Stealing Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media For Business

I am Mark Zuckerburg

The greater your popularity, the more the copycats. Yammer’s detailed imitation of Facebook, right down to the tiles layout. SCVNGR has been more subtle in their imitation: their main menu is based on one of Facebook Apps.

Watch your competition. Stalk them if need be. Accept you are not the only genius, there are others as sharp as and sharper than you.  Change if you have to. Aggression is an admirable quality but do not go nipping them in the bud.  Wade the smaller sharks out and catch the big ones by the nose.  And file a lawsuit if it is causing serious damage to your business.

Otherwise, let them copy. They will do it despite your ‘goody two shoes’ lecture or hurling anger in the comment box.  In fact, thank them for keeping you on your toes. Utilize your time instead in developing new strategies.

Inspiration, not imitation is the key.

Optical illusions cheat the eye and imitators know the tricks. I recall walking into an outlet I assumed was the one I regularly visit, recognized by their red and white theme. Even the logo and font style were replicated. Just the altercation in the name made me realize the mistake and I walked out.  The point is, business competition should not be cause for insecurity, as long as you are maintaining quality and providing the high standards that set you apart in the first place.

Do not stake your reputation. It sounds old fashioned, but honesty really is the best policy. One slip results in numerous losses that spread like wildfire across the web. Covering little white lies with big black ones results in grey gaps, arousing suspicion in the minds of the customers.

Interact to the brim. Ever hear the advice that the way to come up with a brilliant idea is to sit alone in a dark and quiet room. Then all creative departments should have been designed that way. To me, the idea is downright depressing. I would rather be in the midst and helm of affairs, hear what people are saying, ask questions, encourage feedback. That is how you should operate. Static sites are dead sites. Your physical presence and web presence will survive all competition.

Related Posts

• February 10, 2011 -- Social Commerce: eCommerce on Steroids? (0)
  Of all the social media marketing buzzwords you hear on a daily basis, there’s one that stands out as perhaps the most crucial. Everywhere you look, the push in digital, social and mobile media mar...
• January 18, 2012 -- Networking your way to entrepreneurship (0)
  As with all businesses, being an entrepreneur is risky, but given the job market trends and salaries, the risks can outweigh chances of success. But the timing could not be better than it is now, than...
• January 10, 2012 -- Taking quality pictures for social media (0)
  Let’s just say it’s about time you change not the way you look, but how you look on the internet. The pressure is more so if you are on social network sites that are increasingly focusing on visuals t...
• November 23, 2011 -- Increase Brand Preference using Social Media (0)
  Making customers aware of your brand is one thing; convincing them to choose your brand over the completion is something else entirely. Developing a solid relationship where a customer is more likely ...
• August 4, 2011 -- Google+, Fastest Growing Social Network with Extraordinary Numbers! (18)
  Google+, a new social network from the house of Google has hit the market by storm. Google+ is giving a serious run for its money to the 750 million user base of Zuckerberg's Facebook. With over 20 mi...

1.      Social Media Marriage Proposals

Titled five geeky marriage proposals, tech savvies spent ample time coming up with ways to propose through social media. Some may call it cowardice, or absence of the gift of the gab, but credit must be given to creativity. Internet memes, hacking through an RPG and a movie trailer screened on the theatre, the lengths they went to were well worth it—their proposals were accepted. Imitation is just as good as the invention, as people continue to follow suit in “Five more geeky marriage proposals” and modify it to their style. And the ones that no one wants to consider are categorized under ‘craziest,’ ‘worst’ or ‘meanest’ proposals ever!

2.      10 Cozy Headphones for Cold Weather

In the next winter season, consider wearing these headphones to keep the draft out of your ears. Ten wooly styles range from conservatively stylish to oddities such as a knitted bow on top or cat ears sticking out. Recommended only for the semi or completely unselfconscious. You can get away more so by being cute rather than bizarre.

