Setting Up Various Facebook Pages – Know The Types!
By the summer of 2009, Facebook came with a few new profiles: personal pages, community pages, and public profiles. The three are distinct, and even within the public profiles, one has a number of choices about the kind of public profile one wishes to establish. There were some issues (surprise!) when the features were first added, but by now many of the kinks have been smoothed out. A little research before you start clicking can go a long way though, because if you start your page in a ‘wrong’ category, all you can do is delete that page and start over, an unpleasant prospect. But please read on and hopefully we can clarify some of the jargon.
Popularity: 1% | Category Community, Education: Technology, Marketing, Media Review, Nonprofit, Technology, Web and Print | | View Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
The Keyword is “Social” – The Medium is Just the Means
From the study by Boyd and Ellison
We continue our week-long series on Facebook with a brief look at what ‘social media’ means. We make no claims of thoroughness in but one blog post. Indeed, some have taken entire academic semesters to explore the field. What we hope to present here are some common sense approaches to envisioning and contextualizing the social-media phenomenon of the last 4-5 years. In fact, a quick timeline will help put some perspective on the topic: The first widely accepted social-networking site was ‘SixDegrees.com,’ which was founded in 1998 and closed its site in 2000 during the Dot Com Bust. Though similar sites allowing the posting of personal profiles and the searching and liking of others via one’s profile percolated up in the intervening 2-3 years, it was only in 2003 that services like Last.FM, LinkedIn.com, and MySpace.com took off and the so-called ‘Social Media Revolution’ took off. Twitter was still three years away at that time! In other words, we are all new to this medium, and what sites will survive with which services is still an open question. (Time line taken from the scholarly study “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship,” by Danah M. Boyd, School of Information,University of California-Berkeley; and Nicole B. Ellison, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University. Humans wrote on clay and stone for thousands of years before parchment replaced it for many centuries before paper replaced that some 700 years ago. Social media are still in the zygote stage, by comparison, which makes predicting their mature characteristics almost impossible.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Facebook Has 500 Million Users, Not 500 Million Fans
Yesterday we saw some of the early history of Facebook and how that history might be pumped up by the movie “The Social Network,” due out this fall. The CEO and one of the inventors of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, seems comfortably nonplussed about the movie’s sexy spin on his and his friends’ efforts. But other concerns about the future surely do weigh on the young man who recently watched his website and company surpass 500 million subscribers. In fact, one of the awkward facts about Facebook is that it is by far the most used social-networking site, yet it is also the most griped about. Most recently: changes in privacy settings left users requiring to comb back through settings to opt out of new modes of sharing and even opt back out of what they had previously established as hidden information. Numerous consumer advocacy groups have cried ‘foul!’ and are challenging the practice. The movie might only sour further an already jaded relationship between users and the company.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
For The Week: Social Media Focus On Facebook
Are you one of the 500 million?
A purely alpha-betic writing established itself in the eastern Mediterranean about 3300 years ago, which marked a seminal shift away from ‘pre-history’ and towards documentation, institutional memory, and social media. We will not be tracing the evolution of writing from proto-Sinaic carvings or Phoenician tablets to Adobe’s Creative Suite 5, but we would like to look at the evolution (or what many might call a ‘revolution’) of the social-media behemoth that is Facebook. Though not the first social medium (Don’t forget Napster, especially in its pre/extra-legal days!), it has become the king of the hill with its profiles and searches and synergies with so many other networks (like Twitter). Facebook recently broke 500 million subscribers, and it brags that over 50% of those subscribers are on Facebook at any given time. Impressive numbers and a market teeming with customers, clients, donors, and ad-hoc NGOs.
But Facebook has had growing pains as well. Security and privacy concerns for its users, a plethora of competitors (admittedly, many bubble up and fall away at a speed surprising even in the age of the 24-hour news cycle), and even the possibility that the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zukerberg does not even own Facebook. All this week we shall be looking at the Facebook phenomenon, as well as offering some tips and caveats for those considering using the social network as part of their personal and/or professional lives. We begin our saga with the recent media frenzy concerning the Facebook biopic/movie, and the allegations of Facebook having been stolen and/or sold away by Zuckerberg.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Social Media Offers Reception, Not Just Dissemination, of Ideas
Social Media Is For Reading, Too
How many of us, individuals, organizations, and small businesses, have shied away from getting involved with social media because we were not sure we had much to say? How many of us have quietly sublimated a sense of distrust of what we could contribute into an unwillingness to learn about social media? I have, for one. The open seas of social media can seem vast, rough, and uncharted (if not ‘unchartable’!), and from the seashore it can seem safer not wade in. Nevertheless, we have often posted on this blog ideas about how to dip a toe, then a leg, etc., into the ocean – get acclimated, then get writing with what you are comfortable sharing with a wide audience that can become wider still with some patience. But a recent blog posting from Neil Vidyarthi on SocialTimes.com cleverly points out that social media can, and should, be as much about reading/learning as it is about writing/teaching.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
The Costs (Possibly Real) Of Advertising Via Facebook
A recent report from the Reuters and Socialbeat believes that revenues at Facebook topped $800 million in 2009, well over the (high-end) estimates of $700 million. Facebook is a privately owned company that need not report its precise numbers to shareholders, but Reuters talked with sources within the company who said the income far surpassed the mid-year estimates stated by Facebook board member Marc Andreessen. With some 500 million members (by far the most popular social network site in the US, and with ever-growing allegiances through much of the world), Facebook makes most of its income via advertising. The question is: how much are advertisers willing to pay to reach those millions via their Facebook accounts?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Social Networks and Social Media: Let The Latter
Tap Into The Former
The TED (Technology, Education, Design) website has recently posted Nicholas Christakis’s talk entitled “The Hidden Influence of Social Networks,” which we repost here for your consideration. His research began with the topic of obesity, but he has developed a model of social connectivity that affects our political and emotional behavior as much as our eating habits.
