Current Mood:
Confused
No, not me. I’m still a member. My husband, however is not. After telling Brian about Gizmodo’s article “Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook,” he made the concious decision to just do it. He’s hated Mark Zuckerberg for quite a while and I think the most recent changes to privacy and Mark’s recent comments about the subject, drove the husband over the edge.
Now how do I feel about this? Mixed feelings for sure. On one hand, I completely understand the need for him to delete it. Brian is huge into privacy and computer security, and a company that has no respect for the matter does not sit well with him. The only reason he has logged into Facebook in the last couple months/years is to a) get a brief message to a friend or b) change his privacy settings in response to Facebook’s changes since 2005. (The Huff Post has a great visual of the changes over the last 5 years)
So why do I think it’s a bad idea he deleted his Facebook? Because people won’t be able to contact him or tell him about certain things. Yes, I know that sounds trite and yes, I understand there are inventions called phones, letters etc., but those things aren’t the main mode of communication any more. I do firmly believe that he cut himself off from a major form of communication when he deleted his Facebook account. When I confronted him with this, he replied that “people will just call me if they want to tell me about an engagement or event.” I don’t think that’s going to happen. It sounds dumb, but I’d rather sit down at a keyboard and type out a message on Facebook than call someone to say “Hey, I’m having a party.” I know I’m not the only one. Like I said, our culture has shifted to one of online communication. That’s not going to change anytime soon.
Do I think I’ll follow in my husband’s footsteps here? No. First and foremost, I need Facebook for my job. Secondly, I don’t want to cut off this form of communication. At 400+ million strong it’s THE largest social networking site out there and it’s THE place I go to get updates from my friends and family. To cut Facebook off would be very similar to cutting out everyone in my life. I may not agree with Facebook being the major form of communication for me and many others in the world, but it’s going to be a while before that changes. Therein lies the problem. It’s NOT going to change soon and Mark Zuckerberg knows that. He can make all the changes he wants, but he’s still going to be number one in the social networking world because people aren’t going to easily abandoned Facebook.
So where do we go from here? I’m not sure. Everything about Facebook in the last couple months has put me on edge. In response to the most recent round of changes, I took off all my interests, movies, television shows, hobbies etc. I even deleted all the applications I had previously added. The only thing we can hope for is a shift in how people communicate. I don’t know if that’s another social network or if it comes in the form of something completely different? The only thing we can do now is spread awareness about Facebook’s privacy issues and urge people to go through their apps and interests and purge them. If we do that (and to borrow a phrase from Gizmodo), “we’re no longer the customers Facebook see as unpaid employees for crowd-sourcing ad-targeting data.”
What are your thoughts? Would you delete your Facebook?
Current Mood:
Cool
So Facebook introduced something called Social Plugins today. Basically they’re getting rid of Facebook Connect and taking over all our websites one by one with these easy to use plugins. Genius? Yes. This is huge. This will help a lot of content on the web become viral. Want to know if your website is popular with people? Put the Like box on it. To anyone on Facebook, that little button is instantly recognizable and they’ll be more inclined to click it. Now, what happens when they click on “Like it”? It goes to the newsfeeds of all their friends… instantly giving you more exposure in a way that is easy and recognizable.
As soon as I was off of work, I started monkeying with the code of SocialSasha.com. I got it to work, but everytime I did, it was in the wrong place. 20 minutes after tinkering, I managed to lock up my site. Thankfully, I married a nerd and the two of us fixed it. (Ok, it was more him than me, but whatever). Using Web Developer Tool Bar and Firebug plugins for Firefox, we were able to locate the exact spot I wanted the link button at. However, once we found the spot, we discovered that if you clicked “like it” on one post, you were liking all of it. That’s because it was reading the url I plugged into the Facebook Code generator, which was just http://www.socialsasha.com. Basically Brian located the php code that was generating the unique ID for each blog post. We then took that and added it onto the url Facebook generated for the plugin. (you need to make sure to url escape special characters between your site url and the ID.)
Example: http://www.socialsasha.com/?p=<unique ID> The ? and = need to be url escaped.
