“How to use blogs, wikis, apps & other social media to engage the public and enrich your research”

Dawn Carmichael,University of Abertay Dundee

Hello

Teaching – rich interactivity in web apps and social networking

Research Findings – “these things are beyond all use and I do fear them”

UPBEET

Today

Consider the possibilities of social media&

Plan future projects

Input/Output

What do you want to present?

What do you want to elicit?

Special Affordancesof Social Media

User Generated Content (UGC)

Social platformsSocial data gathering

Blogs

• Blogs – online journal – blogger.com• Posting/Commenting• Social Data?

Wikis

• Wiki – online document - wikispaces.com• Collaborative document editing• Broader UGC? Shared commentary

Images

• Images – posting/viewing – flickr.com• Digital artefacts• Representations• Social data? Tagging > concepts

Video

• Video – posting/viewing – youtube.com• Collections/channels• Social platform

Twitter

• Twitter – micro-blogging – twitter.com• @ and #• Social data?

Facebook

• Facebook – profiles and posts – facebook.com• Fan pages > public pages• Social platform? Customisation, Likes, Social

Ads

Facebook groups

• Discussion forum – Facebook groups• Social platform• Social data (more later)

Files

• File sharing – documents etc. – dropbox.com• Handy utility• File sharing – collaborative• Social platform

A web site

• Obvious/simple• Wizards and/or Uni hosted• Rationale > content control• Social widgets

The solution is simple

What do you want to present?

What do you want to elicit?What are the special affordances?

But......

What if your requirements aren’t simple?

Apps....

Web Apps

• Web sites > Rich interactions• Blurred distinctions• Rich metaphors

Facebook Apps

Customisation

Social data

• Application Programming Interface• Social graph

Mobile Apps

• Typically more complex interactions• Apps are downloaded• Devices – iphones, android, blackberry etc. • Interoperability• Wrapping apps• However - devices have web access

App-tastic?

• Utilities• Entertainment• Conferences • University open days/induction

Special problems of Social Media

Thoughtful deployment

Standing out from the crowdEthical considerations

Ideas?

• What do you want to present?• What do you want to elicit?