Category: Social Media

Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace

Social Media, Social Media Writing, Social Media Writing Part, Social Media Writing Part 3, Best Lengths, Hesitation Generation, screen name, Happy Holidays, Relentless Pace, Cyber Infidelity, Podcasting, Neurotic Writers, Social Media Balance, Social Media Perfection, Losing Control, Social Media Tips, Employee Passwords, Look Like Online, social media, Social Media Platforms, Promoting Writing, Social Media Marketer, EditMe Webinar, Demand for Social Media Jobs, Stumbleupon surpasses, Less Conversation, Snapchat Settles with FTC, Quickly Boost Results, Hope and Hype, Auto-Service Economy, Sharing Less, Social Media background check, formatted posts, Four Important Social Media Stats, Cheat Sheets, Social Media Seduction, social back, Social media background check, Collaboration rocks, Wikileaks knocks, Editme Webinar, Cyber Legacy, Campaign 2012, Demographics, ways to improve, Time-saving tips, They Used to Call me Robot Girl

Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 9, 2026

Ever feel like you’re on an online treadmill? Well, you just might be falling victim to social media’s relentless pace.

Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace to Try to Make You Stay Put

It’s a relentless pace out there. And much like the holidays accelerate the end of the year, and we suddenly look up on January 7th or so and wonder exactly what the hell just happened, social media is continuing to not so much reap the whirlwind as to be the whirlwind.

But at the same time, there is an effort afoot to slow down and control that very same whirlwind.

Twitter’s Relentless Pace

Case in point: Twitter (er, X) has implemented changes, over the course of its history, that are designed to keep people on as long as possible.

They do this by embedding media more directly and making it so that you do not have to leave Twitter’s embrace in order to enjoy a clip or a photograph. Often, this means shortening a URL.

So far, so good. But shortened URLs can allow for more malware exploits. It’s like one step forward, a step back and another one to the side.

Facebook’s Relentless Pace

Facebook tests its layout pretty much constantly. In fact, it changes it every single day. They are the biggest A/B testing site on the planet, bar none! So, what is changing? And what isn’t?

The profile is going to continually become richer and provide more information. This may or may not be useful to users but it will certainly keep them on longer. At least, that will happen at the start, when it is a fresh, novel concept.

As time has passed, we have all seen how Facebook has attempted to become more things to more people. Is that good? Well, it can be.

But it also means that people have to take it more seriously. Somewhat ridiculously rigid rules on verbiage force people into typing silly stuff like ‘unalive’.

LinkedIn’s Relentless Pace

Long ago, LinkedIn tried adding Signal to make it easier to track even more of the social media avalanche – and, of course, to try to keep people on LinkedIn as long as possible.

They are also using status types of communications. And do not get me started on the avalanche of AI-written garbage that infests status updates and articles. Sounds a lot like Facebook, eh?

LinkedIn also pushes articles, and tries to get you to follow thought leadership. By itself, this is not a bad idea over all. Except anyone can, conceivably, become a thought leader. Kinda. Just post enough, and get a big enough follow.

This is not a bad gig if you can get it, but it can also be a dandy way to spread misinformation, sports fans.

The Common Thread

What these changes have had in common, other than, perhaps, novelty for the sake of novelty, is the desire to keep people on site as long as possible. Put some tar down, and have us all stick, at least for a while.

So while the internet spins ever faster, and social media sites attempt to keep up, their overall strategies seem to try to slow us all down. Will it work? Is it a foolish dream to think you can keep people around with such tricks, such slick bells and whistles?

The Lack of Meaningful Content

What disturbs me is that there is not a lot of content happening. Or at least not a lot of good content. Good content would, could, should make me want to hang around.

But instead of hiring writers to improve things, or rewarding good current content providers, each of the big three sites is instead pursuing a software solution. Al, folks.

But what is the sense in hanging around a site if the content is not compelling? Or are we, instead, merely getting the sites that we, perhaps, deserve?

Hence here is what happens if my Facebook friends list is dominated by people I went to High School with over forty years ago. Their status updates and my wall have a lot of news of their birthdays, their children (and grandchildren these days), and their careers.

But why would we ever expect anything else?

And if I instead tip my list in a different direction, and it is suddenly dominated by the people I work with or diet with or do artwork with, the news is going to be different.

In particular, politically, you can see very different versions of each site, depending on your bubble. After all, a lot of us prefer to see people we like and agree with. … and that’s how we get ideological bubbles.

Comparison to Reality TV

One thing about Reality TV is that it is anything but real if it is at all successful. Because people just, generally, do not lead terribly interesting lives.

Yes, you too, gentle reader. We pick up the dry cleaning. Or we bicker over the remote. We forget to buy sausages and make do with hot dogs. And around and around and around we go.

And all three of these really big social media sites, when we are not following celebrities and businesses, are really just a big agglomeration of Post-It Notes whereby we tell each other to grab milk on the way home.

For “Reality” to be compelling at all, it has got to be unreal, and have a scripted. It must become this fight or that rose ceremony or this other weird pancake-making challenge.

The bigger, older three older social media sites, when you strip away the celebrities and the companies, can be a boatload of errands or a standard-form holiday letter. You know the kind, where you learn little Suzie has taken up the clarinet. Over and over ad infinitum.

