Kids Work on the LegoJeep at Maker Faire 2010 // Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Wired.com gave bloggers and amateur publishers a gift today. Thet are now making all of the photographs taken by their inhouse staff available through a new Flickr stream and giving you permission to use them under Creative Commons. All you need to do is credit Wired, the photographer and link back to the original article. You’re allowed to mix and match the photos and repost, as long as you still give proper accreditation. Only no-go, is if you want to use the photos for commercial purposes. Then, you have to pay.

Great community stunt

They’ll keep updating their Flickr stream with new editorial pictures, which basically means that they can become the photo agency for bloggers, writing about the same subjects as them. Last I checked that community is huge.

And a huge portion of those, are Wired readers that Wired needs to keep buying the magazine – physical copy or Ipad – to stay in business. As much as it is a branding issue, and a message to the publishing industry, it’s also a clever community stunt, nuturing the core readers of the magazine itself – I just went from a reader of Wired’s content to a sub-publisher, bringing their material to a wider audience.

I also became a grateful blogger. Every blogger knows that images are wonderfull to have on your site, and many blog-themes pushes you to add an image to each post. It makes the site more attractive, but it also adds time to the blogging process itself. Something that most amateur bloggers such as myself don’t really have. We’d rather spend our time writing and researching than finding and editing imagery.

So once more: thank you Wired! Looks like it can be a win-win for the both of us.

The photo in this post is from Wired’s photo pool, and was originally published in the article: “From Art, Madness and Electronics at Maker Faire 2010.“

Since 2010 Anna Ebbesen and I have taught a class at a Master at Roskilde University. The topic is strategically communication and social media, so we wanted to test the student and the teaching format by making the examination form more digital and closer to a real job situation than an academic paper. The students have to write and post a blog post and a Facebook update as part of the exam. In addition they have to write a short academic paper, to make sure the exam form meets the academic standards.

It’s time to shake up the traditional learning methods and bring them up to speed with the communication methods and technologies that most of us use on a daily basis. Why not let them into the classroom too?

We ask the students to be creative and to put themselves in the shoes of a larger company that wants to upscale their digital communication. We give them a press release and ask them to express the same overall stratgeical goal in a blog and on Facebook. For some it comes very natural to come up with a persona and write the blog post, whereas others find it easier to explain the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Niklas Luhman.

Being forced to blog at the course the students get a sense of what it takes to write a good and interesting blog, which they wouldn’t get from reading about it. It also becomes clear that you need some basic technical skills in order to be a good communications professional today.

As a teacher it is much more fun to read 30 very different blogposts with humor, pictures, personality and a connection to the real world out there rather than the traditional exam paper, that is usually written by the student only to be read by the teacher. With a blog, the students write to each other and are also asked to comment on each other’s blogs. If you’re not used to blogging and commenting on the public internet (as compared to Facebook), it can be a scaring or liberating thing to do.

An article Education Needs a Digital-Age Upgrade in New York Times shows how blogging heightens the quality of the students’ writing. Teacher Ms. Davidson concludes:

“Online blogs directed at peers exhibit fewer typographical and factual errors, less plagiarism, and generally better, more elegant and persuasive prose than classroom assignments by the same writers.”

Another article in GOOD also suggest that digital teaching methods brings the best out in school children. Even students with lesser writing skills were motivated by blogging. Teacher John Schwartz says:

”their creativity and productivity skyrocketed because they knew that their work had the potential to be viewed quickly by an authentic audience that mattered to them.”

Social media like Twitter can also be used out bring out the more shy students in the classroom and even has a positive social impact, a Los Angeles experiment suggests.

"State of the Blogosphere 2011" is on it's way

If you’d like to know and you are a blogger yourself: take the survey!

Technorati is asking all bloggers to complete their survey found here: http://www.psasurveys.com/detect.aspx?I.Project=a18214

It is slightly long and with some bugs in it, but for the sake of higher knowledge on the worlds blogosphere it’s 15 minutes well spend. Technorati Media CEO Shani Higgins will unveil the findings live, at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Los Angeles on November 4.

The results will be posted on Technorati on November 7.

If you want to update yourself on last years survey, the State of the Blogosphere 2010 can be found on Technorati.

For mig at se, kendetegnes et godt blogindlæg ved følgende 7 egenskaber, der skal være på plads, for at bloggeren kan skabe ”det gode blogindlæg”.

