Trends in Online Media

1. Trends in Online Media Cindy Royal, Ph.D Assistant Professor Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication croyal@txstate.edu www.cindyroyal.com www.onthatnote.com tech.cindyroyal.com

2. Milestones in Multimedia 2000 OhMyNews AOL/Time Warner merger Pre-1995 Wired Magazine - 1993 NY Times on AOL - 1994 Nando -1994 2006 Macaca Invention of the Year - YouTube Person of the Year - You Google Buys YouTube $1.65B 2001 DotCom Bust 9/11 Tributes Wikipedia launched 1995 Craigslist launched Slate, Salon, USA Today, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer online 2007 VA TechTwitter tips at SXSW Invention of the Year - iPhone CNN/ YouTube Debates 2002 Google News 1996 Washington Post Wall Street Journal Chicago Tribune LA Times MSNBC 2003 RSS Google Buys Blogger MySpace launched 2008 CBS acquires CNET Candidates embrace social media EveryBlock.com 2004 Jon Stewart on Crossfire Rathergate Press Credentials to Bloggers WikiNews, Facebook, Digg 1997 Blackhawk Down 1998 Drudge Report Google 2009 Hudson Plane Crash photo Iran elections Politifact wins Pulitzer Everyblock purchased by MSNBC 2005 YouTube News Corporation buys MySpace 1999 Blogger IndyMedia

3. Web Development Categories • Basic HTML design • Programming emerges • Blog Platforms • Content Management Systems • Other

4. Basic HTML Design • HTML – early 90s, language of the Web • Became XHTML to add structure, conventions – early 2000's; next gen is HTML5 • Cascading Stylesheets – CSS - 1996 • Javascript (1995), Flash (1996), AJAX • Web programming – PHP, ASP, Ruby, Python, etc.

5. Web Hosting • Domain registration/hosting – lots of options; I've used doteasy.com; avahost.net, godaddy.com, bluehost.com • FTP Tools • Fetch (Mac, free) - fetchsoftworks.com • WS-FTP (PC, free) - ipswitch.com • Net2Ftp – net2ftp.com -Web-based FTP • FireFTP – fireftp.mozdev.org - Firefox Add-on • HTML Tutorials • Barebones Guide to HTML - werbach.com/barebones • W3 Schools - w3schools.com/html • Beyond the basics there's Flash, Javascript, PHP, audio and video editing...

6. Blog Platforms • Started as platform for online journaling; Web sites for people who didn't know html. • Early platforms – Open Diary, LiveJournal late '90s • Blogger -started 1999 by Evan Williams (also Twitter) and Meg Hourihan; purchased by Google 2003 • Movable Type – 2001; Six Apart • Wordpress – 2003; can host yourself or on their site • Posterous and Tumblr – fully featured blog platforms a

7. Web Programming • Server-side • ASP, ColdFusion, PHP, Java, Python, Ruby, • Databases – MySQL • Powerful functionality, server-side includes, post date to forms, populate sites with data • Gave rise to ContentManagement Systems

8. Content Management Systems • Wordpress has often been modified as CMS – free on their site or monthly fee of $< 10/month in most cases on another host • With WP, pay for domain and access to CSS to customize • Customization requires knowledge of html/css • Drupal • Joomla • Other hostedCMS

9. Web Frameworks • Set up frameworks for Web programming languages • Easy way to provide for common methods and actions; connection to database • Ruby on Rails – written in Rails • Django - Python • CakePHP

10. Other • Create your own social network with Ning or Kick Apps

11. Online Tools • Blogs – Blogger, Wordpress, Posterous • YouTube • Facebook or MySpace – set up groups; post content; stay in touch • del.icio.us - social bookmark manager • Niche Social Networks • Ning - WebPubNET.ning.com • LinkedIn • Flickr/Picasa – photo sharing sites • Animoto/Vuvox – online tools for developing slideshows and video • Second Life – virtual world • Wikipedia - discuss credibility, have students contribute, wisdom of crowd vs. gatekeepers • Twitter – microblog; good way to add new content to a website on a regular basis, breaking news, connect with audience.

12. Free (or cheap) Software! • SoundSlides – make a photo slideshow • Must be hosted on a Web site • Difficult, but not impossible, to embed on a blog • Soundslides ($39.95) must include audio (you can tweak with a silent file); new Soundslides Plus ($69.95) lets you choose whether or not to have audio • Audacity – free; edit audio, create mp3 files • iMovie (Mac) or Windows MovieMaker (PC) – video editing • SnapZPro (Mac, $69) /Camtasia(PC, $179) – screen capture; use for developing online tutorials

13. On The Go... • Rise in mobile technology • UStream and Livestream – live stream with camcorder and laptop • Qik.com & Ustream –stream LIVE video from your phone!

14. Equipment • You don't need expensive equipment • Most students have digital cameras or cell phones that can shoot photos/video • Low-end cameras with video • Digital audio recorders • Camcorders

15. Keeping Up • Google News/Yahoo News - Technology • NY Times Technology/David Pogue • Wired News • Scobleizer • TechCrunch • Digg • Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang • Techmeme • SensibleTalk.com • Social Media Today • Mashable • Smashing Magazine • 10000 Words

16. Resources • SXSW Interactive - www.sxsw.com/interactive • Wired Magazine - www.wired.com • Cyberjournalist.net - Great Work Gallery - www.cyberjournalist.net/category/great-work-gallery • Online Journalism Awards - http://www.journalists.org/ • Knight Digital Media Center - www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org • Online Journalism Review Archives - ojr.org • Interactive Narratives - interactivenarratives.org/ • We The Media by Dan Gillmor • Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins • The Long Tail and Free by Chris Anderson • What Would Google Do? - Jeff Jarvis • Editor & Publisher Awards - royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2008.html • Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication - jcmc.indiana.edu