No wonder we need software solutions to keep us there. The relentless pace continues.

Whither TikTok and the Rest?

TikTok shackles you to it by way of its algorithm (sound familiar)? Like one video and you get sucked into the next one, and the next, and then the next one after that. The videos are short, so it does not feel like a relentless pace.

Until you look up and realize that four hours have gone by.

It is a lot like eating a bag of potato chips. You stick your hand in, grab a few or a big handful, and go to town. It does not feel like a lot, until suddenly the bag is empty and you are thirsty from all the salt.

In the world of dieting, the conventional wisdom is to portion out your chips. Fill a smaller bag and put a clip on the bigger one, and stick it back in the cabinet. In short, have some discipline and a smidgen of self-control.

With TikTok or anything else, unless we put a timer on our sessions or have external pressures getting us off the virtual hamster wheel, our lives pass us by as we succumb to the relentless pace.

Dang, I am a ray of sunshine sometimes, eh?

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Social Media in Our Society

• Social Media’s Seduction AKA Oops, Did I Do That?
† Social Media Background Check Being Used For Jury Selection
• Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

† Social Media Balance
• How Social Media Can Ruin Your Life
† Happy Holidays, Social Media Style

Social Media for Writers

• The Power of Social Media (Neurotic Writers’ Edition)
† Social Media and Writing
• Social Media and Writing Part 2

† Social Media and Writing Part 3
• Are You Promoting Your Writing With Social Media?

Set this site as a preferred source

1 Comment

Working With a Facebook Page as an Indie Author

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 28, 2026

The Best Way to Start Working with a Facebook Page

How do you go about working with a Facebook page?

As an indie author, you are also, to be perfectly frank about it, a small business owner. As such, it makes the most sense to treat your Facebook page a lot like many other small business owners do.

That is, it works as a front door, an advertising platform, a means to exude professional authority, and a collaborative space for a community.

Always keep in mind that Facebook is constantly A/B testing. In other words, they are checking to see if new layouts or color schemes, etc. will make you click more.

So, these instructions might be a little out of date after a while. This is what currently works. Caveat emptor. Or maybe caveat clicker.

Adding Images When Working with a Facebook Page

Images are always helpful. Use them as a measure of branding for your work and always use images you have permission to post!

If someone else created or photographed an image you are using, even if you now own the rights, it is a courtesy to link to them and give them a shout out.

A lot of my father’s and husband’s photography is on my personal author page, and people like to see newer work from my husband.

It is just another way to acknowledge that this is a community and this solitary pursuit is far from being completely solitary.

Some Details for Working with a Facebook Page

Since the specifics change all the time, I cannot go into a lot of detail (sorry!). However, for your company or author page, you will most likely want to add to and update things like the background image. Add events and post to the wall as you like.

I would also strongly suggest adding an image every single time you update. Text-only updates get lost in people’s feeds. Images are less likely to be missed.

Updates

Retaining attention is all about the updates.

You can schedule a few months in advance, so make a point of doing this. In addition, you can cover a lot more if you spread out your work and set it to emerge at various times.

Just look at your insights to get an idea of when people are online, and match to those times as well as you are able to.

Setting Up a ‘Buy Now’ Button

You will definitely want one of these. Right in front of your background image, there are three buttons. The one on the left (which is actually in the middle of your background) is a variable.

Pull down on it and choose what you want to showcase. Select Edit Call to Action and enter a link directly to buy your work. Be sure it is a link directly to your work on Amazon or Smashwords or wherever.

That is, clear away the extraneous junk on the URL. So, for Amazon works, this is everything after the ISBN.

If you have nothing to currently sell, you can always upload a YouTube video and change the call to action to a call to watch a video on your site.

There are other choices such as Call Now. So, use whatever works best for your needs.

And if you want to start advertising on Facebook, well, that is a whole other thing…

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

… And Facebook for All

• Creating a Facebook page
† … Your Profile Page
• Offsite Sharing
† All Your Account Settings
• Facebook versus Forums

Next blog post

… And Facebook for All – Offsite Sharing for Independent Authors

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 15, 2026

Offsite sharing is a bit like old-fashioned door to door marketing. But it has a modern twist and modern metrics. Both are ideal for the independent writer of today.

… And Facebook for All — Offsite Sharing

Offsite sharing is a fascinating concept. Perhaps the most compelling feature of Facebook consists of the availability of the Like button. And it is in so many places that there are likely many end users who can scarcely recall a time when it did not yet exist.

The Like Button and Offsite Sharing

Because the offsite Like Button dovetails beautifully with its presence on the site itself, i.e.,

“The Like button lets a user share your content with friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user’s friends’ News Feed with a link back to your website.”

Drag and Drop

Furthermore, the site tries to make it easy for even novice programmers (and people who can really only do drag and drop) to place a Like Button on their own sites for offsite sharing.

The premise is irresistible. You add the Like Button, people like your own site, and that information transmits back to Facebook and to the likers’ friend lists.

In addition, their friends, who may not have know about you at all, suddenly do, and the offsite sharing spreads even more. They, hopefully, check you out, like you, and the process repeats on and on, ad infinitum, or at least in theory.

