Social Media — artpebble

How to Use the Facebook Timeline:

December 28, 2011 Leave a Comment

Timeline, the redesigned version of the profile that Facebook gives users much more flexibility in how they present themselves. Users can customize their banner image, make certain types of content more prominent, and decide what moments of their life they want to feature. Everything users have ever posted to Facebook is now much more accessible, so most will want to browse through their Timeline and ensure all their content is appropriate and has the right privacy settings.

Here we’ll walk-through all the new features available in Timeline, how to control what’s displayed, and discuss how Timeline will impact users and the rest of the site. Facebook has struck a balance between creating a common structure for all profiles but giving users to ability customize the way they present themselves within those boundaries. In this way, the site has become more personal without following Myspace’s mistake of allowing users so much freedom over arrangement of core features that browsing becomes confusing.

Those who want to early access to Timeline can sign up at its new about page. It’s also possible to get a developer release of the Timeline now. To get access, those who aren’t already developers users must have a verified account and install the Developer app, then create an application, click “Get Started Using Open Graph”, edit some settings, then wait a few minutes and return to their profile. They should see the Timeline, and can select to make it visible it to their friends immediately or it will be automatically published on September 29th, 2011.

Cover

At the top of the Timeline is the Cover, a giant banner image. Users can select any of their their album photos as their Cover, or upload a new image. Once selected, users can click on their Cover to bring up options to reposition it, choose a new image, or remove their current Cover.

With this option, Facebook has given users more control over the look of their profile than ever before. It may also lead to the rise of applications that let users create collages or other special images specifically for use as Covers.

Info

Below the Cover users see the biographical information that previously appeared on their Info tab. This includes their work, education, current city, and hometown. There’s also an “About” link that expands the Info section to reveal work and education details, a “History by the Year” of a user’s employment and schooling, a user’s Relationships and Family connections, their About Me text, favorite quotes, basic info and contact info. Users no longer have the option to “Feature” certain friend lists, family members, or Groups.

To get users to keep their Info up to date, there are edit links in the expanded About section and a big Update Info on the main Timeline view. By getting people to share as much biographical information as possible, Facebook gains valuable data that it can charge advertisers to use for targeting their ads.

Featured Content Categories

Beside the Info section, the Timeline displays four channels of different types of content. By default, these are Friends, Photos, Map, and Likes, but users can click a drop-down to swap in other categories into the featured slots. When viewing a friend’s Timeline, this drop-down reveal the non-featured categories.

The categories users can choose from include:

Friends – Displays all of a user’s friends including a overlaid count of their mutual friends. When expanded, friends can be searched through or sorted by characteristic. A privacy control and link to the Find Friends feature appear in a user’s own Friends section.
Photos – All of a user’s photo albums and videos, followed by their tagged photos and videos. Each album includes a privacy control. As the old photostrip has been replaced with the Cover this this photos section, users must pick one photo to represent them instead of five.
Likes – A user’s Liked Pages sorted by category, with their Favorite Likes shown first followed by links to see all Pages in that category. Below, a user’s Liked Pages are displayed in reverse chronological order. With access from the main profile view, Pages now have a bigger opportunity to gain new Fans from users browsing the Likes of their friends.
Map – A Bing map of all of a user’s location-tagged posts and updates.The map can be sorted by categories such as photos, event check-ins, or restaurants. Zooming in and clicking on an individual pushpin displays the original update.

Subscribers – All of a user’s public and friend subscribers, and settings to control notifications and privacy.
Subscriptions – The people a user is subscribed to.
Notes – One column of the Notes written by users, and another of Notes that tag them. There are also links to write a new Note and view drafts.
Apps – Users can add any of their installed apps into the category channels. When clicked on, they display a dedicated timeline of all a user’s activity within the app. Users can also see the most recently used apps of friends. The ability to display Apps more prominently in the profile could lead to a boom of development of utility apps similar to those that appear in the Profile Boxes a few years ago.
Certain preferred media partners, such as Spotify and Hulu show a special “All Time” of a user’s most frequently consumed content, such as their one most watched video and a list of their other “Top Videos Watched”. The ability to display Apps more prominently in the profile could lead to a boom of development of utility apps similar to those that appear in the Profile Boxes a few years ago. Facebook also automatically creates categories that aggregate specific types of media activity, such as “Music” category that shows Spotify and Rdio activity together.

