Monthly Archives: October 2011
Social Media for Beginners: Part 2
So you’ve been on Facebook for a little bit and are now thinking, “Phil! What’s next?”. It’s time to talk Apps, Pages, and Groups!
Apps
I think it helps if I start by defining apps, in the context of Facebook. Apps, or applications, are used on Facebook to enhance your Facebook experience beyond Facebook’s original design. Essentially, installing an app to your Facebook profile is like installing a program on your PC. However, it’s important to note by installing these apps you may be granting access to your info to companies that may be used to advertise things to you. Just beware what you’re signing up for.
Studies show people like to have fun on Facebook.
Apps come in many different shapes and sizes. Games are of course the biggest and most famous (think Farmville or Bejeweled) but there are also more practical apps like Selective Tweets, which allows you to pick and choose which of your Tweets appear on Facebook, and Windows Live Messenger, which is an extension of the PC messenger program. They appear on the left on your news feed page and can be accessed that way.
There are, of course, mobile applications for Facebook for the various smart phone platforms but those are installed to the phone and all that gets added on Facebook’s end is a small app to grant permission to the Facebook app for your chosen platform (Facebook for Blackberry, for instance).
Any specific questions regarding an app in particular should be addressed to the app maker, or you can always email us (Listeners@talknowledgy.ca) if you’re looking for general advice. Here’s the first questions you should ask if you feel an app could be a scam or illegitimate: how many people have it added? Do any friends have it added? What are the comments like, or how are the reviews? And most importantly, do you HAVE to have it?
Pages
Pages are meant more for arts, businesses, celebrities, politicians, and that type of thing. However, behind all of those is a profile pulling the strings, and possibly also a social media manager! In this section, I’m going to show you why someone would choose to set up a Page to interact with ‘fans’.
Pages (as seen here) are controlled by an admin or admins who can use the Page just like a normal profile. There are a number of ways it differs from a standard profile however. More than one person can have access at a time. You get a detailed breakdown on your traffic to your Facebook page (comments, new likes, etc), and that includes being able to see when people add/remove you, whether or not people are talking about you, and how many ‘impressions’ (views) each post got. This is useful for celebrities because, ultimately, they’re a business and want to see what is connecting with their audience, how it’s connecting with them, when it’s connecting with them, and what’s causing them to tune out.
Let’s touch on it from the perspective of someone ‘liking’ a page. The key thing to remember is you don’t surrender any information liking a page and you can unlike a page any time. The question arises: why would you like a page? Well, some offer incentives like free stuff (Example: For any gamers on your list, Gears of War 3 was offering a free character skin for multiplayer to those who liked their Facebook page). As it pertains to musicians and such, many will post the latest band news or shows. Sometimes you can use it to find people with similar interests or maybe who went to the same school as you.
Censorship? Whatever do you mean?
Facebook pages can also install apps that let your page stand out and really present a customized feel. Algonquin College’s Facebook page has a sort of disclaimer at the outset so people know what type of community they’re joining before pressing ‘Like’, and a Youtube app to highlight their videos. Mashable’s page allows you to view their Twitter updates along with a live streaming video channel, a news tip submission option, and even an app dedicated to give-aways!
Always double-check whether or not you’re subscribing to the ‘official’ page, and don’t always assume there is one. If you’re liking one for a major North American band and find most of their updates are poorly spelled, in another language, or just all around off, then you could be dealing with a fan-run page. Not necessarily dangerous, but be wary of posting any links they have up.
Groups
This is a feature that got a major overhaul not that long ago. It’s something you typically get invited to, but can also join of your own accord provided they aren’t private.
Groups appear on the bottom left on your main news feed page. They can be about many different topics, including all the same ones Pages covered, but they seem to be more for fostering communication between many people whereas Pages are more of a one-to-many type of medium. I am actively part of three groups – one relating to my hobby, one relating to my industry, and one belonging to a friend. For contrast, I don’t know the exact number of Pages I like but it’s either in the dozens or the hundreds. So this is really more of a niche feature but it has its uses.