I have to say, it’s not that hard once you figure it out, but I imagine it’s going to be a pain for each theme on Wordpress. I have no doubts though that a developer will come along, solve the world’s problems, and come up with a Wordpress plugin for this issue.
OH! Another thing. If you do put the Like It button, you’re going to need to manually get in the code and change the height. Facebook forgot to put that in the code so if you paste it as is, you’ll have a bunch of blank space between the button and whatever is below it. The bolded part points out where they forgot to add a value for the height. Try a value of 25 and you’ll be fine!
<iframe src=”http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fdevelopers.facebook.com%2F&layout=standard&show-faces=true&width=450&action=like&colorscheme=light” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowTransparency=”true” style=”border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:px“></iframe>
Ok, enough blabbing. Go ahead, click on like it… you know you want to.
Current Mood:
Angry
So the other day, I made cake balls. Delicious, colorful, cake balls. I was so proud of my Suzy Homemaker moment that I posted step-by-step photo directions on Facebook. Now, I don’t know if this has occurred to you yet, but you can probably see how comments about cake balls (emphasis on balls) can get out of hand. I know, I know… very mature. I’m 25, I have my moments.
The next day, I log on to my Facebook account and decide to re-admire my cake ball handiwork. (I don’t bake, so the fact that I made a delicious and beautiful treat is quite the feat for me) As I’m going through my photos again, I notice that some of the comments from the previous day are gone. Comments that I wrote, my aunt wrote and mother wrote. Gone. Kaput. No more. What happened to them? I didn’t delete them. My mother and aunt certainly didn’t delete them. (I confirmed this)
It seems that either someone “reported” those comments or Facebook “found them” and deleted them. I’m not sure what I’m disappointed about more. The fact that one of my Facebook “friends” thought our comments about CAKE balls was inappropriate, or that Facebook goes around censoring stupid stuff. If it was Facebook doing the censoring, I’m mad because there are SO many other things that go unnoticed by Facebook. For example: how about all the CONTESTS that people run on their Fan Pages; contests that are NOT allowed according to Facebook’s new “standards.”
If it was one of my “friends” on Facebook that reported the comments, then I think I need to reconsider my policy. A long time ago, I purged my friend list on Facebook. The reasoning was, if I haven’t talked to you in years or if I don’t know you, then I probably shouldn’t be “stalking” you on Facebook. However, that changed a couple months ago. I’ve become more involved on social media in Grand Rapids and I thought that by allowing anyone to be my friend on Facebook, I would help grow those relationships. Now, because of this very aggravating situation, I may just purge my list again and hide my account. Obviously people can’t take a joke.
Either way, I’m a bit perturbed. The comments were NOT bad at all. Obviously they weren’t bad or I wouldn’t be sharing them with my mother! Below are the comments that were deleted:
Mom: Ok all this [Cake] ball talk has got to stop! My stomach hurts from laughing so much!
Me: Mom! I’m appalled at you! You always taught me to be open about balls and stuff. Are you just angry that my balls came out gooey and not moist?
Aunt: Ladies!!!
I have no issues with the above comments. Do you? Do you think one of my friends should have reported those three comments? If it was Facebook that found them, do you think Facebook should have deleted them? I’d love to hear from you.
Current Mood: Cool
As many of you know, I was consumed with a project called Clicks for Quakes during the month of February. The basic premise is that for $30 a person will receive a 20 minute photo session… all proceeds going to Haiti. Pretty cool idea right? I wish I could say this was my brain child, but alas it was not.
So where did I get the idea? Facebook. As I was stalking looking at photos of friends on Facebook, I noticed one of my friends was tagged on a poster about a photo fundraiser. After a couple of Facebook messages and emails, I was put in contact with Stacy Borelli, the creator of Clicks for Quakes. She started the photo charity drive for the people in Haiti because her two nieces are from there and in a way feels directly connected to the country (plus she’s just got a big heart 
)Over in North Carolina, where she’s from, she got 11 other photographers on board. Even though I’m not from North Carolina and even though I’m not a professional photographer, I thought “Hey, maybe I could help in my own small way in Grand Rapids.” After discussing my desire to help out, Stacy wholeheartedly agreed I should start Clicks for Quakes in GR.