Activity Log

Above the featured content categories is a button called View Activity that shows a red counter of posts and info that require approval before appearing on a user’s profile. When clicked, the button reveals the Activity Log, a private log of all of a user’s activity since the joined Facebook. Downward arrow buttons next to each piece of content let users select its privacy and whether its featured on, allowed on, or hidden from a user’s Timeline.

A drop-down in the top right corner lets users filter to only see certain types of activity or content published through specific apps. By visiting the Activity Log after using an app with persistent permission to share a activity, users can hide specific actions such as listening to an embarrassing song or watching a controversial video. As there is no “incognito mode” or way to preemptively prevent certain activity of an approved app from being published, this is the only way to hide specific actions.

Users should considering browsing through all their content in the Activity Log and ensuring they at least know what they’re sharing and with who. As the Timeline makes this content much more accessible to others, users should make sure nothing added to Facebook long ago is visible to the wrong people.

Besides the View Activity button on the Info panel of one’s own Timeline is a settings drop-down that lets users preview their profile from the privacy perspective of a specific friend. There’s also a link to creating an embeddable profile badge for websites.

When viewing another user’s Timeline, this area includes Friend and Subscribe options that let users send someone a friend request, add them to Friend Lists, subscribe to their public updates, and modify the volume and types of that friend’s content that will appear in the news feed. The panel also lets users send a Message to someone, and includes a drop-down menu that reveals See Friendship, poke, unfriend, and report/block options.

Timeline Publisher

A publisher on the left side of the Timeline lets users post new updates. If a user scrolls beneath the publisher, a floating bar appears allowing them to publish without returning to the top of the Timeline. In addition to the standard status update and photo options, a Places button lets users compose an update that includes a tagged location.

There are also five new types of updates that let users share important life events in more detail than a profile info change or status update. When an user indicates they are publishing a life event, Facebook knows to publish this more prominently in news feed, to a wider set of friends, and to those who’ve specifically subscribed to their life events. The types will also give Facebook more data on a user’s identity and behavior that could be used for ad targeting.

The new publishing options are:

Work and Education: Started a new job, graduated from a school, or military service.
Family and Relationships: Got engaged, got married, had a child, got a pet
Living: Moved, bought a home, got a roommate, bought a car (there’s no options for motorcycles or boats)
Health and Wellness: Broke a bone, had surgery, overcame an illness
Milestones – Learned a language, got a license, traveled, achievement or award,
Other Life Event – A free form story

Recent Activity

At the top right of the Timeline below the Info section is a panel of a user’s “More Recent Activity” such as Liking Pages, new friendships, subscribing to someone’s updates, installing new apps, and more. Individual activity stories can be hidden from the Timeline, or all past and future activity stories of that type can be hidden. An edit icon lets users manage what story types they’ve hidden.

Panels for a user’s recent Music, Video, and other media types appear in this area as well. This lets a user’s friends get a quick snapshot of what they’re listening to, watching, or reading.

Timeline

Below all these other features is the Timeline itself, a reel of all of a user’s important updates from their time on Facebook. A set of links in the top right corner of the profile lets users skip to a specific month, year, or the beginning of the timeline. By scrolling to the bottom of the Timeline, older updates are displayed. Previously, users had to scroll to the bottom of a wall to view older content, and couldn’t navigate to different time periods on the profile. Timeline makes content posted even years ago accessible with a few clicks, meaning the history of a user’s time on Facebook factors much more heavily into how they’re perceived.

Hovering over an update on one’s own Timeline reveals options to hide, feature or change its date. By clicking on the center line running down the middle of the Timeline, users can insert new content at specific dates in the past.

