Friday, April 29, 2011

Facebook "Poke" Ponderings

Greetings my fellow social media god and goddesses.Today we are going to explore the Facebook Poke? Have you ever been poked on facebook and wonder why? What is the point? Yet you find yourself "poking" people back???  To poke or not to poke that is the question!!!!   

Would you believe that there is a group page on facebook devoted to divulging the meaning of the poke?? It has 115 members...serious! Facebook Poke Group is where you can this group.

So here is the thing about the "poke".  It means whatever you want it to mean. Some of the more common meanings people give it are: saying hello, to get someone's attention or to flirt.

So poke who want to, poke when you want to and poke for whatever reason and above all....do not take it so seriously...it is just a fun thing to do!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Some Facebook Tips

Recently Facebook made changes to what is seen in our news feeds. The default setting is to show only posts by friends you have most recently interacted with. Perhaps that is why it seems you are seeing only posts from a certain group and others seem to have gone silent...

To correct this just go to "Most Recent" click on it. You will then see a small arrow, click on that then select "Edit Options" Click on "show posts from" and change the option to "All of your friends and pages"

To read more on this please read this post from another blog on this topic Read More Here

Another recent change is in the security area.   Take a look up in the address bar..look for the URL address.
You will see either http:// or https://.  If you do not see https:// then you are not on a secured session. This can make it easier to be hacked.

You can change this by going to Account, then Account Settings, then Account Security, Click Change, Check the box that says Secure Browsing, Click Save.  This will allow you to have secure browsing whenever possible is what it states.  Some features such as games, networkedblogs etc will ask you to switch to an unsecured setting to use the application but it does revert back on your next session. So one you sign out and then sign back in you will be on a secured session again.



So for now those are the only changes I have been to find in surfing the blogosphere on facebook changes and updates.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Facebooks Land of Interaction

Greetings fellow social media gods and goddesses. Are you ready for yet another adventure as we explore the World of Facebook? Today’s tour takes us to the important Land of Interaction. This is a wild and truly unexplored land. Like so many adventurers before us, this is where you get to carve out your own path…charting your own waters so to speak. 

Facebook is designed with communication in mind. This is where you get to apply your conversational skills. Ahh the art of conversation! The most important factor here is listening. When someone is speaking are you just hearing them or are you listening to them? The same idea can be applied to facebook. Just hearing someone is when you scroll through your feeds, casually liking everything you see or commenting with posts that do not invite further conversation. You are just hearing when you share someone else’s video, picture, event or link without adding your own comment. When you do those things you are just going through the motions because someone told you should be doing those things.

When you are really listening then you can add value to the conversation. Even if you only have time to use the “like” button, then only “like” those posts you really do like. People do place value on this and take it to mean you really do like it. If you just go through and like everything it is not adding value and decreases your creditability. Better yet though add a comment if you can. Your comments should be conversational. Write what you would say if that person was sitting across the table from you. 

The other important part here is talking…..Do you converse with people you know or do you reach out to those you do not know? If someone you do not know very well or at all why not comment on their posts? What a great way to get to know somebody. Why not send a private message and start a conversation if you want to get to know them better or know more about their business.
When you post something are you talking to people or at them? Who are you talking to, just the people you know well? Your personal friends may get a kick out of a picture of some dish you are enjoying at a local eatery but why not add a comment that invites others to respond? 

These ideas are just some food for thought so to speak. The more you use facebook the better the feel for it you will get and the better you will be at expressing yourself and what your business offers. Facebook is an opportunity to foster relationships and can be very effective in allowing people to know you, like you and trust you. So have fun and enjoy the conversations!

Our next adventure will take us to the land of Business Pages. Where the rules are slightly different or are they?

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Land of Facebook:Tips on the Do’s and Dont's

Greetings my fellow social media gods and goddesses. I hope you are enjoying your stay in the World of Facebook…. Before we embark into the Land of Interaction I would like to take you on a wee bit of a side tour to explore the fascinating land of do's and don'ts
                                                 

There are no real rules as to what is guaranteed to work but there are some things you want to be sure to do and some things you want to step away from….

1. Be sure to: complete your profile and be sure to include what your profession or business is, a brief description of what you do, contact information, your website and some of your interests: not all of them but some of them so others have a way of relating to you. Be sure if you have a brick and mortar business you include your address. You want people to be able to find you.
2. Be sure to: share your content of information related to your business, promotions, specials, newsletters, pictures,videos etc
3. Be sure to: share your content in a warm, inviting, creative and authentic manner.
4. Be sure to: be consistent.
5. Be sure to: build your friends through people you know, have met or may want to establish a relationship with.
6. Be sure to: thank those who asked you to be friends and who accept your friend requests.
7. Be sure to: use applications that link your facebook , twitter, blog, newsletter etc.
8. Be sure to: use programs that allow you to schedule your posts.
9. Be sure to: comment on posts that you authentically can even if you do not know that person, it is a great conversation starter.
10. Be sure to: read the profiles of new friends so you can get to know them better.
11. Be sure to: share posts of others that you think your friends/followers would be interested in.
12. Step away from: games, poking, cute little requests applications.
13. Step away from: posting too frequently, space them out throughout the day.
14. Step away from: creating posts geared for those you are familiar with and already know you.
15. Step away from: the newest and latest applications until you check it out to see what value it has for you.
16. Step away from using a fan page: When you first get started, don’t start a fan page until you have built a following for you and what you do.
17. Step away from: liking everything under the sun. This does not give you creditability.
18. Step away from: posting information that is too personal. Ask yourself if this is adding value before you post.
19. Step away from: posting your dramas. This is too personal and detracts from your credibility.
20. Step away from: the selling mindset. Facebook is about relationships and interactions. 


Our next adventure will be to explore the Land of Interactions in the World of Facebook. So enjoy your visit to this fascinating and uncharted world!