1. Det gode indlæg holder den stil, den tone og det emne, som man forventer af bloggen. Kategoriserer man sig selv som en madblogger og kalder sin blog noget med mad, så forventer man som fast læser også, at man skal læse mere om mad. Det styrker også læseoplevelsen, når man som bruger ikke skal bruge tid på at undre sig over, hvorfor man lige præcis læser om det her på denne her blog – er vedkommende overhovedet kvalificeret til at skrive om det?
   Råd: Vær konsistent.
2. Det gode blogindlæg er søgemaskineoptimeret. Temaet i ”det gode indlæg” er dermed udfoldet så gennemført, at alle søgemaskinerne finder det og indekserer det korrekt.  Jeg skriver ofte på en indskydelse og har så meget fokus på indhold, at jeg glemmer denne del. Det er derfor blevet min egen rutine at tjekke efter nøgleord og sammenhæng mellem titel og tekst, når jeg redigerer. Har du wordpress, så kan plugin ”all in one SEO-pack” ligeledes anbefales. Det er tit her, at mit indlæg bliver skærpet, når jeg skal tvinge mig selv til at skrive et resume på 160 tegn – hvad handlede det virkelig om? Og passer det med selve indlæggets indhold? Google er fyldt med lister og tips, hvis du vil professionalisere din blogging SEO-style.
   Råd: Tænk i SEO, når du redigerer dit indlæg.
3. Det gode blogindlæg har et langt liv. Er det konsistent og søgemaskineoptimeret, får indlægget også et langt længere liv, fordi det når ud til langt flere brugere end abonnenterne på dit RSS-feed og dine faste læsere. ”Det gode indlæg” kan dermed være det indlæg, der senere kommer til at definere bloggen, og dermed forstærke din forbindelse til læserne – dit super indlæg. Et blogindlæg kan dermed også gøre dig, bloggeren, til ekspert på et område – også bagud i tid, når en journalist eller en anden blogger falder over indlægget i en søgning. På denne blog er det mest læste indlæg til dato “Danske modeblogs – på vej mod magtfulde svenske tilstande?“, som trods dateringen 28. marts 2009 stadig bliver læst hver uge. Skriv derfor så det kan forstås til alle tider – undgå fx ord som ”i går” og andet, der forstyrrer den fremtidige læser.
   Råd: Fremtidssikre dit indlæg ved at skrive tidsløst.
4. Det gode indlæg er generøst og indeholder links til alle kilder og alle, der har givet inspiration til indlægget. Der er oftest nogle kilder til et indlæg – en producent til et omtalt produkt, en forsker som ophavsmand til det citat, du diskuterer osv. osv.  Ved at vise dit bagkatalog af tanker frem, styrker du ikke bare din troværdighed, du kan også få masser af trafik igen og mere trofaste brugere. Personligt tænker jeg også, at der er god service, at man guider brugerne videre til andet spændende indhold. Jeg googlede derfor alle de 7 kendetegn efter det første udkast var skrevet for at finde links, der understøtter eller diskuterer mine pointer. Alle links i dette indlæg, er derfor indsat til sidst.
   Råd: Vis “link-love”.
5. Det gode indlæg er et, som man ønsker at dele. Det kan være fordi man har lært noget nyt, kommet til en ny erkendelse eller grædt af grin, og derfor synes at ens venner eller kæreste SKAL se det her. De bedste indlæg, er ikke nødvendigvis dem, der vandrer hele nettet rundt, men det er en god tommelfingerregel om man selv, som blogger, ville poste linket på twitter, facebook eller lignende og showcase det til ens følgere og venner.
   Råd: Det skal have “shareability” – være del-værdigt.
6. Det gode indlæg, er et man ønsker at gemme. De rigtig gode indlæg har et eller andet ved dem, der gør, at man gerne vil huske det og kunne finde det igen. Det kan være fordi det er smukt opsat, indeholder nyeste viden eller på anden vis indeholder noget, man ikke vil miste igen. Det skal give lyst til at bookmarke det, så man kan finde det igen, printe det ud, eller hvordan man nu gemmer bedst. Er du generøs med dine links, øger du også mængden af viden i dit indlæg, og dermed også lysten til at gemme.
   Råd: Fremvis dit guld.
7. Det gode indlæg, er et som bloggeren selv lærer af. Mens man skriver det, kan man selv mærke, at man bliver skarpere på sin pointe, gladere for sin dag eller lærer noget helt nyt gennem den forudgående research.  Har du det godt med indlægget og bliver passioneret omkring det, bliver dine læsere det formodentlig også.
   Råd: Udfordre dig selv og skriv, fordi du ikke kan lade være.

