digg’s ends up at the top of the boards for the day.

While it doesn’t make all that much difference functionally, I really liked how Digg had a separate page designated for its “Newsrooms”.  I’ve noticed that many of the other social reading sites such as Reddit have a really cluttered navigation bar with TOP news, RECENT news, and then every other category containing articles that could also be cross-listed in top or recent.  I find that Digg leaving its homepage tabs less cluttered makes it easier to navigate the site and also quickly find something along the lines of what I am looking for.  On a related note, I really like the concept of referring to the various categories as “newsrooms” – it’s a bit more creative and it would make sense to the average person.

Another feature that I really liked about this site was that follow Newsrooms as well as the other users.  If you find another user that seems to be on point with “digging” the articles you like, you have the option to follow them for more updates, and also if you just have a general interest that you want to keep an eye one, you can do that as well.  I like how the site gives the option of exploring your interests on both specific and more broad terms.

The site is one that is really not too hard to navigate, but I did run into some problems when it came to find a tutorial that I really liked.  While there were plenty of tutorials out there, the vast majority of them were all completely outdated; we’re talking like by 2 or 3 years on YouTube which is quite a long time when it comes to the internet.  The following two links are videos that I thought still hit the main concepts pretty well, and are helpful for understanding how the site is used, but the screenshots might be a little off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGKG7qfxi_k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHVisEKtYAM

The “About” page of Digg is also helpful for explaining how the site works, where the news comes from, etc.

http://about.digg.com/about

Flickr

www.Flickr.com

While I had a pretty good idea that Flickr was a photo-oriented social media site, I had never really used it before this project.  I had just so happened to try photobucket.com about six years ago, before I discovered any of the other picture-based sites, and have stuck to it for the most part for whenever I needed to imbed a photo.  I was kind of initially frustrated with this site when I first started using it because my yahoo account has been inactive for over 4 months, which is their limit before it is inactivated and wiped clean, and so logging on for the first time wasn’t really the most fun experience ever.

Even before this project I’ve always enjoyed looking at sites that aggregate “cool” photos, so once that mini crisis was over, and I finally started to look around it was really hard for me not to at least like the site a little bit.  I really enjoyed how they had their “Explore” page set up.  I initially gravitated to their “Interesting photos from the last 7 days”, but after I backtracked to look around some more I thought it was even more interesting how you could explore the “interesting photos” from any point in time.  The fact that the site offers all of that archived information to the public is something that I thought was really valuable and probably really unique; I don’t know of many sites that allow you to see what was “trending” at certain times in the past.

Although most of the Explore features were pretty cool and allowed you pull from all the photos each time through a different lens, my absolute favorite was probably the “A map of the world” feature.  Far too often we see pictures, and have no way of knowing where it came from and often times really anything about it.  With this feature, by clicking on a row of photos at the bottom of a page, an enlarged thumbnail pops up, along with the title, the user who uploaded it, and a point on the map is highlighted so that you can see where it’s from.  This feature also works in the reverse so that you can point at a random marked on the map, and be directed to the corresponding photo.

Here are two tutorials that are great for getting you started with using Flickr.  Both of them are very helpful!  In case you don’t actually watch them(: the bottom one had a really cool fun fact at the end: Flickr was originally an online gaming site, but its photo-sharing feature was so successful, the game itself was abandoned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RqvKXgQc9w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R_MWGFvDEE

Fark

www.fark.com

Fark is essentially a news aggregator / social media site with a humoristic spin.  It is a social reading site that is definitely directed more towards guys.  Most of the posts that I read were either light hearted, funny, or just kind of weird, but they are all true, as the subtitle of the page says, “Real news. Real funny.”  As far as how the website is run, the “About/FArQ” page explains it pretty concisely by saying, “Everyday Fark receives 2,000 or so news submissions from its readership, from which we hand-pick the funny and weird notable news — and not-news — of the day.”

While the posts lead to external news websites, the site does allow for internal commenting on the part of its users that is separate from the websites that it pulls its material from.  One feature that I found interesting and entertaining was that you could vote for the comments as either being smart or funny; these results are compiled and there is a direct link at the top of the page, right below the link to the actual article, that directs you to either the smartest or funniest comment, whichever you prefer.

While this site is still entertaining and informational, features such as this set the tone for the site to be more informal.  The participating community follows suit and there are very few instances that I noticed where anyone took anything too seriously.  In this way, the site almost aggregates instances of humor, for its users, just as much as news.