So for the entire month of February, I advertised Clicks for Quakes like CRAZY over 
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. My advertising on Twitter not only attracted interested clients, but an interested photographer! Adam Bird! After a lunch/brainstorming session, we decided that the best way to raise money for Haiti was to have a marathon photo session. Once we settled on that, we kicked it into high gear with social media advertising. In addition, Innereactive Media jumped on board by donating their time and services. Not only did they make some awesome flyers for us, but they took reservations and organized a photo schedule for Adam and I.
Our planned photo marathon was actually just this past weekend. Over two dozen people were photographed in Adam’s downtown studio and we managed to raise over $700! Pretty sure that everyone who came in had a blast. We had the whole shebang going on! Lights! Music! Photography!
I think one of the coolest parts here is that the majority of people who came through our doors said they had heard about Clicks for Quakes via social networking. So for no money and very little time, Adam, Innereactive Media and I were able to advertise our fundraiser with Facebook and Twitter. Even though we didn’t raise as much money as I had hoped, I’m still pleased with the turnout. We were able to advertise and market our idea in less than a month thanks to social networking. I honestly don’t think we would have gotten the turnout we did without it.
I want to thank everyone of my friends who supported me in this endeavor. Thanks for RT-ing on Twitter and sharing the Facebook event with your friends. Couldn’t have done this without you. Also a BIG thanks to Adam Bird. Without your help, expertise and studio, I couldn’t have raised as much money as we did. Another huge thanks goes to Amanda Barry at Innereactive Media.
Current Mood:
Ecstatic
Clicks for Quakes is getting HUGE and I’m so very excited! Adam Bird of Adam Bird Photo has kindly offered the use of his studio in downtown Grand Rapids. We’re going to have a marathon photo session next weekend and try to accommodate as many people as we can! Details below!
Who: Adam Bird and Sasha Wolff
What: Charity Photo Drive
When: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. February 27 and 28
Where: 289 Front Ave. SW, Grand Rapids
Why: To raise money for Haiti! $30/20 min. = 100% donation to Haiti
If you need a new picture for mom, boyfriend/girlfriend, or Facebook, you’ll want to participate in Clicks for Quakes. For $30 you get a 20 minute photo session with either Adam or myself. ALL proceeds go to Haiti! As a thank you, you’ll receive 1 high res image from the shoot. It’s a win win situation!
Call Amanda at Innereactive Media (616) 682-9370 to reserve a spot, or just show up! Check out our Facebook invite as well! Hope to see you there!
BIG thanks to Stacy Borelli of Swank Photo Studio in North Carolina for coming up with this wonderful event. Stacy and 11 other photographers are donating their services and pulling off Clicks for Quakes in that state. Thank you to Adam for joining in and offering the use of your studio and a HUGE thank you to Amanda at Innereactive Media for making awesome posters and fielding calls. Thank you thank you!
Current Mood: Cool
Dear Super Bowl,
I refuse to be sucked in this year. I know you think everyone is watching you to see big men in tights beat up on each other for an 
oval ball, but we’re not. I hate to break it to you, but the only reason MILLIONS of Americans tune in is because of the commercials. (or the excuse to eat obscene amounts of food). Unfortunately for you, your commercials have SUCKED the last 10 years and I don’t think anything will change this year! The only commercial that sticks out to me is the cat herding one and I can’t even remember what it was advertising! I don’t get why should I watch several hours of grunting, sweaty men pummel each other just to see one (maybe) funny commercial. Well, I won’t do it this year. I’m going to be like Pepsi this year and not participate. Why? Because of my new friend, Social Media.
This year I’m choosing to do what I want on Super Bowl Sunday. And here’s the kicker (get it? Kicker?). I’ll STILL see the commercial everyone is talking about. How? Twitter and Facebook. That’s right Super Bowl, your irrelevant in my world! I’ll look at Twitter, see what is trending in those handy trending topics and be able to find that one hilarious gem of a commercial. Same goes for Facebook! While I’m relaxing and doing what I want, my friends will update me on the funniest commercials via Facebook. Social media will separate the wheat from the chaff for me! How awesome is that!