En ting der glimrer ved sit fraværd i min karakteristik, er dialogen. Det er for mig at se ikke et generisk kriterium for et godt indlæg, at det skaber debat på din blog. Det ville det tilgengæld være, hvis det var din definition på “det gode indlæg“. Så skal indlægget jo skabe debat, før du ser det, som et godt indlæg.

Mit bud er dog, at lever man op til de ovenstående råd, så øger man sandsynligheden for dialog. Fordi indlægget vil 1) være i overensstemmelse med det forventede emne for bloggen, 2) er til at finde for andre interesseret i emnet, 3) også over tid, 4) linker til modsatte og underbyggende pointer, som brugere kan klikke sig frem til og tilbage fra, skrevet så man ønsker 5) at dele og 6) at gemme det, og så man 7) selv lærer af det. Dertil kommer så de andre attributter, der skaber et godt “debatindlæg”, så det også bliver et diskussionobjekt. Men det er et andet indlæg.

Er du ude efter flere blogging tips, så har mange bloggere delt ud af deres egne erfaringer, og lavet gode lister m.m. Bare tjek google.

Blogs, Facebook and YouTube are among the most popular tools for the youth of Morocco to express themselves, share information and to challenge the state censorship.

Moroccan blog awards

Maroc Blog Awards was held for the second time in January where more than 1000 blogs were entered in the competition for the more than 20 blog awards. In Casablanca I met jury member Nadia Lamlili, editor in chief of Economie&Enterprises. She explains that young Moroccans use blogs to talk about emotions, their personal stories and lifestyle. But now a new category of blogs emerge where the government and the king are being criticised.

One of the critics is Larbi El Halili with his blog larbi.org. He is one of the most popular Moroccan bloggers and the president of the blog award jury.

From his residence in France he writes about Morocco from a political perspective. In his latest blog post he states that for once Tunisia has taught Morocco a lesson, and not the other way around. He encourages the Moroccan leadership to increase freedom of expression and freedom of the press to prevent a chaotic situation.

Nadia Lamlili estimates there are 30,000 blogs in Morocco. She has of course her own blog as well where she writes about the state of the Maroccan press. Lately, she questions the increased use of anonymous sources in the media. Overall, she ssays that “there is more freedom of speech now on the internet”.

Over 10 million Moroccans are on the Internet. Like social media, online shopping increases, for shoes, supermarket goods or the Moroccan equivalent of Groupon, mydeal.ma.

Facebook fever

Facebook has become the most popular social network for young Moroccans. According to Facebook’s information for advertisers, there are 2.7 million Facebook profiles in Morocco, of which one million are women. Almost 2.5 million are 30 years of age or younger, so Facebook is predominantly a networking tool of the youth.

This number is not accurate, as people may have multiple accounts, and some may not be truthful about their location, sex or age on their account. But it is a good indicator of the fact that young Moroccans turn to social media for social purposes and to get information.

Internet censorship

One subject is led out of the general conversation on Facebook, and that is criticism of the king. In 2008 the Moroccan engineer Fouad Mourtada created a fake Facebook profile for the King’s brother. It was meant as a joke, but it cost him a three year jail sentence. After 42 days in prison he was pardoned by the king. On Wikipedia, there are more examples of internet censorship in Morocco, targeted at bloggers, Google Earth and YouTube.

Even the king himself has a fan page on Facebook with almost 33,000 fans. His wall is filled with admiring updates in Arabic and French. There are also pictures of the king with his family. He uses the page to inform his fans about his take on Morocco. On 26 January 2011 he stated that the two biggest problems the country faces are illiteracy and corruption. The Minister of Youth and Sports also has a public Facebook page.

This article was originally posted on i-m-s.dk (International Media Support). I travelled to Morocco as part of IMS’ Twinning Programme which partners media professionals in Denmark and the Arab world to exchange knowledge and experience.

See also my article Morocco for women – is it getting better? at i-m-s.dk.