Why I Left Big Community Forums for Facebook and Twitter
Is this you? You sit down at the computer, ready to start getting stuff done, but instead you spend 30-40 minutes checking in at and participating in community forums. For a long time this was me, I would spend the first half hour of my “online time” checking in at a number of forums, and going through and participating actively in those forums. As I’ve worked to better manage my time, I realized that I was squandering a good portion of time away in these community forums. It had to stop. I made the decision to leave the “big” community forums, and focus my efforts to a few store forums and Facebook and Twitter. What I was surprised to learn is that my decision would closely mirror a growing trend in the digi industry. The rise of Social Media has started to overtake the idea of community forums, and soon we’ll all find that more and more of our friends aren’t in the forums any longer…they’re out in the social media world. Here are a few things to consider about the future of community forums.
Store forums are still key. I still frequent two store forums, one at the store where I sell, and one that I’ve been a part of since I started digi three years ago. Store forums are still ripe with activity and participation, and remaining part of them will keep you in touch with the people you most want to talk to. Store forums are a more close knit group, which usually means that people stick around for a long time. If you know all of your friends are going to be at the mall, then you go to the mall when you want to hang out with them.
Social Media is where it’s at – for a number of reasons. Whether you are on Facebook and Twitter or not, you can’t deny the fact that they are quickly becoming an integral part of the digi community. With Twitter and Facebook, it’s easier to connect with more people…people who you may have not found in a community forum. Plus, Twitter and Facebook move at lightening speed sometimes. Some argue that that’s the drawback of these social media outlets, but as someone who is always looking to save a few minutes, I can tell you I appreciate this more than anything. Add in the ability to keep up with latest news and announcements on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and you’ve sold me.
Not everyone is ready to move – yet. While more and more people become active in social media each day, Facebook and Twitter still scare people. Some people find them to be confusing and difficult to navigate, and for some people, it’s not the right fit. As time goes on, people will start to understand more about Social Media, and will embrace the ease and usability of those sites, but right now…the transition is still in process.
How does Social Media affect your time in the digi community? Where are you spending your time?
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The Secret To Being in More Than One Place at A Time
Yesterday, I talked about how planning was going to help me focus this year and get things done. Luckily, I have really put that into action because I have all kinds of new adventures for Sir Scrapalot in the coming year. I’m going to need to make sure I am planning and working well ahead of time just to keep up!! Check out some of the exciting things I’ll be taking part in this year.
Guest Designer at Log Your Memory – this is already in full swing, and I am so excited to be the January guest designer at LYM. I love what LYM is about, and have had so much fun exploring around. Plus, everyone’s so nice!! You can pick up my kit by participating in the LYM Challenges, and make sure to stop by the Guest Designer Chat this Thursday at 7pm Mountain (9pm Eastern). You never know what will happen!
Featured Designer at Me So Scrappy – I am so excited to be part of this site as it takes off!! Full of fun articles and great resources, Me So Scrappy is a happy place to keep up with the digi world. Be sure to watch for my Featured Designer post coming later in the week.
Teacher at Masterful Scrapbook Design – I am very excited to announce that I am one of the February Teachers at Masterful Scrapbook Design. If you haven’t checked out the site, you really should. For a small fee, each month you get classes that focus on one theme from a variety of teachers. Teachers that include Anna Aspnes, Jenni Bowlin, Debbie Hodge, and me! February’s theme is titles, and there are tons of great stuff planned. I hope you’ll check it out.
Monthly Guest Posts at Simple Scrapper – That’s right, I am going to be a monthly regular at Simple Scrapper now! Look for my posts about time management and keeping my head above water on the third Wednesday of every month.
The Paperclipping Digi Show - I had so much fun recording episodes of the PDS last summer with Steph and Izzy. Remember when I got to “meet” Katie Pertiet? Steph, Izzy and I are working hard to find a time to schedule me in for another episode…darn day job. Soon, though, soon.
Guest Appearance on Glee – ok, ok, that one is a joke…but srsly..I would love to. I don’t even have to sing. Are you listening Ryan Murphy? Email me…I’ve got ideas.
As always, you can find me at Funky Playground Designs, on Facebook, or on Twitter. You can subscribe to the blog to make sure you don’t miss out on anything, and you can sign up for the newsletter for special news and offers.
