Lots of Twitter activity at your event? HowTo - Storify it

Platform / Service Website - www.storify.com

Available on Desktop from a browser and it has an app for iPad.

 The screenshots in this post have been captured and annotated using Skitch

Storify it - Share it - Embed it 

Sign up for FREE Storify account.

 

Once you have signed up I recommend finding the account settings and completing your profile, adding a photo and cover banner. Storify doesn't have an internal platform community it's a platform tool, but readers can follow your account and like-wise you can follow storify publishers.

What is useful is the profile URL. This is mine - https://storify.com/pcmcreative. 

Its not compulsory but it makes you look professional in the eyes of your audience. First impressions do count. Let your content speak for you not the neglected, incomplete profile pages. 

(aside... I also dislike badly cropped avatar images. There is no excuse for
butchering your branch graphic or having a badly framed head-shot...
check out browser based image editor Pixlr)

But if you are in a big rush to create your first Storify go ahead and click the 'New Story' button.

The Storify interface is nice and clean. Not too fussy but it does contain lots of features mainly to help you bring in content from a wide range of social media platforms.

In this post I'm just looking at finding media from one event posted on Twitter using the Hashtags #ARC15, #ARC2015 and the keyword EquityUK.

Storify Basics... title, description, Social Media source, search term, refinements, build your Storify.

Use the 'Insert' button for adding headings, text boxes and horizontal rule lines to divide sections in your narrative.

The simplicity of Storify's click, hold, drop and drag mechanic, left column to right, click and hold on media element, dragging up and down, placing items above or below one another is so easy. Do remember browser based apps can become unresponsive due to the nature of the internet connection you are using while moving graphic elements around. If the platform stops fully responding to your clicks and drags - pause, check the project has saved (that status displays beside the Publish button) and refresh your screen. Better loose a little than loose the lot.

The screenshots above show searching and adding elements from Twitter. Creating a Storify of this event in pictures was the aim. Media can be collected from lots of other sources. Even individual URL's (universal resource locators) like the .jpg graphic being inserted shown below.

Storify accommodates (and a few others)

• Soundcloud
• Facebook
• Google+
• YouTube
• Flickr
• Instagram
• Google Searches
• RSS feeds

There are lots of platforms, tools and services for media capture especially. I tend to favour ones that easily integrate with and offer sharing to the major audience focused platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Google+) and platforms such as Storify do that brilliantly while making media accessible when telling your story.

Once all the media elements / assets are dragged where you want them its time to curate the storyline of your project. Dragging further than one element up or down can get tricky as your screen scrolls by while you look for the location to slot in an element you want to relocate. The Reorder optional view makes rearranging a lot easier.

Very quickly you can have a document for publication. Look at the draft preview before publishing.

All done... you can add more elements at your leisure.

The next step and a reason why I love Storify is being able to notify via custom tweets the people who have contributed to the story you have pieces together. Storify finds all the twitter names and helps you share to those who will want to share it too.

Effortless, contextually relevant, content rich, audience exposure.

Being able to embed your Storify projects, just as you can from YouTube, is another great feature. Embed your Storify on your website or in a blog post.

This is how the embed code was inserted in to this post. 

 

Here it is...

The Embedded Storify - Equity ARC 2015 in Pictures

6 Things you might not know about in Twitter

This where you will be going...

 

  

 

1. Settings - 7th item down - Show Tweet Translations 

 

 

This setting is ticked by default, at least I have never knowingly activated it. Very useful for my Audience Europe Network account as the EU partners often tweet in their native languages day to day.

 

 

2. Settings > Mobile - 3rd item under My Phone - Sleep Settings

 

 

This setting I recall turning on long ago. Its one of the early settings I remember thinking was very useful. I don’t get updates to my mobile devise between 2am and 8am. I'm a great advocate of being able to turn stuff off. (see also item 4!)

 

3. Settings > Find Friends - see screenshot

 

 

When new to twitter or any social networking platform it’s useful to start your audience with people you already know, especially if they are already established in your new network. Twitter enables you to search your email contacts for email addresses that match ones submitted by existing Twitter users.

 

REMEMBER: Not ever one uses the same email in social media networks. 

 

Twitter provides a management tool for you to manage who you chose to follow showing you who in your address book is Tweeting. And most importantly remove them if you wish from the twitter server. (follow link "manage the contact" at the bottom of the dialogue page, see screenshot)

 

4. Settings > Muted accounts > see screenshot

 

 

Some people are prolific tweeters and you might find they drown out your new infant twitter stream.

 

Or you might be an established tweeter who sees one account dominate your stream on occasions.

 

Well you can turn them off if you don’t want to unfollow them. But if you want to hear from them again don’t forget to turn them back on! #WeAllKnowOne!

 

5. Settings > Applications

 

The screenshot below shows the application I has granted access to elements of my twitter account, yours will display the applications you have authorised over the lifetime of your twitter account. 

 

 

 

It is also a good way to reflect on the platforms, tools and services you have signed in with Twitter that you have forgotten about. It’s probably advisable to revoke access to long since used platforms as you can’t know if the access is still possible. Thats just my thoughts. If you revoke access to a platform you use you will simply be asked to log in next time you visit the site.

 

 

6. Analytics (see top screenshot)

 

 

For a long time Twitter had no internal analytics so twitter stat sites were very popular and still are today providing a bewildering breakdown on your twitter and other social media platform audiences, personal usage and reach.

 

Twitter now has stats now too. Once you find it have a browse around its quite an extensive area. You’ll have a whole new top navigation bar to explore.

 

 

I hope there’s something new there for you.

 

 

 

What do I do?

#OneOfMyHats

If I was employed in a traditional sense the job I did would come with a job title. It would be on my contract. I have been an Assistant Stagemanager, Deputy Stagemamager, Stagemanager, Technical Manager, Assistant Technical Producer. But now I'm not walking the path of traditional employment I find my roles being influenced more and more by emerging technologies. I still work with in teams who produce, but don't work on nearly enough theatre but using the skills and knowledge I learnt during my time in all my named job roles I offer my services.

Recently I have had to produce work evidence that I am eligible to stand as a candidate in the 2015 Equity elections. I'm wanting to retain my seat on the Stage Management Specialist Committee. I enjoy the unconventional approach I have to my work with adaptive work processes being key to providing services to each of my clients and employers. I don't have as many as I'd like so I'm always open to offers of a more traditional nature but here I am.... being asked "What do I do?"

I'm currently 'working' in a voluntary capacity on Equity's Online Branch. Since February I have been the Online Branch's Moderator and it has fallen to me to project manage the final beta phase of the development of the platform being labelled The Equity Online Branch. Its been quite a journey and has quite a legacy. I am using my stagemanager communication skills to tackle this project.

The best example of What I do, What I want to do, How do I make my living was the Oct 2014 Arts and Audiences' Digital Audience Experience (its a live-stream continuity studio event-team plugin) So that I used as the evidence of professional paid work.

I provided a picture montage, the invoice and the job spec. I was asked, Which bit was stagemanagement?" All of it I responded. When even my professional trade body doesn't understand the scope of the role stagemanagers get involved in as technology evolves in support terms I do despair. But I do get asked all the time.

#OneOfMyHats is as an activist / advocate for the industry trade union I have supported since joining in 1995. Equity. I am not paid for this but it does shape "What I do" and "How I make a living".

Fingers crossed I get re-elected... do check out my election campaign page if you are an Equity member.

Definitely get in touch if you'd like to know more about the Digital Audience Experience  live-stream continuity studio event-team plugin