The Week in Links

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up... I know you are all on tenterhooks waiting for it. (Side note: have you ever seen actual tenterhooks? They look pretty darn ferocious.) But on Thursday night my beloved Portland Pilots hosted what was probably the best college basketball game anywhere in the country this entire season, winning a triple overtime thriller over BYU, 114-110. One of Portland's players - Bobby Sharp, the aptly named outside shooter - hit eight three pointers, including two in the final 20 seconds of double OT to force a third OT, and for a brief period was trending NATIONALLY on Twitter. It was pretty freaking awesome.

But enough about that... onto the links!

• Best thing you'll read all week? This incredible and inspiring post from Cornell's Keith Hannon on his blog Social Matters about engaging donors on social.

• Great article from Becca Ramspott of Frostburg State University on the CASE blog on what 2013 taught her about 2014. Applause all around for this choice quote: "In 2014, instead of cute-sy calendar features, I’m focusing on creatively communicating my university’s general goals and initiatives as they happen, rather than worrying about what day they fall on and what content type is assigned for that day."

• Speaking of CASE - don't miss the next #casesmc chat this Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 11AM Pacific Time. It'll be about analytics... and maybe dogs and cats. 

• Good thoughts and insight from Tim Nektriz of SUNY Oswego on his blog Inside Tim's Head about the much-talked about looming "decline" of Facebook and what it means for brands.

• Speaking of Facebook (notice a trend in my formatting here? Pretty awesome, huh?) - do yourself a favor and read this article by the always-insightful Ma'ayan Plaut on the Oberlin College web team blog about her Facebook strategy for 2014. Choice quote: "What Facebook is asking us to do is to think about and/or throw money at a problem. If you remove the money in question, what we are left with is thinking, and they can’t control that (for now, at least — I can’t wait for the day where advertisers can lease our brainwaves, too)."

• Really enjoyed this post from Sheri Lehman on her blog that asks seven social media pros - most from higher ed - about the state of social media today.

• Speaking of tips from #hesm pros... I enjoyed this list of content creation ideas for higher ed by Robin Dicker of Southern Oregon University (home state what what!) on her blog Mass Social. Really like those close-up collages - I did one with doorwways a few months ago and it was super popular... think I'll have to "borrow" the stairway one!

• SEO talk makes me sweat and squirm, but this is a really good article by Georgy Cohen on Meet Content about the importance of headlines and thoughtful headline writing.

Speaking of SEO... JUST KIDDING! That's it for this week. Enjoy the next entry in Shoegazer January - "Girls" by Death in Vegas, which is a bloody brilliant song if you ask me.