Changes to our social media presence and new site features
Posted by Huw,
Until now, we have never really done social media properly, but as its importance and usage increases it's about time we did, so I am pleased to announce that I have appointed a social media manager who will be running our social media channels: Alice, my youngest daughter.
Initially she will be concentrating on Facebook and Twitter and also our new Instagram account @bricksetofficial but in time we will investigate having a presence on Google+ (if anyone still uses it) and Pinterest.
Although the website will always be our main focus, we will be publishing exclusive content and hosting competitions on social media platforms so you will probably want to like or follow us if you are a user of them.
So, please welcome Alice aboard!
Also, I have made a few tweaks to the site which you can read about after the break.
- There's a new index of staff reviews (linked to on the More menu) that lists our front page reviews which should make it easier to find them.
- The buy product listings have been improved: items eligible for Amazon Prime are indicated; there's a new drop-down menu allowing you to filter the list by year so can find, for example, all 2016 sets being sold by a particular vendor, and the My Collection drop-down now includes your user-defined flags if you use them.
- Some new functionality has been added to the API: see the change log at the bottom of the documentation.
- Videos embedded in news articles should now resize to suit your screen size.
I hope you find the changes useful.
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49 comments on this article
Welcome on board Alice and good luck!
Social media are one of stupidest thing created by man. I say "no" to so called "social" media.
Don't worry @parsom, there will be an anti-social media presence too ;)
Welcome aboard Alice and good luck!
Thank you Huw for your continued sterling efforts in improving and tweaking an already incredible website and resource.
Thanks for keeping the API current, Huw. That gives me faith to keep expanding my own little project.
Not knowing anything about you Huw, especially your age, I now have visions of your youngest daughter being about 6 and being entrusted with a laptop. Just make sure she doesn't get jam on the keys.
That said, I'm sure a 6 year old would post more interesting content than most of my 'friends' on Facebook!!! Good luck Alice! :)
^ LOL, she's 21 :-)
^^ I'm always open to suggestions for improvement: it's usually easy to implement new methods or add new properties so if there's anything you need, let me know.
Welcome to Team Brickset Alice!
I keep toying with the idea of trying the social media malarkey. If Brickset is going to start having exclusive content on them, maybe it's the push I need to join Twitter or Facebook.
^ I just use it for news. Very handy for updates etc. Don't get me wrong it does have its downsides. But what doesn't?
hi Alice :)
If I may post another suggestion... As a slightly older AFOL (54) I have difficulty in reading the website on my iPhone. Is it possible to have a button/option somewhere where you can increase the font size?
The site is responsive so should scale on small screens and show text at an appropriate size. However you can override that using the 'switch to desktop view' link at the bottom of every page. If you do so, the text will be tiny, so be sure you're in handheld view first.
Welcome aboard, Alice!
Not going to use any of the "social media", but hey.
Welcome to the team, Alice!
I've already noticed the increased presence, like it a lot.
Yes, people still use G+. There's a pretty healthy LEGO community on there as well.
Hi Alice!
I was thinking, maybe you guys could post more than just links to your articles on Twitter. Something else, I dunno. Cool to see you're expanding.
Great news.
Welcome Alice!!!
For everyone my instagram account is @oscarwrg if you like to follow me, I'll be very gratefull
One thing I would really like on the Twitter account is for all new articles to be posted there. Otherwise I have to remember to come to the site to see what new articles have been posted and I sometimes don't see things for a few days. Just a suggestion and keep up the great work.
Welcome Alice! I'm glad to see brickset joining the IG community:)
For anyone that wants to see my IG, my account is @bricks_onbricks
I focus on just Star Wars photography! :)
Oh, dear- now I'll have to start using social media...
Welcome to the team, Alice!
Welcome Alice!
Can't say I like social media. The amount of egotism is astounding and it only feeds it. Top it off with the bad habits and utter lack of privacy (I mean, seriously, people track their kids entire lives on there...) And I'd rather it go for good. You have to treat it as if whoever can see your profile has seen the whole thing. If you don't have privacy settings turned up all the way, you can garuntee there's random people who have checked out your page.
However, this is a fantastic move for brickset. I manage the social media page for a local Taekwondo school, as I also assist on teaching. The amount of interaction we've had has increased significantly, as had the number of inquiries to classes. As much as I despise social media for the issues it has. It is an excellent and essential marketing tool.
