Hashtags Coming to Facebook

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Jessica Morrow

Starting Wednesday for select users, Facebook will be able to support hashtags. Facebook wants to start using hashtags to make searching and conversing easier. Many other social media sites, such as Instagram and Twitter, have working hashtags that can be clicked on the view more content related that topic. Many Facebook users already use hashtags, so making them work will just be the icing on top of the cake. Facebook users will be able to type in a hashtag into the search bar to see who else is talking about the same topic.

Photo via someecards
How will social media users feel about Facebook #hashtags?

The company hopes adding hashtags on Facebook will help show that a single post is actually part of a grander conversation. So now, when all your friends post the scores to the games and talk about that awesome touchdown, they can add a hashtag and discuss what just happened with others who used the same hashtag. When someone clicks on the hashtag, they will be taken to another page that has all relatable posts in a single news feed. Facebook stated that the hashtag capabilities will include searching for hashtags, clicking on hashtags that come from other services and writing posts directly from the hashtag feed.

Is Facebook becoming too much like Twitter? As of right now, Facebook users can post a status that is up to 63,206 characters, unlike Twitter that limits a post to 140 characters. Facebook will allow users to add more content and opinion to their hashtagged posts. Compared to the brief posts on Twitter, Facebook users will be able to delve into the topic at hand.

Your hashtags don’t work on Facebook? Don’t worry! It will take a few weeks for everyone’s hashtags to go into effect on the social media site.

Do you think useable hashtags on Facebook will go over well with social media users? Comment below and let us know what you think!

Is Your Facebook Boss Approved?

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Jessica Morrow

When applying for jobs and landing interviews, a lot of the focus is put on perfecting a resume, deciding what to say, and dressing the part. What job seekers need to realize is that the interview goes outside of the office doors. Social media sites, like Facebook, are sources bosses can use to learn more about potential employees. Even after landing a job, Facebook profile pages may become a hazard if the boss and employees friend each other.

Getting and keeping a job is important, but expressing oneself freely through social media is important too. By changing Facebook settings, users can post and keep what they want on their Timeline without regretting it later.

About to post a status? Remember to click on the “Friends” bar next to the blue “Post” button and click on “Custom” to change the settings on who can and cannot view the status. Feel free to talk about how much fun the past weekend was, without putting the job on the line. Creating friend lists on Facebook can help organize contacts, and hide posts from them with ease. Instead of typing out each name of who the post needs to be hidden from, it will already be organized onto a list.

How to customize who can view a post

We cannot stop the inevitable, as friends with no filers post all those embarrassing pictures. Instead of untagging each photo, memories can be kept. There is the option to hide the photo from Timeline by clicking on the pencil in the upper right hand corner of the photo and clicking “Hide from Timeline”. However, using this option means that the photo is still tagged and can be viewed in the photos section.

How to hide a picture on Timeline

Want to share photos with friends, but not colleagues? After posting an album, click the icon in the bottom right hand corner of that album and click on “Custom” to change who can view the photos in that entire album.

How to customize albums

Want to change the settings in Timeline? Users have the option to customize Timeline setting by clicking the gear icon in the bottom right hand corner of the cover photo, and clicking “Timeline Settings”. Users can change who can add and view content on the Timeline.

How to customize Timeline settings

Being respected and presentable in the work space is very important, but so is keeping up a social life. Changing Facebook settings can help users customize who can see and view content, without losing the freedom of using social media. So, apply for that dream job…once your Facebook is boss approved!

Social Media: A Love-and-Hate Relationship

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Joao Marcos

You probably have heard this phrase before: “Before you love anyone, you need to love yourself.” Guess what? This applies to social media, too!

Let me explain. Social media can be very chaotic, frustrating and overwhelming for many business that are trying to implement a marketing plan, but let’s be honest here–love or hate it, social media is not going anywhere. On the contrary, it’s growing on a global level. This dynamic segment in the advertising industry is always polishing and innovating existing technology. Changes are constantly happening, and they’re happening fast!

Photo by Dean Meyers

What are you going to do? Give up? Deny it? We most certainly hope not!

