Archive for the ‘social media’ Category

Any of the comments that you make on fan pages or public posts with the Facebook Comments social plugin can now be indexed by Google. Will this affect how you post considering that your comments may be indexed? Although Google isn’t violating any privacy laws by doing this, we may see more censoring on the social media website.

If your profile is private then the Googlebots won’t be able to index your comments, however postings in fanpages can be traced back to you by Google. The content was already public, Google just made it much easier to find.

Had you been cautious of your postings and do not mind having them tied to your name, you probably don’t have a problem with the change.

Not only is Facebook is being watched by Google, but Google can now index AJAX and JavaScript content on websites with Facebook comments built in. This means anything posted in a forum or public page can now be easily found with Google’s search engine.

What this means from a website designer’s perspective is that I see the potential for more non-deceptive means of advertising using social media to promote one’s business. If Google is indexing content from Facebook and other websites forum posts, this is an opportunity to gain more website visitors just by being more active in these online communities.

Google’s all seeing eye is peering into the far corners of the internet, so be careful what you comment and watch what you say. Make some postings about your business and now you just may get indexed for them.

I noticed that when it was first unveiled, the new look of Facebook was disliked by the majority of people who used it. Now I notice with the live feed at the right and friends lumped together in the chat, the protest against it had died down.

There are rumors going around that there may eventually be a charge for Facebook, and I can pretty much surely say this simply won’t happen. If you notice on the sign-in screen they clearly state: “Sign up, It’s free and always will be.” I couldn’t see them in defiance of their own motto.

There is an iPad scam going around Facebook, and even messenger as well. I would avoid a link that says anything like: “Click here to get your very own iPad for free, thousands are being given away!”.

Be careful what you click on, and if you don’t trust an application 100%, do not allow them access to your account. Facecrooks is a great helpful friend to have on Facebook who gives current, up-to-the-minute information on scams and other things going on within Facebook you might want to learn about, avoid, and pass around to others.

Avoid clicking on messages that say, “Check out this video of you” unless you know and trust the person or have verified its authenticity from another form of communication with them. The sender’s account quite possibly may have been compromised and a 3rd party is sending the links to you. These links can take your personal information to log into your account and cause you to spread them to your circle of friends as well.

Adjust your privacy settings that most people don’t know about. There is a new privacy setting on Facebook called “Instant Personalization” that shares data with non-Facebook websites and it is automatically set to “Allow.” Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites > Instant Personalization > Edit Settings, and uncheck “Allow”. If your Facebook friends don’t do this, they will be sharing information about you. Be wary of stalkers on Facebook and set your photos on visible only to friends under your privacy settings.

I’ve personally avoided game applications such as Mob Wars and Farmville, but proceed at your own discretion. There always will be some kind of threat in social networking, but the key is to stay a step ahead of it.

For some related topics on this subject, have a look at Using Facebook for Business, Clickjacking in Social Media and Viral Infections on Facebook, and contact me today for help with tips and ideas for a custom website design.

Adding custom social media buttons on your website or blog gives your online visitors the option to “Share” on Facebook, “Tweet” on Twitter, or add your site to multiple other social media websites on the net.

Allowing your website visitors to be able to share and tweet about your blog or website allows you to have more exposure in your business online. More exposure on social media websites could bring you more traffic and in turn, more potential clients.

I recently added these buttons to every page of my website and blog, and can offer the same service to you, if you have a website or blog set up already. Adding these social media buttons to EVERY page of your blog or website could be a very timely process for you, so you may want someone like me to handle that for you.

Don’t have a blog or website? Contact me today for details on just what it takes to get started! Keep posted on my blog and website for news, tips and advice concerning custom website design.

For directions on adding Google +1, Facebook share, Twitter tweet, and other social media buttons on every page of your blog or website, have a look at this Google Plus One Button Tutorial.

As the most popular social media website around and the second most popular website in terms of new accounts, Facebook attracts members of all ages. With currently over a steadily growing 750 million active Facebook users, the opportunity for using this social media platform for business purposes arises.

Facebook allows users to introduce webinars, podcasts, blog posts, articles, products and services while connecting with current and potential clients. Create a community around your business and be discovered by those who are searching for your products and services through advertising and promotion online. It is these connections which lead to referrals, customers and return clients.