Clearly, social media has more to offer me than you. Not only will it save me from wanting to gouge my eyes out watching your incessant game, but it will also save me time… time not wasted on you. So take that Super Bowl! Go have your fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Pepsi and good book waiting for me.
Sincerely,
Sasha
Current Mood:
Happy
For the month of February, I’m involved with a project called Clicks for Quakes. It’s a photography charity event to raise funds for survivors in Haiti. The project started in North and South Carolina and they currently have over a dozen photographers on board. I would like to have that kind of participation here in Michigan!
If you’re a photographer with a big heart, and a little bit of spare time, this will be the perfect thing for you to take on this February. Basically for $30 someone will get a 20 minute photo shoot with you and 100% of the proceeds will go towards Haiti. That’s it… just 20 min! As a thank you, the person will recieve one high res digital file to use personally (not commercially). Need a new Facebook picture? New Twitter avatar? You get the picture!
If this is something you want to join in on, please please drop me an email. It doesn’t take much. There are posters and logos available for you to use today! Hope to hear from you!
Last week I had a revelation after two women from another university called me to inquire about Davenport University’s Facebook page. They explained that their school is currently starting its first Facebook page and had questions about how I accomplished a few things on ours. After talking with them on the phone, they asked “How did you learn all of this? Was there a website that helped you? A book?” I was stumped and then it came to me. Most of my knowlege comes from Twitter.
That’s right, Twitter is my resource guide. Whenever I have a question about higher sducation or social media, I turn to my many contacts on Twitter for help. Sure, I could Google a lot of this stuff, but why weed through thousands of pages that won’t help me, when I can just ask someone I trust if they have a solution. Almost immediately after asking the question, I recieve filtered answers that are way more valuable then what Google could ever offer.
I was discussing this with my hubby yesterday and he said Twitter has been a major help to him in his career as well. He is studying IT right now and follows many IT pros out there. As a result he said he feels on par with many of his professors in terms of helpful resources. In fact, the information he recieves from Twitter is sometimes more helpful than what he gets in the classroom. He suspects that’s because he’s connecting with real life professionals who are living, eating and breating IT. As an aside, it’s amazing seeing him talk so positively about Twitter, when just several months ago he said it was time-waster.
Not only can Twitter help out in professional situations, but it can help out in personal ones as well. Meet Edgar. 
He was one of four baby bunnies living in my backyard last summer. During their uninvited stay in the middle of the yard, one of my dogs chased little Edgar out of his nest. In order to protect him from the perilous jaws of my hounds, I was forced to pick him up and return him to the nest. This resulted in extreme anxiety for me because I had heard that if you picked up a baby bunny, the mom would reject him. Instantly, I hopped on Twitter and asked around for help and clarification. And wouldn’t you know it? I got replies from several people who had encountered the same problem. Where else can you get help like that? Again, I could have Googled an answer, but it probably would have taken me hours to find something useful!
Current Mood: Happy
Ever since I was a little girl, I was always overflowing with ideas. I was always creating crazy things like tree swings affectionately called the “Drop of Doom” or pulley systems across the pool in the backyard. The advantage I had back then though was time. Nowadays, I don’t have time to immediately implement my ideas. I’m so consumed in work or family life that I barely have time to even remember half the things that pop into my brain. However, there’s a solution for creative souls such as myself.
Notebook:
I’m obsessed with my little black notebook. I have two in fact. One is in my purse and one is my work purse. Whenever an idea strikes me, I write it down immediately. The notebook doesn’t just contain notes though, it contains storyboards, pictures and diagrams.
Basically anything that comes to mind goes in that notebook. Sure, a lot of the things I write down never actually come to fruition, but it’s nice to look back at something from a while ago and say “Hey, I didn’t have time for that then, but I have time for it now!
