Science and The Movies
I’ll bet you’re asking what on EARTH do these two things have in common? Really - nothing, unless I was reviewing a science fiction movie of some sort.
I have been lucky enough to attend this really great conference here in the Triangle. Produced and Hosted by Anton Zuiker, Brian Russell, and Bora Zivkovic, the NC Science Blogging Conference is held in various locations throughout the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. It’s not just a conference about Science and using blogging to further the study thereof. These gentlemen incorporate basic blogging techniques as well as various topics surrounding the blogosphere. With topics like, “Science Journalism: Moving From Print to the Web,” “Blogging About the Social Sciences and Humanities,” and “Building Interactivity Into Your Blog” just about every blogger can benefit from this conference. On this page, I will detail some of my findings based on what I learn here at the conference. For the next two days (January 18th & 19th, 2008), I also encourage you to check the conference Wiki for updates, live chat rooms, etc.
Tips and Tricks From Day 1
Tip #1 - Use http://www.tubemogul.com/ to upload videos that you create. Tube Mogul allows you to upload a video and then by having an account at multiple video sharing sites, it will post that video on each of your sites.
Tip #2 - Say more on your “About” page. Give yourself an identity and show your expertise. If you blog about fashion, what makes you an expert? Doesn’t mean you have to have had a job in fashion previously. Talk about events you have attended in the past. Link to those events. Talk about articles you’ve read. Link to those articles, etc.
Tip #3 - Add additional pages - a resume page, a specific page that links to a specifc blog or site that relates to what you blog about (i.e. I use one particular link all the time. I’m now going to create a page to my blog that links directly to that link), add a page that strictly details links to articles you’ve written (if you’ve written any), add pages that talk about conferences you have attended and add the links that go with that conference, etc. What makes this different than just adding the links (via a Blogroll) is that you are virtually creating your own “website” basically about you and the topic you write about.
Tip #4 - Use lots of links in your posts. Linking helps to give your post some credibility as well as allows for additional trackbacks to your own blog.
Tip #5 - Don’t trust anything you read online at first glance!
Tips and Tricks from Day 2
Break Out Session - Blogging in the Social Sciences
Blog Carnivals – http://blogcarnival.com/bc/ ***
A collection of blogs specific to particular topics (i.e. religion, literature, history, etc.)
They receive heavy readership
However, they are a lot of work
But they are great for people just starting to blog – gain readership and blog linking
For seasoned bloggers – not necessary. Too much work!
Great commentary on exactly what a Blog Carnival is at - http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/2006/03/28/so-what-is-a-blog-carnival/ ***
Blog link that was brought up –
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Blogs/Blog_Directories/ (great search tool listing various sites that have blog directories) ***
Basically further discussed various blog links for scientists –
http://blawgreview.blogspot.com
Break Out Session - Building Interactivity Into Your Blog
To keep your blog popular –
- Stay on topic
Write in a “user-friendly” tone
Write on average of 2-3x per week
Have a lot of links but do not be too link heavy
Make it image and video rich
Be personal but not TOO personal
Tip #1 – Be Regular
- Pick a schedule and stick to it
It’s better to post regularly than to be perfect
Posting even 1x per week is good, if that’s what your readers are looking for. (i.e. if your blog is entitled along the lines of a “Word Wednesday” or “Friday’s Feast”, etc. then that is the perfect example of the 1x per week blog)
Tip #2 – Be Yourself
- If you’re silly, then be silly.
If you’re not, then don’t.
Like-minded readers WILL find you.
Tip #3- Self-Promote Effectively
- Suck up to others
Comment on others’ blogs
Email other bloggers but don’t email someone to ask them to link to you just for asking them to. Instead email them about a post you wrote on them or a comment you made about them and ask them to check it out = good etiquette!
Tip #4 – Ineffective Self-Promotion
- Self submitting to dig/reddit
“Link exchange”- ing
Posting off-topic comments
Half –hearted social networking (i.e. Don’t just open a Face Book account just because everyone else has one. Only open one if you are really going to do something with it!)
Tip #5 – Don’t Beg
- It doesn’t work!
Asking readers to comment doesn’t work. It only backfires.
Except when it does
Leaving a question but not a “what do you think about….?” kind of question is acceptable.
The exceptions work b/c they’re EXCEPTIONS!
Tip # 6 – Images
- Use figures from papers (scientific) or recreate them
Use Google Image search. It can be your friend as long as you are not using copyright infringement
Fair use is your friend
Other image finders – stockphoto, flickr, and Mayflower
Take and upload your own pictures
Tip #7 – Movies
- People love movies
Making movies is easier than you think – Quicktime for $30
Make your movies short and to the point (>3:00 mins = too long!)
Make sure to disable your WYSIWYG (if necessary)
Don’t autoplay. Turn it off!
Tip #8 – Polls
- Polls lower the threshold of participants
If you have lots of lurkers, a poll is a great ice-breaker.
If nothing else, people will talk about how lame your poll/post is.
To make polls, try www.quimble.com or www.blogflux.com.
Polls usually cost a little bit to incorporate.
Drawback is because you are pasting a code into your blog from someone else’s site, if their site goes down, your code in your blog goes down too.
This happens with anything you copy anyway (Photobucket, You Tube vids, etc.)
Make your polls relevant to your readers
Stay on topic
Polls don’t work for everything.
Tip #9: Surveys
- Provide sophisticated stats
Other bloggers like linking to you
Best survey sites out there –
Survey Monkey – costs $20 for 100 responses
Question Pro - $15 for unlimited responses
Survey Gizmo (suggestion but had not used it)
Keep surveys short (5 ?’s or so)
Keep them focused
10-20% participation generally
Tip #10: Comment Management
- Let your readers talk to each other (don’t respond to every comment!)
Develop a thick skin! (but if you can’t resist commenting, then just go ahead and do it.)
Suggestion – use the plug in “recent comments” in your side bar. It tells your readers that there are conversations going on in your blog.
For a complete wrap up of this exciting conference, visit - http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2008/01/science_blogging_conference_vi.php
Special thanks goes out to Anton and Bora for putting all of this together!