And with enough intersecting friends with enough non-intersecting additional friendships, a few likes could translate into dozens, if not hundreds, or even thousands, of new people who know about you.

If those start to translate into sales, then you are golden.

Engagement and Reach

However, engagement and reach are both going down. And Facebook actually has the gall to try to get people to pay for what it does. Quelle horreur!

But, seriously folks, how do you think Facebook pays its bills? They do it with advertising. If users will not be charged (and Facebook would be mighty foolish to start charging all of those free sources of detailed consumer data), then advertisers will be.

And of course that already happens.

What gets a lot of people’s undershorts knotted is that the freebie advertising is harder and harder to implement. Facebook seems to push everyone with a page to start buying likes to get more offsite sharing.

Thumb on the Scale?

Whoa, Nelly! Because that would be kind of unethical, if the site was deliberately putting a thumb on an imaginary scale and making it harder for indie authors and others to reach their fans without paying for reach and engagement.

So, are they doing that?

While the jury is still out (after years!), I am still inclined to say no. After all, the site grows by leaps and bounds on a second by second basis. And so engagement and reach dilute without Facebook having to do a damned thing.

Finally, does the site benefit from making it harder for page and group administrators to connect for free? Absolutely. But do they have to work in order to create this condition?

Probably not (or at least, not much). Life does it for them.

Offsite Sharing: Takeaways for Indie Writers

Beyond issues with Russian interference and how the Facebook algorithm can sometimes tamp down third parties, offsite sharing can work pretty well there.

Political and other paid ads, though, are another story. They are a reminder that, every year, Facebook becomes more and more of a pay to play platform.

Hence if you want to share something from off the site, or you want to sell from your site by sharing to FB, then your shared content might be lost amidst the paid stuff.

You may simply have to attribute it to life in the big Facebook city, and start paying for some ads. So be it.

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† All the Rest of It
• Facebook versus Forums

Next blog post

3 Comments

Four Important Social Media Stats for Writers

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 6, 2026

The four important social media stats are for writers and non-writers alike!

Consider These Four Important Social Media Stats

These were four important social media stats for you! This post was, in part, a riff on Four Great Free Tools and Four Important Stats. And I like the important stats. As for the four free tools, I’ll reserve judgment for another day.

These are still somewhat important, but keep in mind that the numbers have undoubtedly changed.

STAT 1 for Writers

53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their Tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for Performance, June 2010)

However does this takes into account what essentially looks like spamming (e. g. buy this stuff!) versus what seems to be more sincere mentions of products, e. g. someone says I love this new Gatorade or I think my New Balance sneakers really make me faster?

I know it can be difficult for a large-scale survey of tweets to tell the difference between the two. However, if there is that much of a return, then I figure, the people either know or, perhaps, they just don’t care.

For authors, your best bet may very well be to make sure that your work is a part of the overall conversation. But not in the way of, “A story about the president? Well, here’s my story about a turtle and a Shetland sheepdog!” It’s…probably not related. So, don’t go there.

STAT 2 for Authors

The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010) – Just what does this mean? I mention products all the time, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m touting them.

Ugh, I hate what they did to my conditioner! Why did John Frieda have to change it?

And that is a far cry from I want some more of that Amy’s Low-Salt Marinara Sauce with Basil – sooo good.

Since the stat doesn’t mention whether the mentions went positive or negative, I suppose it’s a corollary to the old saw, that any press is good press. Note: sentiment analysis is better than it used to be, but still has a ways to go.

For writers, the best move may be to get a conversation centered on your work going, and keep it going.

STAT 3 for Independent Authors

Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted – nearly 12 times more – than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US mom Internet users by online video review site EXPO. (eMarketer, February 2010)

This is how viral marketing works, kids. Because if a company can send out its minions to tout a product, even if not 100% positively (and it’s more believable that way, as it doesn’t look like mere puffery), then folks eat that up. Astroturfing Nation, here we come.

Here’s a counter-example.

When Untrustworthy first came out, people would privately message me and tell me that they liked it. Well, this is lovely and all, but at the time, I had none or nearly no public reviews.

And so, I nicely asked those folks to please review me, preferably on Amazon. I would provide the link, of course! And even when people said it wasn’t their cup of tea, I asked them to review the book, anyway.

Why?

Because a set of 100% five-star reviews for a brand-new author looks rather suspect. Warts and all, my reviews are the real deal.

STAT 4 for Indie Writers

In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site.

74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)

However, this may be more of a function of the pervasiveness of social sites versus their influence. E. g. I truly only hear from some of my cousins through Facebook.

Do I give their opinions more credence than I do passing acquaintances’? Sometimes. But do I get this Facebook-based advice from them because we don’t pick up the phone or send snail mail or meet in person (we’re too far away to do this, anyway).

But to my mind, this is almost like giving the phone company credit for marketing strategy if we chat on the phone. We don’t. Instead, we use Facebook. I think this is a potential confusion of medium versus message.

For authors, your best bet is likely to involve yourself in

Where Do We Go From Here With These Four Important Social Media Stats?

So, are social sites really that important? Is X (Twitter) really that targeted? Perhaps not as much as it was. Do consumers really trust their pals more than they do slick, conventional marketers? Probably maybe, not really and yes.

Even years later, it’s up to the writer (acting as their own Social Media Marketer) to separate the wheat from the chaff with these kinds of stories, and see what’s really going on.