One aspect of the site that I thought really pointed to the fact that this site was definitely meant more for guys was that the tool bar at the top featured the topics sports, business, geek, entertainment, politics, and video, in that order and nothing else.  I guess(?) you can fit every piece of news into one of those categories…

EITHER WAY, this is not too hard of a site to navigate.  The site offers a great “FArQ” section (link provided below); I also found the 2^nd link to be pretty helpful as a tutorial, and the 3^rd introduces Fark for the iPod and iPod touch!

http://www.fark.com/farq/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phl9J6dcA2w&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjNKVGU9W0U

Tumblr

www.tumblr.com

While it did take some time to get used to, I really have grown a lot more comfortable with Tumblr through the course of completing this project.  The first few hours or posts are difficult when it comes to figuring out what all you can do, but I like it enough to where I will at least probably use it again if the occasion arises.

As most of you know, Tumblr is a social media site based around the concept of “blogging”.  It similar to Facebook, and even more similar to Myspace, but with blogging sites you have a lot more freedom when it comes to content and how your page is laid out.

Like most other social media sites, Tumblr also allows you to follow other people’s blogs that you find interesting.  One significant difference that I noticed between a “blog” and maybe someone’s Facebook profile is the level of anonymity.  Whereas in Facebook it is almost the unspoken goal to have none, a blogging site such as Tumblr leaves room for this now unheard concept.  While users still have the option to link up their sites, it is not a requirement, and I feel that there are many users out there who prefer their “real friends” to possibly not even know that that do even blog.  I personally feel that, for some people based on the blogs that I’ve seen, there is almost something more personal about it.

Another difference that I picked up on is that blogs tend to focus pretty strongly around central topics.  They are not typically a “spill all” for those people that run them; instead I noticed ones centered around photography, or cooking, or travel, or fashion, etc.

As far as physical features of the site, I liked how it at least guided you somewhat when it came to medium of the material that you wanted to post.  The tool bar located at the top of your dashboard page features the options of text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio, and video.  Besides making their site more user-friendly, I believe this also inspires the bloggers as to the type of content that they can actually post.  I also liked how you also had the option to imbed other mediums of content within the main one that you are working in (which is how I incorporated the screenshots into the text).

I found the two tutorials below to be pretty helpful.  The first focuses more on how to get started, and the second focuses specifically on the importance of an effective theme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTRGPKU8SlQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSxjd-Qv78A&feature=related

Foursquare

www.foursquare.com

Foursquare is a location based social media platform that is similar to Instagram in that it is meant to be predominantly be used as an app on your (possibly hypothetical) smartphone.  I honestly initially overlooked the role that Foursquare plays because I believed that Facebook had already had it covered with its “check in” feature, so it was for this reason that I thought that this was the perfect excuse to go and check it out.

While Foursquare can act as a standalone social media site, it also has the ability to export some of your provided information to other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.  My perceptions about how this social media site was really redundant quickly changed as I began using the app.  While one feature of the app does allow you to check in, it also acts as a medium for you and your friends to learn more about your surroundings and the local establishments without you yourself ever actually having to step foot in one.  For example, if I was thinking about visiting Stella’s Kentucky Deli, or if I was just perusing through the local restaurants for a place to eat, I would already be able to know that it is located on 143 Jefferson St., that it caters to Breakfast/Bunch foods, that I’m .8 miles away from it, that it received one “$” out of 4, and that I should “try the tomato bisque”.  If I decided to do this, I could then add my feedback.  In this way, this app has the ability to save you time and money.

One aspect that I thought was really cool about this app is the way that it encourages you to continue using it on a regular basis.  This app rewards participation with “badges” and points for various types of activity, activities in which frequency play a part.  For example, when I checked in for the very first time I received a “Newbie badge” and 5 points, and was set a goal of 50 points.  This reward system seems to work for people because it gives them something to work towards and another reason to “check in”.

There really is a lot more to Foursquare than I had originally imagined; finding two really complete tutorials were difficult, but the two below should provide you with a good enough understanding to get started and figure out which specific topics you need a more in-depth explanation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf67aYDuR-Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuOFfvA9MXY&feature=related

Houzz

www.houzz.com

While Houzz does have both an app and a website, this is a social media tool that I originally found while looking at popular apps for the iPad.  To sum up Houzz, it is essentially the Pinterest of home décor.  Houzz allows you to collect various photos of houses, which you add to your “ideabook”, for future reference or merely for inspiration.

This site offers several cool features; one feature that I really liked about this site is the “price tags” that are incorporated into many of the photos which allow you to see more information about the items seen in the photos.

Also, for every photo there is also a direct link to the “Professional’s Profile”, where you can see their provided bio as well as their contact information.  I also really liked how you were provided with direct links to their other projects that were on the site as well, so that if I found one that I really liked, I would be able to easily find more examples of styles that I liked.  For both the individual photos and the professional’s profile, you have the option of “sharing” on your Facebook, Twitter, or through your email.  While I had never personally heard of Houzz until recently, I noticed on their site that it did have over 171,000 likes on Facebook; like Pinterest, the more photos and profiles that its users share, the more people that the site will attract, and thus the more material that it will be able to aggregate.

