Tag: business

Whether you want to admit it or not, being a writer means you are now — congratulations! — a small business owner.

… And Facebook for All — Company Pages

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 5, 2021

Liberty, Justice (?), … And Facebook for All – Company Pages for Writers/Authors

Company pages have become spots you put together on Facebook to support a business (not the same as a fan page). These have gotten more corporate recently. For a writer, this is what you’re currently dealing with.

For other types of companies, you’ll need to open them up and do some experimenting.

Also, like everything else on Facebook, these pages and their settings do evolve, and they’ve gotten simpler these days. Currently, the following features are available for fans. Let’s start with the main tab.

Main Tab (Posts)

• Intro
† Page type (author, etc.)
• Location
† URL (which you can click on to promote your website, for a fee, of course!)
• Ratings, if any
† Photos
• Posts (under each post, there’s a button to boost that post)

About Tab

Now for the About tab.
† Contact and basic info
• Page transparency
† Details
• Categories
† Contact Info
• Websites and Social Links
† Basic Info

Within the About tab, there are subtabs. The main such tab includes followers in the first . section.

Followers Subsection

Followers has tabs for Followers, Following, Mutual Following, and Likes.

Photos Subsection

The next section is Photos and just includes tabs for Photos and Albums.

Videos Subsection

The only thing in this subsection is, unsurprisingly, videos.

Two More Subsections

These are just Groups and Likes.

Mentions Tab

This tab is just for whenever anyone has contacted or tagged you. Do yourself a favor, and look at it on occasion, as it can sometimes become a spam magnet.

Reviews Tab

This one only contains reviews, if any.

Followers Tab

This is really just another way to get to the aforementioned Followers subsection (under the About tab). Followers has tabs for Followers, Following, Mutual Following, and Likes.

Photos Tab

This is really just another way to get to the aforementioned Photos subsection (under the About tab). Photos just includes tabs for Photos and Albums.

More (with a down arrow)

Currently, this tab provides ways to get to:

• Videos (same as the aforementioned Videos subsection under the About tab)
† Live (live videos go here)
• Groups (same as the subsection under the About tab)
† Music
• Check-ins
† Sports
• Movies
† TV Shows
• Books
† Likes
• Reviews Given

Also, there’s…

There are also a Shop Now button (which you need to set up), a Like Button, and a Button to Message the page owner.

As you may imagine, things are different for the owner/admin. So, switch on over to that account (which I believe is made when you make the page), and let’s take a fresh look.

There’s a spot for Page Health, where Facebook will tell you if there’s anything glaring that you need to do. Just under that, you can invite friends to Like your page. Don’t go nuts with this! Too much of this form of self-promotion can actively harm your brand.

Also, you can edit the intro/bio or other details like URL. And, you can feature any of your photos, or upload something new and feature that. There’s room for more than one featured photo.

Posts

Over by your posts, there are options for a live video, a reel (you can just upload a preexisting one), and adding a photo or video. You can feature (pin) a post, too.

Under each post, you can click for insights. Click on it, and you’ll see views (followers vs non-followers), reach, interactions, link clicks, views, and interactions. Interactions include likes, reactions, shares, and saves.

† *
• *

Company Pages and Details

For every tab and section which a fan can see, there’s a way to edit it. In addition, you can adjust privacy settings for each such section.**

Events

I’ve found adding events to be hit or miss. First of all, not everyone RSVPs, and not everyone shows up even if they’ve said yes. However, it provides more exposure and it will bring your page up to people as the event date rolls around.

Because even people who are clicking “No” are still looking, at least a little bit. So use with discretion and don’t overdo this. Because not every activity is an event, and not everyone should be invited to everything. Since that’s just plain annoying.

Wall

Fairly self-explanatory. In addition, you can control who can add to your wall. However, keep in mind that if you are free and easy with this, you’ll get more posts but you might also get spam. Although if you shut this down, you end up with Posts to Page. And it’s easy to miss these!

Company Pages Info

Here you add more detailed information. Hence this includes the company’s address and its business hours.

Photos

Fairly self-explanatory. Posts with images nearly always do better than those without, so upload an image if the link you’re sharing doesn’t have one. Make sure you have permission to use the image!

Notes

Fairly self-explanatory. Hence add notes like you would on your own personal page. E. g. these are almost discussions. However, the responses are relegated to subordinate comments versus the kind of back and forth that comes from the wall or the discussions page. And this is, admittedly, a nitpicky distinction without much of a real difference.

