What is social media?
One can say that the latest iteration of the popular web, called Web 2.0 by some, is driven by and predicated on the dynamics that arise from social media.
The Wiki defines social media as:
"Social Media is a term that is used for a broad spectrum of topics, and has several different connotations, however in the context of internet marketing, Social Media refers to a collective group of web properties that are primarily driven by the users. For example, blogs, discussion boards, vlogs, video sharing sites and dating sites." SOURCE
There are several sites, known by many, which make social media happen for blogs, including:
- Tastespotting (I LOVE THIS ONE!)
- Digg
- StumbleUpon
"http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Adigg.com
+YOURBLOGURL.com"
I had to put a break in that URL for it to show here, you will want it all on one line.
I am not a digg-master but I think the way to be dugg is to digg other sites yourself.
I have been stumbleupon'd MUCH more than dug and I understand stumbleupon better. In both case, using the service to recognize other blogs will help people find your blog.
Digg is not abundantly food blog friendly while Stumbleupon is relatively agnostic when it comes to topic.
Tastespotting, OMG, is food porn nirvana and if DRIVES TRAFFIC like a feverish madness.
Tastespotting traffic also seems to go deeper while stumbleupon, due to the nature of it's user interface, tends to just flitter across the surface of your site.
This Post was written by Nika from Nika's Culinaria
14 comments:
Nika, I just visited Tastespotting - it's foodporn, like you said. But what if our photos are just ordinary or plain bad? :( Is there any point in enrolling - I haven't seen a single photo that's less than wonderful.
Thanks for the post, Nika. I think I stumbled upon Tastespotting once, but I didn't understand it. Still not sure I understand it, but I may try to learn!
Thanks for the tip about tastespotting! I love it! I've never seen it before.
sra: I know, some of those images just blow me away. I go there for some inspiration, dont be intimidated!
Sra & Janet: My sense of it is that its not so much about putting your own shots up there but "talent scouting" for the very best we can find on the web to put there. There is a gamut of styles and strengths there, its not all Gourmet magazine level.
Stef: sure thing.
Nika - I've never done much with digg, I just find it to be a big popularity contest, which is fine for stuff that's pop culture, but there doesn't seem to be much room for niches like food and home in there (what category does it even go in? entertainment?)
I submit stuff to tastespotting a couple of times a month. I agree that the clickovers are still strong weeks later. Sometimes it's blog posts, sometimes news articles and sometimes new products on company websites.
Janet - It's basically a list of links, but instead of in words, it's in pictures.
Sometimes I submit my own stuff, but usually it's other folks stuff that I probably wouldn't feature on my own blog (cuz it's so focused) but I think deserves a wider audience.
It is edited - which means that you can submit stuff but it never goes live for whatever reason.
Because the photos have to be 250x250, you have to crop existing stuff in order to submit. Which gives you the opportunity to make it a big more delicious to fit into the style of the site.
Sra - I went to your site - your pomelo photo is certainly worth a taste spot!
I know, Tastespotting seemed good to find others' stuff but I couldn't help wishing my photos were that quality too.
Cybele, thanks. I'll try tastespotting it now!
Tastespotting does drive a lot of good traffic my way. The other great thing about tastespotting is that it has really helped me improve my photos...I compose and shoot more carefully and crop and enhance better. I love them.
I don't persoanlly care for tastespotting because they publish modified (ie cropped to square) copies of other peoples' photos without asking permission of the copyright holder and without giving the specified attribution, where attribution is required and the photos are posted on a site that runs advertising.
I understand what they are doing and I like the concept in principal, but as I said to them in a discussion over their use of my copyrighted photos appearing on their site, unless they could satisfy the terms of my copyright terms then I wouldn't agree to allow my photos to be published there.
I also like the people who own the site and came up with the idea in the first place. However, it doesn't gel with me personally. I don't have advertising so i don't *need* readers.
Gawd, aren't I beginning to sound like a right misery guts.
I'm wondering if this is a good time to discuss the ins and outs of fair use?
Does anyone want to tackle that (like how much you can quote someone else's blog posts, use of thumbnails, etc.)?
I personally don't care for the way tastespotting treats food bloggers. If you look on their "help" page they tell their members how to copy photos they find on blog sites. Nothing is mentioned about asking permission. A certain member of their's, "gingerbreadgirl03", posted a photo of mine without permission, then proceded to crop it (resizing is different than cropping). It was removed after I complained.I noticed today that another food blogger had trouble with that same member.Her photo was taken without permission and it didn't even link back to her site!
As "Becks and Posh" said, in concept, it seems innocent, but in reality it just doesnt work. I think they should have common courtesy to ask before swiping photos.
With more and more material theft happening on the internet, I think it's important to see it for what it is and expose it. Some people make a living with their work.
I see that Tastespotting has now updated the wording in their policies to address some of the issues stated here. let's hope they continue on this path for their own success as well as the cohesiveness of the food blogger community.
I have to enter a strong distaste for DIGG. Their editors actually told me that they refuse to have a food section because their readers would consider it SPAM. Months later I looked it over again, and of course, people are Digging and submitting food related articles but there is still no category. I wrote back. NO Response. feckin' eejits - even geeks have to eat, it's not all about ramen and red bull!
I like StumbleUpon and FanPop, too.
It is good that someone writes articles which really matters something. Thank you for this article, it's full of knowledge which is hard to find in tons of rubbish in our famous world wide web. Regards and good luck! darmowe tapety
Kind of a late comment here - I'm on the fence about TasteSpotting too - after observing them for several months, I finally signed up a week ago just to get a feel for what they're about.
I definitely like the site, their style and the intentions. But I don't quite get the whole cropping/modifying photos thing. And I know more than one person whose pictures were swiped for submission.
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