Like most social media sites, Houzz also has incorporated the concept of “followers”.  One difference between this site and some of the other social media sites that I have looked at is that it does not seem as much concerned about connecting you with your “friends”, as it does those people that you might similar interests stylistically.  Still, this function is useful if you find someone who has an ideabook or a project that you really like, you are able to easily refer back as well as become exposed to other styles you might like.

Finding a really good tutorial for this site was rather difficult.  The way in which this site operates is pretty straightforward and is can easily be tackled with a learn-as-you-go approach.  Still, the links below can help out the process.  The first link introduces you to the site and some of its features, and the second one focuses specifically on the iPad app.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgiF8U2XphU

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/137147/list/Houzz-News—Welcome-to-Our-New-iPad-App

43 Things

www.43things.com

I was first attracted to 43 Things because it was a social media site that I had never even heard of before until this project.  It is a goal-oriented site, where you post goals that you have in life, and can see what others would like to accomplish as well.  The site is very concerned with actually getting you to go out and accomplish these goals, with the first step being to actually set them.  When you first go to the site, the first thing that they prompt you to do is to set three goals, even before you’re signed up.

One feature that I personally found to be really cool is located under the “Zeitgeist” tab at the top of the page.  This directs you a page where you can see the timeframe and how exactly other people completed their goals.  Along with letting you include a summary of “How I did it:”, it also lets you choose an emotion of answer “It made me so happy / look forward / ecstatic / etc.”  You are also encouraged to “Cheer this!” which I thought was a great way to encourage positive reinforcement for completing a goal.

Also, like most other social media sites, you are encouraged to subscribe and interact with others.  The more you interact positively with others, the more that it is returned, which is especially helpful when it comes to being successful at this site.

Another feature that I really like about this site is the “phrase cloud” (not the official term but what I’m calling it) located at the bottom of the page.  In the beginning, coming up with goals is something that I found really difficult to do; I didn’t really know where to start.  This phrase cloud allows you to see what other people are setting as goals, and as you can see some are more serious than others, ranging from “have groupies” to “find my biological father” to “design my own tattoo”.  Either way, I found that they provided inspiration for when it came to my own goal setting.

And finally, when you make a goal or resolution, the sites allows you see the number of people already trying to do this!  I feel like often times when we are working on something, it can seem more difficult because we (at times) might narrow-mindedly feel like we are the only one out there trying to do it, but this feature allows you to automatically see that this is not the case which I personally loved.  It even has a feature that allows you to send yourself reminders about goals or resolutions.

Here are two tutorials that I found to be useful.  The first one is more for general knowledge when you are first starting out, and the second one is more advanced and focuses on the uses of the site for more professional purposes such as owning a business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynapl29Xmmk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBfVk6rjJkE

Instagram

I was first introduced to Instagram a couple of weeks ago by my little sister, who wanted to show me how to make a photos “look pretty” on our iPhones before uploading them to Facebook; after working with the app some more, I realized that it functions also as a standalone social media that just so happens to be able to export your pictures to other platforms.

I would describe Instagram as almost being the “Twitter” of pictures.  In the way that Twitter focuses on shortened blurbs, Instagram focuses solely on pictures.  While I mostly use Instagram on my iPhone and iPad, I was curious about how the platform operated from my laptop, and was surprised that it simply does not; instead, you are redirected to the App Store.  I found this really interesting because it really does limit the user base to those that have Apple products; still, after trying to “find friends” from my Facebook friends, I was really surprised at how many there were.

(the screenshot below depicts what you find at www.instagram.com)

Like Twitter, Instagram allows you to gain followers, and also follow your friends or those people whose pictures you would like to be able to easily see more of.  Your home screen for the app is similar displays your profile of pictures that you have uploaded and edited.  It also has a “Popular” tab which is a collage of pictures, which you can click to be directed to the original, larger, picture and the user that uploaded it; this site also allows for likes and comments on the pictures.  It also has a “Following/News” tab built in which acts as a feed for your interactions and those of your followers.  Besides uploading pictures to this site, you also have the option of taking them on the fly to be edited and uploaded.

I find this app very easy to work with; its purpose is very streamlined and concise, but I believe that it fills an important niche in our social media needs.  It makes it extremely easy to both take, edit, and upload pictures to the other sites that you work with, and it also makes finding your friends and followers extremely easy since you can directly link it to the sites.

This first tutorial is very concise, but hits on all the basics pretty well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbbBwfN9m04

This next tutorial is broken up into three YouTube videos, and breaks it down a bit more, and also allows you to see the app work in real time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-WTBed64r4&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoIHvCtsdKc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Q08rgw_bQ&feature=relmfu