Privacy settings control which portions of your profile different connections can or cannot see. Using this function allows you to decide what aspects of your business are exposed to your friends and those not friended yet.

Engage with potential customers online by being helpful, informative and providing interaction. One good practice is to ‘like’ other businesses who may need your product or service. When they return the favor and ‘like’ your page, their individual fans will be exposed to what you do as well.

Remember, social media can be a positive experience, but as with anything else online, you should be careful of what you click on. Read my post on Viral Infections on Facebook to better prepare yourself before diving in.

Use the Facebook logo on your printed material, business cards and website. Don’t have a website for your small business? Contact me today for ideas to promote your business with a custom website design for a fair price!

Clickjacking is growing more and more in social media, specifically Facebook. I myself haven’t been affected by any of these bad links, but I also choose to avoid applications dealing with more than just communicating with friends on the website.

The trouble begins when you click on the link. You may be taken to a screen that asks whether you want to allow this application. When you click on one of these links, these malicious websites can make your browser take action without your knowledge or consent. They can even post the link on your wall, friend chat, and in personal messages. As you can imagine this can spread virally and quickly as well.

If you feel you have been infected by such a virus, there are steps to help you get your social media account back to normal. If you made the mistake of installing the application and passing it onto others, clean up your profile by removing references to the application. This is done by clicking the “X” at the top right corner of the post. Then remove the application from your list of approved Facebook applications in your privacy settings. Go into Account, Privacy Settings, then Applications and Websites at the bottom left.

You may find a great deal of applications that interact with your Facebook account, so even if you’re not infected, it may be a good idea to clean up some of those that aren’t necessary.

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Facecrooks is a Facebook page you can visit that chronicles the seedy, unsavory and silly side of social media. They provide current news, educational resources and alerts on social media privacy, safety and scams, and provide relevant and current information on how to safely use social networking sites.

Bookmark my blog and website for tips and advice on the latest trends on the internet. If you have a small business, contact me today about a custom website of your own to advertise online.

The communication evolution began in primative times with smoke signals. Soon with the invention of electricity, morse code and telegraphs became our primary forms of communication. Letters in the mail took a very long time until the telephone’s invention in 1876.

The telephone’s become a mainstream way to talk to people so far away, even to this day. From the telephone we added electronic mail, or e mail replacing envelopes and postage, currently referred to as “snail mail”.

The way we communicate is constantly changing. The primary form or communication used to be the telephone, although it still is very popular, video chatting is the growing alternative. With video chat on instant messenger, Skype, and even chatrooms such as Stickam and Tinychat, we’re becoming more comfortable with seeing who we’re talking to.

Smartphones have video and microphone capabilities built right into them and give the user the option of video conferencing at any time of the day. We use social media like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to keep in touch with every detail about each other’s lives, up to the minute. Communication with people isn’t the only factor, but now we even have the need to communicate with robots and programs.

With online shopping, banking and even remotely controlling lights and appliances in your home, we’re seeing communication go beyond the realm of just people. We have gadgets to communicate with other gadgets around the home and office, from the TV remote to the bluetooth on your cell phone.

How many more hours will we spend on the phone with a computer voice prompting us through a neverending path of virtual menus just with the hope and intention to instead have someone to whom we can explain our needs? Our evolution in technology has taken away the personal touch of talking to an actual person in the customer service department.

Now anyone can get in touch with anyone else with ease. I see 5 year olds with cell phones and his grandpa is checking his hotmail online. Grandma’s bluetooth is connected to her iPhone and my older relatives are reuniting and connecting on Facebook. It’s a great time to grab the communication revolution by the horns and see what it has in store for you.

I do website design to the latest standards in either a custom CMS content management system, or smaller, static websites for small business. Whether your needs are simple or of epic proportions, I can help you get the web design you’re looking for. Bookmark my blog and website for tips and advice in the world of web design, and contact me by phone or email today to discuss any of your small business website design needs.

Google has recently launched a realtime search engine integrated into their search results showing information as it is posted online. The updates include information from sources such as news articles, Yahoo Answers, Twitter tweets, Facebook updates, MySpace announcements and much more. The Google realtime results can be paused, and there is even a scroll bar to review other recent results. You can even use real time search results on your mobile phone.

Google has linked partnerships with both Facebook and MySpace so that data can be streamed for any publicly available posts. This is in addition to the partnership they announced with Twitter in October 2010.

