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Friday, February 21, 2014

Social Media: Brands and Facebook

As some of you may know, I am in my final quarter of my MLIS program (woohoo!). I didn't coast out of the iSchool by any means; I'm signed up for 12 credits this quarter (in addition to my full-time job and my part-time job) and one of those classes is Strategic Management of Social Media. I've been learning about transitions from traditional marketing and outreach techniques to new, innovative social transmedia. This includes thinking about how to plan and implement a social media strategy, evaluate and reach your desired audience (even determine who your desired audience really should be), create meaningful content that engages consumers, and SOMETHING. You may have noticed that I've ramped up my Twitter presence and have been working to improve my blogs (this one and http://libraryoutloud.blogspot.com). Most of my efforts have been incorporating things that I've been learning. How have I been doing? Do you feel more engaged?

Anyway, one of our assignments is to write about how brands are leveraging Facebook to engage their customers. So here are my thoughts (which are informed primarily by our in-class discussions and lectures and Jeff Bullas' writings on his site). Let me know what you think!

Brands use Facebook in several ways, some more successfully than others. They are working to get their consumers engaged with them on Facebook's platform by trying to get them to post about them on their own walls, write comments and respond to the brand's post, "like" their page, and provide feedback. If you're on Facebook, I'm sure you've seen some of these efforts. They look like this:


Right smack-dab in the middle of your News Feed. But they're offering a deal! You have the opportunity to "Like" their post, comment on that post, even share it on your own wall or on your friends' walls. And it's easy for the consumer.

These promoted News Feed posts are a lot like standing on the sidewalk and shouting at your customers as they walk past with their friends. It's a bit jarring for the customer and it frequently goes more or less ignored, but sometimes you have something valuable to shout and your customer stops, listens, and, hopefully, engages.

In my opinion, the most successful brands are offering something in return. Sometimes it's a deal or a special offer. Many brands offer exclusive savings or giveaways to consumers who "Like" their page or leave a comment -- some way of visibly proclaiming to all their Facebook connections that they support the brand. Other times, the brand is offer superior, quality content and not just "advertising". They aren't sharing promotions or deals. They are sharing informative content that the consumer finds valuable in some way; it's entertaining or educational. This type of interaction with the consumer creates a more stable relationship than just clicking "Like" (a superficial metric if ever there was one) and if the content really is good, then you'll get repeat consumers who share your content with others.

What do you think? What have been your experiences with brands on Facebook?

Monday, February 17, 2014

Toes in a Pinch? Try a Cinch!

I finished knitting my Haleakala Socks (while running year end reports for work from home and while everyone else in the country was watching the Super Bowl... go Seahawks!) and I am preparing to sew up the toes.

These are different socks, but the toes end up the same... a couple of live stitches at the very end of the sock!
To finish my socks, I have always grafted the remaining toe stitches together, creating a seamless finished toe. Doing this is a bit of a pain, but it's only for about 20 stitches, so it's never been a big deal. You take those live stitches** (below) and sew them together so there isn't a visible seam.


When you're done, it looks like this:

Knitty.com
So tidy! (Yes, those are two pieces of fabric that have been grafted together, I promise!) The instructions that I've used in the past are HERE. I think they are clear, easy to follow, and have big pictures to help. Once you get the rhythm of grafting, it isn't really all that onerous, but maybe don't try to watch TV and learn how to graft at the same time.

Now, switch gears: it's time for a new school of thought. Kate Atherley of Knitty advocates abandoning grafting for socks and just cinching the remaining toe stitches together. That's right. Says Kate, 
Socks ... do not need grafting.
Yes, that's right. I'll say that again. Grafting is unnecessary – indeed, it's actually counterproductive – in sock knitting.
Knitty.com
She goes on to explain that grafting is a lot of work for not a lot of return. There isn't a lot of visual impact at the toe of a sock; why spend all that time? On top of that, when you graft, you get little puckers of extra fabric at the corners that either hang on and bunch up on your toes or require additional work to sew down. Read her article HERE.

Instead, why not try running the the tail of your yarn through those lovely live stitches and simply cinch them together and then weave the end in?

So, I thought I'd give it a try. These Haleakala socks already aren't my favorite -- I'm not a fan of self-striping yarn -- so what could a different toe really hurt? You just thread the tail of your knitting back through the live stitches, pull tight, and then weave in the ends.

My socks! My comfy toes!
Turns out I love it. It took me almost no time at all and they are more comfortable than grafted toes. Sold. I do not anticipate EVER grafting a sock toe again. Thanks Kate!

 
**Live stitches! These are stitches that you could knit into to keep the project going. If I were to just leave them as they are without weaving in the ends, grafting them together, or cinching them like I did here, the project would unravel.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

WIP Party: My Haleakala Socks

WIP Part Project #5: My Haleakala Socks


These are my first socks ever! Well, sort of. I originally cast on for these so that when my first Cookie A Sock Club shipment arrived, I would have knit at least one pair of socks. But then the first package arrived and I just launched into knitting those socks instead. I got about 3/4 of a sock completed before I set them down last January. Since then, I've knit several pairs of socks, but never picked these back up, in part because I actually misplaced the project for several months...


The pattern is pretty intuitive and easy to memorize. The cable panel only runs down the front of the sock, which I like aesthetically and comfort-wise (I worry that bulky cables will be uncomfortable around my Achilles tendon and ankle), but all of that 2x2 ribbing got a little bit dull. I do like patterns that are repetitive, but that was quite a bit of k2,p2*.

See? Stripes!
Overall, I'm happy with how these turned out. My biggest complaint is that the yarn striped. When I purchased the yarn, I thought that it would be a greeny-black, but the way the yarn was painted it ended up creating black and green stripes. I think this hides the cable pattern and black and green stripes is not something that I would have selected intentionally.


I also tried out a new method for finishing up the toe and I am quite pleased with the results! I'll be posting on that on Monday, February 17th. Stay tuned :)

Now I just have my purple sweater and the blanket for the living room left from the WIP Party!