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ERIN BROWN

Web producer, sports journalist and everything in between
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Articles Posted: 6; Links Seeded: 0
Member Since: 1/2006Last Seen: 12/15/2008

Newsvine Tips: Planting good seeds

News Type: none — Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:33 AM EST
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News media-based web sites are only as good as their content, which usually places a strong emphasis on writing. Below are a few tips I've picked up over several years in working in the online media industry that would apply to seeding Newsvine.

• Eliminate redundancies from the headline - A lot of news sites incorporate extra information in the title portion of web pages (i.e. site name, date), which carries over to the Newsvine seeding bookmarklet. Remember, newsvine dates and provides source attribution for each seed, so eliminating this information will help keep your clean, consise and more attractive to readers.

• Describe the story, don't share your opinion - Headlines give a user some idea of what a story will be about, but not always. Rather than use your summary to convey an opinion about a story the user has not read, you're better off trying to explain what the article is about. Which brings us to...

• Keep it short - An unspoken rule in journalism is to keep leads (the first paragraph of a story, for you non-journalism folk) to 35 words or less. This can also apply to summaries. You don't need to tell a reader everything in your summary. You just want them to entice them to click through.

• Check your tags - Tagging is what gets stories out on Newsvines various pages, so it's worth spending a few extra moments to make sure those tags are just right. Spell-checking tags is crucial because one stray letter could mean the difference between a ton of hits or none at all.

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{"commentId":14460,"authorDomain":"prompt"}
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Very good points there, it is quite often I see people who have seeded with links and site names in the title. Remember that getting a lot of seeds and sacrificing will get you noticed, however not in the way you want to be noticed. Take time to read over article you want to seed. Find that balance of quality and quantity.

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    Reply#1 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:42 AM EST
    {"commentId":14612,"authorDomain":"braytek"}
    Bwana

    Thanks for the tips. I'll keep them in mind.

    {"commentId":14612,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"braytek"}
      Reply#2 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:10 PM EST
      {"commentId":14892,"authorDomain":"aldo-wink"}
      Aldo Wink

      Hi, can i put a translated version (Dutch) of your articel on my Vine?

      {"commentId":14892,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"aldo-wink"}
        Reply#3 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:41 PM EST
        {"commentId":14946,"authorDomain":"sheep"}
        evano

        Nice tips, Erin. For me, rather than summarize in the comments, I usually try to grab a short excerpt from the article itself. Sometimes, its the article lede, other times its an important point in the middle of the article -- something to pique a reader's interest.

        {"commentId":14946,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"sheep"}
          Reply#4 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:26 PM EST
          {"commentId":14978,"authorDomain":"critt"}
          Critt Jarvis

          Solid guidance, Erin. I went back and edited my titles, tags, and leads. Much better now. Thanks. `critt

          {"commentId":14978,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"critt"}
            Reply#5 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:58 PM EST
            {"commentId":15007,"authorDomain":"embrown"}
            Erin Brown

            Aldo: You're more than welcome to post a translated version on your site. A link back here would be appreciated. :) Also, feel free to send me the link to your translated version (via the contact author feature) and I'll add it to the above post.

            The same goes for anyone else who would like to translate the post into another language!

            {"commentId":15007,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"embrown"}
              Reply#6 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:39 PM EST
              {"commentId":15051,"authorDomain":"tj"}
              TopJedi

              Good points Erin! Having planted a few seeds and received considerable feedback here are some more suggestions:

              1. Try to get to original source material whenever possible.

              2. Don't paste the whole article... for internet based copyright reasons as well.

              3. Label Opinion and Editorial based material accordingly... even in headline is appreciated.

              4. When editing tags be considerate. Tags are not intended for adding graffiti

              5. Kudos to Newsvine for adding "Related Article" sections tonight!!! Tags are even more critical as a result and "vining" will undoubtedly be much more intuitive!

              {"commentId":15051,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"tj"}
                Reply#7 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:12 PM EST
                {"commentId":15053,"authorDomain":"prompt"}
                prompt

                1. Try to get to original source material whenever possible.

                This I feel is a big one. If everyone tries to get the source material, we end up with less dupes. Also, when you use a spin-off article, the bias in the piece is exponentially increased.

                {"commentId":15053,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"prompt"}
                  Reply#8 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:16 PM EST
                  {"commentId":16104,"authorDomain":"tang"}
                  Calvin Tang

                  Great tips Erin and crew, here's a related Post: How To Seed Newsvine Effectively

                  {"commentId":16104,"threadId":"22231","contentId":"72161","authorDomain":"tang"}
                    Reply#9 - Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:10 PM EST
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