Google determines whether a search is worthy of having realtime results associated with it. When high quality information comes in, then Google will show it. In other words, if Google thinks something has some “realtime” component to it, the search engine will show the section. If Google sees a spike in information on a certain topic or queries on a topic, it assumes there is a realtime situation occurring.

You can even go to Google Realtime and set alerts for real time search results, allowing you to view up-to-the-second news articles, blog posts and social media updates about hot topics around the globe. Google’s real time search engine in coordination with Google Instant Results gives the user a simple experience searching online.

Bookmark my blog and website for web design news and updates, and visit often for new blog posts on a regular basis. Need a custom website? Contact me by phone or email to provide me with details on your expectations.

You can use Tinychat for video, text and microphone conferencing whether for business or with friends. With no download necessary, Tinychat is a great alternative to Skype, allowing up to 12 broadcasts. Just make a room then send the link to those you want to invite to video conference.

Although the interface is simple, there are a couple steps in order to get started with your video conference room. Name a chatroom and click create, make a screen name, password, enter your email, check the over 18 box and enter the captcha. The “Start Broadcasting” button at the top left gives the option of video camera, microphone or both. You can even import other camera options with an application from manycam.com to change lens options or add a tropical background to yourself.

Tinychat, by allowing multiple broadcasts at once makes communication in real time easy. Change your text color with the command /color= or change your nickname by double clicking on your name. Tinychat supports multiple browsers, but perhaps not the new beta version of IE9. Try out Tinychat to talk to clients or friends and get your video on today!

Some tinychat commands:
/color (changes the color of your chat)
/topic this is the room topic (changes the room topic, if you are a room operator)
/msg nickname this is private (sends a private message to another user in the room)
/ignore nickname (blocks their chat messages from appearing on your screen)
/ban nickname (kicks and bans the user from the room, if you are a room operator)
/banlist (displays the ban/forgive list, if you are a room operator)
/oper nickname (makes that user a room operator like you)
/broadcast nickname (allows that user to broadcast)
/close nickname (closes that user’s broadcast if you had allowed them)

I’ve been hearing a lot about viruses spreading on Facebook and seeing it personally from friends who have been infected on the social media site. Recent infections on Facebook are growing “virally”, pardon the pun. Review these tips and advice to avoid potential problems on the social media website.

You normally get one of these viruses from a friend who was unknowingly infected. They could come from a simple message, or a “video of you”. These viruses can take your personal information to log into your account and cause you to spread them to your circle of friends as well.

The most recurring one, called the “Koobface”, gives you a link to a video with “you” in it, and when you attempt to play it, you get an error message saying you need to download a file to update your Adobe Flash software. Now this “flash_player.exe” file contains the malicious Koobface code.

Another bit of advice involves keeping an eye on and adjusting your privacy settings in Facebook. There is a new privacy setting on Facebook called “Instant Personalization” that shares data with non-Facebook websites and it is automatically set to “Allow.” Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites > Instant Personalization > Edit Settings, and uncheck “Allow”. If your Facebook friends don’t do this, they will be sharing information about you.

Just a heads up to keep alert and watch what you click on. Some of the applications on social media websites can spread infections as well. Personally I’ve always stayed away from game applications such as Mob Wars and Farmville, but proceed at your own discretion. There’s always going to be a threat of some kind somewhere, but the point is to be educated about it to avoid headaches in the future.

Search engine upgrades are becoming more prevalent in just these recent weeks. Yahoo’s gone to Yahoo Pulse, MSN has upgraded to MSN 9 2011, and Google even allows you to customize your homepage now.

It seems that these search engines are becoming more like social media websites since social media is the growing trend for the last few years, including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. Search engines are constantly making it easier to connect with friends and relatives online.

Yahoo! Pulse allows users to add photos, share links with contacts, and connect to social media websites and other sites across the web. There are even applications such as “The Video of the Day”, or you could create a blog to write on for your contacts to see.

MSN has recently upgraded to MSN Beta, allowing it’s users to share photos, add favorites and groups, and customize pages with animated display pictures signature sounds and custom scenes. MSN Hotmail allows you to scroll photos sent to you through email as an album. MSN even has a media player built right into its Hotmail now, making watching and sending videos through email so much easier.