Facebook privacy: a guide - Ars Technica Everywhere you look (even here at Ars), there are articles about people making poor decisions about what kinds of info and how much to share on sites like Facebook. The Internet is no longer a place where you can hide out easily—friends, family, and employers are all lurking, reading your embarrassing status updates and checking up on those drunken pictures from last week. And that's just the beginning—the world of social networking is a feeding ground for identity thieves and stalkers, too. But it doesn't have to be that way. Many users are aware that Facebook has numerous privacy controls, for example, but even the most experienced Facebook users often don't know just how much they can control who sees what. If you don't want to be socially available at all, then the solution is right in front of you and you can stop reading! Dividing up your friends When Facebook first launched, it was easy to determine who was a friend and who wasn't. Tweak access to your profile No. Conclusion
32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers. Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business. Manage Your ProfileFill out your profile completely to earn trust.Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. Connect and share with others Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.Post business updates on your wall. Use Network, Group and Fan Pages Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business.
5 Fantastic Facebook Fan Page Ideas to Learn From This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. So your business is on Facebook, and brand engagement is up thanks to some savvy social media strategy. You may even be interested in further distinguishing your brand by building a custom landing page for your account. But what kind of value does a custom Facebook Fan Page offer? What are your fans looking for on a social network that they can't get from your business website? Interactivity Social networks are not passive, so your Facebook landing page shouldn't be either. Facebook is all about sharing, and The Gap has an ingenious promotion on the Baby Gap tab of their Fan Page. This kind of campaign provides a wealth of free, user-generated content that displays Gap products, and best of all, the functionality of photo uploading is already built into Facebook — no development necessary. Deals! Conclusion
How To Integrate Facebook With WordPress « Smashing Magazine Advertisement Facebook is one of those Web phenomena that impress everyone with numbers. To cite some: about 250 million users are on Facebook, and together they spend more than 5 billion minutes on Facebook… every day. These numbers suggest that we should start thinking about how to use Facebook for blogging or vice versa. We did some research to find out how the integration of Facebook with WordPress and vice versa works, or — in other words — how you can present your WordPress blog on Facebook or use the functionality of Facebook on your WordPress-powered blog. 1. Integrating a WordPress blog into Facebook is actually quite simply achieved via the Facebook API. The applications sustain themselves through earnings generated by displaying advertisements, which also makes Facebook an even more attractive platform to develop on. Plug-In Installation and Configuration John Eckman developed the WordPress plug-in Wordbook in early 2009. Create a new Facebook application And that’s it! 2. (al)
A Graphic Guide to Facebook Portraits Everyone is aware of how significantly Facebook has impacted modern technologies such as online communication, information aggregation, and boyfriend stalking. Less noticed, but just as profound, is its influence on art. Just as refinements in mirror crafting led to an increase in self portrait production during the Renaissance, Facebook's steady, unrelenting invasion of every crevice in the civilized world has led to a new renaissance in portraiture, notable for its creation by people who wouldn't know good art if it friend requested them. These office workers and bored teens have replaced Okies and deranged shut-ins as the ultimate outsider artists; not only do they lack formal artistic training, most lack even the desire to create art. However, with this humble, ad hoc genre a complex visual dialogue has emerged, and its unique vocabulary reveals much about the modern world. Click to Expand
Facebook 101 Business Guide Not using Facebook for business yet? Wondering where to start? Already on Facebook, but not sure if you’ve done everything right? By the way, you’re not alone. This post is designed to help you understand what Facebook can do for your business and lead you through a step-by-step process for getting started on building a compelling presence and optimizing your Facebook marketing. STEP 1: Review Your Profile Most likely, you already have a personal profile. Next, choose your approach for using your personal profile. My recommendation is to use your profile for a mix of both personal connecting and professional networking. I’ll cover Friend Lists and privacy settings in a moment. Go to the Edit Profile section of your profile to edit each of these areas: You can get to the Edit Profile area by first clicking the Info tab, then the edit pencil in the top-right corner. Remember to click the blue Save Changes button on each section if you make changes! Hide Your Year of Birth Update Your Bio
Facebook’s New Privacy Features: A Complete Guide Facebook’s been evolving right before our very eyes. It started back in March, when Facebook rolled out a new homepage design and redesigned Facebook Pages . At the same time, they started announcing changes to open up the platform: public profiles , profile fans , public status updates , real-time search , and earlier this morning, Facebook Lite . Facebook’s been busy. All of this is part of a process we sometimes describe as Twitterification . That’s why we have written this guide to Facebook’s most recent changes to profiles, status updates, and privacy features. Profiles In terms of privacy, there have been two major changes. The other major change to profiles, announced in June, is the ability to have profile fans . Status Updates Status updates have also changed. You’ll also notice that there’s a custom setting. The change brings it more in line with Twitter, which is public by default. Realtime Search What’s Next? Facebook’s many new features can all be described with one word: .
