Martine Rolls: Join in the chat

Exciting things are happening at bayofplentytimes.co.nz.
New features are being developed all the time so keep an eye on our site to see what's happening. We've added some great videos and graphics to stories and, of course, we have the photo galleries. Readers' pictures make awesome galleries so if you have taken photos in or around the Bay, feel free to email them to us.
Did you catch our live chat with Liam Finn on Thursday? Liam joined us on CoveritLive for a chat about life, touring and his new album Fomo. It was a lively conversation with questions ranging from pretty deep and meaningful to funny.
One question was: "Do you think the music industry understands how to make a living in the new digital age?" Liam answered: "I'm excited by the changes in the industry. I think it will slowly sort out the good, real music from the crap through access to so much music ... it's not ruled by money as much as it was. I think there will always be a market for live and unique music."
Another one was: "What is the most effective step a Kiwi artist can take to break into international industries?" Liam said: "I think you really have to get out of NZ to be honest. Go and base yourself somewhere bigger, harder and uncomfortable ... like London, or NY, Berlin ... and stick it out. You really have to keep following up on things ... and tour, tour, tour."
The great thing about CoveritLive is that anyone can join in. You don't have to register first. In case you missed the live chat with Liam, you can still see the replay.
We're interested in doing more live chats and we'd like to keep it local. If you have someone in mind who you'd like to chat with online, let me know. Someone sporty perhaps like one of the Steamers, or something spicy like our own local celebrity chef Peter Blakeway? Feel free to email me your suggestions and we'll see what we can do: martine.rolls@bayofplentytimes.co.nz
***
Have you seen those new custom landing pages on Facebook? It's becoming a trend in social media marketing and everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon.
I like what Whittaker's Chocolate Lovers, the All Blacks and Victoria's Secret are doing with their custom Facebook pages. With those I don't mind the extra click, but most others are purposeless and therefore annoying.
Internet users are notoriously impatient. When I'm on Facebook, I want to know what's going on and not look at a picture first. Just leave off all that fancy stuff and get me straight to your wall!
***
We had a story last week on an Otumoetai College student who was being cyber-bullied. More than a few people commented on this and so did Sweet as Social Media. Their post said: "We are campaigning for awareness of cyber bullying in the hopes of seeking better answers for kids."
Enough reason for me to check them out. They say they're there to help Kiwis navigate the digital migration by sharing the virtual risks, helping each other with online problems and focusing on social good and the potential of social media technologies. With so many young people on Facebook and so many idiots and predators out there, this is something that can only be encouraged. See www.sweetassocialmedia.com for more details.
***
It's fine for locals and community groups to post their events or links on the Bay of Plenty Times Facebook page, we actually encourage this, but if the message is commercial or not that relevant to our audience, it will be removed. Please don't take offence if this happens. It's part of our policy.
What you can do to promote your business is look into online advertising. It's targeted and cost effective, and bayofplentytimes.co.nz gets a huge amount of visitors each day. If you'd like to find out more about the options of advertising on bayofplentytimes.co.nz, call 577 7770 and ask for Jo Sutton or Lisa Ross. They'd be happy to explain all the benefits.