Indie Comics

All things Indie Comics

[indiecomicguy-blog]

Assessment of TTC Social Media Use

Assessment of TTC’s use of Social Media

Three Areas of Improvement

Closer analysis social media activity.

Organization of content.

Thorough edit

Intended Audience

The following research report has been put together for the Board of TCC, so that the Board can gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of TCC’s utilization of social media, and make improvements where necessary.

Strengths

The company’s brand is consistent on each network.

-  TTC uses different pictures on its different social network platforms, but the same logo appears across all platforms. Therefore,  Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vine, and LinkedIn all feature the same   TTC logo.

-  The logo is consistently pillbox red across all the platforms.

-  The company description is consistently “Toronto Transit Commission”.

They respond in a timely manner to posts from others.

-  TTC’s Official Twitter rarely has interactions with other people, as it is used for official Tweets, such as announcements about service disruptions, and service changes.  There is no need for this page to be interactive.

-  TTC’s Customer Service Twitter account has more interaction with the tweets being liked and retweeted more often than the Official Twitter account.

-  For Facebook, they usually respond to important posts (people’s questions, complaints, etc.) within 24 hours.

The frequency for each platform posting is generally adequate.

-  TTC’s Official Twitter handle is used to post important announcements.  Therefore, it is used daily with the frequency of posting being determined by the number of newsworthy events that need to be reported on.  For example, on July 20, 2016, TTC posted 31 times to give its customers important information about transit delays, schedule changes and rerouting. On  July 19, TTC posted 40 times.

-  TTC’s Customer Service Twitter account posts around 3 to 5 times per day with information about TTC related events and services

-  TTC’s Facebook page does not update as often as twitter does.  There appears to be a maximum of three posts per day with there also being two or three days in a row when no posts are made.

-  Vine and LinkedIn also only update when there are new announcements or events, such as more construction work (Vine), or new jobs available (LinkedIn).

It is easy to access TTC’s social media sites through its website.

-  TTC’s have prominent and easily recognizable buttons on the each of the the pages of its website that link to its different social media platforms.  

-  TTC makes its easy to share its content, such as press releases, news items, and blog posts by providing share tabs for various social media platforms.

TCC takes advantage of different social network to create a more open brand image by interacting with customers.

-  Twitter is short and prompt, so it is a good place to post announcements and notifications.

-  Facebook provides a more flexible platform for interaction and the creation to two-way communicative community.  Therefore, TCC not only posts service updates, but also information about TTC-related community events and other interesting TTC-related news.

-  Vine is the place TTC uses to post pictures and videos of construction work and traffic situations.

-  LinkedIn is mostly about human resources (announcement of jobs available).

-  YouTube has videos of official announcements, and many useful videos about how to use the TTC system and services.

-  Overall,  people can find different information from TTC’s various social media platforms, which are integrated quite well.

They inject personality into their content

-  The tone that TCC varies across platforms and posts with this tone generally being appropriate for the platform.

-  The informal tone can be found on its Twitter Customer Service account. For example, the first tweet for July 17 on the Customer Service Account Twitter account is “Good morning Toronto! We’re back to help today from 7am-10pm. Enjoy your Sunday!!” Tweets, such as this one, give the TCC a real conversational and friendly tone. This tone fits the type of messages that this page contains.

-  The tone of the posts on the Official TTC Twitter account is much more technical and formal, which fits the content.

-  The posts on the Facebook page sometimes are a little more formal than needed. As a result, they lack personality. However, some, but not all, of the Facebook replies have a little more personality. For instance, some of the replies begin with the more informal “Hi,”.

Suggestions:

TTC should learn from STM, a transportation organization in Montreal. STM operates social network the same way as TTC does (Twitter makes announcements, Facebook shares more events, etc.). However, STM injects more personality into them, such as sharing content that is not directly related to TTC.  They also use emojis to be more personable and approachable.

Weaknesses

On Twitter and Facebook, the real focus is on simply getting messages out usually with very little two-way interaction, and focus on conversation.

-  TTC’s Twitter accounts are focused on only giving out information.

-  Its Facebook page contains more than just notifications.  There are postings  about the company’s activities and events.  In addition, the Facebook moderators often respond to customers’ posts, especially when these posts are critical of TCC, or when they give details of a bad experience a customer had on  but there is no platform that intend to create conversations.

Suggestions:

- TTC could create sub-pages on its Facebook page with titles, such as “Share your TTC experience and tell us what to improve,” or “Share your summer trip ideas in Toronto.”  These sub-platforms could also be turned into contests giving participants the chance to win prizes, such as a loaded fare card.

- TTC should have an Instagram account like STM does. Instagram is more popular than Vine.