What do you think?

Fifteen Years After This Post Was First, Er, Posted…

… (and over five since it was last posted) keep in mind that numbers shift and, these days, Twitter is called X, anyway.

But these metrics are still good, and they are still vital. For larger businesses, getting case studies published, and getting brand ambassadors on board, is still a terrific and inexpensive way to market. For writers, that translates into reviews.

These types of marketing build trustworthiness (the ‘T‘ in Google’s E-EAT). They also help to build and bolster word of mouth, which is still a vital piece of any marketer’s strategy.

And in the world of AI, trustworthy and clear reviews and answers are a lot more likely to pass muster and be recommended by the likes of, say, Google Gemini.

So, don’t discount these metrics, okay? But do be sure to take the numbers with a grain of salt.

Writers: Do You Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about navigating our social media obsessed world.

So, What Do You Look Like Online?

This post is a riff on a rather old post, Do You Know What You Look Like Online. Essentially, the question is, if you were searching for someone (someone just like you, perhaps), what sorts of judgments would you make? What seems off?

What’s being suppressed, which aspects should you be promoting, and vice versa? Is the picture clear or fuzzy?

The gist of that article is, take control of your information, keep it as a uniform brand and check it every month or so. The corollary to this is one from Shama Hyder Khabani, which is, essentially, don’t spread yourself too thin. Concentrate in only a few places.

My Own Information—What I Look Like Online

Absolutely agreed. When I google my own last name, 40,900 hits come up. And, fortunately, my own website is on page 1 (Yay, SEO!). My Entrepreneur profile (writing I did for work) comes up on the first page of results. So do my Twitter/X and LinkedIn profiles.

Also on the first page are my Facebook profile, and my Amazon author page. Get to page 2 and there’s my profile on YouTube.

Another Angle

Putting my last name into quotation marks yields 6,480 hits. All of the same usual suspects come up on Page One of the results. And nothing is too weird or scandalous. Even MuckRack, which essentially just scrapes for your name, doesn’t have anything bad.

Hey, Bartleby published me!

How Accurate is the Information?

To my mind, checking and rechecking every single month might just be a bit excessive. Is there a need to keep your profile accurate? Sure. Flattering, or at least not damaging? Yes, particularly if you are looking for work.

But to keep it sterile and perfect, as you scramble to make it perfect every moment of every day? Eh, probably not so much.

My own profile is the product of just doing a lot, and it being published. It’s easy to find flattering info on me. What I look like online is competent more than anything else. There’s nothing radical.

As for less flattering stuff, well, let’s just say that I am glad the internet wasn’t around when I was in high school.

Yikes.

But…

I would like to think (am I naïve? Perhaps I am) that potential clients and employers will see the occasional typo and will, for the most part, let it slide unless the person is in copyediting.

I am not saying that resumes, for example, should not be as get-out perfect as possible. What I am saying, though, is that this kind of obsessive and constant vigilance seems a bit, I don’t know, much.

Will the world end if I accidentally type there instead of their on this blog? And, does it matter oh so much if I don’t catch the accident immediately? Even when you consider that I’m a writer. After all, I should know better, yes?

I mean, with all of this brushing behind ourselves to cover up and/or perfect our tracks, and all of the things we are leaving behind, where’s the time and energy to make fresh, new content and look in front of ourselves?

Clean Up Your Presence

To me, there is little joy in reading a blog post or website that looks like the person who put it together was barely literate. But there is also little joy in reading sterile, obsessively perfect websites and blog posts.

A little imperfection, I feel, is a bit of letting the ole personality creep in there. Genuineness – isn’t that what the whole Social Media experience is supposed to be about, anyway?

I refuse to believe – I hope and I pray – that a bit of individuality never cost me potential jobs or any company I’ve ever worked for potential clients.

And if it has, then that saddens me, to feel that, perhaps, people are paying a lot of lip service to the genuineness of Social Media but, when the chips are down, it’s just the same ole, same ole.

Genuineness is great. One you can fake that, you’ve got it made? Please, say it ain’t so.

And don’t get me started on AI.

4 Comments

Website Planning

Web design, Start a Writer Website, Writer SEO, Writer Website Design, Writer Website Copyright, Writer Website User Experience Design, Mobile Design, What to Write About, Website Planning, Technology to Help You With Writing, Website Plans, Website Speed

Website Planning

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on July 4, 2023

What’s This About Website Planning, Anyway?

It would have been helpful if I had done some website planning, eh?

I suppose I should have planned my site better or maybe not just gone in and barreled my way in just to see what I could do.

I don’t think that’s truly awful as I have some ambitions but they feel very possible and within reach. And I look at my notes and I see – yes, I need to fix and put up Google Search. I need to play with keywords some more. I need to do … a lot.

SEO

And SEO! Oh my gosh. There’s a boatload to learn there and I’m still busy reading the books. I can’t recall who said that Time is Nature’s Way of making it so that not everything happens all at once. And I can live with that as an idea. It shouldn’t all happen in one shot. It should flow and develop.