How might social media tap into and/or develop such social networks?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Roundup Of Some Social Media Developments
(Part 2 of 2): The Experts
Yesterday we outlined some success stories of philanthropic and social-action groups who have been able to leverage social media to help with fundraising. As promised, today we look at the backside of some social media developments, and it is not always pretty. The truth of the matter is, many have built up claims to be social-media experts, but most of them are promoters of self, not strategists who can help your organization move through the wealth of opportunity (and desultory time-wasting) made possible by the technology. The self-appointed Expert receives a good deal of roasting in any profession, but the grilling of the social-media guru can be pretty hot. And why not? She/he is being called out by the very producers of content (and the consumers) who he/she claims to be able to help.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Roundup Of Some Social Media Developments
(Part 1 of 2)
Facebook has gotten most of the press lately, and the MKCREATIVE blog discussed some of that buzz earlier this week. Facebook’s staff seek to build and weave together the new ‘Social Graphs’ of one’s “Friends” with the use of the already nearly-ubiquitous “Like” button. But another site is under development by Chris Hugues (one of the founding developers of Facebook) that seems to have similar ambitions within the world of mission-based businesses and philanthropy groups. That site is Jumo.com, a name meant to convey ‘working together.’ Though not the first site to try to bring together these constituencies, the knowhow of Mr. Hugues and his colleagues in the area of social networking might give Jumo a big jump once it is presented some time this fall. One can register an email online to get updates (and, of course, to register one’s ‘Like’ of the site) as they progress.
How has social networking fared as a qualitative and quantitative part of the philanthropic and mission-based communities?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Recent Developments in Website Design – Part III:
The Finished Product
The homepage of 'Dogtrust.org.uk' - Clear contrasts, distinct boxes of information, and cuddly puppies!
We have discussed the developments of CSS3 and some of the quick and easy ways to make websites accessible to the visually impaired. The technologies and evolution of code outlined these last couple of postings are meant to introduce you to some of the considerations your organization should have as you decide to refresh or redo your online presence. Indeed, as we are teased with signs of spring (at least in the Chesapeake Bay region), why not enjoy some clean and spritely websites that follow some of the best practices outlined here?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Recent Developments in Website Design – Part II: Accessibility
Yesterday we outlined how the new protocols for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS3) will open up a whole world of font to allow organizations and outreach groups opportunity to provide consistent font faces across print and web publication. But having the text presented by fonts, rather than by images of words (Try selecting the logo or the tagline at the very top of Clipart4you.com), does more than open up a treasure trove of toys for your design staff. It also opens up your organization’s work to the growing numbers of visually impaired users of the net.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
CEOs and social media – a strong combination?
A new technology is invariably difficult to put down for the fearless first adopters. Those who move more slowly toward that technology might feel intimidation from those who adopted early and have since honed their skills. Those who waited might also begin to ask if adoption is even necessary. Such a dynamic might be especially acute in the world of social media, almost invariably multi-million-dollar enterprises that began as projects for recent college grads. But as social media head toward a certain maturity and expectation, are such networks really useful for corporate entities and/or their boards?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, Ph. D
Audi’s ‘Green Police’ Ad: Not Just Another Pot Shot at the Green Movement
Repost of original article by Leo Hickman, Feb 8, 2010, guardian.co.uk
Mmm, I wonder if Will Ferrell and his comedy compatriots at Funnyordie.com saw Audi’s Super Bowl ad (Sunday)? If they did, then they might have recognised the ad’s satirical vision of a world patrolled by the “green police”.
The reason being that they made virtually the same joke – scoring far more laughs in the process – in their Green Team video a couple of years ago. (more…)
Popularity: unranked | Category Automobiles, Climate Change, Greening, Marketing, Media Review, Sustainability | | View Comments
Written by: Marco K.