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Twitter Tips: The Secret to Creating Twitter Lists
One really effective tool all Twitter users should know about is lists. Lists are a way to group the people you follow on Twitter and so much more. Once you get hang of working with lists, they will clean up and speed up your Twitter experience.
What are Lists and Why Should I Create Them?
Lists are just that – lists of people on Twitter. You can look at lists as a separate stream in Twitter, so by grouping the people you are following you can look at just their tweets. For example, I have a list of Social Media and Branding people I follow as well as a list of Digi Tips and Tricks people I follow. When I look at one of those lists, I see only tweets from the people I have put on that list. That makes it a lot easier to keep up with what my Tips and Tricks people and see what they are tweeting about.
You can also follow other people’s lists. What’s totally excellent about following other people’s lists is that you follow just the list…the people on the list don’t show up in your home stream. You are following them, without following them. This can really help to clean up your home stream.
Ok, So I Should be Using Lists…How Do I Make Them?
So, if you go to your Twitter homepage and look at the right hand side of the page, you’ll find “Lists” in the column.
Right below it, you’ll see “New List.” Click on that. When you click on that, a dialog box will pop up.
You’ll be asked to name the list, as well as provide a description for the list. After that, you’ll see a place where you have to decide whether you want to make the list “public” or “private.” Basically, if you list is public, other people can look at it and follow it. If you list is marked as private, only you will be able to see the list. The people on the list won’t even know that they’re there. It’s really private, LOL. When you decide, you will click create and you will be ready to add people to your list.
There are two ways to add people to your list. First, you can search for people to add to your list. This is what you are prompted to do when you first click create. You can also add people from the list of people you are following. What you would do is find the person you want to add to the list. Once you find them, on the right hand side of their box is a button that looks like a list.
If you click it, a drop down will show up with the lists you have created. You would check off the lists that you want the person to appear in, and then click outside the box. They are added to your list!
Ok, So I Made a List. How Do I Find Other People’s Lists to Follow?
Well, first off, if you look at someone’s Twitter profile, on the right hand side in the Lists section, you’ll see all the lists they have created and made public. Click on one of those lists, and you’ll be able to follow the list. Easy Peasey, right?
Another way to find lists to follow is Listorious.com. Listorious is basically a directory of lists created in Twitter. You can search the lists, and even check out the Top 140 lists. Get it, 140 lists…140 characters…gah, I love a good pun!
Are You Inspired Now?
I hope that with this you’ll be inspired to create and follow some lists. Lists really reach their full power when you are using a Twitter client such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, where you have an option of creating a column for the list. Hey…that’s another post though.
What lists have you created? What lists are you following? Let us know in the comments below!
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Twitter Tips: The Secrets of Using Hashtags
A few days ago, I asked on my Facebook Page and Twitter if people used hashtags when they were Tweeting. I was surprised to see people respond either that they didn’t know how to use hashtags, or even that they didn’t know what they were. After reading this article, even the most inexperienced hashtag user will be using them with ease.
What Are Hashtags? I Thought That Was the Number Symbol!
Well, technically it is. You may have seen tweets with the number symbol, # , inserted into them, usually followed by a word or phrase. In Twitterspeak, this symbol is called a hashtag. Hashtags are used to group tweets together, so that when someone is looking for the tweets on one subject, they can easily find them. When using a hashtag, a phrase or word is attached directly to the symbol as a means to categorize the tweet. Probably the hashtag that most users are familiar with is the #FF hashtag, which indicates a Follow Friday tweet. By adding #FF to your Follow Friday tweet, that tweet is automatically included in the larger stream of Follow Friday tweets. Hashtags are also often used for searching. For example, you could search #ipad and you would find all the tweets which have included the #ipad hashtag.
How Do I Use #Hashtags?
Using hashtags is easy. If you want to categorize your tweet into a certain category, simply add the hashtag (#) with the keyword attached to it. So for example, if I am going to tweet Sir Scrapalot Designs products, I can add #sirscrapalot to the tweet, and that tweet will be categorized with other tweets that use the hashtag. When choosing a keyword or phrase, it’s important to think about how easy it is to use, and the length of the keyword since it will count towards your 140 character count. Popular hashtags that digiscrappers use are #digiscrap or #digitalscrapbooking.