The challenge for everyone is to stay on top of everything that is happening in social media. Although changes can be tough, they are inevitable. How we embrace these changes is what matters, but many times you cannot do it alone. You might feel pressured to be present in all social networks and platforms, but the good news is you don’t have to be, and we are here to help you every step of the way.

A digital marketing agency can help your business develop a strategic and effective presence online. Because no two businesses are alike, we want to create a plan that will achieve your unique goals. We will tap into your strengths and fix your weaknesses. The last thing we want you to do is waste your time and resources by investing in a marketing strategy that will not support your objectives.

Our strategic plan is based on four key elements:

Our clients’ goals
Our clients’ needs
Our clients’ culture
Our clients’ values

If we cannot create a balance of these elements, we are not doing it right. Like relationships, we need to listen in order to have a clear understanding about each other. We hope that you will allow us to help you create a love relationship with social media. Let our team of experts guide you through this dynamic industry and help you find the best way to love social media without forgetting who you are as a company.

–João Mattos

Correlation Between Traveling and Happiness via Twitter

Posted on April 18, 2013 by LauraEne

Researchers at the University of Vermont have been studying the relationship between the happiness level of people on Twitter compared to how far they have traveled from their primary locations.

With continued advancement in technology and the amount of personal and emotional information people share via online mediums today, experts can now study human behavior by looking at the sentiment that is expressed via social media. Not only are people providing information about how they are currently feeling, but their location in the world are almost always given as well. Putting all of this together allows researchers to come to a conclusion on how people feel based on where they are.

Photo Credit: epSos.de

“Expressed happiness increases logarithmically with distance from an individual’s average location,” was the ultimate result of the study done by these experts. The research found concluded that people tweet most often from work and home and when they are further away from these locations, most often traveling, they are happier in their tweets.

While this may be a stretch and might not be the most accurate way to measure how happy people are, it is an interesting subject to consider. Are people happier when they are traveling? Do they express their true happiness on social media or do they just want to seem this way to their follows? Its hard to tell but most of us can agree, traveling to the beach compared to sitting in a cubicle would make the average person happier, even on Twitter.

Reference: Mashable: Twitter Happiness Soars as People Travel Further From Home

Politics of the Future: Digital and Social Media

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Jennifer Sibert

What if President Obama held press conferences not in the White House, but on Google Hangout? What if he answered questions asked by the American people, rather than the news correspondents? Earlier this month India’s Finance Minister P Chidambaram did just that. The minister participated in a live video conference that lasted hour, but the conference sparked conversations that lasted quite longer (e.g. #askthefm).

“People have been calling this era of computers, the Internet, and telecommunications the ‘information age’ … What we’re really in now is the empowerment age…This power is shifting…to a new paradigm of power that is democratically distributed and shared by all of us.” - Joe Trippi, author of Revolution Will Not be Televised

President Obama’s current Facebook banner.

Today everyone and everything is going social. Barack Obama and Fançois Hollande are on Facebook, and even The White House, the WTO, and the United Nations tweet.Digital media has become a new form of infrastructure. The United Kingdom offers virtual tours of Parliament buildings. The EU website has an Audiovisual Newsroom. Online presence is a public expectation.

The virtual world has a very real influence.The last two years proved digital and social media’s power to mobilize entire nations (i.e. revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria). Minister Chidambaram’s conference is further evidence of a growing desire to not only pay attention to the man (or woman) behind the curtain, but to eliminate the curtain altogether.

Social Media Scandals, Scams and Security Updates

Posted on February 21, 2013 by AshlieForchione

Brands got a rude awakening this week. Turns out, social media is not as secure as the Defense Department. Or even a pre-school, really.

“Twitter has a problem: While the social network is trying to woo brands and advertising money to its platform, companies’ Twitter accounts keep getting hacked.” – CNN Money

Photo by: Photo Giddy

The Twitter “leak fiasco” started back in 2009, when personal accounts of Twitter employees were hacked. With an increasing number of accounts and services related to Twitter it became very difficult to manage the huge amount of data. Therefore, the system without an extra security features appeared to be fragile and easy to break into. It was Fox News’ twitter account next. The portal with more than 2 million followers was hacked in 2011 and, therefore, assassinated.

During the last week, scary news about major brands being hacked came out and now we are all waiting what’s going to happen next. Jeep and Burger King’s Twitter accounts have been broken into.