In some cases when users scroll to the start of a month or year on the Timeline, they’ll see summaries of all their activity in that time period, such as friendships, wall posts from friends, Event RSVPs, Likes, Places tags, photos. There’s also a special panel that displays all of wall posts a user got on their birthday. At the very bottom of the Timeline, users can edit the story about their own birth.

Privacy

Facebook preserves the privacy settings Timeline users had previously set for the profile walls. The relatively new “Limit the Audience for Past Posts” privacy control lets users apply the “friends only” visibility setting to anything they’ve published publicly or to more than just their friends. Before the launch of Timeline this wasn’t as necessary, as it was so difficult to get to old content. With the Timeline’s navigation bar making older content more accessible, users may want to use this privacy control to limit the visibility of posts they published to “everyone” years ago.

Users can now grant applications persistent permission to share their activity to the Ticker and Timeline. Therefore, users should occasionally check their Activity Log to make sure they’re comfortable sharing all the things they’ve listened to or watched.

The Facebook user base’s reaction to forthcoming rollout of the Timeline is likely to be mixed. Some will enjoy the customization features and ability to use Facebook as digital scrapbook they can share with friends. Others might feel the Timeline violates their privacy by making their older content so visible. In reality, this content was already available, it was just harder to get to.

It may take some time for users to clean up their Timeline, but once they’re comfortable sharing everything on it, we think it will become popular and make the profile a much more accurate and vivid representation of people’s identities. When users want to get to know a new friend they won’t just browse all their photos, they’ll be able to scan everything they’ve ever shared, which could significantly increase the amount of time people spend on Facebook.

Filed Under Facebook, Social Media Tagged With Facebook, social media, timeline

Social Media Safety Tips

November 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

FAKE FRIENDS

Not all friend requests come from real friends – or real people for that matter.

Some Facebook accounts exist solely to cast a wide net for spamming or extracting personal data from users. Only accept friend requests from people you know.

QUESTIONABLE QUIZZES

Clicking on an ad or a link that takes you to a questionnaire on a website outside Facebook can lead to unwanted results. In many cases, the quiz may ask you to enter your cellphone number before you can view your results. If the scammers get your number, you could find yourself subscribed to unwanted and expensive text messaging services.

TERRIBLE TWEETS

Direct messages may appeal to your vanity with a message that suggests you can be seen in a compromising or flattering way at a certain website.

The link to the website actually prompts you to unwittingly download malware to your computer.

GRIM GIFTS

Clickjackers on Facebook entice you to copy and paste text into your browser bar by posting tempting offers, leading users to inadvertently download malicious code.

Clickjackers then take control of your account, spamming your friends and further spreading their scam. Be sus-picious of any too-good-to-betrue offers, such as free coffee or pizza from well known retailers.

VIRAL VIDEOS

Videos with sensational headlines get users to visit an outside website and download malware in the disguise of a video player. If you click on the video, you will be prompted to “upgrade your Flash player now” and will then be asked to download a file that contains a worm. If you download and install the file, your computer will automatically log in to Facebook and send similar messages to your friends. Never download a file after clicking on a link.

Filed Under Facebook, Four Square, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With Facebook, Foursquare, linkedin, safety tips, social media, Twitter

5 Top Social Media Trends and How To Use Them For Your Business

October 19, 2011 Leave a Comment

From Jeffbullas’s Blog

We are seeing the social web continue to evolve as the access and interface to the internet moves from geeky, private and desk bound to intuitive, social and mobile.

Facebook’s web traffic has now surpassed Google, the Apple iPad provided a mobile computer that is always on and easy to use and Apple iPhone apps have started to become ubiquitous and even available for online shopping on the go while you commute to work. Tradesmen are even taking iPads onto work sites to source information and products rather than wait till they get home. People want “Lord Internet” on the job and on the go, they want it now in real time.

What are some of the major trends in social media and technology that will be felt with more impact through 2011 and beyond that you need to be aware of so that you can take your life and business to the next level and not become an extinct species that is struggling for relevance and survival.

