Ideas, insights and inspirations.

I wrote a blog about Instagram and higher education a couple of years ago, and I think that it is a good time to revisit how universities can make the most of their Instagram presence. So, without further ado, here’s a quick Q&A with me, about Instagram in the higher education space. Q: Why should my institution care about Instagram? A: Because your prospects and current students care about Instagram. According to a social media survey by RBC Capital, 73% of 13- to 18-year-olds surveyed said that they had an Instagram account. SEVENTY-THREE PERCENT. If 73% of the prospects you’re trying to reach are standing in a room, shouldn’t you also be in that room? Teens care about Instagram and they’re actively engaging with the community every day. In a CNBC article about social media trends and teens, one 18-year-old is quoted saying “I feel that Instagram is still the most-used social media platform for people my age, and pretty … Continue reading

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Snapchat had a rough year. With Instagram and Facebook stories moving in on Snapchat’s territory, Snapchat saw a drop in active user growth from 17.2% to just 5% this fall. Snapchat introduced stories in 2013. And they owned the market for daily image and video stories until August of 2016, when Instagram introduced their own story feature. There was a lot of initial backlash from users when Instagram stories launched last fall. It felt like Instagram had stolen something that was unique to Snapchat and users weren’t eager to switch platforms. But, as with most products and innovations the Facebook parent company has released over the years, users grew to love Instagram stories. This fall Instagram boasted a whooping 300 million daily users, trumping Snapchat’s 173 million. How will Snapchat rise above the tide in 2018? On Wednesday Snap, Inc. announced a major redesign to the app, an effort to differentiate themselves from other social media apps. One major change, … Continue reading

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Founded in 1998 by two Ph.D. students at Stanford University, Google has risen to become more than just a household name. Today, Google stands strong as an empire, armed with a vast arsenal of products and devices. In 2006, we published an infographic showcasing the three most popular search engines in America. It comes as no surprise that even in 2006 Google came out on top as the clear winner. But what you may find surprising is how this data has shifted further in Google’s favor over the last decade. Below is our original infographic from 2006. The data shows that Google held 46% of the search engine market share, with only Yahoo and MSN proving to be real competitors. One might argue that in search it was still anyone’s game. But that’s not the case today… In 2016, Google held a whopping 77.43% of the global search engine market share. And their only American competitors, Bing and Yahoo (who’s … Continue reading

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As a web designer, I walk a fine line between utility and innovation. Every day I’m challenged to create something that users will understand how to use but that’s also beautiful in a way that’s never been done before. Q: But Krystal, if it’s never been done before how will your user understand how to use it‽ A: They might not understand. And that’s okay. We’ll teach them. We’re creatures of habit and change can be scary. That’s why when Instagram changed their logo last year people lost their actual minds. (Or, for the boomers among us, when Coca-Cola thought they were doing the world a favor with New Coke in 1985 and nearly lost everything.) Doctor Heidi Grant Halvorson explains that “[People] genuinely believe (often on an unconscious level) that when you’ve been doing something a particular way for some time, it must be a good way to do things. And the longer you’ve been doing it that way, … Continue reading

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As a Millennial, I have been fortunate enough to reap the benefits of the invent of the internet for basically my entire life. While I do know of a world without the internet, smart phones, and Jimmy Johns online ordering system, I recognize the value that these seemingly small conveniences add to my life. Flashback to the fall of 1997. It’s an ordinary Monday morning and my mom’s getting me ready for my first day of Kindergarten. How will she know exactly what time it’s going to rain today? Will I need my rain boots for recess? Will she know what time to leave to beat the traffic and ensure that I’m not late for my very first day as a kindergartener? After all, Waze won’t be invented for nearly another decade! If we get a flat tire on the way to said school, how will she call for help without the Progressive roadside assistance app, let alone, a cell … Continue reading

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Founded in 2009, Dribbble has quickly become one of the largest digital platforms for designers to show and tell, promote, discover, and explore design. With over 500,000 users, 300+ of which call Pittsburgh home, Dribbble is changing the way designers share their work, find new clients, make friends and expand their skillset. Exclusivity has been a key factor in Dribbble’s success. Borrowing terms from basketball, players must be drafted by existing members in order to upload and share their work. This maintains a level of quality among the work shared, setting Dribbble apart from other portfolio websites, like Behance, that are free to anyone with a computer and access to the internet. But Dribbble is more than an exclusive portfolio sharing resource. It’s user testimonials prove that users can, and have also: Landed dream jobs Scored new clients Found endless inspiration Received constructive feedback Made network connections And now they can acquire career training Dribbble Training is the most recent … Continue reading

College is expensive. The average cost of a four-year college degree in the United States is something like $31,374, per year. Which adds up to a whopping $125,498 by the time graduation rolls around. I’m frugal. Which basically means that I Google everything I buy in order to find the best quality and price available. And I’m not alone. According to Adweek, 81% of shoppers conduct online research before buying. It makes sense that prospective college students are heading online to research their top schools in order to get the best quality education for their investment. And your homepage isn’t the only place their searches are taking them. A survey by Global Web Index found that 36% of teens and young adults ages 16-24 use social media to research brands, products or services. A similar survey by Uversity found that 68% of high school students use social media to research colleges. So how can you maximize your social media potential? 1. … Continue reading

  Snapchat is a social media super giant. With 26 million active users, over half of which are between the ages of 18 and 24, Snapchat is stealing hearts and seconds. Snapchat is currently the most popular social media app among teens. In fact, 77% of college students are using the app at least once a day. I even have friends who claim to be “anti social media” that are using the app regularly. Which begs the question, why aren’t more colleges and universities jumping on the snapwagon? One of the easiest ways that colleges and universities can make their mark on Snapchat is through Snapchat’s custom, geo-targeted filters, or Geofilters. Think of Geofilters as free billboards. Brands can work with companies like Elliance 😉 to create custom artwork that users can apply directly to the snaps they share. There are two kinds of Geofilters, long term and short term (or as Snapchat has coined them, Community and On-Demand filters.) … Continue reading

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I’ve noticed more and more, emojis are showing up in my inbox. My favorite restaurants and retailers are tacking little images of suns, fireworks and ocean waves to their email subject lines. I found myself clicking on them more often, and got curious if others did too. Do emojis really trigger spam filters? As a major emoji enthusiast, a connoisseur if you will, of the best way to emojify my conversations, I had to know. If there were badges for Google search proficiency, I’d consider myself highly proficient. My fourth grade librarian, Mrs. Williamson, would be elated to know that I’m still actively using quotation marks and plus and minus signs in my search fields. So imagine my surprise when I searched Emojis + Spam Filters and couldn’t find a single reputable article from the last year with data to support that adding an emoticon to the subject line of an email would trigger the spam filter. Mail Chimp makes no mention of emojis in … Continue reading

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Design for mobile first? No way. I was in denial. People couldn’t possibly enjoy trolling the Internet more on their smartphones than through their computers. Or could they? I thought about my own habits. Wake up. Check Facebook. Go about my morning routine. Get ready to leave the house. Facebook. Drive to work. Facebook. Go into work. Work for a little while. Eat a doughnut. Facebook… It’s a vicious cycle. But what does my millennial, forever-faithful relationship with Facebook have to do with the mobile-first web experience? The answer is everything. It’s a truth I wasn’t ready to accept, but then the usership numbers started rolling in on a landing page I designed recently. Ninety eight percent of users were visiting this particular landing page on their… you guessed it… mobile devices. And there it was: concrete, matter-of-fact, absolute data that proved my thinking was completely flawed. What now, huh? What does this mean? Thanks to Facebook, (Or, no thanks to Facebook, … Continue reading

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