Patience, a virtue. And sometimes an elusive one. But one thing is for certain — once a year elapsed, suddenly, I had a Google Page Rank of 3. Was that by design? Well, yes. But the science and art of getting a Google Page Rank of anything over zero is so obscure and unknown as to be akin to deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Now, I get that it’s all proprietary, e. g. intellectual property, etc., but c’mon! It gets silly after a while. Jigger this, don’t jigger that. Say this in some particular, special, magical fashion, and not in another.

Don’t Spam!

Don’t spam. Well, yeah, that makes sense. But people think of as proto-spam isn’t always. And what’s seen as non-spam, I suspect, sometimes is. I do recognize that Google is attempting to make rules to cover as many scenarios as possible.

And they wish to check out what people like I do by using computer algorithms rather than actual humans, in order to be somewhat timely when it comes to investigating websites.

But! It remains frustrating and, in my opinion, unnecessarily mysterious. A clue, s’il vous plait, and by that I mean a real one, by someone who is there and really, truly knows. The rest, it seems, are speculating, with varying degrees of accuracy and results.

I swear that figuring out how to get a good or at least decent Page Rank is harder than translating the Upanishads.

Strategy

Plus I’m developing my strategy. It will, I am sure, change. But I already have ways to promote what I’m doing. This is not quite like cliff-jumping because I had experience in promoting my Examiner articles (I was the Boston Extreme Weight Loss Examiner back in the day). Oh, look, some promotion!

Hindsight is 20/20 and Then Some AKA I Should Have Done Some Website Planning!

When I first started this site and this blog I had no idea about things. In fact, I didn’t know if I would continue with it.

But now, I can see that a lack of some basic website planning is a bit problematic. Currently, I am fixing a LOT of stuff.

Would I have less to fix if I had planned better? At this point, I don’t honestly know.

This is why I want to help others plan.

Hell, because if you can’t set a good example, you can always be a cautionary tale.

The Current Times and Website Planning

I looked back on this post, and on my site, and it’s hard to say what sort of shape planning could have possibly taken back in the day. So, I am going to update this with another post. Hold tight.

2 Comments

SEO and its Discontents

SEO, SEO continued, Boston SEO Meetup, CLUMPS, discontents, WebTekPro

SEO and its Discontents

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on March 28, 2023

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Discontents and SEO?

A look at SEO and its Discontents

Now, I am no expert by any means. But these days, I understand it a hell of a lot better than I did back in the day.But I know it’s important and so I’m going to take my shot at trying to optimize things as best as I can. The fact that the site and this blog are already on Google (and I already pretty much own jespah as a keyword – I’m #2 on Google already) is encouraging.

An Early Hint

In 2010 I met Kevin Palmer for a networking meeting, and told him I was interested in creating a new site for myself. And he told me — it’s like three legs of a stool: Content, Design and SEO.

Content I’ve got. I’ve got content coming out of my ears. I’ve got stuff to write like, like Carter’s got Liver Pills as my Dad would say.

As for design, I use WordPress. It is far, far simpler to just use their templates. They have an excellent understanding of how to put together a sweet-looking website and give it some style. And it’s mine and I made it and I am not only fully responsible for the content, I am also responsible in every way for its design and usability. With the help of WordPress, it’s prettier and more usable than ever.

SEO

But then there’s SEO. My friend, Robert Gentel, who runs Able2know, which we both manage (he’s the owner, I’m the Community Manager/Project Manager/Chief Cook, etc.), had been an SEO whiz (although his methods are a bit out of date). I have talked to him about it a little bit.

As I spread my own wings, I also learn from classes at Quinnipiac and from looking at Google’s own tools and, frankly, from my own experimentation.

I’ll either fly or fall onto the pavement. The first option is more attractive, so SEO it is.

Discontents Can End—Just be Sure to Replace Them With Knowledge

Oh and the title? It’s a play on Freud’s book. I’m not a big Freudian but I do love the title.

Sometimes a title is only a title.

Pulling it Into the Present Time

As I have learned more and more about SEO, I have also found that, much like Plato, I feel like I know less and less. But for me, the easiest way to look at it is to look at Google and how it does SEO.

What I mean is, Google knows that Bing will eat its lunch if it does not give users a good experience. And so, its mission in life is to make sure that people are served up as search results the sites that they really want. And need.

If I search for bunny, then it’s my own damned fault if I get both rabbits and Playboy models.

But when I search for bunny chow, my intent is rather clear. I’m most likely to be either an owner or a prospective owner, or I work with rabbits in some manner. That could be anything from a veterinary clinic to a wildlife preserve.

The chances of me really wanting to know, say, Barbi Benton’s diet are virtually zero.

What Can a Search Engine Really Do?

Search engines can only know what we tell them. A blog about tractors is highly unlikely to have any information on bunny chow. And if it does, then the owner of that blog will have to make it abundantly clear that they’ve got a post or a page on food for rabbits.

Search engines do a lot of counting, weighing, and measuring. If your page on rabbit food only mentions the food one time, and otherwise blathers on and on about tractors, then search engines will rightfully assume that food for bunnies is not top of mind for you.

And if it’s not top of mind for you the writer, but it is for the searcher, then the searcher won’t see your page.

Or at least your page will be so buried that it’ll be as if it does not exist. This is a far better experience for the searcher. So if you want the searcher to come look at your bunny food page, then you had best rewrite your post to cover the topic a lot more closely.

