MET:Posterous

From UBC Wiki

Introduction

Posterous is a simple blogging / lifestreaming system that allows users to broadcast messages or articles by auto-posting via email or directly via web(posterous account) with either a computer or a mobile device. Any type of file can be posted such as a pdf, doc, ppt, jpg, gif, png and mp3. Just send an email and Posterous takes the information and re-formats it for optimal display on the user's blog [1]. Users can auto-post to Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other social media/lifestreaming sites [2]. To start using it, users only have to send an email to post @ posterous.com and, within a few minutes, posterous will respond with the address for the new blog [3]. When registering, sign up with an email address and choose a personal URL. All posts will be transferred to your site automatically.

{{#ev:youtube|ckGUE6LprTI}}

History

Posterous began in May 2008 by three entrepreneurs, Sachin Agarwal, Brett Gibson, and Garry Tan

Founders of Posterous: (left to right) Sachin, Brett and Garry

. The site receives funding from Redpoint Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Y Combinator[4], and angel investors. The founders of Posterous loved to share online and decided to create an easy, simple method for people to post information to one another via email. They have decided not to sell the company and continue with their blogging/lifestreaming vision.

Milestones [5] 

   -Posterous recently launched Posterous Groups function mobile (2011)
   -Posterous named in Lead411's Hottest San Francisco Companies list (5/18/10)
   -Posterous received $4.4M in Series A funding. (3/5/10)
   -Posterous added Gus Tai as Investor. (1/1/10)
   -Posterous added Rich Pearson as VP Marketing
   -Posterous added Satish Dharmaraj as board of directors.
   -Posterous added Brett Gibson as Co-Founder. (6/1/09)
   -Posterous added Chris Sacca as Advisor.
   -Posterous added Timothy Ferriss as Advisor.
   -Posterous added Garry Tan as Co-Founder.
   -Posterous added Sachin Agarwal as Founder, CEO, Board of Directors.
   -Posterous acquired slinkset. (6/23/09)
   -Posterous received $725k in Angel funding. (12/1/08)
   -Posterous received $15k in Seed funding. (5/1/08)
   -A Y Combinator startup

Posting to Posterous

Posting to a posterous site requires very little from the user. It's a simple upload and viola, the posterous team figures out the rest! When posting from the Posterous site, users are presented with a rich-text editor, otherwise, if the user chooses to email the link, Posterous will convert the document, photo or video automatically.

If you send an mp3 file, Posterous will create a flash player for it in the post. If you send more than one photo, posterous will automatically create a gallery. Documents are displayed through Scribd's flash interface. Posterous can also handle most HTML tags and when sending a YouTube URL, it immediately embeds the video in the post.

Mobile/Apps

Mobile microblogging sharing text, photos or audio with a single app. Posterous has released apps for the IPhone and androids so that friends, family members and colleagues can now create and participate in a Posterous Group from their phone, the Web or via email privately or publicly, without limitations.[6]

{{#ev:youtube|0S-L_8K_zNc}}

Social Integration & Collaboration

Posterous sites are designed for sharing. People can choose to share with a select crowd of people or join interest communities of other posterous bloggers. Besides sharing on the posterous site, users can easily auto post to other social media apps to share with a wider community. Posterous is a new social media site that publishes all content in one area and than allows the user to decide where else they would like to post at the same time.

The platforms they currently support include:[7] 

   *Facebook
   *Twitter
   *Flickr
   *Picasa
   *YouTube
   *Vimeo
   *Tumblr
   *Blogger
   *Wordpress
   *Xanga

Educational Implications

Posterous can be used as powerful tool in the classroom. The blogs can be used educator to student, student to student, educator to educator, or even educator to parent. The blogs are created for many reasons and can be shared in a variety of ways.

Educators that want a simple web presence can send students and parents to the Posterous site for quick and simple information or even educational sites that the students can engage outside of the classroom atmosphere.

Students can also have individual accounts and use the site to post interactive websites, photos, reflections, critiques and dialogue together. Students are able to create a safe, online community in which they can collaborate and share on other social networks sites they may belong to.

Teachers can interact with other teachers not only in their schools, but within the wider community. On their blogs they can share ideas, resources and learn with the teaching community and connect to outside knowledge building communities like Twitter.

Educators may also use Posterous as a communication tool with parents. Sending home newsletters, class updates, reviews of the week and much more. Parents may also become part of the learning community and contribute as well as collaborate with teachers and students.

Posterous and the Theory of Online Learning

Educators need to play an active role in defining and creating (forging) the tools and applications that define the relationship between media and learning(Anderson, 2008, pg.47) [8] Anderson (2008) stresses the need for meaningful online interactions that support learners through a variety of strategies. Four attributes of learning that are highlighted are: learner-centred, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and community-centered.

Posterous is an online learning system that helps to exemplify these attributes through the creation of diverse and distributed interactions. The online blogging/lifestreaming tool can help teachers reach beyond the traditional classroom setting.

'Learner-Centered':

  • forums/blogs to attain students existing knowledge/to help educators build upon what students already know
  • a common site that provides a common language and skill set among teacher and students
  • consistent feedback through discussion and reflections

'Knowledge-Centered':

  • builds a community of knowledge building with connections to other Posterous accounts, twitter, Facebook and other networking sites.
  • builds unique ways of understanding and talking about knowledge with forums/videos/audio broadcasts/pictures and a variety of features.

'Assessment-Centered':

  • feedback from the educator, peers and the wider community (distributed learning)
  • links to a variation of assessments such as simulation exercises or virtual labs
  • a collaborative environment that can build upon project or product based assessments

'Community Centered':

  • a flexible environment that extends out and connects with multiple learning networks

Posterous as a Community of Practice

Posterous is a community-driven platform that offers users many ways to interact and share content, from uploading files, to sharing ideas in special interest discussion groups.[9] It allows for creating, sharing and updating in a simple and easy fashion and instantly makes the user a part of a community. By building a network and sharing blog posts with Twitter and Facebook, a user can find multiple interest groups. Users can have ownership and control over what they read and more importantly what they write [10] and how they choose to share it.

References

  • Anderson, T. (2008). “Towards and Theory of Online Learning.” In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.(8)

External Links

  1. ↑ http://vator.tv/news/2009-09-23-blogging-in-north-beach-with-posterous
  2. ↑ http://www.bayofblog.com/2011/05/posterous-auto-post-your-articles-to-major-social-platforms.html
  3. ↑ http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/posterous_minimalist_blogging.php
  4. ↑ Frederic Lardinois (2008-07-02). "Posterous: Minimalist Blogging".
  5. ↑ http://www.crunchbase.com/company/posterous
  6. ↑ http://pgsimoes.posterous.com/posterous-faster-sites-new-mobile-apps-and-ni
  7. ↑ http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/07/posterous-whats-it-all-about.html
  8. ↑ Anderson, T. (2008). “Towards and Theory of Online Learning.” In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.
  9. ↑ (June 2011) Guardian News. "It's Never Been Easier to Share Inspiration". http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/07/tefl
  10. ↑ (June 2011) Guardian News. "It's Never Been Easier to Share Inspiration". http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/07/tefl
Retrieved from "https://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?title=MET:Posterous&oldid=690971"