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The Web has a Version Number?

by Joel Dehlin

Recently I posted an entry on LDS CIO about the term “geek” and how it has become, well, pseudo-fashionable.

Only a “geek” would put a version number on the web, but that’s exactly what has happened. The Internet is no longer an infant. We’re now using what is called Web 2.0. If you don’t know that that means, here is a good article that differentiates between Web 1.0 and 2.0.

Posted June 13th, 2008 · Permalink · No Comments »

How Many Moms Are Online?

by Larry Richman

Being a parent means that using the Internet is becoming increasingly helpful. According to three separate studies, over 85% of parents are now online. (Sources: Pew Internet & American Life Project survey in late 2006, US Department of Commerce study in October 2007, and Experian Consumer Research consumer survey in spring 2007.)

Percent who went online at home or at some other location:

94% of women who expect to have their first or second child in the next year
85% of parents with at least one child in the household

Compare that with

73% in family households without children
59% among non-family households

Mothers are part of an adult female Internet user population that is predicted to grow from 80.9 million in 2008 to 91.3 million in 2012. Adult females already outnumber adult males in both the general population and the Internet user population.

Read more about what moms do online at eMarketer.com

Posted June 12th, 2008 · Permalink · No Comments »

Community Tagging

by Joel Dehlin

The LDS community is vibrant, smart and willing to give. Web 2.0 technologies (and mindsets) are providing opportunities for people to contribute.

“Community tagging” is one example. Unstructured information (blogs, emails, articles, and so forth) is harder to search than structured data like addresses, phone numbers, names, debits, and credits. One way to make unstructured information more searchable (and thus more accessible) is to “tag” it.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say I write a blog post that tells a story of a time when I was young and I learned by watching my father serve a widow on Christmas day, even though he wasn’t sure he’d get done in time to take care of the preparations for the holiday. If someone goes into Google and searches the Internet to find a story for a talk or a lesson then they will likely not come across this story.

However, the Internet (and this blog) allows the author to “tag” articles. Tagging is just assigning words to an article which describe it and thus make the article more likely to show up in searches (whether on a blog or on the Internet).

For the story I listed, I might use tags like faith, story, service, father, dad, christmas, and lesson. Notice that some of these words don’t show up in the story, but they still capture the essence of the story. If people then searched on any of these words, they would be more likely to find the story.

This approach is good, but the problem is that a) it presumes the author knows the right tags for an article and b) it takes time.

“Community tagging” is a phenomenon where people on the Internet collectively tag other people’s content. This happens on web sites like Flickr and Facebook. People upload pictures and others can tag the pictures. This spreads the workload out and can make it more precise.

How might we use “community tagging” for Church-related content?

Posted June 11th, 2008 · Permalink · 5 Comments »

ldsWebguy Rebranded as LDS Media Talk

by Larry Richman

As of today, the blog ldsWebguy has been rebranded LDSMediaTalk. Additional authors have joined the blog and will be sharing ideas on how to use technology to strengthen families and build The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

You’ll find the same kind of information you’ve come to expect at ldsWebguy, but more.

Posted June 10th, 2008 · Permalink · 8 Comments »

Social Media Tools Added to Newsroom

by Larry Richman

Social media sharing tools have been added to the story pages of the Newsroom Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, allowing visitors to easily share Newsroom content on other sites like Digg, Delic.io.us, Facebook, Reddit, Newsvine, Google Bookmarks, and StumbleUpon.

The Digg icon now appearing on Newsroom pages allows visitors to add specific stories to their Digg account, a type of filing system of Internet stories that the user is interested in. People searching for information on that subject will see that three or 3,000 people, for example, have previously “dug” the story, helping them decide if it has been useful to others before them.

The Facebook link lets users add a particular story to their own account, allowing visitors to their own site to see what they have been reading lately.

There is also an e-mail subscription box (bottom of the left-hand menu) where you can sign up to receive e-mail updates whenever content is posted on the site.

Posted June 9th, 2008 · Permalink · No Comments »

Members Share Their Beliefs Online

by Larry Richman

The Church’s Newsroom site just posted an article about how members are expressing their feelings and beliefs by posting blogs and videos online.

Posted June 8th, 2008 · Permalink · No Comments »

General Conference April 2008 DVDs, CDs, and Audiocassettes

by Larry Richman

DVDs, CDs, and Audiocassettes of the April 2008 General Conference in English are now available at Church distribution centers. A multilanguage DVD is being prepared and will be available in a few weeks.

Of course, you can also listen and watch online in many language in the general conference section of the online Gospel Library (generalconference.lds.org).

Posted June 5th, 2008 · Permalink · 2 Comments »

Inspirational Gospel Messages

by Larry Richman

Below are links to several nice videos by an organization called Interview with Jesus. They are good examples of inspiration and creativity in delivering simple, effective messages.

Could you create videos like this? In what contexts? On what subjects? For what audiences? In what venues?

Posted May 29th, 2008 · Permalink · 2 Comments »

Technology Defines Internet Generation

by Larry Richman

Check out the article in this week’s Church News about young adult use of technology. It talks about their heavy use of cell phones, texting, and social networks.

In their survey of 80 young single adults, “some reported sending more than 2,000 text messages a month.” They didn’t survey my 18-year-old. She sent 7,300 last month!

Posted May 29th, 2008 · Permalink · 2 Comments »

How to Promote Your Blog

by Larry Richman

Tim Malone has written a post on how to promote your blog. He recounts his experience and success in developing and promoting his LDS-oriented blog over the last eight months. In the essay he shares ideas that have worked for him, including linking, commenting, using aggregators, and writing good content and good headlines.

Posted May 25th, 2008 · Permalink · No Comments »

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About

Sharing technology ideas with LDS parents and youth to strengthen families and build The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Learn more about this blog.

The Web has a Version Number?

How Many Moms Are Online?

Community Tagging

ldsWebguy Rebranded as LDS Media Talk

Social Media Tools Added to Newsroom

Members Share Their Beliefs Online

General Conference April 2008 DVDs, CDs, and Audiocassettes

Inspirational Gospel Messages

Technology Defines Internet Generation

How to Promote Your Blog

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