3.     The Facebook Bed

Then there’s a Facebook’s logo shaped bed designed by Croatian Tomislav Zvonarić. Complete with a pillow and comforter encasement imprinted with Facebook’s icons. We can admire it as a work of art, but it also serves the practical purpose by combining work time with rest time.  On the headrest is a mini workspace complete with an inbuilt chair and space for computer equipment. Anyone wishing to order will have to wait awhile, as the designer is looking to partner with Facebook before starting its sale.

4.      Social Shower Curtain

Or, choose the Social Shower Curtain as your Facebook’s profile page. It is estimated to cost about USD 23.00 and will be released this February by SpinningHat. It literally has a shower curtain with the user’s picture peeking out from behind. Jokes and There is concern regarding the language and visual content, but hopefully, Facebook’s privacy policy should be able to deal with obliterating anything offensive.

Related Posts

• July 25, 2011 -- U-Mass Dartmouth University: The Fortune 500 & Social Media (4)
  When the namesake of an Ivy league school like Dartmouth produces a study about social media networking, everyone involved in the world of digital marketing stands up and takes notice. Universi...
• March 14, 2011 -- Fortune 100 Increasingly Embracing Social Media Marketing (8)
  A new report by Burson-Marsteller says that Fortune 100 companies are using social media marketing in an ever increasing way. The study involved 32 U.S. companies, 47 European companies and 18 Asia...
• August 22, 2011 -- 10 Essential Elements of Social Media Engagement (1)
  Connecting with your customers and potential customers via social media is a wonderful way to increase your company’s business. The fact of the matter is that consumers are turning toward social media...
• August 19, 2011 -- 7 Social Media Lead Generation Imperatives (0)
  Consumers have, by and large, foregone traditional marketing channels. Sure, television commercials, radio spots, and even bulk mailings have their place in a marketing strategy, but they are becoming...
• August 8, 2011 -- Another Survey, More Feathers in Facebook’s Cap (2)
  It seems that the never-ending stream of studies published about digital media continue to point to one inescapable fact: Facebook’s cap has more feathers in it than anyone else’s. At least when it...

1.      Users have been given the leverage to control their posts through simple processes from the ‘Home’ tag. Clicking ‘view activity’ will show all. You can then decide what you want deleted by selecting ‘Hide from Timeline.’

2.      When you don’t want everyone reading your post, select ‘privacy settings,’ scroll down until you see ‘How you connect. ’ Select ‘who can see your posts by others on your timeline.’ Do read the note that limits the kind of posts that are specific to this tag. On ‘privacy settings’ and select ‘control your default privacy’ and then ‘choose friends’.

3.      To prevent someone in your circle from writing on your wall, select the same ‘How you connect. ’ Click on it, select ‘who can post on your timeline. ’ The drop down tag displays the options of ‘friends’ or ‘only you.’  There is also an option to control that can send you messages as well.

4.      You can erase your past, by selecting ‘Limit the audience of your past posts.’ This comes with a precautionary note that using this option, those indirectly connected will be able to view it under ‘friends.’ You can even select specific posts by going to that post and selecting the option.

5.      Blocking has a whole range of options that makes Facebook users wish they had been available from the start. From Privacy settings, select, ‘manage blocking.’ The pop up window allows blocking or deleting users, apps and event invitations.

6.       There is also the option to restrict your uploaded photos. Whether you want entire albums or select photos from being viewed by public and allowing ‘friends’, ‘family’ or ‘only you.’  The same procedure is used for video and mobile uploads.

Related Posts

• January 16, 2012 -- Business pitfalls to avoid on Facebook (0)
  Our business Fan page died yesterday. Rather than create a new one or just forget about it, my team decided to find out why. The long list was unexpected. Avoiding Facebook As regional sales man...
• January 11, 2012 -- Gateway to social shopping (0)
  If you are still undecided as to whether social shopping is a safe bet, this is not an assurance that it is. But then, so is physical purchasing if you don’t check the item before purchasing only to d...
• November 23, 2011 -- Increase Brand Preference using Social Media (0)
  Making customers aware of your brand is one thing; convincing them to choose your brand over the completion is something else entirely. Developing a solid relationship where a customer is more likely ...
• November 17, 2011 -- Killer Facebook Profile Tips (0)
  The key to effective Facebook marketing is your profile. If your profile is weak, no amount of other marketing efforts will help out. The profile is the centerpiece of your Facebook marketing strategy...
• September 12, 2011 -- Facebook collaborates with Spotify, MOG and Rdio for Music Platform with Scrobbling and Track Unification features (5)
  Facebook is known to be susceptible to change and collaborations on its way up. Multiple platforms are now either part of Facebook or are working in partnership with Facebook (e.g. Microsoft’s Skype)....