I would, though, suggest that you not use the Notes section for blogging. Instead, get a blog through WordPress (yay!) or the like and do it that way. Because the Notes section ends up a rather poor substitute for that.

Videos

Fairly self-explanatory. Hence if you’ve got videos uploaded, they can show up here. However, this is not the same as linking to a video hosted online elsewhere.

Company Pages: Post Scheduling

Fairly self-explanatory. So just post to your wall but pull down on the post button and select Schedule Post. In addition, if you’ve been looking at your Insights, you should know when people are online. And of course you want to try to post when people will see your posts.

Various Apps

Finally, go to Edit Profile and there is an option for Applications. However, these days, the only ones are Notes and Events.

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then check out my other articles about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

… And Facebook for All

• Demystifying Facebook
† Creating a Facebook page
• Working with a Facebook Page
† … And Facebook for All — Your Profile Page, Part I
• … Your Profile Page, Part II
† Home Page
• … Company Pages
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† … And Facebook for All
• All the Rest of It
† Advertising on Facebook
• Facebook versus Forums

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… And Facebook for All – All the Rest of It

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on March 16, 2021

… And Facebook for All – All the Rest of It

What’s the rest of it? There are really only two areas that I haven’t delved into: Groups and Notes (and keep in mind, FB changes constantly, so these could go away). Notes are kind of gone these days, but I am keeping this information for the sake of history, and because it may still be helpful in some fashion.

Groups

Groups: a lot more self-explanatory than you might expect.

They are, of course, a means for people to gather themselves together. Facebook is enormous and so, instead of looking through several million people to try to find someone who likes, say, Star Trek, you can hunt for a Star Trek group, join it and, voila! Instant collection of people with an interest similar to your own.

Joining in a group affords few obligations. Get invited to a group event? Well, it’s nice to RSVP, but not necessary. New discussion in the group? Well, it’s nice to participate, but you don’t need to. Add photos? Again, lovely, but no one’s holding a gun to your head.

Group Management

Managing a group differs a tad because it’s good to keep it lively. I’ve already talked a bit about groups before in this series, so I won’t repeat what I’ve said. However, mainly you want to keep discussions going (if any) and interest up. Gathering an enormous number of fans (yes, I know they are called Likes now, but what’s the human term? Likers? That just sounds weird, Facebook) helps with that.

This helps because it’s a somewhat objective means of showing interest in your group or cause or company, but since there’s a proliferation of dual accounts, that’s not necessarily much of an achievement.

Plus, since it’s so easy to toss a Share or Like button on any site, and Liking is so easy, having a lot of fans often just means you got your group in front of a bunch of people who are fine with clicking on a Like button, and nothing more. A group with 1,000 fans is not necessarily going to be easier to monetize than a group with only 100.

Notes

Notes became yet another means of getting across information. The main difference between them and the rest of Facebook’s discussions? The replies seem more like subordinate-appearing comments versus discussion replies.

Huh?

Yeah, it’s a difference without much of a real distinction.

The main usage I’ve seen for Notes consists of old-fashioned “getting to know you” kinds of notes. You know, the kind where you’re asked your favorite ice cream flavor or the name of your childhood pet. I’ve been on the Internet for over a decade and a half and, frankly, I think I’ve seen all of these by now.

Plus, not for nothing, but those are the kinds of questions that companies use to to verify accounts. Don’t answer them.

The last bit about Facebook is its very ubiquity. One of the reasons why it is so successful is because it’s, well, so successful. E. g., a long time ago, it hit a tipping point and started to become famous for the sake of being famous, and got bigger pretty much just because it was already huge.

FB is a well-known worldwide phenomenon. Mentioning it is so obvious and simple that it practically isn’t product placement to talk about it any more, much like mentioning a telephone in a movie isn’t really product placement to give a profit to Alexander Graham Bell‘s descendants.

See you online. And, yes, I will friend you if you like.

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then check out my other articles about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

… And Facebook for All

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… And Facebook for All

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 16, 2021

For Liberty, Justice (?), … And Facebook for All

Facebook matters.

At least, that’s what Mark Zuckerberg would want us all to think, wish and feel. I can understand that, a desire to make a website about as universal as possible.

Once the site stopped being exclusive to collegians, the inevitable business model was to universalize it. And the site, today (although that will probably change), has about the best chance to become a truly universal web experience as any site.

