pr Digital Communications & Social Media This may be of interest to some of my contacts and students. It’s a report on social media in PR and comms agencies, based on interviews with industry bods. I’ve only skim read it, so this is not an endorsement of the content or the methodology, but there seems to be some interesting points raised…
blogging Why do companies blog? – The non-snake oil answer Why do companies blog? A common answer is: “to join the conversation”. That’s a pretty good answer, especially if you’re in the business of helping them to have that conversation. But actually, that’s the answer to the question “why should we have a company blog?”. Why do companies blog? A lot of c
Domain scams, digital participation, and plain English The other day I was chatting to Nick Moreton about a domain name scam someone tried to pull on his Mum. I mentioned the Domain Registry of America to him as a point of comparison. I hadn’t heard from them for a long time, but funnily enough Domain Registry of America tried to scam me the very next…
Big Culture Blog Tonight I’ve been posting a few things to http://blog.birminghamculture.org/ as part of a 24-hour snapshot of goings on in Birmingham. So far there have been 97 posts to the site. I’m going to contribute a few more things tomorrow morning before he event ends at 12pm. If you want to show your suppor
Would you do voluntary work for a big PLC? I get lots of emails with opportunities for my students and graduates. Some are for paid work, part-time, full-time and temporary; others are for unpaid placements and some are for voluntary work. It can be controversial point, but I don’t normally mind people asking for unpaid placements. Our stude
The Gas Safe Register – getting avatars wrong I’ve just had my boiler fixed by a nice guy called Laurence, who runs a business from the bottom of my road. He’s on the Gas Safe Register (that’s CORGI in old money) so I know he’s a safe pair of hands. The only thing is, you might be forgiven for thinking that your local gas engineer… Continue rea
A very polite and useful note from O2 on iPhone roaming data A week or so ago I was getting a connecting flight at Schipol airport. I was looking for some wifi to check my email, when suddenly my phone connected via 3G. I double checked, and my data roaming was definitely off (see below). That was a bit of a worry. Anyway, sure enough I got billed… Continue r
business Digital Birmingham Web 2.0 for Business Seminar This morning I spoke at a Web 2.0 for business seminar at Digital Birmingham, as part of the digital champion project Below are my slides from this morning’s Digital Birmingham seminar. Digital Birmingham – Web 2.0 for Business Seminar http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=event1-10
china Context and making meaning out of food When we teach students about textual analysis we often talk about “context” and how that can help shape meaning. By that we mean things like how someone comes to a media text (a TV programme, a film, a song, a newspaper article etc.), how and where they are consuming it, what their personal backgrou
Photo for beer commercial / self portrait #fb It’s Tsingtao time. This beer goes into second place in the “best place I’ve had a beer” all time top ten. What was your favourite beer moment? SHARE THIS: * Share * * Twitter [https://theplan.co.uk/photo-for-beer-commercial-self-portrait-fb/?share=twitter] * Email [https://theplan.c
Getting around blocks on Twitter & Facebook in China So Twitter is blocked in China. I wasn’t sure it would be. Apparently it comes and goes, as does Facebook. I don’t really have that much to say anyway, but I’m a bit worried about keeping track of what’s happening with the Fused project, and I was relying on it to update Facebook via selective tweet
Chasing the sun from Amsterdam to Beijing #fb See the full gallery on Posterous SHARE THIS: * Share * * Twitter [https://theplan.co.uk/chasing-the-sun-from-amsterdam-to-beijing-fb/?share=twitter] * Email [https://theplan.co.uk/chasing-the-sun-from-amsterdam-to-beijing-fb/?share=email] * * LinkedIn [https://theplan.co.uk/cha
Investigation into London Weekly at HMI Would you work for nothing in the hope of earning some commission from a newspaper that appears to nick content – from editorial to the words on their own marketing website – from all over the web? There’s an ongoing investigation into the launch of London Weekly taking place at Help Me Investigate
drm How to read an eBook – they’re the future you know First, get logged in through the paywall – I used an Athens password, so find a student to help you. This is what you get. It looks like the book should load in the big empty space, but it doesn’t. Click on some of the links down the side… oh they download PDFs. Not one… Continue reading How to read
hack Recording calls on iPhone I’ve been asking around for a while for a way to record voice calls on my iPhone. I don’t have much call to do this, but there have been a few times when it would be handy it seems obvious that the phone should do this (it makes calls, it has a voice recorder), but… Continue reading Recording calls
birmingham A Birmingham amendment to Godwin’s Law Godwin’s Law is an Internet adage that states: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1. I’d like to table a local amendment, which we’ll call Brummie’s Law (because I’m not naming it after myself): As an online discussion about Bir
Today I’m appearing in a Twitter panto. Oh yes I am. #twitpanto What are you doing at 3:30pm GMT today? Nothing much I’ll bet. You’ll no doubt be sleeping off a cheeky Christmas pint, or “filing” to pass the last half hour before you break up for Christmas. Make that last hour at work count, by heading over to Twitpanto where yours truly will be playing Little…
We work for them. Members of the popular careers website Guardian Jobs recently received an email notification that the website had been hacked. Members’ personal details had been stolen by the hackers, with the breach affecting members who were currently engaged in job searching as well as those whose job search may
birmingham Who does the most social media? Some data. Maybe. I keep hearing how great Birmingham is at blogging and social media. That’s a subjective thing and anyone can say it but I also keep hearing people saying or suggesting we do it the best, we do it the most, and that we’re at the centre of it. That’s a bit more problematic and I… Continue reading Who
Just in case an “online interactive website” is difficult for you Michael Grimes retweeted a link to the North Wales Pioneer today, who are reporting on social media policies at Conwy Council. The way the article discusses blogging (or “internet blogging” as they would say) suggests the newspaper or its readers are not all that comfortable with the Internet. Perha
bsmc Thank you for coming to #bsmc Movie 1.mov Watch on Posterous BCU sponsored the social media café so it fell to me and Paul Bradshaw to say thank you. SHARE THIS: * Share * * Twitter [https://theplan.co.uk/thank-you-for-coming-to-bsmc/?share=twitter] * Email [https://theplan.co.uk/thank-you-for-coming-to-bsmc/?share=emai
twitter How I use Twitter Firstly, credit where credit’s due, I have based this on Michael Grimes’s Twitter Following Policy (I have lifted a lot of it, I’m sure Mike won’t mind: he’s a lovely man, please read his blog). How I use Twitter I follow a lot of people, possibly too many. I’ve developed my own ways of making… Cont
free The meek shall inherit the earth? Well, as Monty Python pointed out, the meek have had a hell of a time*. I had a thought last night about newspaper pay walls. It’s a very lazy thought, and I’m jumping to conclusions (hence why this is on my personal blog and not http://www.interactivecultures.org or http://www.masocialmedia.com).
Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth Hyperlinks to chapters from Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth The content is free, but some people were having problems getting the page to load yesterday Foreword Mizuko Ito, Cathy Davidson, Henry Jenkins, Carol Lee, Michael Eisenberg, Joanne Weiss Civic Life Online:
arts Empty shops into art galleries, Erdington This summer my local community arts group have taken over a disused supermarket to create a gallery and workshop space. I’ve heard a lot about pop-up exhibitions, and indeed there have been some Birmingham folk talking about doing some on Twitter. I get the impression that these tend to be fairly hi