- TTC should use the Instagram account to run photo contests with people incorporating TTC infrastructure into their photos.

There is room for more effective use of Youtube.

- TTC’s Youtube account contains some helpful videos about how to use the transit system. However a lot more can be done.

Suggestions:

-  On the TTC’s YouTube page, the first video “July 11, 2016 Board Meeting” is 9 hours long.  This seems slightly bureaucratic. There is no edited shorter version available, which would make TTC more accessible to members of the public that want the highlights from the board meeting.

- TTC could run a Youtube video contest with videographers creating videos related to Toronto and TTC.  

Multi Media

Suggestions:

TTC could utilize other social and multimedia platforms to provide information to the public such as this slide share made by STM.

http://www.slideshare.net/SQPRP/mouvement-collectif-la-stm

TTC could use its facilities to access and promote the arts, such as shown in this photo from STM.

https://www.facebook.com/stminfo/photos/a.10154033918169797.1073742000.191905614796/10154041976414797/?type=3&theater

TTC could use its facilities to access and promote the arts, such as shown in this photo from STM.

https://www.facebook.com/stminfo/photos/a.10154033918169797.1073742000.191905614796/10154041976829797/?type=3&theater

Bibliography

https://www.facebook.com/stminfo/

https://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/index.jsp

[indiecomicguy-blog]

Twitter Essay on SEO 

[indiecomicguy-blog]

Twitter SEO Essay

1. 94% of google search users only click results on the first search page. Search Engine Optimization gets you on that first page.

#SEO

2.  Google rankings are determined by keywords and relevance: the number and quality of backlinks from other websites.

#Google #rankings

3. Keywords let Google see your website, while backlinks help Google trust your website and increase your website’s ranking.

#backlinks

4. These two aspects that impact how Google or any search engine ranks pages each has a corresponding SEO component.

#SEO #searchengine

5.  SEO work for the onsite component ensures your site is full of keywords that are relevant to what your website is about.

#keywords #SEO

6.  The  SEO offsite component generates backlinks to your website through the use of articles, social media, blog posts etc.

#SEO #backlink

7. The more credible and influential the backlinking website is, the more positively it will influence your search result ranking.

#SEO

8. To get Google to crawl back and over your webpage, fresh and unique blog and newsfeed information is essential.

#SEO #crawlback #Google

9. SEO is the most effective way to increase traffic to your website because almost all Internet users rely on search engines.

[indiecomicguy-blog]

Hot5 App Review

[indiecomicguy-blog]

Lutenblag, Molvania

Blog work for English 100 Assignment 2

The City

Lutenblag is nestled in the Great Central Valley of Molvania.  This bustling capital of this small central European country mixes the ancient with modern.  At the end of the day, you'll find Lutenblag can be a home away from home for you if your a traveler who's weary of tourist traps and likes to venture off the beaten path.

Accommodation

Stay the night at a Hotel Zlad, a hip boutique property (think: Eastern European boho chic).  Some of the rooms on the upper floors feature modern furniture. The rooms offer jaw-dropping views of nearby scenery and landscapes.

Entertainment/Food

Lutenblag also boasts many charming and exquisite eateries, such as the small cafe in the centre of the city that our team really loved.  It had amazing soups! Wash it down with a brew that's popular with the locals: Blag.  Don’t miss the hip lounge,Club Zlad, which feels like an amazing lush oasis nestled in this lively metropolis. It has a great vibe.

Walks

If you can manage to leave the hotel, which are team found hard to do, stroll through some of the nearby hills. Reward yourself with a delicious hotdog from Sprufkil's Gourmet Hot Dogs, a quaint outpost that is set on a hillside affording a breathtaking panorama of sea and sand. Walk further along the cobblestone road past rolling, verdant fields, and you'll find an amazing place for coffee that boasts  a minimalist aesthetic (think: Ikea's cafeterias).

[indiecomicguy-blog]

Blog Work for English 100: Person B

As I cannot actually rewrite the post yet, I cannot really fix the massive problems with the sentence structure, but I think I was able to improve the flow by the categories that I chose. I think there is more continuity now.

The City

Lutenblag is nestled in the Great Central Valley. This bustling, busy, loud and fussy capital of the central European mixes the ancient with modern.  At the end of the day, you'll find Lutenblag can be a home away from home for you if your a traveler who's weary of the tried and true places like major cities that tourists often crowd too.

Accommodation

Stay the night at a Hotel Zlad, a hip boutique property (think: Eastern European boho chic). On the upper floors, many find guest rooms featuring modern furniture. From your window, you'll see jaw-dropping views of nearby scenery and landscapes.