Google is not a fan of either haphazard sites or haphazard blog posts and landing pages. Find a point and find a topic and stick with them. A lot of the rest is just details.

Is that everything for SEO? Of course not. But I think it’s a framework to start from.

2 Comments

Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on March 23, 2023

Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

Hype? Hope? Now, this subject has probably been done to death but, here I will do it all over again. Perhaps (hopefully!) my perspective will be fresh and/or of some value.

First of all, this post is inspired by The ABA Journal’s take on Social Media. As in the online magazine for lawyers. And they went on about Social Media, much like I have and others have, as well.

Hype Feeds Itself

And I can’t help feeling that that, in and of itself, is feeding the ole hype machine. Is Social Media hyped? Well, let’s put out an article about just that, and we’ll rev up the hype machine and get the word out and and and …. Suddenly, there’s hype about the hype.

Ai chihuahua.

However, there is, perhaps less of a hype issue than there is one of unrealistic expectations. I suspect that most people, if they give Social Media more than a passing glance (and, in particular, if they need to touch on it for business), take one look at it and think: free. Ooh, goody!

This marvelous free thing will supplement (and perhaps eventually supplant) all of the things I have to actually pay good money for! My wealth will increase, in an incredible and exponential manner, because I can put my advertising and marketing dollars elsewhere, outside of traditional (read: expensive) channels, and instead shove it all into some investment that catches my eye. Llama ranching, perhaps.

Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing

Okay. Let’s back up. The real thing is, Social Media marketing isn’t really an apples to apples comparison with traditional marketing. It’s more like holding a town hall meeting and seeing what people have to say about your product. Or like doing community outreach (e. g. having your company send people to work at a soup kitchen or build a house).

It’s like a million networking events. In short, it’s that dreaded, over-used term: relationship building.

And creating relationships is hard. And messy. Plus it’s not necessarily terribly free, at all.

Hype and A Sense of Entitlement

Because I have seen, in many instances, when software on a website changes. And in particular with community forums, people tend to freak out. They have a mislaid proprietary interest in a whole lotta sameness. Or they want the site to be the same from day to day, because that’s familiar to them.

Hence moving the post button from the left to the right, or changing its color, is akin to moving their cheese. So it tears at them.

But, ultimately, they figure it out. And they give it a chance and come back, and pretty soon, so far as they’re concerned things have always been the new way, and were never the old way. Because for them, it’s not about the tools; it’s about the people.

And the same thing should be true for you – and that should knock the hype right out, and for good. It’s not about the tools. It’s not about Twitter, or Facebook, or TikTok, or Groupon, or Yelp, or AirBnB, or MySpace (back in the day), or LinkedIn or StumbleUpon or Snapchat or a billion others. Instead, it’s about the people.

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Social Media in Our Society

† Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace
• Social Media’s Seduction AKA Oops, Did I Do That?
† Social Media Background Check Being Used For Jury Selection
• Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?
† Social Media Balance
• How Social Media Can Ruin Your Life
† Happy Holidays, Social Media Style

Reviews of Books on Social Media

• Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
† Book Review – Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

Working with Social Media

† A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer
• Five Ways for Charities to use Social Media
† Four Important Social Media Stats
• Social Networking/Social Media Tips
† The Best Lengths for Social Media Posts and More
• Jell-O on the Wall: Social Media Perfection is Fleeting
† When NOT to Post on Social Media Platforms

Social Media for Writers

2 Comments

Social Media Background Check Being Used For Jury Selection

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 26, 2023

Is a Social Media Background Check Being Used for Jury Selection at all Ethical?

Social media background check? What? So, in 2010, the ABA Journal reported that lawyers admitted to using the Internet to ferret out information about potential jurors.

And essentially what happened: in some instances, while reading off the names of the members of a jury pool, a lawyer or paralegal would Google them.

Sometimes the names would be released the night before (at least, in Los Angeles County they could be), but it could also happen where lawyers only learn who would potentially sit on a jury on the day of selection.

State By State Differences When it Comes to a Social Media Background Check

While state courts allow lawyers to bring laptops into courtrooms, Googling the jury panel is not what they have in mind, says Paula Hannaford-Agor, who directs the Center for Jury Studies at the National Center for State Courts.

However, preventing counsel from checking potential jurors’ backgrounds online might pose a Constitutional question and may very well violate the First Amendment. Though the law remains fluid in this area, with no decisions or tests yet.

Personal Thoughts

With all of the above said, I do not know where I fall on the spectrum. Preventing Googling does not just seem like a First Amendment issue. It also seems to exist as more of a common sense one.

Because with the invention of the telephone, when a lawyer suddenly could learn more about jurors (and far more quickly than sending letters or asking a messenger to run somewhere or another), was that ever questioned?

And did it bother the jurors? Or did they perhaps not know about it? Or, maybe even if they did know, were they still so dazzled and flattered by the use of the brand-new technology? Did it make them not care, or see any implications?

Privacy?

And then we have the other end of things. Do I really want to be Googled if I am in a jury pool? Welllll, lawyers look for every other possible advantage and nugget of information. So what would lead me to believe that they would not look there as well?

If I exist as a somewhat sophisticated potential juror (and I have practiced law fer cryin’ out loud), I know that. And in particular in an expensive or high stakes (read: death row) case, both sides will look for every possible angle.