Top social sites such as Facebook and Twitter have transformed companies into “your complaint is our command” genies. Back before social sites, Facebook B.C. companies printed their toll free numbers on their packaging and hoped no one would call. That the complaints are now attended to is since the development of social websites as it is every company’s nightmare for the word to spread like wildfire across the web.

Or, it’s simply social blackmailing. Notice how complaints are handled on social sites compared to the telephonic. When they vary to a great degree, consider the company afraid of their reputation than their standards. When companies reveal this weakness, some customers tend to take advantage. Consequently, companies, in their panic, give in to the most minor and fraudulent complaints.

What companies should do

1.      Not ignore the complaint, no matter how fake the complaint seems. Customers like to feel important, give them the benefit of doubt.

2.      Facebookers do not necessarily provide their personal details. Ask the complainant to do so and correspond via email.

3.      Ask for receipts and photographs, where possible.

4.      Avoid delay. The longer the time to rectify the situation, the more frustration on the part of the customer.

5.      Be consistent about the way you handle customer complaints, no matter what the mode and have department dedicate their time exclusively to complaints via social networks.

What customers can do

1.      Be angry, but not abusive. Top social sites block offensive language, but people get the message across by words marked with *** following a letter. Use it and you’ve lost public sympathy.

2.      Evaluate the immensity of the loss, both monetary and the mental stress. Pining over a dollar’s worth for days isn’t worth it.

3.      Remain consistent about the complaint even when the company attempts to defend themselves, but not stubborn. They have a right to be heard as well.

4.      The damage is done, no use crying over spilt milk; customers should let the company offer the form of amendment, rather than come off looking greedy by demanding double compensation.

5.      End it where it started. Once the issue is resolved, customers should make it a point to thank them and if they have heart enough, forgive the company’s error via Facebook.

Related Posts

• January 10, 2012 -- Taking quality pictures for social media (0)
  Let’s just say it’s about time you change not the way you look, but how you look on the internet. The pressure is more so if you are on social network sites that are increasingly focusing on visuals t...
• November 15, 2011 -- Identifying your Target market on Facebook (0)
  The potential of Facebook to be able to help build your business or your brand is directly related to your ability to identify your target market. You can devote significant amounts of resources into ...
• July 20, 2011 -- Leading Financial Services Go Social for Merchants (0)
  Global financial services are jumping on the bandwagon of social media and reaping desired results out of it. One of the most recent financial services to harness the power of social networking giant,...
• July 11, 2011 -- Dissecting Facebook’s Latest Promotions Guidelines (2)
  Back in mid-May, Facebook announced revisions to its promotional guidelines policy.  And as usual, the changes will have at least some effect on how businesses that use fan pages conduct their promoti...
• May 30, 2011 -- Facebook’s New Revenue Stats Predict Future Dominance (0)
  According to a new study and market survey, Facebook has been making unprecedented profits. Its current value is said to be more than $87.5bn! This is excluding the outstanding shares worth $2.5bn. It...

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook is the ideal example of entrepreneurial success. It did not come overnight nor was it sheer luck. What made it work is the outreach that took Zuckerberg for surprise as well–from a small group of college students’ forum to a global platform. The free social network’s saga continues not because of his sole endeavors, but collaborating with other businesses to rake in profits through advertising and planning.

Similarly, if you are just on the startup stage of your business, you must acknowledge the fact that you cannot do it alone, even in sole ownership. Involvement is necessary and planning long term requires that you build a good reputation for yourself. The relationship building of bygone days is through the internet today.

