OpenID Pro's and Con's + The Effects on Social Media

Ever heard of OpenID.net ... I recently learned about this concept about 4 or 5 months ago. In fact most people already have an openid.net account and don't already know it. OUR WHOLE class actually has OpenID accounts because blogger.com is an OpenID server. If you want some more information about this check out OpenID's website.


What effects will the OpenID technology have on Social Media??

Well it is my prediction that OpenID will basically add a person ability to traverse through a variety of different social networks allowing them to reach and converse with a larger audience. I also think that this will allow people to create a real presence on the internet rather than just having a simple user name to a random site. With OpenID a user can basically create a legacy of their work, surfing, and ultimately their influence.


This is an awesome quote that verifies that OpenID will truly be able to used by anyone...

OpenID is not owned by anyone, nor should it be. Today, anyone can choose to be an OpenID user or an OpenID Provider for free without having to register or be approved by any organization. (http://openid.net)

Domain Interception has also plagued me for awhile...

Domain interception? Whats the point? Perhaps companies are not learning about how to treat their customers.

I agree with Corynne W. on her Social Media PR Class blog. I have had this page pop-up when i am even trying to just go to google.com. It is so obvious that Time Warner is just looking to make an extra couple bucks from pay per click advertisements with this "feature". the Opt-out only option is proof of their profit hungry motives.


What happened to the Google attitude. Do no harm, only try to help the customer, instead Time Warner tries to slip one past their consumers in a failed attempt to feign good intentions. Mean while their service is bugging out or acting out of place intercepting server requests that are working just fine. Shame Shame ... Tisk Tisk...

Podcasting Babies! We like to Poddy!

Hey everyone check out my social media and pr groups first podcast!. We Like to Poddy! is the first podcast that any of us have ever made so please be nice...

Here are the Show notes for the podcast in case you are running short on time and would like to skip forward in the show:

00:08 - Jenny Lo and Austen Jones podcast introduction.
00:52 - Austen Jones discussing Web 2.0 technologies and its impact on our society.
05:00 - Jenni Lo discussing Web 2.0 history and some of the misconceptions.
07:43 - Rika Burman giving some Web 2.0 examples and then talking about the "fad" of web 2.0.
10:29 - Austen Jones interviewing some St. Edwards Students about Web 2.0 technologies.


Anyways check it out at:
we_like_to_poddy.m4a
we_like_to_poddy.mp3

'SEO' + 'SEM' = Social Media Marketing

Internet Social Media and PR has basically created an entirely new method for marketing websites. Google the search giant of the internet has undoubtedly cornered the market for mainstream search. It is the "one percenters" of the internet that have basically figured out how to utilize search engines like Google in order to raise awareness and drive targeted traffic to websites.

Knowing what keywords the new webpage is going to be focusing on is a primary concern. Another "need to know" is, what are the keywords being targeted in the content that is linking to and from our new webpage. How to target keywords is an entire subject by itself, this will be discussed at a later date. But, for now a good rule of thumb is, use your keywords early and often. What this means is, don't crowd every sentence and line with a keyword, instead use the words "naturally" in your titles, opening sentences to paragraphs, menus/list items. So basically anywhere that you can "naturally" use a keyword, without spamming your own website, is a good place.

What does all this have to do with Social Media? Well, through the use of all the different forms of social media a person can utilize the power of others to generate links to their webpages. All of the incoming links from webpages outside of a website are tracked by the search engines. Most advanced search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN Ask.com, etc., track the linking structure of the internet. Now if an individual webpage is optimized for a set of target keywords, and the incoming/outgoing links to other webpages have content with similar keywords, the search engines will then give that webpage a higher ranking for those certain keywords. So you have to think about the target keyword set, and the keywords used in the incoming/outgoing links and their keywords in order to begin understanding how Search Engine Marketing works.

'SEM' vs 'SEO' ... Methods and Practices

We have briefly discussed the idea of Search Engine Optimization in class. 'SEO' is basically the practice of configuring a web site's content and design in order to target specific keywords that are being searched for by users. So, what is the difference between 'SEM' (Search Engine Marketing), and 'SEO' (Search Engine Optimization). How can Social Media PR be utilized in the process of 'SEM' and 'SEO'.

The methods that have been developed for marketing on the internet can basically be divided into 2 separate categories. As I mentioned above, 'SEO' is basically the practice of configuring a websites configuration in order to target specific keywords. 'SEM' is what some people would simply refer to as the "off page factors" of 'SEO'. I personally like to think of 'SEO' and 'SEM' as two separate process that only connected through the targeted keywords.

So if 'SEO' and 'SEM' are 2 separate practices that are only connected by keywords that a site wishes to target: What is the best way to combine these 2 practices when building a website? Well it would be impossible to explain all of the different techniques that can be used for the "on page factors" of 'SEO' and the "off page factors" of 'SEM'. There are tons of really helpful online courses, videos, and blogs that are available to the public for purchase or for free. It is important to utilize these resources in order learn all about the different 'SEO' and 'SEM' techniques. I will attempt to just skim the conceptual surface of how to mesh these two practices together in order to target specific keywords.

The concept of combining these 2 practices together begins with the creation of a website and a webpage. It is important to think about your website in terms of individual pages, instead of thinking about the entire site as a whole, one must think of the function and importance of each individual page.