Odds and Ends
If you click the down pointing arrow on the top right while logged into Facebook and go into account settings then into security you’ll notice an option for ‘secure browsing’. I highly recommend you enable that. Basically, it means your browsing session is encrypted and therefore harder to intercept by those trying to spread malware. Please note this does not mean you can’t be hacked and you still need to exercise caution! Also, by enabling this some apps may not work or may require you to temporarily disable it because they don’t support “https” (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure).
And finally, click the down pointing arrow on the top right again and go into account settings. Make sure you set yourself (or your Page) a ‘username’. Basically, it means if you want people to check you out on Facebook you can tell them go to http://www.Facebook.com/YourNameHere. Pretty neat huh? Only catch is, you can’t change it AND they’re unique. Get yours before it’s gone!
Next week, we talk Twitter. Happy Halloween!
-PG
Talknowledgy for October 29th, 2011
This week’s show is now available!
UPDATE: This show has been archived. To request a show, email listeners@talknowledgy.ca.
Remember you can always subscribe to our podcast here.
Today’s episode includes another social media tip from David Hall of DavidHallSocialMedia.com, as well as a new viral video a chat with Susan Murphy from Algonquin College and much more!
Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Talknowledgy, e-mail listeners@talknowledgy.ca, or leave a comment in the comments section below.
Enjoy!
A Forum For All Seasons: Part 3
This is part three of a four part series called A Forum For All Seasons.For Part One, go here. For Part Two, go here.
All right, let’s get down to brass tacks. You’ve found a cool forum, you’ve signed up for an account and now your bio is written, your avatar is chosen and you’ve introduced yourself. Where do you go from here?
Vegas Baby!
At this point, you’re in it for the long haul. It’s time to focus on your content and just have some fun. From here on out, you make your posts, start some conversations and see where the forum takes you.
So what makes a post good or bad? You want to remain on-message. Don’t go “off topic.” If a thread is about fishing, now’s not the time to discuss your recipe for almond brownies.
Do give relevant examples from your personal experience. Bring your own expertise to your posts and your content.
Beware the trap of talking about yourself too much. Ask questions of other users. Converse. Bring others into your conversation and don’t shy away from questions directed at you.
Spelling and grammar count. The Internet is still primarily a text-based interface. The way you write says a lot about you, whether or not you want it to. If u speel liek sum1 whu duzzint kaer… people won’t care about you.
Also, refrain from somking.
Finally, I was going to break down a few common characters you will meet online, but I really only want to talk about ONE.
There is a person that you will meet in your forums journey. No matter where you go, you’ll find them. They will find you. They’ve existed since Internet time immemorial. We have a name for this person…
The Troll.
So called, because he’s fishing for attention. He dangles low hanging bait before you, just daring you to take it. These people don’t care what you say to them, just that you say something.
You can recognize a troll by observing their patterns. Do they only ever post to insult, or inflame an argument? Do they disregard the opinions of everyone else, while pushing their own? If it seems like the only things this person wants to talk about are controversial topics, and only in an immature “I’m right you’re wrong” manner, chances are you’re dealing with a troll.
The troll can sometimes seem invincible. No matter what you say, he just fires back with another smart alecky remark. You tell him to go away, he remains. You tell him how terrible of a person he is, he insults you to your face. The forum moderators might discipline him, but he comes back laughing.
Here is the one and only way to defeat an Internet Troll: Ignore them. There’s an old rule ’round these parts: Do Not Feed The Trolls. If you agree with the troll, or disagree, it doesn’t matter. The troll just wants you to reply. They feed on attention. ANY attention. Good or bad it means nothing. Whatever your opinion on the troll is it doesn’t matter. If you just ignore them, you win.
