Scoop it content curation tool: choosing, organizing and sharing data

Amaia Soto Basabe 11th June 2014

I am testing here a tool used for content curation: content curation is “ sorting and showing Web content in a well-structured way, focusing on a central idea. Step by step a content curator chooses, classifies, organizes, and publishes information. The curator has the discretion to choose and share the best, most relevant content to a certain community. Thus, content curation is not merely about link collection or data gathering; it is about arranging existing content into the right context with proper annotation and presentation.”

Many people frequently use this content curation tool in order to look for specific content related to certain topics. I chose it because I found it very useful to find information about topics I am interested on. The data is organized and well structured so is easy to find. Then, after reading and analyzing it can be saved and shared. As an article in the Silicon Valley Watcher states, “…curation online also has to demonstrate: mastery, passion, knowledge and expertise. Without such additional layers, a curated collection of links is just a collection of links.” This is what makes Scoop it different from other regular web pages, that the data on it has been carefully selected and displayed. Instead of been aggregated, it has been thoroughly handpicked.                                                                                                                         

Scoop it is a content curation tool developed by Rusty Foster 2 years ago. It is a system focused on the cooperative publication and its functions are oriented towards encouraging the participation and collaboration of its users. For example, unlike other systems, Scoop it allows all its registered users to moderate the comments.
In addition, it has many other functions such as:

1.  “Favourite” lists that allow users to follow their interest topics
2. The option to upload and share content
3. Public and private calendars

At the beginning, Scoop it was released as a free tool but nowadays there are paid options. The Pro and Business versions are $12.99 and $79 a month respectively. Try them to decide which one suits you best.

In order to test Scoop it and learn about its functioning, I firs created an account and decided to choose a topic. It was vital to carefully choose a topic as I was going to work on it in order to write this blog post. In order to do so, I took into account these 2 key points:

1. The topic had to be something I was passionate about: obviously the more interested I was on the topic, the harder I would work and the best I would carry on the selecting and sharing process.
2. Be something that interests others: nowadays a growing number of people are focused on taking care of themselves by having a healthy diet or doing fitness activities.                                                                                                                         

Therefore, I chose to investigate the topic of health. Nevertheless, as it was too broad I related to it specific topics such as work life balance, healthy habits, healthy tips… Then, every time I opened my account I got a bunch of suggestions of articles related to the keywords I entered in relation to the topic of health. From all of them I red 15 and from those 15 only 4 were useful. Finally, I could shared the articles relating my Scoop it account to my Twiiter or Facebook accounts.

I was greatly surprised by the use of content curation in Scoop it. It has been very useful for looking for organized information collected together about related topics. I specially liked the suggestion engine of it which immensely helped me to find information in a short period of time. With the increasing use of marketing and technologies this web site has proved to be time shaving and fantastic for finding concretely selected data. From what I red on the internet, most users are delighted with its configuration and profoundly devoted to improving its content. What I mostly liked about it is this sense of community that Scoop it has created among its users as they try to help each other and share information in an organized way.

References:

• Sannino, G. S. (2012, January 20). Scoop This: A Comprehensive Guide to Scoop.it for Content Curation – Search Engine Journal.  Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/scoop-this-a-comprehensive-guide-to-scoop-it-for-content-curation/38963/

• Binkowski, P. (2013, December 25). 10 Of The Best Content Curation Tools. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://dendritepark.com/10-best-content-curation-tools/#.U5g3ESjb6cF

• Foremski, T. (2011, May 16). Curation Is Not Cheap Content… -SVW. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2011/05/curation_and_ch.php

• Lee, K. (2014, May 5). The Busy Person’s Guide to Content Curation: A 3-Step Process [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blog.bufferapp.com/guide-to-content-curation

Dolce and Gabanna’s shop strategy under analysis

This post is the outcome of a deep research about the popular D&G’s brand. It is written following this structure:                   analysis of the webpage and social networks of the brand, its digital identity, its reputation and latest controversy and collective intelligence.

D&G’s webpage content is distributed in three main sections: woman, men and children. Each part has subsections such as collection, fashion shows, ad campaign and links. The official webpage also suggests purchasing online and offers information of its books, restaurants and latest news. Furthermore, it easily provides access to all their social networks by clicking on the site’s logo, for example, its YouTube’s official channel. This web has different units: campaigns, fashion shows, friends and events, beauty and e-shop.

Pintxorico’s expansion strategy

The company’s main objective is to attract consumers via internet by its social networks, web page, blog… and collect capital by their investement to expand the business among the Spanish region. It is crucial as the success of the enterprise has being proven but just in the local area, so managers are sure of its profitability in the whole country. To achieve this purpose the company has designed a specific shop strategy which is explained in the following text and has these sections: introduction, the strategy in social networks, digital identity, reputation, personal branding, microblogging, collective intelligence, what other shops do and conclusion.

The process of building a Blogger’s Code of Conduct

My name is Amaia Soto and I am a student of Modern Languages and Management at the University of Deusto, Bilbao. In the subject web communication system I have beign requested to write a blog post reviewing three articles writen by Tim O’Reilly.

The author Tim O’Reilly was asked in several newspapers such as the BBC and the San Francisco Chronicle to propose a Blogger’s Code of Conduct in response to the dispute that Kathy Sierra had because some anonymous posted mean comments on her blog and the upsetting images that were posted on Chris Locke’s blog.

First of all, Tim wrote the text “Call for a Blogger’s Code of Conduct” where suggested some ideas in order to help to generate a culture to inspire individual expression and beneficial conversation. A week later, he created “Draft for Blogger’s Code of Conduct” specifying the ideas of the first text. Overall, these were the main tips to follow according to both texts:

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