social media
Friday 11 November 2011
A few weeks ago, we had to stop and catch our breath – so many new things happening in the world of social media! And still so much more to come...
And now Pages for Google+ has launched. So what does this mean for you right now?
We usually advise people to exercise a bit of caution before rushing into a new platform – you should ideally invest time and energy into social media websites which match with what your audience is doing at this moment.
But alongside that we recognise that sometimes...
Friday 30 September 2011
We all know that the world of social media constantly fluctuates - but at the moment it seems to be in overdrive.
We've got Google+ to think about, and soon - branded pages for Google+. We've got Facebook's ongoing changes, and upcoming Timeline. We know that we'll have to think through how to approach the Timeline from the perspective of telling the story of our charity, organisation, company or brand. But we don't know yet how this will impact on Pages. Then there's Facebook's new mobile...
Friday 16 September 2011
A lot has changed since we gave you some hard facts about online social media platforms last Summer. It’s amazing how much things can change in a year – but we wouldn’t expect anything less in the world of social media. For 2011 we're providing a more in-depth snapshot of stats and demographics for a handful of the most common platforms. Our resources are listed at the bottom of each section, and are sometimes quoted directly.
To put things into perspective, consider that as of March...
Wednesday 8 June 2011
Over the last two years I had the privilege of looking after an online community for those who are affected by autism. Talk about Autism is an online community for people on the autistic spectrum, for parents and carers, families, friends, specialists, teachers, and all those who have an interest in autism. In addition to providing emotional and social support, the focus is on equipping people with the tools and information they need to achieve their goals, be it for a parent toilet training...
Thursday 31 March 2011
How to deliver on your USP - Part 5 of 5
Lawrence Clarke, Head of Consultancy at SiftGroups, highlights the importance of an appropriate communications strategy.
Friday 19 November 2010
How to deliver on your USP - Part 1 of 5
Lawrence Clarke, Head of Consultancy at SiftGroups, asks the all-important question.
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Online publishing – it’s all about niche
Friday 5 November 2010
When you call your community a "forum" you lose something in the language. It devalues the social relationships that underpin your community and the value of the knowledge these people create together.
“Forum” is an out-dated term originated by those who developed the technology for online conversational spaces. In the physical world it means a place where people come together to debate an issue. The term "discussions" describes more precisely what is going on/expected in a forum, and is now...
Tuesday 5 October 2010
You’ll never walk alone
What exactly do we mean when we talk about community? It’s a really hard word to define (Wikipedia, rather bizarrely, tell us that “there were ninety-four discrete definitions of the term by the mid-1950s”), and many of the definitions you’ll find today – especially from social media consultants – are not so much descriptive as rhetorical. Here at SiftGroups, we use this definition:
Community: An evolving group of interacting people organized around common values and...