A lot of forums have “block” or “ignore” features. Just slap a block on the troll and you never have to see them again. Other people might respond, ignore them too. Stay out of it. They took the bait. They’re lost. Even telling others not to feed the troll in a thread where the troll is king feeds the troll’s ego. You’ve recognized him.
Don’t give him the satisfaction.
And don’t let dire warning scare you away. Like I said, a troll is easily dealt with. Focus on your own content and don’t worry about his (or lack thereof.)
Next week is the last installment: knowing when to step away.
Social Media for Beginners: Part 1
The other day, a friend (who is also a fair bit older than I) told me “Phil, where I work a lot of people want to set up websites and get into social media but they don’t know the first thing about it”, adding “We have to call in a guy from BC to explain it to them”. In the digital age, it’s easy to lose track of modern technology and it can be even harder to get caught up.
Everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal. Anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it. Anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really. -Douglas Adams
With that in mind, I’d like to focus on the basics of the big five social networks; why you should use them, how you use them, and hopefully offer a few tips and tricks that you may not have known already. And I think it’s only natural we should start with…
You’ve heard of it, you’ve seen it, but how do you get on it?
Setting Up A Profile
This is the easy part. Simply visit Facebook.com and fill in the information in the boxes. Remember, using your real name is important for building connections with your friends, colleagues, family, or whoever else you’re looking to use Facebook to interact with. Another thing to remember: if you’re setting up a page for a minor (say, your son or daughter) certain information sharing will be disabled (provided you’ve entered their correct date of birth). Also, they won’t be able to interact with adults as a normal account could until they reach the age of majority. Facebook has an info centre set up for families if you have more questions.
Why Create A Profile?
With more than 800 million active users, surely you know someone on there be it family, friends, co-workers, or others. As it continues to evolve, it becomes more like a scrapbook and you’re able to share everything from pictures of what you’re up to, to links you found insightful or amusing, to a game including classics like Scrabble. Sharing is the name of the game. Unlike Twitter, it’s all about telling people who you are (but only the people you want to interact with).
Click to enlarge
As you can see from this picture, you can also use it to interact with brands like your old Alma mater, an industry publication, or your favourite technology talk show.When you ‘Like’ a brand on Facebook, you get access to their content but they can’t see anything about you except your name and profile picture (and anything else you’ve decided to leave as public).
Once you’ve created your profile, look back over the various tabs that make up the profile and decide how much you want to fill in. For instance, you can add personal quotes, your favourite bands and sports teams, or your work and school history. This can help people you want to connect with know it’s the real you. Alternatively, you can go into your privacy settings (click the little down arrow in the top right of the window and go to “Privacy Settings”) and restrict or block access to these parts of your profile so that people don’t see much about you. Customizing your privacy settings is also a good early step to avoid sharing information with the world that you only meant to share with friends, or keep prying eyes away from something that you only want part of your friend’s list to see.
The next step is to start adding people you know! Type their name into the search bar at the top and send them a friend request. You may also receive requests, which you can process in the top left by clicking the logo to the right of the “Facebook” wordmark.
Click to enlarge.
Now, for the actual breakdown of the profile. Starting on the left, we have the profile picture which is what people can see when they look at your profile and how they know it’s you! The list below it are all clickable links to access different parts of your profile. For example, if I wanted to see my work and school history, that would appear under ‘Info’. You can also see Subscribers and Subscriptions, which is a new feature that allows you to see other people’s status updates without friending them (if they allow people to subscribe). This can be a popular option for celebrities or journalists who use their Facebook profile professionally. Below that is a sampling of some of my friends.
In the middle is some basic info about me, and some of my status updates. As you can see, I have updates coming from Twitter, but I’ve also posted a link or two and commented on other people’s content and that all appears in the Status Feed in the middle. Just below the row of pictures is an option to update my status, which is also available from the main page (see the first picture). Updating your status is one of the ways you share content with people on your friends list (the other being commenting on their content).
