Monitoring

FaceBook Is Not Private! Use Common Sense To Be Safe

So often I have conversations with people about Facebook and just what is appropriate to post.  Just recently, I had a conversation with a young man who is in his mid 20′s and has landed a job at a bank.  Naturally, working at a bank should be a no brainer when it comes to posting on FB.  This young man is well informed and does not post anything about clients or about what is going on inside his department.  However, he did post a comment to a friend who was just catching up.  The young man commented that he had landed a nice job a a bank and gave the name of the bank.  The result:  he was called into his manager’s office for the talk.  Thank goodness, he hadn’t said anything damaging but it was a great low level lesson to remind him that his online social conversations are being tracked.

This whole thing reminds me of when email was first becoming popular.  (Yes, I’m that wise)  We did some really dumb stuff like ranting unfavorably about our bosses, telling company secrets, and gossiping about our co-workers.  How many people had to get fired before the reality of the openness of the internet really set in?  I don’t know but today you don’t hear people asking what information is appropriate to email.  It’s a no brainer.  If you don’t want every one to know, don’t use email to share.  It’s the same for Facebook and the other social media sites.

Oh, and don’t get me started about mobile phones!  Your voice is being carried along in little data packages in the air and they are subject to being snatched out of the air.  I also hate it when I’m watching a movie and someone goes to the center of the earth where clearly there are not cell towers.  Yet, they call home. Oh no they didn’t!

But, back to Facebook, did you know that even after you delete a photo FB keeps it on their server for an unspecified amount of time?  Scary isn’t it?  So if someone has the URL for that photo they could possibly retrieve it from the servers.  As a mother, I always used FB to spy on our children while they were away at college.  Sometimes it was fun and sometimes I wanted to cry!  As a marketer and social media strategist, I am still crying at times when I see people making big mistakes like telling everyone where they live or that they are going on vacation. Why not just hang out a sign that says your house is empty and available for robbery.  That would be insane!  It is just as insane to post that you are going away in a few days on FB. 

The Huffington Post had a great slide show about this subject.  Check it out.  You might be surprised to find that you are doing some things that might be putting you at risk of being improperly exposed.

What NOT to Post on Facebook: 13 Things You Shouldn’t Tell Your Facebook Friends

How do you decide when something you want to say is inappropriate or at the very least not safe to post on FB?

How to Really Use Twitter for Business and Communication 101.1

In the last post we talked about some of the problems people have with using Twitter. A major concern that I run into a lot is the idea of how to organize tweets to create or follow conversation. By far, the first thing that needs to happen is to select the tools for organizing your tweets. Twitter has heard this concern too and recently they changed the Twitter home page by adding features to help us utilize advanced functions. It works great. But what about Facebook, Fan Pages, and LinkedIn. Is there a way to have everything thing in one convenient place you may ask. My answer to you is a resounding yes! Here’s how. Use a tool such as Hootsuite, TweetDeck, or Seesmic . I have used all three and in my humble opinion, Hootsuite is the winner. However, I would suggest that you try out all three or whatever tool you like as long as it does the same as these. Now let’s take a look at Hootsuite as a social media organizational system.

Hootsuite gives you very powerful tools that bring everything you need to stay abreast of what is happening in your social media world. When selecting a tool such as this look for speed first. You don’t want to be sitting around all day just waiting for the thing to load or refresh. Also, consider ease of use. How much information can you see right on the dashboard. Is it easy to make comments or follow conversations. Take a moment to view this short video created by Chris Voss, of the Chris Voss Show, (that’s the Chris Voss Show, he always says it twice) as he talks about his first impression of Hootsuite.

Which one you select is not as important as knowing that it is easy to use so you will, well, use it.  Here’s another short video from Melissa who blogs at Adverturoo.  She’s a new find for me but I already love what I just saw of her mommy plus marketing blog.  In this video you’ll get a basic overview of a few of the major functions of Hootsuite.

Now that we’ve comvered the basic of organizing your tweets and other social media sites, let’s pick up again next week with a talk about strategy for building followers, dialogue, and relationships that help you meet your desired goals.

What are your questions about Hootsuite?  Go ahead to the comment box and ask away!

Enough Already! Social Media Creates More Questions Than Answers

So, I’m reading the blogs that I subscribe to when I run across this very good one from Amber Naslund.  She’s the Director of Community for Radian6.  In the post titled, The Quest for Firm Answers, she says, “I’m finally going to answer some of the questions that have been burning in your mind. The ones that your boss is demanding. The ones you say you aren’t getting from books or blogs or conference sessions. Ready?”

Are you ready?  Go to her blog post by clicking on the title above to see what her answers are.  I think you’ll be surprised!

Twitter Is The Social Media Platform Of Choice For Fortune Global 500 Companies

Burson-Marsteller recently released the results of a survey they conducted to determine where companies engage the most using social media tools.  The study indicates that 79 percent of the largest 100 companies in the Fortune Global 500 index are using at least one of the most popular social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or corporate blogs.

It’s interesting to find that companies are not just posting and tweeting randomly.   Real conversations are going on.  

For an evidence-based approach to social media, the reports suggest the following 9 tips:

1.  Monitor your own, and your competitors, social media presence.

2.  Get top management “buy-in”. 

3.  Develop a social media strategy.

4.  Define and publish a social media policy.

5.  Develop internal structure.

6.  Contribute to the community.

7.  Participate in good times and in bad.

8.  Be perpared to respond in real time.

9.  Beyond monitoring, measure the impact of social media engagement.

You don’t have to be a big company to harness the power of social media engagement.  The rules are the same for any size business.  In fact, social media has leveled the playing field in such a way that a small company or individual can have the same kind of reach as a bigger company by using social media tools.   But you do have to follow the rules.  If you are the top management then you must agree with yourself that you will be committed to using the social media tools you select.  Do publish your social media policy even if you are the only one who will see it at first.  This will give you a guide to help you remember what you said you would do.  Don’t think that just because your business is local that you don’t have competitors.  You do.  Social media tools provide a great way of finding out what they are doing.

So, what is your social media tool of choice?  How is your engagement through that channel improving your business outcomes?  Have you performed a social media checkup lately?

Twitter Is Profitable! Finally!

I don’t know about you but the fact that Twitter is now profitable is a weight off my shoulders. Over the years we’ve seen these companies become a major force for changing the way people communicate. So, what if Twitter were to go under, wouldn’t that alter the lives of many. Read more…