1. Mobile

Mobile phones were something that you used for making a phone call and sending an SMS…. that was it but no longer! The smart phones have now become the web in you hand. This has emerged in just the last 3 years with the introduction of the Apple iPhone leading the charge with a design that took technology from the geeks by designing interfaces that are natural and intuitive with a usable interface that put technology power in the hands of the masses. The high speed mobile and wireless networks have also evolved to provide the backbone to distribute the data including video and images. It is transforming industries such as music, book publishing, online shopping and newspapers. Mobile makes it even easier to share with your friends with Facebook and Twitter apps at your fingertips.

Actions to take advantage of this trend

Develop an iPhone app for your business that makes your customers lives easier and provides information quickly and easily. Domino’s developed an iPhone app that made it easy for it’s customers to order resulting in $2 million in sales in just 3 months.
Start planning now to create a iPad app that provides interactive and rich interactive content that is compelling and addictive so your customers keep coming back. iPad apps will move on from being just fun to a serious productivity platform.
Develop an iPhone app for your online store to make it easy for customers to buy on the go with a few easy clicks.

2. Social Media Integration

Integration of the social web into everything we do online is continuing to develop and mature. The silos of private and public data that were hidden from view are now being made public and shared instantly and seamlessly in real time. Websites and blogs are including Facebook share and Twitter retweet buttons. Comments are now being accepted as normal and vital for feedback and crowd sourcing of ideas and problem solving. YouTube videos are being embedded in websites providing both instruction and education as well as entertainment. In essence you need to be constantly thinking about how you can continue to integrate your social media channels into your website.

Actions to take advantage of this trend

Create a blog for your website
Add Facebook and Twitter share buttons for content areas of your website and blog
Set up a video channel on YouTube and think of creative ways you can use video for educating, entertaining and instructing your customers and emed these videos in your website and blog.
Integrate social features and functions into your online store

3. Social Web Democracy

Digital trust, democracy and comfort have been created by social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. People that were previously afraid of technology are now using it with confident assurance and competence. The technology is easy to use and quick to setup. The aging baby boomers are now Facebook fiends that are adopting technology with glee. This is moving the power into the hands of the individual not the faceless corporation or the nanny state government bureaucracy. The tools now exist for your business or personal brand to not rely on third parties to disseminate and distribute information. The tools, technology and power are available today.

Actions to take advantage of this trend

Create a personal brand that provides you with power over your career and business instead of allowing PR, marketing and recruitment agencies to be your only owner of your brand. This doesn’t mean stop using them it means that you need to start the journey where you can talk and communicate directly with your clients instead of through a third party.
Start advertising on Facebook with a banner ad that targets your customer demographic and locations. You don’t need to ring a magazine or an Ad agency you can take control of this yourself
Start taking control of your own marketing by creating content that is compelling for your customers and start engaging customers with your website and blog.

4. Location

The mobile revolution with its permission based “opt in” location technology is providing businesses with new tools that can provide real time marketing offers and vouchers that will deliver offers to consumers. Foursquare led this and Layar is adding an augmented reality dimension to this landscape but don’t forget Facebook’s “Places” feature as they have the data and the market already in place.

Action to take advantage of this trend

Start playing with Foursqare, Layar and Facebook “Places” and start thinking about how you could use this for your business

5. Google’s Social Search

You may not have noticed it but Google is continuing to ensure it is relevant in a social web world as it it continues to refine its search capability. You can now search on Google for Twitter updates including live and archived tweets as well as search blogs and videos. Twitter updates are even appearing in mainstream search along with videos.

Actions to take advantage of this trend

Create social media accounts on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter that will appear on Google search
Actively use the accounts so that Google will start ranking your social media channels in its search engine
So how can you use these trends to your advantage and how are you currently involved?