Once you have introduced yourself as a running business, remember that businesses under consideration are not businesses, so make sure that you succeed in implementing your plans with enough finance to get you going for a while. You next step is to socialize without going through elaborate and expensive dinner entertainment. Free marketing—what more can you ask for?

If you haven’t already set up a Facebook page, do so now. Facebook is not just about fun and friendship. Fox News said study shows how a majority of the age group 18 to 29, known as Generation Y Millenials are mixing friendship with business. “Owner” is among the top five job listing, implying that there is an increase trend towards entrepreneurship.  And don’t dispappear after that. Presence does not suffice as much as active involvement does. Some simple rules to adhere to are:

1.      Do justice to your profile page.

2.      Use the tools and business apps appropriately.

3.      Take care of what you post.

4.      Interact the same way as you converse with someone.

5.      The more natural you seem, the more genuine your projection, the more trust you will have gained. Respond to emails and queries,

6.      Cross post to and connect with groups such as Entrepreneurs page, Entrepreneur Magazine, Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs Young Entrepreneurs, The New York Times Small Business, Ladies Who Launch.

Learn from mistakes. As a newcomer to business and social network, you will be bound to make some. Just avoid repeating them.

Related Posts

• July 20, 2011 -- Leading Financial Services Go Social for Merchants (0)
  Global financial services are jumping on the bandwagon of social media and reaping desired results out of it. One of the most recent financial services to harness the power of social networking giant,...
• June 29, 2011 -- How to Build a Massive Facebook Fan Base (1)
  If you’re going to really make the most from Facebook, you need to have a sizable Facebook fan base. The fact of the matter is that you can set up a stunning page for your business, sink tons of time ...
• June 13, 2011 -- Steps for a Social Media Strategy (0)
  Social media is changing the way businesses can communicate with their customers. Social media offers opportunities to build relationships, build brand loyalty, and get people more engaged with your c...
• June 9, 2011 -- Hungry? How About a Cookie, Courtesy of Twitter? (4)
  Whenever a social media giant like Facebook or Twitter announces an “improvement” to the way fans “like” or “follow,” our ears perk up. Do yours? If not, maybe they should. Earlier this month, ...
• March 9, 2011 -- The New Bing Thing (4)
  A new Bing toolbar was unveiled in mid-February of this year, and Facebook integration is built right in. Microsoft’s support of Facebook has been well known for some time now, by providing every...

Avoiding Facebook

As regional sales manager of a countrywide factory-supplying unit, last month I instantly rejected a junior assistant’s idea of introducing a Facebook page for our company. Until one of our big contractors bid from our competitor. When I asked them why the change of plan, I was informed they got an offer at half our rate via Facebook. I promoted my assistant to social media manager.

To post or not to post

Experts recommend one post on alternate days, unless it’s news or a promotional deal. Inconsistency is another thing. One day our Facebook page was bursting at the seams with updates, and then slept for months. Our few fans bailed out. Posting at the wrong time isn’t luck either. Statistics recommended early morning or early evening as the ideal time to post. We will not be boring anyone with reposts either.

You are not allowed

We had closed ‘comment’ ‘like’ and letting others post. We now see how inter-networking is so unfathomable and unpredictable when an unlikely connection link our page to a contractor. Criticism and irrelevance were part of the package and we learned after one complaint went public, to address them immediately.

Honesty is still the best policy

Not reaching the right people can be a waste of time, so we filtered our prospective clients through location. Too many links tend to distract, so instead, we put up photographs and the response was ten times over. Ego isn’t an issue with us. We started out with 10 real fans while our competitors boasted 500+:  If we received an overseas post, we’d celebrate. It did wonders to boost the company morale and affirmed we were heading in the right direction. Tempting through promotional deals paid off.

Being overly formal invited a similar response so we changed our tone to conversational one without sounding too eager. We switched from public announcement to individual interaction.  Most recently, we are discovering the use of tools and apps and I can’t help wishing I had known about them before. Such as 5 free ads, social plug-ins, customized tabs, registration and  recommendation buttons, Sponsored Stories. We are now tracking through social media analytics metrics such as Per Post and Facebook Insights to check the stats. Let’s say we are still discovering and heading upwards starting today.