To the right of that are ads, and event invitations. On the main page, you’ll also see birthdays (See the first picture).
Then on the far right are the latest stories, and Facebook’s chat program at the bottom for text or Skype communication with friends. Simply click the friend’s name and it will open a text window for chat.
It’s important to note Facebook changes a lot, and there’s an upcoming change called ‘Timeline’ which we’ve talked about on previous shows and will be touching on again in the future. The important message now is: don’t get too comfortable with the current layout! But at the same time, don’t let that discourage you from signing up!
A lot of it is just getting out there and trying it so I really encourage you to get out there and try it if you haven’t signed up for Facebook yet. In my next post, I’ll discuss managing your own page and groups on Facebook.
If you’re looking at all this and are maybe a bit confused or you think “This is a lot of fun! Could I get a job in this?”, make sure you stay tuned to this week’s show! Ted will be doing an interview regarding Algonquin College’s social media certificate program. And of course he’ll have a blog post on Wednesday so stay tuned for that.
Talknowledgy for October 21st, 2011
This week’s show is now available!
UPDATE: This show has been archived. To request a copy, email listeners@talknowledgy.ca.
Remember you can always subscribe to our podcast here.
Today’s episode includes another social media tip from David Hall of DavidHallSocialMedia.com, as well as a new viral video and much more!
Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Talknowledgy, e-mail listeners@talknowledgy.ca, or leave a comment in the comments section below.
Enjoy!
We also mentioned this vid from the Howard Stern show highlighting some of the protesters they encountered occupying Wall Street. (CAUTION: NSFW language)
A Forum For All Seasons: Part 2
This is the second in a four part series called A Forum For All Seasons. For part one, please go here.
You’ve found the best forum in the world. You’ve lurked a bit, the people seem really great and they have wonderful discussions about your favourite topics! Great! Now it’s time to get your feet wet and get to posting!
Kind of like this, only on the Internet.
With a few exceptions, you’ll be required to sign up with a forums account before you’re allowed to contribute to the discussion. This usually requires a standard account application form. The usual stuff: name, e-mail address, username and password.
What did you eat for breakfast six weeks ago? How many magnets are on your fridge? Boxers or briefs? Standard questions.
This is an important step. Your username is how the community will know you from here on out. You’ll want a name that reflects your personality and is creative, so that you stand out. There are many forum goers, like it or not, who tend to gloss over the opinions of people who have plain usernames like “Ted12345.”
I tend to favour personal nicknames or puns when I pick a username somewhere.
So you’ve got your name, you’re signed in, and it’s time to make that first post!
No, seriously, it's very much like this.
This is another time when lurking can come in handy. Does your forum have a place to introduce yourself? Introductory posts are often seen as intrusive if you make one right off the bat, or outside of a specified intro thread. It’s usually a good idea to just start contributing to a conversation you feel strongly about and let people get to know you over time. Forum users come and go all the time, so a new face isn’t anything, well… new.
Boring!
Finally, if your forum makes use of a profile system, now’s a good time to work on that. Keep your biography short and sweet. Nobody wants to read your life story. Your “avatar”, a small picture that represents you, should be unique and relate you your username. This will help people remember you. If you have an option for a “signature”, a bit of text that will appear on every post you make, you can take it. Don’t just sign your name, add a bit of flavour, a little line about yourself, or a favourite quote that can help tell people a bit more about you.
This may seem like a lot of work, or a lot of rules, and really, it all depends on the community you’ve chosen. Some places love vulgar usernames, with nasty pictures and large, image filled signatures. Some places don’t even offer those things. But if you want to be a contributor here, and make an impact, it helps to create a “persona” that is consistent across the board.
Next week, we’ll discuss the meat of the matter, your contributions to the forum. What makes a good post? What makes a bad post?
And what kinds of characters will you meet along the way?
That’s part three of our four part series A Forum For All Seasons.
-Ted.