You can also use hashtags for searching. In the Twitter search box, you can enter a hashtag and a keyword, and all of the tweets that use that hashtag will come up. For example, if you want to find all of the Tweets about the first episode of the Paperclipping Digi Show, you would search #pds1. In the results you’ll find all the tweets people have done about the first episode of the Paperclipping Digi Show.
A Few Things to Watch Out For
There are a few things that you need to watch out for when you are using hashtags. First and foremost, is to make sure you aren’t using hashtags to promote spam. The easiest way to do this is to make sure that every time you use a hashtag in a tweet it is directly related to the tweet itself. Adding unrelated hashtags to your tweets may get more people to look at the tweet, but this is considered spamming. Also, hashtags should be used sparingly. A good rule of thumb is to only include one or two in a related tweet. As long as you are using hashtags appropriately, you will be fine.
Secondly, if you are using a hashtag for a certain event or specific product, check to see if the event or product already has a hashtag associated with it. By doing this, you are sure that your tweets will be categorized with other tweets about that subject. For example, to tweet about Paperclipping Digi Show, you should add the hashtag #pds followed by the episode number. So for episode 1, you would use the hashtag #pds1.
Some Hashtags You May Want to Use
- #digiscrap
- #digitalscrapbooking
- #pds(episode number)
- #FF
- #sirscrapalot (tweet about me or my blog!)
Once you get the hang of them, hashtags can be easy to use, and useful. The most important advice I have about them is to stay genuine, and only use hashtags when they make sense and are applicable to the tweet.
Want to try them out? Tweet about this blog post using the hashtag #sirscrapalot and let me know you are using them too!
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What Do You Think?
Over the past three weeks, I have introduced a few new features here at the Sir Scrapalot Designs blog. New installments of these features will be coming within the next week or so. I am interested in hearing which of these features you have enjoyed so far. Please take a minute and vote in the poll below and let me know what your favorite new features have been.
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Have other ideas for new features here at the Sir Scrapalot Designs blog? Let me know in the comments, or follow me @SirScrapalot and let me know on Twitter!
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Twitter Tips: Top Gadgets for Twitter Users
While Twitter can be fun on it’s own, there are a ton of fun Twitter Tools to help enhance your Twitperience. These are a few of my faves that I wanted to share with you.
Hootsuite – I can tell you, I can’t live without Hootsuite. When I started using Twitter, I was a Tweet Deck fan. Hootsuite has many of the same ideas as Tweet Deck. I can manage multiple accounts, tap into my other social media accounts such as Facebook, my Fb Fan Page, and my LinkedIn. From Hootsuite, I can post to any or all of these networks, or any configuration in between. One of my favorite features of Hootsuite, however, it the ability to schedule Tweets and posts. For someone who spends most of their day out of the house, this is integral for keeping in touch with my fan base. I can schedule tweets and posts asking questions, and then post my own answer when I get home at night. This is also great for scheduling tweets that you know you’ll make, such as your #FF tweets.
Twitpic – There are many sites that are available for posting your pictures to Twitter. While I don’t do this often in my own Tweets, I do find that when I am trying to access pictures from other people’s Tweets, Twitpic is faster and easier to work with. Twitpic also allows you to post pictures from your phone.
bit.ly – bit.ly is a URL shortening service that you can use along with Twitter. With only 140 characters, shortening the url you want to link to is absolutely imperative. There are a few URL shortening services out there, but I mostly use bit.ly because it’s the one I remember most often. When I am working in Hootsuite, you can define which shortener you want to use there, and some of the ones you choose can even track clicks. It’s really interesting to see what people are clicking on and what interests them!
TweetMeme button – You can see mine at the top of this article. With this button, it makes it super easy for you, the reader, to Tweet this blog post. I know when I am reading blogs, I love when there is a TweetMeme button so that I can share awesome information I find with my own followers. If you want to do the same, go ahead and click on my TweetMeme button.
Have you own Top Gadget for Twitter Users? Let me know in the comments, or follow me @SirScrapalot and let me know on Twitter!
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