Voice Recorder:
Sometimes jotting down an idea just isn’t possible because we’ve dislocated that pencil or we’re driving 75 mph on Interstate 5. No fears, that’s what voice recorders are for. Lucky for me, my voice recorder is right in my phone. I flip it on with just a touch and then I let the thoughts flow from my head. Don’t have a voice recorder on your phone? Check out Best Buy. They’ve got a nice selection!
MindMapping:
Now that you have your ideas, how do you flush them out? MindMapping. If you haven’t heard of MindMapping before, you’re in for a treat. MindMapping is a way to structure your thoughts using diagrams. Essentially you start with one idea in the middle and then branch out with sub ideas and more ideas off of that. Pretty soon you’ll see a theme and structure coming out of your MindMap. The non-linear approach to this type of brainstorming really helps maximize your brainstorming session’s potential. Sound difficult? It’s not. Actually, there are numerous MindMapping programs out there. Check them out at one of my fave sites, Lifehacker.
Tips on how to best utilize your organization’s Twitter and/or Facebook account
Update often
Social media is about building and maintaining relationships. If you have a long-distance friendship with someone, the best way to build that relationship is through frequent communication. Social media is the same way. You can’t expect to have a meaningful connection with your followers if you offer them nothing in return. Facebook administrators should plan on updating Facebook at least four times a week. Twitter users should update at least once a day, Monday through Friday. The more frequent your updates, the more successful your social media efforts will be.
Ask questions to spark conversation and activity with your status updates. [i.]
People want to be talked “with” not “at.” Ask a thought provoking question and see what happens. The conversation that may result could be an asset for someone else.
Respond to comments in a timely manner.
If someone walked up to you at your place of business and asked you a question, would you a) answer them right away? Or b) wait 12 hours. The answer *hopefully* is a). Monitor your page to see if people have questions, and try to answer them right away. If you don’t know the answer, respond anyway. Be honest by saying you don’t know the answer but you’ll find it and get back to them ASAP. Just by posting an acknowledgment, you’ve shown that fan/follower (and countless others) that you have an interest in them.
Respond to negative comments in a positive way.
If there is a negative comment, do not ignore it. Try to diffuse the situation by turning the comment around and asking, “How can I help you?” Think of a way to change the commenter’s perspective in a constructive way.
Example: From Davenport University Alumni Facebook page: “My BBA has me unemployed! I paid 30 grand for a piece of paper! Time to shop another school for my masters!”
Davenport University’s reply: “Have you tried reaching out to Career Services?? Even though you’re not a student anymore, you can still go to them for help.” (Link to Career Services)
Updates should be meaningful.
Don’t just update for the sake of updating. The things you say to your fans/followers should be useful to them (and timely). If you have a big event coming up, post about it. Something new coming down the pipeline? Generate interest by giving updates on the project. See something in the news that pertains to your department/organization and you want to share it? Post it as a link along with a simple message.
Photos, Notes, Links, Wall posts, Events are all considered updates – Use them wisely.
Updates don’t just need to come in the form of status updates. They can be photos, events, notes and links. Every time you add something new to one of those categories in Facebook, it shows up in your fans’ newsfeeds, keeping you at the top of their mind. Make albums showing your staff, or write a note about something new you’re offering.
Reward your followers. [ii.]
Thank your fans. Can you offer a reduced rate to an event? Do you have the option of giving away a free ticket? Hold a contest to give away a simple prize to one random follower. Even small gestures show your appreciation and can increase interest in your organization.
See who is talking about you and respond
Whether you like it or not, people are talking about you/your brand on Twitter and Facebook. If you know how to “listen” to what those people are saying, you can set straight any misinformation that may be out there OR reaffirm any positive messages. Another good reason to “listen” is to learn more about your audience. You can gain important insight if you listen to what they have to say.
Want to keep an eye on what people are saying about you on Twitter? Set up an RSS feed by using Google Reader. You can use Google Reader to aggregate a number of feeds to one place. To learn more, check out the article “Grow Bigger Ears in 10 Minutes” by Chris Brogan.
[i.] Source: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/08/04/8-best-practices-for-retailers-on-facebook-pages/
[ii.] Source: http://www.diosacommunications.com/facebookbestpractices.htm