They scrutinize my bumper stickers. And my dress. My hair. Whether I am wearing nail polish. My voter registration records. My work product, which is available online. Because they look at anything and everything.

Plus, as an avid Facebook and Bluesky (and LinkedIn, etc.) user, I well understand the openness of my online life. And, for me, particularly after losing a boatload of weight, I feel it is important to be open about a lot of things.

Perhaps I overshare. No, wait, I definitely overshare. I know my life is open and there are all sorts of cracks in the armor.

Yet at the same time I, like many other people, feel there is still a place to put on the brakes. Somewhere in there, there are vestiges of privacy. However, are they still available to me if I end up in a jury pool?

However, I am not in a jury pool under my own volition. Hence I believe that, even as I share yet another “before” photo or mention that I am turning a particular age or whatever, that I can throw up a wall.

Can’t I? Even a little bit?

Your Thoughts on a Social Media Background Check?

I am curious as to what others think. Is this a squishy, I-want-to-be-left-alone area, or should we all just get over it? Is it the crest of a slippery slope? Would it erode privacy even more? Or did I get all hot and bothered over nothing?

Gentle reader, what do you think?

Over a Decade Later, What is Different?

Right now, a social media background check seems almost quaint. You can more or less expect a social media background check for employment. And you can kind of expect a social media background check by the police. At least, in the higher profile cases, I would think.

Hell, you would probably do well to do a social media background check on yourself. So, this does not feel so weird or invasive anymore.

It is, in its essence, just another way for the legal profession to attempt to get an advantage during a trial or for negotiations, nothing more.

And now that we are seeing motions written by AI, or at least with its help, what is to stop some enterprising inventor from creating a jury selection chatbot?

Then I suppose attorneys could really phone it in. Somewhere in there, could it mean that this starts to turn into a professional responsibility problem?

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

† Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace
• Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?
† Social Media Balance

4 Comments

Supercharging Your On-Line Presence

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 17, 2023

What Does it Mean When You Say You’re Supercharging Your On-Line Presence?

Supercharging? Yes! This post is a riff on the February 2011 edition of Law Practice Today

About a thousand (er, twenty) years ago, I used to practice law. And, of course, things were far different then as opposed to now. But I have retained some of my old interests and connections, and would get the paper version of the ABA Journal for years after I had hung up my shingle.

Once a lot of that started to go online, I renewed my interest in any number of facets of law practice, in particular how it collides and dovetails with the Internet and, these days, Social Media.

Viral Marketing Gone Wrong

And I have seen enough tone-deaf Social Media campaigns (Able2know is rife with laughably bad viral marketing attempts, for example) to see the need for a publication like Law Practice Today to try to clear up some misconceptions and get lawyers going in a good — or at least non-harmful — online direction.

What is great about this article is that it doesn’t just apply to attorneys.

Get Your Own Domain Name

The first point made in the article is: You need your own internet domain name. Well, yes. And it continues to surprise me when companies and individuals who are attempting to make a splash (or at least not appear to be totally out of it) online don’t do this.

C’mon, people, domain names are cheap! Go to GoDaddy or HostGator and buy one! You can direct WordPress to be posting through a domain name that has naught to do with WordPress. This is not too tough (hell, that’s what I’m doing with my blog), or you can hire someone to do this. It’s a lot, to me, like buying business cards with your actual name on them versus cards that just say “Lawyer”.

Rejuvenate Your Website

The next point is: Rejuvenate Your Website. No argument here. Stale websites are as appealing as stale bread. I am not saying that you need to update every minute or every day or even every week but I see an awful lot of abandoned blogs and websites out there — or at least they appear to be, as their most recent changes occurred in 2010.

That means it’s been at least nearly two months since anyone changed them. Surely there is news, or at least even cosmetic changes would give one’s readership/potential clients a feeling that someone was minding the store.

Use a Good Profile Picture

Point number three is: Your picture is worth a thousand words. A good picture is, well, good. You might not be able to afford to hire a professional as the article suggests. That’s okay if you at least get a decent photographer friend to take a lot of pictures. How many? How’s one hundred? Lighting varies. You might not smile perfectly the first time. Your tie might be crooked. Your hair might be flying in your face.

You might not be looking directly at the camera. There are any number of reasons why a photo can go wrong. And get your pal to snap photos of you in various places, doing various things, so long as they are germane to the site. For a lawyer, that could be in the office, or in front of a courthouse or in front of the office building or with colleagues or alone.

After all, with a good hundred photos, you might end up with several usable ones. If there are choices in different locations, you can use them to make different points on your site.

Fill Out All About Me and Profile Pages

Point number four is: It’s All About Me. That is, create an “About Me” page. There’s a place to put a photograph or two, eh? It doesn’t have to be long, but give it a little personality. Be sensible, of course. This is probably not the place (assuming you’re a lawyer) to tout your ninja skills.

But if you play tennis or have two kids or are from Omaha, by all means, those things are perfectly fine here. Otherwise, you’re just nameless, faceless Joe or Jane Lawyer — and I, as your prospective client, can find a million of them.