Related Posts

• March 24, 2011 -- What’s Next for Facebook? Faceflix? (5)
  Look out, Netflix!  Facebook might just be coming after you. Earlier this month, the social media giant streamed The Dark Knight directly from the popular movie’s Facebook fan page.  The move accom...
• July 15, 2011 -- Five Essential Facebook Page Marketing Tips (0)
  Is your firm wasting the time and energy it spends developing Facebook page content? Chances are, if you’re not following observing some fundamentals about Facebook page marketing, you could very w...
• June 23, 2011 -- Top 10 Facebook Apps for Your Small Business (1)
  Social media is one of the greatest untapped marketing resources available to small businesses. Not only do sites like Facebook offer small businesses a way to connect with their customers, they also ...
• January 26, 2012 -- Six Privacy Pointers for The Facebook Socialite (0)
  Having upgraded to the new version, Timeline, with 500+ friends on Facebook, it is no longer difficult to manage your social life. If you are wondering how to hide certain comments from certain friend...
• January 23, 2012 -- 5 + 5 ways to turn sour customers to sweet on Facebook (0)
  “If you have a complaint or issue with your vehicle we want to help, but we can't do it here. Please contact us in …..” That’s Ford’s statement on their Facebook page. Very tactful. Top social site...

The sense of touch alas, is yet impossible online. Consider you have selected something you like, your first thought would be: how will I know for sure it is what I see? Another reason to hesitate is providing financial details online as fear of identity theft abounds.

How social networking helps social shoppers and sellers

Know your retailer. Browse through your network to see if someone you know has made any purchases from the store under consideration, especially in the case of a lesser-known brand. Facebook Timeline is a good way to check what stores people are browsing. Plus, it helps sellers understand people’s choices and demands; but if you don’t want to publicize your shopping spree, you can keep it private. Payvment, Facebook’s shopping mall offers discounts on its Fan pages. The Open Cart Network also helps retailers through its “universal shopping cart” to provide flexibility to shoppers. Reviews, comments and the “like” button are very helpful including the radical Ticker running across the page, a bonus in the form of free advertisement for sellers.

The difference between the actual cost and delivery often vary to a great degree. Reason is not to outwit the customer, but the retail store cannot verify the exact amount until the purchased item/s is ready for dispatch, depending on the location of delivery and duties levied from both sides of the border.

PayPal is the common established mode of purchase. It is reliable and easy to use. To ensure the shopping site is safe, Microsoft strongly recommends looking for a safety seal on the site, such as Truste. They also suggest the website address must contain an “https,” not http and a padlock symbol on the address bar. Never use a public computer for purchases. Create a strong password, update your software, type the address rather than use a link and most importantly, maintain a detailed record of all purchases and you can’t go wrong.

Related Posts

• March 24, 2011 -- What’s Next for Facebook? Faceflix? (5)
  Look out, Netflix!  Facebook might just be coming after you. Earlier this month, the social media giant streamed The Dark Knight directly from the popular movie’s Facebook fan page.  The move accom...
• January 10, 2012 -- Taking quality pictures for social media (0)
  Let’s just say it’s about time you change not the way you look, but how you look on the internet. The pressure is more so if you are on social network sites that are increasingly focusing on visuals t...
• March 28, 2011 -- Can Social Media Marketing be Effective for B2B Companies? (5)
  Companies like Starbucks, Disney, Levi’s and Domino’s Pizza are all universally known to be active in social media marketing.  Opportunities to reach potential customers for businesses selling directl...
• March 14, 2011 -- Fortune 100 Increasingly Embracing Social Media Marketing (8)
  A new report by Burson-Marsteller says that Fortune 100 companies are using social media marketing in an ever increasing way. The study involved 32 U.S. companies, 47 European companies and 18 Asia...
• May 21, 2010 -- Open Graph Privacy (2)
  Facebook Open Graph will not fundamentally change the user experience. It will, however, disseminate public information to a wider audience. Information classified as "public" on a person's page w...