Entertainment/Food

It also boasts many charming and exquisite eateries. Like one that our team really loved, which had amazing soups! Wash it down with a brew that's popular with the locals: Blag.  Be sure to stop by the hip lounge. Club Zlad, as it is called, feels like an amazing lush oasis nestled in this lively metropolis. It has a great vibe.

Day Walk

If you can manage to leave the hotel, it’s hard too, at least for our team it was, stroll through some of the nearby hills. There’s also Sprufkil's Gourmet Hot Dogs, a quaint outpost that is set on a hillside overlooking a breathtaking panorama of sea and sand. Walk further along the cobblestone road past verdant, green, rolling and meandering fields, and you'll find an amazing place for coffee Inside, a minimalist aesthetic dominates (think: Ikea's cafeterias).

[indiecomicguy-blog]

My Road to the Universe of Indie Comics

I began collecting and reading comics when I was a kid.  At that time, I was into all the usual suspects from Batman to X-men to Spider Man.  In my early teens, other interests took over and my six long boxes went into my closet never to be seen or heard from until two years ago when I dragged my long boxes out of the closet with the intention of selling my collection.  I had found out that certain comics I had, which previously had virtually no value, had shot up in value because they contained first appearances of characters that were going to be in upcoming superhero movies. In particular, issue #6 of X-Factor, which has the first full appearance of Apocalypse, and issue #24 of X-Factor, which has the first appearance of Archangel, had gained value. 

I also had a copy of Legends #3, which is the first modern appearance of the Suicide Squad.  I was able to sell these comics as well as around five hundred more locally through Craigslist.  At around this time, I had also begun binge watching the first four seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead.  The show completely engrossed me from the first episode, and I literally could not get enough of anything The Walking Dead related.  One day, I went to a local comic shop to get new bags and boards, so that my old comics would look more presentable for selling.  I walked out of that comic shop with 300 bags and boards and 25 issues of The Walking Dead comic.  After reading these issues, a new comic book world was opened to me. Long gone were the days of the Man of Steel and web-slinging Spider Man.  After reading the brilliant storytelling of Robert Kirkman and taking in the stunning black-and-white art work of Charles Adlard, The Walking Dead universe became my new universe of escape, while the DC and Marvel universes became a faded memory.  

However, my new love of comics has been a bumpy affair.  Like so many other people, I thought that comic book investing would be an excellent way to make some extra money to fund my personal collection.  In short, I completely failed at this endeavour.  Every week, I would go to my local comic shop and buy a bunch of DC and Marvel comics with the hope that they would increase in value. Some of them did.  However, most of them did not.  

Superman 38 represents one of my failures.  In this issue, Superman gains a new power.  I thought that this book had real potential, so I purchased 15 of the regular cover and 5 of the 1:25 covers.  I lost money on this investment.  However, I did manage to make some money selling the large number of Harley Quinn books that I bought. 

For example, the cover above is a rare variant of issue 4.  I bought it for $10 and managed to sell it for $125. After one year of my so-called comic book investing, I conducted a huge sale on the CGC Forums (http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm&c=5), which is an amazing online comic book community, and managed to just about break even.  However, over this year, I also discovered numerous independent comic book series that absolutely blew my mind.  I read Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man. I read Garth Ennis’ Preacher.

I am currently reading around 18 different comic book series with each series usually releasing one new comic per month.  Some of my favourite ongoing series include Saga, The Walking Dead, Chew, Clean Room, Harrow County, The Beauty, Enormous, Superzero, American Monster, Nailbiter, Manifest Destiny, Southern Bastards, We Can Never Go Home and East of West.  All of these series combine the two most important components for comic books: amazing story telling and superb art. The first pages of Saga are an excellent example of these two components coming together, while the cover of this issue is absolutely stunning.

One of my favourite monthly series is Enormous, as the artwork of Mehdi Cheggour is impressive in scope as well as detail.

While the comic book industry is defying the norms by being a successful print media industry, the world of comic books is intricately tied to social media.  I belong to a number of open and closed Facebook groups that are dedicated to comics in some way.  Some of these groups are for buying and selling comics, while others are dedicated to an individual comic book series, such as The walking Dead and Saga.  There are communities that I belong to and which are important to me.  In addition, through social media venues, such as Facebook and Twitter, I have had personal communication with many writers and artists, including Gary Wiebe, Johnny Christmas, Tim Daniel, Scott Synder, Fiona Staples, Ed Brison, Sebastian Jones and Mathew Rosenberg.

This blog is dedicated to everything Indie comics. While I will discuss the comic book series that I like and why I like them, and I intend to review a couple of new issues every week, there will be much more.