The only thing I'd ask is that you keep it all unified. I'd rather not have to watch brickset on five social media pages, in addition to the actual website.
Can you guys make an android and iOS app? It will make us accessing brickset easier.
What boringly predictable comments. Hooray for brickset branching out to new channels! Luddites gonna ludd.
Welcome aboard, Alice. Stay away from Google Plus. It is a dark and lonely place, an alley that Google tricks you into going down with the promise of adventure, then when you get to the end there's just a big advertisement on the wall.
Welch to team Brickset Alice, hope to both enter (and win some contests in the near future).
Huw, I didn't imagine your youngest daughter would be 21. I also pictured a child much younger. I'm sure Alice will do great! Oh, also thanks for resizing embedded videos.
Yes G+ is very active. G+ is the only one I use.
I'm just here to say "Hey, I use Google+"
Finally more females, yay! (Still thinking about these survey results and that tiny amount of women using this site...) I'm using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I have an account on Google+ but I never use it, nobody is there anyway...
Thanks for the advice on G+. I guess we can try using it and seeing whether it's worth our while.
@Brick Belt, as far as it makes sense to, we will. They'll be used primarily to encourage visits to here since that's where the revenue is generated, although the way that's done will be different to suit the particular platform.
Welcome, Alice - it's great to have you expand the social media presence of Brickset! I'm not on Facebook but am looking forward to your Twitter activities. I'm echoing what @CM4Sci said already, that all new articles should be referenced on Twitter when they go live on the site here.
I'd like to put in a vote for how the social media should be managed. I use Facebook for keeping up with my actual friends. I use Twitter for keeping up with my interests (Brickset) and companies. And I like to keep them separate. If I'm trying to engage with my friends (on Facebook), I'm not in the mood to wade through posts from companies (even companies I like). With that in mind, I echo Brick Belt's comments that I hope Brickset's social media presence is unified. The same content on all platforms, so we only have to subscribe/like/follow one. That would allow us to pick the platform without missing anything.
Welcome Alice!
I don't use Twitter, Pintrest or Google+ but I liked your page on Facebook and I am following you on Instagram! Keep up the good work Alice!
Welcome Alice!
Glad to hear that about the staff reviews; I always had a hard time finding those specific ones without scrolling back through the recent posts.
The best Lego website on the internet just keeps getting better, keep up the good work Huw!
Good to know Brickset is keeping up with the times. Just because I don't personally use social media doesn't mean my favorite websites shouldn't! (Though I do hope it will always be possible to keep track of all things Brickset through the main and forum webpages, since they are pretty much the only ways I access the community!)
Not going to say my age but I'm often frustrated at the people who prejudge everyone of around my age to use social media sites. I never have and never plan to but anyway back to topic I only joined the site a few months ago and it's already my second favroites site of all time (after lego.com of course) so thanks for perfecting perfection :D.
Nice work.
It would be really good to get a mobile app that actually works.
Is this something on the tech roadmap at present Huw?
Welcome, Alice! I've noticed some changes in FB as well and like them. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Welcome Alice ! I won't partake outside the blog, but I am sure you will find many avid Lego Fans who will :)
@Reg, which platform? I haven't used any iOS ones but MyBrickset on Android is highly regarded and works a treat.
@Huw. Yes iOS please. I have an app called Brickset mobile for iphone but it's a third party app (Kellino.co.uk) which used to run fine but kind of stopped mid way through 2015. It was free. I also paid for iBricksetPRO more recently which I thought would be an upgrade to Brickset mobile for iphone but sadly it's awful. I'm sure thousands of fans would love to have a great app on their i devices. Kiora
Thanks for this update. My favourite way of access to brickset content is here on the website, due to the screensize.
Welcome onboard Alice
Welcome, Alice! :)
Welcome Alice! Is your Dad going to drag you along to shows too? Would be great for you to talk to our potential social media person!
Well done Alice and good luck on your new adventure! Like some other people I'm not really a fan of Facebook and not on it myself (and I'm 33) but there are loads of people out there who are so it makes sense for a growing business to improve it's presence on social media. You never know, I'm debating making a profile just to check out the Brickset one.
Edit: Waw, this country thing adapts to where I am, never noticed that before....
Have a good start Alice!
If Alice needs any help running the social media side of things I'd be happy to help out :)