Facebook’s new profile page Timeline, requires a high-resolution picture size of 850 × 315 pixels. Anything less or more will be cropped automatically by the site, a result that you certainly won’t find pleasing. A quick and easy way to resolve this is using iPhone’s free mobile app, Instaphone. It has the ability to filter, edit and upload pictures instantly on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. With 11 filters, there are built in options that include a title for the image, “share” the photo, keeping it  “private” or  leaving it the default as public display. Here are basic pointers to get going:

Play with the camera. Be flexible with the use of the camera. Don’t confine yourself in one position or angle. Move around and click away. The results can be either amazing or terrible, but don’t hesitate experimenting, thanks to the option of deleting them instantly too.

Edit, and re-edit. If you are in no hurry, use the multiple options rather than auto for light, zoom and lenses. Where possible, avoid the flash and use natural light instead. This will help avoid underexposure and overexposure. Move closer to the subject and adjust the lens accordingly. Textures and effects can do wonders to a dull looking picture. Use the red eye elimination feature. Filters lend character to the image — you’ll be surprised how different lenses used a single image will give a whole new look.

Clean up. The lens as well the subject’s environment.  The background is as important as the foreground. Clear what is not needed, either physically or through photo editing tools, so it doesn’t require too much scrutiny to locate your subject.

Don’t overdo. The photos should be as clear and concise as a well-written article. Making your picture appear too formal will seem artificial and cold. So don’t aim for perfection of tone, it’s your picture, not a poster competition.

Keep it alive. The picture needs to be as social as you would like to be. Make your picture interactive rather than still life. Update with ongoing events, share them, and allow comments to know what other think.  Tag others. Give it a title that will connect with the picture.

Related Posts

• July 20, 2011 -- Leading Financial Services Go Social for Merchants (0)
  Global financial services are jumping on the bandwagon of social media and reaping desired results out of it. One of the most recent financial services to harness the power of social networking giant,...
• January 23, 2012 -- 5 + 5 ways to turn sour customers to sweet on Facebook (0)
  “If you have a complaint or issue with your vehicle we want to help, but we can't do it here. Please contact us in …..” That’s Ford’s statement on their Facebook page. Very tactful. Top social site...
• November 15, 2011 -- Identifying your Target market on Facebook (0)
  The potential of Facebook to be able to help build your business or your brand is directly related to your ability to identify your target market. You can devote significant amounts of resources into ...
• June 29, 2011 -- How to Build a Massive Facebook Fan Base (1)
  If you’re going to really make the most from Facebook, you need to have a sizable Facebook fan base. The fact of the matter is that you can set up a stunning page for your business, sink tons of time ...
• June 13, 2011 -- Steps for a Social Media Strategy (0)
  Social media is changing the way businesses can communicate with their customers. Social media offers opportunities to build relationships, build brand loyalty, and get people more engaged with your c...

So we know it isn’t the theme of a game that is selling. No game will succeed in attracting new players despite offering it free of cost, unless they are fun. This year, Facebook faces strong competition in the social gaming arena, more specifically, the RPGs. In fact, the DAU/MAU metric showed decline in trends. Despite the broad market, Facebook needs to focus more on engaging and retaining the players. Last year, Facebook decided to eliminate users who simply “like” or “comment”, selecting only the active users to measure popularity. This may not guarantee revenue generation, but help understand player behavior.

As more games are introduced, the unpredictability of gaming trends surprise developers. Considering how Zynga is leading the pack, one can can get some insight as to where the social gaming trend is heading.

1.      Enhanced quality illustrations and refined graphics captivate players.

2.      By providing the user the “degree of freedom,” users get to build specific game strategies to suit their style, in contrast with the typically pre-defined rules and regulations. Restricting content and customization will only deter players.

3.      Skill-based game is preferred to the class-based game system, which is more suited to beginners. By this, one can assume that advanced users are in majority. This also means attracting new players to the games is far more challenging.