Filed Under Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With app, Facebook, ipad, iphone, sharing

Propper Foursquare Rules & Etiquette

September 25, 2011 Leave a Comment

1 Play by the rules. The terminology for “checking in” is subject to some debate due to its varied meanings. Etiquette and rules make it an easy choice though:
Check in when you are physically at a place. Don’t check in at forgotten past destinations or random places on your list to get points and badges.
Check in when you have spent a good amount of time at the specified location. Spending quality time in a restaurant, stadium, or movie theater would all be acceptable to jot down. However, passing by the location or standing outside of it isn’t the point of Foursquare.
You’ll only need to check into a place once a day towards mayorship. Making a check-in at 8 am and 9:30 pm in the same day is counted as one check-in.
2 Understand the meaning of “enough is enough”. Sharing places with others may be cool, but the world doesn’t need to know every single place you’re at. Checking into a certain supermarket multiple times may give people the impression that the location is convenient or that there is a valid reason to go there a lot (for example, it has better produce, better weekly sales, etc). Unknown and obscure places such as homes and offices are allowed by Foursquare rules, however, some people wish to play the game more fairly and are against such check-ins. Creating private venues not only provides very fast mayorships, but also clogs up the searches people do around their neighborhood or GPS area. And keeping home and work places private is always a prudent choice.
3 Limit your social networking posts. If the place is somewhere you go on a regular basis, like work or a favorite coffee shop, consider disabling your network sharing for the time being. The last thing you want to do is clog up other people’s feeds with mundane and repetitive places, which eventually could result in people removing you from their Twitter or Facebook accounts.
4 Avoid duplicate venues. Similar to private places, creating your own venue for a popular place makes it harder to play Foursquare. While this might mean that a person can take advantage of quick mayorships, it can confuse other players and cause them inconvenience. If a person realizes that they have checked into a fake venue, then they would have lost the time, points, and possible mayorship achievement.
5 Take the time to write out location tips. Whether it’s informing readers about what to eat or not to eat, the nearest transportation options, or when to avoid crowded hours, leaving tip information makes it easier for future customers to enjoy the venue utilizing the knowledge of things to check out, things to avoid, etc.
Take time to upload pictures of unique things about the venue. Show people why you have checked into the venue.
6 Add new venues or places that do not have a Foursquare page. By adding new information to the website, you’re helping to create a better and bigger community as a whole. “Superuser tools” allows the page creator to update the venue page as necessary.
7 Tell your friends about any special events offered through Foursquare. These events can range from store discounts, manager specials, or exclusive discounts to the current venue mayor.

Filed Under Four Square, Social Media Tagged With Foursquare

Twitter Etiquette

August 14, 2011 Leave a Comment

Twitter Etiquette

This is really just to clear up a few things that are niggling annoyances on Twitter. They’re generally accepted rules that 98% of people follow, to show ownership of what we write, and crediting sources. And it’s just polite, yes?
1. Always retweet, either old or new style, and don’t just copy and paste a tweet without credit – it is extraordinarily rude, especially with jokes. And you will be found out, as if you’ve seen something, it’s likely a fair few followers will have too.

2. If you find a link to a story, article or video you want to share, and you’ve found it through another person’s tweets, credit them, either by saying “via @XXXX” or “HT(hat-tip) @XXXX”. Not doing so’s pretty rude. Also, copying and pasting someone’s tweet and writing “via @XXXX”
isn’t on, you’re retweeting them, not finding something via them.

3. No one has to follow you. Berating someone for not following you, or worse, using software to tell you who’s unfollowed, then complaining about them, makes you look deranged. There are lots of reasons someone mightn’t follow you, and most of them aren’t that they hate you and your family.

4. Similarly, you don’t have to follow anyone either: telling someone you’re unfollowing because of X, Y and Z makes you look idiotic, as you’ve clearly chosen to follow someone whose tweets jar with you. If you read a book you didn’t enjoy, would you write to the author to complain?

5. If, for whatever reason, you need to modify someone’s tweet to add your own comment, use “MT” (modified tweet) in front of it. Do be careful not to add words within their tweet though, or misrepresent the spirit of their tweet.

6. Making up fake retweets isn’t cool. Unless they’re humorous fake retweets from politicians, celebrities or historical figures. Then they’re very cool.

Filed Under Social Media, Twitter Tagged With social media, Twitter

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