Enterprises » Blog Archive » What’s the Payback on Social Media? While I was speaking at and attending the Emerging Philanthropy Conference last month, people kept coming back to the same question, regardless of the session or roundtable topic listed: “How do I sell my boss on the value of Social Media?” It became clear as the two days progressed that this weighed heavily on many people’s minds. Although most nonprofit leaders are at least conceding the point that social media isn’t going away anytime soon, many of them still aren’t moving beyond basic lip service. That is to say, too many don’t realize that experienced staff and a (gasp!) budget need to be committed to this endeavor as well. (Mostly!) I’ve often found, though, that elaborating with details (even when I have plenty of them!) Comparing what is unknown to what is already known is always a good place to begin. This can be answered by relating to several areas that nonprofits frequently already invest in, which take a lengthy time to produce income – indeed, some never do.
10 Apps to Make Your Facebook Page More Engaging. No one likes a Facebook Page that is barren and boring least of all the people who pressed that ‘Like’ button. This post will share 10 apps that will help make your Page more engaging. The Facebook Pages apps are just like the apps on your Facebook Profile, nothing tricky about it at all. If you manage a Page, I highly recommend adding apps from the list below to quickly and effortlessly make your Page more interesting. Welcome Tab For Pages: Showcase just about anything in your Page, from profiles and businesses to products and upcoming events. It’s an ideal way to make a great first impression. Twitter for Pages: There are a few Twitter apps on Facebook however most of them break frequently or are made for Profiles and not Pages. Flickr: Showcase your photo stream with this pretty app. Eventbrite: If you host/promote events, then you should consider adding this app. My Top Fans: This app shows you who your top fans are for your Page .
29 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed With school finally starting in earnest, we understand if you missed one or two of our essential resources from the past week or so. The 29 lists and reviews below will get you fully caught up on all things social. Our Social Media section takes a look at the next five years in the field, and breaks down the new Vogue.com. Tech & Mobile can help you get around New York City, learn about tech's biggest names, or learn more about Apple's new app guidelines. Business tools come with tips for scoring a digital PR job, trends in social media advertising, and a look at emerging social media platforms. Looking for even more social media resources? Social Media The Next 5 Years in Social MediaWhat's in store for the future of social media? For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable's social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Tech & Mobile 35 Entertaining 404 Error PagesNobody likes stumbling upon a nasty 404 error page. Business
How-to: Effectively manage your Facebook privacy settings with three simple lists I used to love Facebook. I was in law school at Wisconsin when it launched, and everyone I knew on the site was basically a peer -- people who I'd known well or at least met in person at some point. Then... I graduated. Suddenly having a Facebook account full of pictures from blurry nights in Madison and Pulitzer Prize-caliber dirty jokes from my friends wasn't so awesome anymore -- especially once I started working for Engadget and lots and lots of people I didn't actually know (or, somewhat even worse, only knew professionally) started looking at my personal page. Luckily, it's not so hard to do -- you just have to make effective use of a Facebook feature called Lists. Step one is the easiest step -- you just need to make the lists. That'll take you to a large list of your friends, and at the top you'll see "Create New List," like so: Hit Create New List, and the list editor will pop up. Our system involves just three main lists: Okay, so now you've assigned all your content to lists.
Top 15 things you should never do on Facebook Love them or hate them, social networking sites are here to stay. Facebook and MySpace are among the most popular destinations on the web. And even though they can be extremely annoying, there is one inescapable fact: the most irritating thing about Facebook is the 100m-strong army of people who use it. When was the last thing you looked at your feed without someone posting an embarrassing picture, or someone else saying something irritating in their status update? Here are the top 15 things you should never do on Facebook or MySpace: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.