“We need to think beyond the blogging box and become really engaged with what we are doing, because we could create something that will attract viewers.”-Steven Hodson, Mashable
I look at blogs like I eat a McDonald’s cheeseburger: one bite, throw away the wrapper. Most money-making-tons-of-hits blogs are great at giving the reader bite sized information initially, then allowing them to re-read for the detailed stuff. But before you feel the need to have your bloggers bullet point, embolded headings, write small paragraphs and use italicization let’s talk about why Student Blogs are different.
The Difference
The typical student blog reader is reading for the experience. They’re not coming to each page needing tips on gardening or pet grooming; they want to feel like they’re at your institution. The difference between the mainstream blogosphere and Higher-Ed student blogs is in what the readers are looking for. The mainstream reader needs the gist first and the details second. Readers of student blogs need details immediately.
Video Application
You may find articles like this one that suggest that video may be bad for blogs because of the time commitment a reader must make. The great thing about the Student Blog is that readers come to the site ready to invest some time.
Viral Videos usually succeed if they are highly instructional or have the “i’ve never seen anything like that before in my life “quality.” Sure, your log videos may not be viral smash hits, but they will be experiential and that is what’s important.
The Rules
- Video content posted in a blog can be anything you want it to be, because your blog readers are ready to take the time to watch your stuff.
- Video content posted elsewhere should be instructional or entertaining.
Check out that Mashable article and subscribe to their feed. They post some great stuff about web communications.
Related Posts -
Gearing up for a Second Life College Fair Go Ahead! Tell me to get a life... I am nerding out, Admission style. Here's my story: History Lesson So my VP calls me up and he's all stoked because there's a college fair in Second Life and he wants our institution in the mix (I'm listening to hip-hop...... -
Use Yahoo Pipes to workaround Facebook's One Feed Limit The new facebook looks good. I admit that I wasn't a fan of the down time, hunting down my page manager, and losing some apps on the profile front page. But the cleanliness and ergonomics make me more of a facebook fan. With the new look comes more security features...... -
Give Your Bloggers an Inbox If you're into the whole GTD phenomenon, you know the importance of inboxes. I've developed my own system based on GTD and the Action Method by Behance (they all have similar elements) that incorporates multiple inboxes into my daily routine. I've found that logging my ideas, actions, reminders and events...... - Mobile Technology: Recruiting from your mobile phone Putting my money where my title is Ok so I thought that I could at least start this post from my cell phone. I wouldn't suggest using your phone to blog tons of text, but there are some quick and easy things you can do to create stickiness (keep people......
- CommonCraft How To Videos If you're too ashamed to admit that you don't know what people are talking about when podcasting is mentioned, you should check out CommonCraft videos. They will inform your pants off and allow you to grasp concepts that you should own already. You may want to check out their most......
Related Websites -
Blog Search Engine Optimization Blogging has become a truly popular form of media for the sharing of ideas, the facilitation of communication and other methods of collaboration on the internet, and as a result it has generated a great amount of interest and buzz traffic to all kinds of different website. When it comes...... -
Turning Blog Visitors into Blog Readers One of the most important things that you can understand when it comes to your blog and attracting readers is that there is a difference between people who are blog visitors and people who are blog readers. Blog visitors are people that are attracted to your blog for one reason...... -
10 Tips To Increase Traffic To Blog At this present writing, there are more than 115 Million blogs worldwide. The majority of these blogs are strictly for the purpose of making money. Unfortunately, the majority of these bloggers are failing miserably at making money with blogs. The reasons for such a high failure rate vary from: too......
-
7 Reader Friendly Corporate Blogs Tips You want your blog to be engaging, but that may not always be easy. Here are some great tips on how to keep your corporate blog reader friendly. 1. Pick your design well. One of the biggest problems for corporate blogs is design. You can need to make sure that...... - Five Easy Steps to Create a Corporate Presence for Your Virtual Business There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the UK at present. Whether that is driven by the intrinsic individualistic nature of the population, a genuine wish to better ourselves, a need to get rich quick or just get out of the traffic jam is open to debate. The fact......