Give Visitors Takeaways

The next point is: Give visitors something to “take away” from your blog. Me, I write articles and I allow the reprint rights. So if my experiences can help you, then by all means reprint my articles, and I wish you well, so long as you respect my rights in the matter.

Work on SEO

The next point is: get on Google+ as it gives you a boost in rankings. For an SEO beginner, or someone with a limited budget, this is easy and free and it takes nearly no time.

Here’s another point: Make Sure You Advertise on Google Local. I felt no need to do this, but I’m not trying to push ecommerce directly through my site and blog. Your mileage will, undoubtedly, vary.

Next point: Be LinkedIn. Hell yeah. Here’s my LinkedIn profile. Yes, I will link to you – just send me a request. Also, I have found that LinkedIn is an excellent way to get to know people attending an event with you. If you can get a hold of the guest list in advance (and with Eventbrite, evite and others, you can), look those people up on LinkedIn.

Hey, you might have something in common with them, their photo might be up so that you can recognize them and they might be someone you’d like to know, either personally or professionally.

Gather Business Intelligence

Then there’s the penultimate point: Use Social Networks To Gather Business Intelligence. People share all sorts of stuff these days. Want to know if someone is moving? Going on vacation? Selling their business? Changing jobs? A lot of that information is out there, free for the taking. And other things are out there, if you know how to dig.

I’m not suggesting that you turn yourself into a creepy stalker but if a possible client is tweeting about buying land, and you’ve got a real estate practice, well, do I really have to connect the dots for you?

Tell People the News (About You or Anything Else of Interest)

Here’s the last point: Be the Evening News. The idea is, broadcast Youtube-type stuff, either your own or pass along others’. Agreed, but I wouldn’t overdo this, particularly not at the expense of other types of content, which are generally easier for Google to index (and for you to get an SEO bounce from).

But by all means, if it adds value (there’s a big if right there. I adore the Old Spice Guy but he does not help me on my site), add it.

The bottom line, I think is: don’t be afraid. Yes, the Internet can bite you. But it can also be quite a good friend to you. So start supercharging.

Working With a Facebook Page as an Indie Author

The Best Way to Start Working with a Facebook Page

Adding Images When Working with a Facebook Page

Some Details for Working with a Facebook Page

Updates

Setting Up a ‘Buy Now’ Button

Want More About Facebook?

… And Facebook for All

Like this:

… And Facebook for All – Offsite Sharing for Independent Authors

… And Facebook for All — Offsite Sharing

The Like Button and Offsite Sharing

Drag and Drop

Engagement and Reach

Thumb on the Scale?

Offsite Sharing: Takeaways for Indie Writers

Want More About Facebook?

Like this:

Website Planning

What’s This About Website Planning, Anyway?

SEO

Don’t Spam!

Strategy

Hindsight is 20/20 and Then Some AKA I Should Have Done Some Website Planning!

The Current Times and Website Planning

Like this:

SEO and its Discontents

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A look at SEO and its Discontents

An Early Hint

SEO

Discontents Can End—Just be Sure to Replace Them With Knowledge

Pulling it Into the Present Time

What Can a Search Engine Really Do?

Like this:

Category: Social Media

Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace to Try to Make You Stay Put

Twitter’s Relentless Pace

Facebook’s Relentless Pace

LinkedIn’s Relentless Pace

The Common Thread

The Lack of Meaningful Content

Comparison to Reality TV

Whither TikTok and the Rest?

Want More About Social Media?

Social Media in Our Society

Social Media for Writers

Set this site as a preferred source

Share this:

Like this:

The Best Way to Start Working with a Facebook Page

Adding Images When Working with a Facebook Page

Some Details for Working with a Facebook Page

Updates

Setting Up a ‘Buy Now’ Button

Want More About Facebook?

… And Facebook for All

Share this:

Like this:

… And Facebook for All — Offsite Sharing

The Like Button and Offsite Sharing

Drag and Drop

Engagement and Reach

Thumb on the Scale?

Offsite Sharing: Takeaways for Indie Writers

Want More About Facebook?

Share this:

Like this:

Consider These Four Important Social Media Stats

STAT 1 for Writers

STAT 2 for Authors

STAT 3 for Independent Authors

STAT 4 for Indie Writers

Where Do We Go From Here With These Four Important Social Media Stats?

Fifteen Years After This Post Was First, Er, Posted…

Writers: Do You Want More About Social Media?

Social Media in Our Society

Working with Social Media

Social Media for Writers

Share this:

Like this:

So, What Do You Look Like Online?

My Own Information—What I Look Like Online

Another Angle

How Accurate is the Information?

But…

Clean Up Your Presence

Share this:

Like this:

What’s This About Website Planning, Anyway?

SEO

Don’t Spam!

Strategy

Hindsight is 20/20 and Then Some AKA I Should Have Done Some Website Planning!

The Current Times and Website Planning

Share this:

Like this:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A look at SEO and its Discontents

An Early Hint

SEO

Discontents Can End—Just be Sure to Replace Them With Knowledge

Pulling it Into the Present Time

What Can a Search Engine Really Do?

Share this:

Like this:

Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

Hype Feeds Itself

Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing

Hype and A Sense of Entitlement

Want More About Social Media?

Social Media in Our Society

Reviews of Books on Social Media

Working with Social Media

Social Media for Writers