4.      Easy start-up is the first thing lets a player decide whether they want to continue.

5.      Virality, which is, bringing back old players as well as attracting new players through social networking.

6.      Personal recommendations generate maximum traffic. The other and this may sound unusual to some but makes sense, is that DAUs/MAUs show marked differences during seasonal holidays. Most reviewers have noted a stark decline, especially during the summer when most US and European users are off traveling on holidays.

7.      Compared to the previous, there are now countless games. Too many choices mean that users have distributed their time among several rather than sticking to a few. Apple has countered that problem by retaining the games downloaded within the past one month and keeps store for games to check out what’s trending.

8.      One reviewer recommends the target an engagement ratio as ideally 0.15, or 15%. Once a player is engaged enough, he/she will not hesitate to purchase the game.

Random Posts

• January 25, 2010 -- Branded Facebook Apps that Agencies Can Offer Clients (0)
  Small and Big Businesses both need branded Facebook apps which can market and promote their business effectively. Social Media is not an option anymore, it is a vital need for brands in their marke...
• March 18, 2009 -- Facebook adds blog-like notes feature (1)
  The best thing about the new notes tool may be that users can syndicate the full contents of other blogs elsewhere onto their Facebook page and individual imported entries can be commented on in Fac...
• July 8, 2009 -- Facebook & App Developers Giant Revenue Generators (0)
  Facebook has been endlessly innovating its way through easy user interface, multiple entertaining and news based applications and its resourceful abilities for social networking. Many conclude faceb...
• October 25, 2010 -- Brands are the biggest beneficiaries of Social Networks and Search (0)
  Brands that can unite their activities in social media with paid-for search advertising usually enjoy a broad assortment of benefits as,according to a new study by GroupM Search and comScore. Th...
• June 13, 2011 -- Steps for a Social Media Strategy (0)
  Social media is changing the way businesses can communicate with their customers. Social media offers opportunities to build relationships, build brand loyalty, and get people more engaged with your c...

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO and founder, announced at the recent f8 Facebook’s annual developer’s conference in San Francisco: “It (Timeline) has three pieces: all your stories, your apps and a new way to express who you are.”

Mobile Timeline

Timeline has gained momentum with its introduction into the cellular system, namely iPhone and iPod Touch devices and iOS version 4.1. Expected launching for the iPad version is expected end of the month.

An interesting comparison drawn between the previous version to Timeline is that the Timeline profile is viewed for a longer duration than the older one; the large wide cover image makes it visually more striking than the previous smaller one, which makes it a great marketing tool for individuals as well as corporations. The experiences are worthwhile to account for, which not just arouse nostalgia but enriches the person or corporation, thereby creating a unique identity amongst the millions.

Using Timeline is simple. You can start out by:

1.      Upgrading to the new version

2.      Uploading a large size ‘cover photo,’ as it will take up a quarter of the screen.

3.      The ‘activity log’ comprises status and photos

4.      Any event, anecdote or photo can be uploaded by clicking on ‘life event.’

5. ‘Add apps’ is particularly appealing because it provides flexibility to customize entertainment, such as creating a selection of music or movie applications, watch the news, play games—all within the site and the option to share them with others.

Once Timeline is created, there is a 7-day period in which to make any alterations prior to publishing the profile online. For a preview, the ‘gear menu’ can be selected at the top of the page and selecting ‘View as’ for friend/s or public.

Privacy matters

Very sensitive issues that Facebook has long struggled to maintain are security and privacy issues.  Timeline has dealt with these in two ways: first, the activity log displays everything on the Timeline page, viewed only by the user, with the option to restrict what to display, to whom and how much by highlighting its visibility or non-visibility.  Secondly, the ‘control privacy post by post’ is a drop down tab where the user can select posts individually.

Related Posts

• January 26, 2012 -- Six Privacy Pointers for The Facebook Socialite (0)
  Having upgraded to the new version, Timeline, with 500+ friends on Facebook, it is no longer difficult to manage your social life. If you are wondering how to hide certain comments from certain friend...