Social Tools in Practice

Chris Traganos

@Harvard

@ctraganos

5

5 Social Tools in Practice

•WordPress Feeds

•Facebook Open Graph

•Chartbeat

•QR Codes

•SocialFlow

Harvard University is actively engaging its online community

through severaldigital outposts

WordPress Feeds

Distributing news across the university via syndication

1

Photo: Stephanie Mitchell, Harvard Staff Photographer

RSS

RSS

RSS

Wordpress @Harvard

• Harvard Gazette is powered by WordPress

• The Gazette theme is using straight php

functions and minimal amount of plugins. The site lives straight on the

WP core and auto-updates versions without breaking.

• Content from site powers the Harvard

Mobile app and news feeds on websites showcasing Gazette content on their

site for specific tags and categories

Wordpress @Harvard

• WordPress provides the ability to customize feeds from content produced

around the university

• Custom feeds enable online communities to get content-specific

news for their audience

• Technology has been around forever,

fresh content is driving online

engagement

Content Categories @Harvard

Campus & Community Awards Commencement Faculty Harvard Traditions In the Community News by School Obituaries On Campus Staff & Administration

Arts & Culture Art & Photography Harvard Bound History, Language & Culture Literature & Poetry Music

HarvardScience Culture & Society Engineering & Technology Environments & Sustainability Health & Medicine Life Sciences

National & World Affairs Business Economics Education Government & Politics International Law National Public Service Religion

Athletics All Teams Awards Games/Events

Multimedia PhotoJournal

Today Harvard News In the Media News +

Content Categories @Harvard

Campus & Community Awards Commencement Faculty Harvard Traditions In the Community News by School Obituaries On Campus Staff & Administration

Arts & Culture Art & Photography Harvard Bound History, Language & Culture Literature & Poetry Music

HarvardScience Culture & Society Engineering & Technology Environments & Sustainability Health & Medicine Life Sciences

National & World Affairs Business Economics Education Government & Politics International Law National Public Service Religion

Athletics All Teams Awards Games/Events

Multimedia PhotoJournal

Today Harvard News In the Media News +

Content Categories @Harvard

Campus & Community Awards Commencement Faculty Harvard Traditions In the Community News by School Obituaries On Campus Staff & Administration

Arts & Culture Art & Photography Harvard Bound History, Language & Culture Literature & Poetry Music

HarvardScience Culture & Society Engineering & Technology Environments & Sustainability Health & Medicine Life Sciences

National & World Affairs Business Economics Education Government & Politics International Law National Public Service Religion

Athletics All Teams Awards Games/Events

Multimedia PhotoJournal

Today Harvard News In the Media News +

Content Categories @Harvard

Campus & Community Awards Commencement Faculty Harvard Traditions In the Community News by School Obituaries On Campus Staff & Administration

Arts & Culture Art & Photography Harvard Bound History, Language & Culture Literature & Poetry Music

HarvardScience Culture & Society Engineering & Technology Environments & Sustainability Health & Medicine Life Sciences

National & World Affairs Business Economics Education Government & Politics International Law National Public Service Religion

Athletics All Teams Awards Games/Events

Multimedia PhotoJournal

Today Harvard News In the Media News +

Content shared using Wordpress Feeds

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/tag/hasty-pudding/feed/

Custom News Feed:

based on topical sections

News feed are

of the content.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/feed/

Blog Aggregators:

m.harvard.edu

m.harvard.edu

m.harvard.edu

Facebook’s Open Graph

2

Everyone loves points.

Facebook Open Graph @Harvard

•Provides Facebook with context and resources for sharing your likes across the web

•Authentic sharing tool - vetted likes make for great referrals

IMG: http://bit.ly/dT2how

Open Graph bringsthe Gazette into the

Facebook ecosystem

og:title

og:type

og:image

og:url

og:description

og:site_name

These are <meta tags/>

Likes & Recommendations

test debug&

Facebook Open GraphURL Linter

http://developers.facebook.com/tools/lint

3

chartbeat

Actively monitoring traffic and user behavior on our sites in real time.

Why chartbeat & Google Analytics?

Chartbeat is the tool for monitoring those

unpredictable events.

Google Analytics is the tool we use to track and analyze regular events.

Watching the live conversation and interaction with our site as an events occurs.

Watching the live conversation and interaction with our site as an events occurs.

Watching the live conversation and interaction with our site as an events occurs.

Watching the live conversation and interaction with our site as an events occurs.

QR Codes@Harvard

4

connecting the print medium

with the digital world

Mobile devices are

QR Codes & Mobile Devices

Important to note that QR codes are best used in

conjunction with mobile friendly sites. Having a QR

code access a fast-loading site enhances the

user’s experience with the print and web.

•Print publications are incorporating QR Codes

•The QRs are kept condensed thanks to the Gazette URL shortener http://hvd.gs

•Great tool for providing bonus content online

QR Codes @Harvard

•Print publications are incorporating QR Codes

•The QRs are kept condensed thanks to the Gazette URL shortener http://hvd.gs

•Great tool for providing bonus content online

QR Codes @Harvard

Harvard News: Measurable, accelerating results

• Percentage of online local readers dropped from 45% to 30%

• Huge growth in mobile users: from 650 to 16,535: 2444% growth

• List of referring sites is rapidly growing and is 62% of our traffic

0

125

250

375

500

Oct’09 Feb-10 Oct’10 Feb’11

409

333

160162

Harvard Gazette TrafficThousands of Visits / Month

5

SocialFlow @Harvard

•Actively scans the real-time web and specifically our followers

•Tweets from a queue of the collection of our feeds

•Pulls in fresh content from across the schools and departments.

•Feeds are weighted and given expirations

•Tweets the most relevant item at a specific moment in time

•Algorithm is actively preparing and ranking each item in the feeds

All your RSS feeds

provide content for SocialFlow.

tweets the most relevant item

at the optimal moment.

The “Content Queue”

Using the reporting tools to improve engagement.

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

Jul-10 Aug-10 Sept-10 Oct-10 Nov-10 Dec-10 Jan-11 Feb-11

@Harvard Followers

Steady rise in Twitter followers

0

3750000

7500000

11250000

15000000

Jul-10 Aug-10 Sept-10 Oct-10 Nov-10 Dec-10 Jan-11 Feb-11

(Tweets * Followers)

Increased Exposure (Tweets * Followers)

Results from using these tools

•Increased online engagement from followers and new visitors alike

•Steady growth in friends & followers across Harvard’s digital outposts

•Retweets and extending of the message through fans of the Harvard brand

Thank you!Chris Traganos

@ctraganoschristopher_traganos@harvard.edu

Special thanks to:

Max DanielsJason FigueiredoJason BenjaminLin ChenJennifer HodgeBen SharbaughPerry HewittCole LatimerDonna TremonteRachel O’h-uigunnGervis Menzies

HPAC Photo deskHarvard Gazette team

ABCD WWWMIT WebpubMichael ChinSean Brown

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http://spkr8.com/t/6858(feedback, critiques, and input are welcome)