Social media is by far the best one-on-one experience you can give your customers – no other media allows brands the opportunity to directly communicate with their customers in any sort of efficient manner. But brands seem to have forgotten they didn’t build the social platforms they prize but rather tuned-in to a conversation already in progress. Despite the recent Twitter security update, social platforms are not reinforced with the secrecy and security ad agencies offer that brands have taken for granted for so long.

Marketers should keep in mind the nature of the beast. Social media is a technology meant to gain its own momentum thanks to its viral nature, the same type of draw that lures hackers. Short of social media platforms completely revamping the structure of their site, marketers need to be hyper-mindful of their own security. In case of breach, social media marketing agencies should have a plan in and always remember to maintain a sense of humor and camaraderie in the aftermath of security failures – even with competitors.

— Co-written by Elena Nadtochiy & Ashlie Forchione

Talk Nerdy To Me – Nerd Nite Ann Arbor

Posted on January 31, 2013 by AshlieForchione

Ann Arbor’s newest event aims to bring together two of the greatest things about growing up: feeling comfortable in your own skin and the ability to legally enjoy an after-work drink, in moderation. Nerd Nite is a growing global phenomenon that brings together self-proclaimed nerds in a relaxed bar setting where they can share interesting informational nerdy presentations.

Photo by ashlieforchione

I had the opportunity to get involved in Nerd Nite Ann Arbor in its early stages. My sister, a developer/nerd, and some of her friends made it their mission to organize the first ever Nerd Nite in Ann Arbor. I went at first to support her; while they had invited nerds they knew, the ‘Bosses’ (Nerd Nite organizers) weren’t sure how many people would actually show. One invited nerd even digitally muttered their uncertainty about the event – there would be girls there, and alcohol. How nerdy could it be?

How very nerdy, indeed. At least 20 people had to be turned away at the door – all the extra standing room only spots were taken well before the first presentation on Nanotechnology. Though some nerds waited in another area of the bar, hoping to catch a glimpse of the next two presentations on 3D Printing (see above photo) and Data Visualization, it was to no avail. No one even left the presentation area for fear of losing their spot.

At the end of the first night, I knew Nerd Night Ann Arbor would be bigger than my sister ever hoped. So, I did what any good sister-nerd with digital marketing know-how would do. I offered to help manage their social media outreach, and get my digital-nerd on. See, while digital and social marketing is a job field I’m pursuing, it is also a passion of mine. Something to get ‘nerdy’ about, as any good-fitting job should be. The facebook page and twitter are already exploding. I’m geeked to see what we can do for the next event this February.

If this post has got you feeling nerdy, geeked out, or put you in touch with your inner poindexter, check out Nerd Nite Ann Arbor or just talk nerdy to me.

Mixed Feelings on the New Facebook Graph Search

Posted on January 16, 2013 by LauraEne

Facebook has revealed its latest attempt to stay ahead of the game with what it calls its “Graph Search” feature. After much criticism regarding its current search engine, the company has finally decided to improve its strategy. Although the initial news of the development came with much excitement, there are always skeptics who will have something to say.

The new search method comes with many benefits for big brands, small businesses, and the average Facebook user. Very specific searches like “Friends that live in New York” will produce answers. You can even submit multiple searches at once. For example “Friends that live in NY” followed by “that like Sushi” will narrow it down even further. This provides Facebook users with more tailored results based on their needs.

While media and marketing analysts commend Facebook on their innovation, they predict that the hype will not last long enough to provide the company with significant results, monetarily or otherwise. Many critique the new search method by saying that Facebook is too late in the game with this improvement. Users are already too comfortable with their current search tactics, like Google, and they will continue to go about their regular ways even after the Facebook Graph Search is implemented.

It will be interesting to see how Facebook rolls out this advancement and more so how the social media world reacts to the change. There are always those critics who say the company has lost its “mojo” and is trying anything and everything to stay relevant. What many skeptics may fail to remember is that Facebook is one of biggest pioneers in the social media movement and if they want to innovate their search methods, they most definitely have that right.

Personally, were all very excited here at our social media agency for this latest Facebook development and eager to test it out!

photo credit: AJC1 via photopin cc