Wow, if anyone is left on this planet who doubted the power and impact of Facebook, all they needed to see was the mix of curiosity to plain outrage over recent changes made to the social media engine, with more changes to come.
Topping the list is privacy fears. Fair enough. But keep in mind, Facebook is an opt-in thing. It's free and it's important to realize that with any kind of social media, what you post can and will be held against you. There's an old saying in PR; "If you don't want to be quoted, don't say it." You can replace "post" for "say" in this age. But again, privacy groups continue to be concerned.
One new feature coming soon to your Facebook page, if it hasn't already is something called Timeline.
Yep, everything you've ever posted on Facebook from the day you first signed up. The good news is you can go in an clean up ill-advised posts done when under the influence of emotion, alcohol or both. At least Facebook claims you can.
When it comes to all these changes I'm just as confused as you are. But then I do my homework. For the impact on my business I look no further than Heather Lutze and her great company, the Findability Group. What you don't know about social media can hurt you. So know as much as you can.
Facebook used to be just a simple and fun way to keep up with family and friends. It's morphed into a sophisticated source of information about you, and for others to find out about you. The current issue of Bloomberg Business week has this article about how political campaigns will be seeking you out, then targeting you based on your interests, friends and posts. You can log off, but you can't hide.
With all these changes come all sorts of scammers and mischief makers. A rash of posts, cut and pasted over and over again claimed Facebook was going to start charging if you didn't opt-out. All false of course, but most folks are trusting in nature and want to share both good and bad news, regardless of it's true or not. The great thing about social media is, everyone has access to it. The bad thing about social media is everyone has access to it.
So, take some time to do a little house cleaning on your Facebook page. You can organize friends and family into lists and adjust security settings to protect yourself. Facebook is becoming more complicated. You owe it to yourself and your personal well-being to keep up with those changes.
All this said, Facebook remains a remarkable, powerful and innovative way to keep in touch, or to market yourself.
And all THAT said, Google+ traffic is surging. It's now wide open for use by everyone and offers some very cool options. I've been checking it out and will write about it more in another blog. Do we need ANOTHER social media site? Well, that's up to consumers. As always, competition is a good thing.
Again, just remember and always be aware that once you post something online, it's out there. Forever. Back in a very analog time, President Ronald Reagan famously said, "Trust but verify." It applies to our ever growing digital world today.
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Topping the list is privacy fears. Fair enough. But keep in mind, Facebook is an opt-in thing. It's free and it's important to realize that with any kind of social media, what you post can and will be held against you. There's an old saying in PR; "If you don't want to be quoted, don't say it." You can replace "post" for "say" in this age. But again, privacy groups continue to be concerned.
One new feature coming soon to your Facebook page, if it hasn't already is something called Timeline.
Yep, everything you've ever posted on Facebook from the day you first signed up. The good news is you can go in an clean up ill-advised posts done when under the influence of emotion, alcohol or both. At least Facebook claims you can.
When it comes to all these changes I'm just as confused as you are. But then I do my homework. For the impact on my business I look no further than Heather Lutze and her great company, the Findability Group. What you don't know about social media can hurt you. So know as much as you can.
Facebook used to be just a simple and fun way to keep up with family and friends. It's morphed into a sophisticated source of information about you, and for others to find out about you. The current issue of Bloomberg Business week has this article about how political campaigns will be seeking you out, then targeting you based on your interests, friends and posts. You can log off, but you can't hide.
With all these changes come all sorts of scammers and mischief makers. A rash of posts, cut and pasted over and over again claimed Facebook was going to start charging if you didn't opt-out. All false of course, but most folks are trusting in nature and want to share both good and bad news, regardless of it's true or not. The great thing about social media is, everyone has access to it. The bad thing about social media is everyone has access to it.
So, take some time to do a little house cleaning on your Facebook page. You can organize friends and family into lists and adjust security settings to protect yourself. Facebook is becoming more complicated. You owe it to yourself and your personal well-being to keep up with those changes.
All this said, Facebook remains a remarkable, powerful and innovative way to keep in touch, or to market yourself.
And all THAT said, Google+ traffic is surging. It's now wide open for use by everyone and offers some very cool options. I've been checking it out and will write about it more in another blog. Do we need ANOTHER social media site? Well, that's up to consumers. As always, competition is a good thing.
Again, just remember and always be aware that once you post something online, it's out there. Forever. Back in a very analog time, President Ronald Reagan famously said, "Trust but verify." It applies to our ever growing digital world today.
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
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