SMP2

Progress Report 2

Still working with the websites CiteULike, Wetpaint, Flickr and Tumblr, however, I’d like to add a new social media website by the name of Pinterest.

Pinterest

First learning about Pinterest from my friend Brooke, it actually is very similar to the website Stumbleupon. Pinterest is a collection of posts (mostly photos) of anything and everything you can think of. Unlike most sites where you are able to make a username and password, you must be invited to Pinterest. After you are invited, you can begin your journey. They ask you to create a username and password, and once you are through with that, you are taken to a page to browse and pick your interests. Here is where you will determine what your site will hold. For my interests, I chose:

• Architecture
• Art
• Hair and Beauty
• Humor
• Women’s Apparel
• Pets
• Photography

With these interests, my main page is full of different snapshots that people from all around the world post (ranging from Architecture to Photography). Although these are my chosen interests, I am still able to browse through the interests that I didn’t necessarily pick as well.

Two of the websites I’ve been monitoring, Pinterest and Flickr, bring me back to the readings from Shirky, chapter 2. This chapter talks mostly about photography, which is what Pinterest and Flickr are all about. Shirky goes on to discuss that with a plethora of amateur and even professional photographers posting their photographs all over the internet, some corporations don’t even waste their time with photos. Shirky also goes on to discuss that we are no longer waiting for the next big thing, because, well let’s face it, people are too busy posting it! Pinterest and Flickr are definitely two websites I have been seeing a big relation to with Shirky because of this. These two websites are especially made for photographs to be posted, and some of the work that is posted on these websites, are truly amazing.

Unlike Pinterest and Flickr that remind me of Shirky, Wetpaint recaps the reading of Halvorson’s Content Strategy. While working on the Content Strategy Portfolio with my group, we have been creating a content inventory which Halvorson speaks of. Content inventory is opening up your website and going through each and every individual page and recording your findings. Wetpaint is a great example for Halvorson’s content strategy! Wetpaint’s website has an overabundance of material to look at. You are able to be on this site for hours without even going to a page you have stepped foot on before. Especially that each day there is something different. Since Wetpaint gives you exclusive news and the latest trending topics, more content is constantly added – making this an ultra page!

With readings such as Shirky and Halvorson, there is a whole new world that goes beyond just your average website. Shirky discusses more along the lines of the styling of each website versus Halvorson who goes deep down into the codes. Each website that I am participating in takes a little bit of each book, yet some are more apparent then others. I find it especially interesting after reading Halvorson’s Content Strategy that I look at websites with a whole new view. It takes so much to keep a website up and running. Until next time!

Signing off,

Michelle.