Over the past week every other headline seems to be about privacy online. Google and Facebook have both been making headlines about questionable security practices. Each of these online giants touches our lives on a daily basis and it is important to stay on top of their security practices.
Google has many countries across the world are in an up roar about “accidental collection” of personal information from the public Wi-Fi Networks. Many countries, including the US, have started an investigation to whether or not they breached data protection and computer hacking laws. Google is claiming they overlooked this problem and that they did not use the gathered information for any other purpose then to improve services. Look for more headlines regarding Google’s oversight and how they will be correcting their privacy issues.
Facebook has been topping the headlines with their privacy settings issues that affect all of their 400 million users. So, what is going on with Mark Zuckerberg and all of his friends at Facebook? They have been receiving a lot of heat for their lack of privacy and bulky privacy settings page. The current privacy settings are defaulted to public, and you have to navigate your way through about 170 different granular settings to make the switch to having a more private setting. Facebook users have been voicing their concerns for months about the default privacy settings and awkward granular privacy settings page. Finally, Facebook has listened to the users and will be making significant changes to their privacy. The changes will include;
- Sharing
- One page of privacy settings that will have a default privacy setting, along with separate levels of privacy.
- Granular controls are still available to use, but do not have to be used.
- Basic Directory Information
- Less publically available information.
- Only necessary information for people to find you on the site.
- Platforms
- Control over what applications (Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc) and sites have access to your information.
You can read more about the updated privacy settings on Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg also posted a nice blog and video today reviewing the changes to the privacy settings. These new privacy controls will start taking effect gradually over the next few weeks, so you won’t see them right away. If you are interested in changing your privacy settings, you can log into your Facebook account, go to Account, and select privacy settings.
The purpose of Facebook (or any social networking site for that matter) is to connect people together. Ask your aunt, your cousin, your neighbor, your pharmacist why he or she has a Facebook account. Undoubtedly, the response will be, to keep in touch with people and learn what they are up to as well as what their likes and dislikes are. So what is the Facebook open social graph and what does it have to do with other websites?
Picture this: you’re on Facebook and you’re scrolling down the news feed. You see someone wished someone else a happy birthday. You see an announcement that someone is moving. You see that someone “likes” a certain website or a certain group of people. Well, before the open social graph came about, Facebook users had to push the “like” button for that website or group of people from within their Facebook account. The open social graph brings that “like” button to you – on many websites other than Facebook.
Here’s an example – the very popular IMDb.com website provides all sorts of data and information about movies. Let’s say you’re looking up the latest blockbuster to find out more about it. You glance to the right of the screen and you see that familiar “like” button from Facebook – although, you’re not on Facebook, you’re on IMDb.com. You click it and you’ve just notified Facebook and all other people who “liked” it that you like it too. Now when you go back to IMDb.com (or any other website that has this feature), you will notice a specific list of your friends from Facebook who have also said they “liked” it as well.
This could work for any website that chooses to have this feature whether it’s an online vitamin store or a national news website. So basically what it’s doing is connecting everyone together outside of the one-dimensional social networking website, Facebook. Basically, any website that chooses to can plug some simple code into their meta data and provide the “like” button on their own website. In essence, the Facebook open social graph brings the interactive qualities of Facebook to any websites that choose to join in with the networking fun.
This is a guest post by Eric Rea. Image taken from blog.joshbarr.com.
I was recently putting together a document for benchmarks involving Social Media, and to make sure I wasn’t missing anything I did a Google search to see if I was missing any benchmarks. What I found was interesting was most everything was for pay, which makes little sense. There isn’t much giving away of intellectual property with sharing how to set goals? So with that, here are 5 benchmarks that your social media presence can strive for. If you reach these goals you will see success:
Twitter- Number of followers. In order to effectively spread your message and engage successfully we suggest organically getting over 1000 followers, and over 100 Tweets.
Facebook Fanpage – Once you get to 50 posts with unique content (articles and blogs), and over 200 followers you will see some calls to actions occur.
LinkedIn Group – Same deal with 50 posts, but with Linked In usually 100 followers on LinkedIn does the trick. We have found most folks on LinkedIn are inclined to participate in business ventures then on Facebook. So less is more!
Youtube – Once you get 15 new video posted and shared in Social Bookmarking channels and embedded in your blog or social website, you will start seeing success. Remember unique content is key, so these videos need to be created by you and your organization.
Alexa – We have seen a direct correlation between traffic ranking under 800,000 and social media success. If you do your due diligence of sharing your unique content in DoFollow Social Media channels with the link pointing back to your blog or social website, you will start seeing success at achieving your business objectives once you get under 800,000 (lower the better- Facebook is ranked 4 in the world). Share the link to your unique content in as many Do follow Social Media channels! It is laborious, but incredibly important.
We have well over 200 benchmarks that we share with our clients. But these are 5 benchmarks that will help you be successful using Social Media if you do your due diligence (commitment to unique content) and track to these markers. Don’t hesitate to contact Authority Domains if you need additional help or guidance.
I’ve happened upon several posts lately talking about how little social media has helped this or that individual or company. Most of these posts tend to lay the blame of failure on the concept of Social Media, which is a huge misstep. More often than not, an SMM campaign fails because of the execution, exacerbated by these six factors:
Strategy is Integral to all Social Media Campaigns
Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites online and offers varied options for promoting yourself, your site, your business or your client.
Two of the best ways to go about marketing yourself through Facebook besides your main profile are Facebook Groups and Facebook Fan Pages. While both are similar in concept, there are some key differences to keep in mind when you’re setting them up. Read more
How Do You Ban a User From Your Facebook Fan Page
At this time, there is no way to remove or ban a user from being a fan of your Page. However, if a fan is abusive, you can block them from posting content on your Page. To do so, please click on the “Block” link found underneath the posted content.
Additionally, you can report the user or the user’s postings on your Page to Facebook by using the appropriate report links.
Facebook will review the reported material and remove anything that violates their Terms of Use. If warranted, Facebook will either warn or disable the user.
Here are the top Social Networking sites for realtors. Whether you’re just getting started or are a seasoned pro looking to expand your marketing and networking possibilities, these sites will help you greatly expand your forte. Read more
I love that on the same page as CNN’s announcement of this new “Facebook for spies” is a “Don’t Miss” article titled “U.S. at risk of cyberattacks, experts say” and an ad for La Cense Beef with a tantalizingly juicy steak… Read more