And yes, this is despite the advent and rise of AI. It’s even despite the fact that a lot of the youngest generations (Generation Alpha and Generation Z, to be more precise) disdain it. After all, they can’t. Their families and teachers are on it.

Universality

So, are you on the biggest social media site on the planet? About 2.93 billion monthly active users are, as of 2022. But, wait, not so fast. Is that number truly accurate? Absolutely not. After all (and for different reasons), my husband and I each have more than one account. Do you?

Even if you don’t, I bet you’ve got at least one friend who does, and probably lots more. In particular, if someone’s ever been in Facebook ‘jail’, they’ve probably got at least one separate account.

And that is perfectly all right, and is absolutely permitted by the site (although they’d like to change that). And they are trying to….

Real Names

Facebook also pushes for users to go with their correct names. Why? Because if you can hide behind a username, you might flame people more than if you can’t.

Real names also (in theory) help to eliminate duplicates. But in all honesty, how many guys named Mike Brown do you know? I can think of two I’ve known in my life and that figure is probably more like four or five.

Even middle names might not fix such a duplication issue. There are probably several men with the name of Michael David Brown in the world.

Also, though, another use for real names is better marketing. If you Anglicize your name, then an advertiser might miss that you’re Hispanic, and incorrectly market to you.

However, keep in mind that second accounts are far more likely to be under a fake name.

Not So Fast On Those Real Names

We have all seen names which are not quite so perfectly right, though. How many of us have seen married women using a middle name of something like Was(whatever their maiden name was)? Hence Susan Davis might call herself Susan WasSmith Davis.

It’s not a perfect solution, and you don’t really have to do that, anyway. Still, there are plenty of people who do.

Others might place a nickname within the middle name field. Robert Bob Brady, or Richard Dick Daily. But again, they might not have to.

The more common nicknames are already going to come up in a search, even though, in both of these examples, the nickname starts with a letter different from the full name.

So, Elizabeth (Beth, Liz), William (Bill), Christopher (Topher {maybe}), and Amanda (Mandy) are all covered.

Still others may try to use stage names, but Facebook would rather you just create a fan page or have someone do so for you. This is not just to nicely help you keep your personal and professional lives separate. It’s also to market to your fan base better.

After all, even your most avid fans might not be too thrilled by a celebrity talking about the logistics of getting to a local hardware store.

No Real Name, No, I Mean it, Facebook!

Then there are people who have damned good reasons for never using their real names, such as people escaping domestic violence. Facebook has gotten better and more sensitive when it comes to such needs.

And, FB may very well have to deal with this issue for anyone who becomes a victim of identity theft due to DOGE’s bull in a china shop-style actions. We shall see.

Why Facebook?

The site’s main purpose (in case you’re just coming into the light after a few decades on a desert island), is to sell advertising. Its offshoot purpose is to connect people, of all stripes, for free. But it’s those connections which sell the advertising.

There’s a lot else to it, at least on a general basis. But it’s still a valuable business tool for any Social Media Marketing Campaign.

But never forget: you’re the product that Facebook is selling.

In fact, that’s a good rule of thumb: if it’s online and it’s free, then guess what they’re selling?*

*Note: me? I’m selling books, and my own services.

The Best Parts of the Site for Social Media Marketing

Facebook’s main virtues, when it comes to your business, can currently be divided into three basic areas:

• Personal pages and peripheral connections to same
† Company pages and groups and peripheral connections thereto, and,
• Offsite connections back to the site

By “peripherals”, I mean all the extra stuff that goes along with the site experience, and not computer hardware peripherals.

In addition, FB Marketplace may or may not be a decent place for some people and companies to get some sales traction. But I wouldn’t count on it, if I were you.

The Concept of Universal-ish Reach at Facebook

Beyond just the sheer numbers, Facebook is extremely good at putting people together who are similar. You always get friend suggestions, yes? Those people tend to either have friends in common with you, or they have some other characteristic in common with you.

That ‘in common’ bit might be home town. Or it might be favorite sports team. Another possible connection could be where you work.

Now, let’s face it: if you work in a huge Fortune 50 company, then you’ll have tons of coworkers. And the chances are beyond good that you won’t know everyone. You may not even know everyone in your office building or even on your floor.

So sometimes when a friend request arises, it may feel like a mystery. Hence – look for a commonality. Sometimes commonality is religion, by the way.

So, if you’re a Muslim person working in New York City for a huge company like Exxon, the people that FB tags as being somehow related to you is laughably long.

Clutches of People

But let’s get back to the people you do connect with. It’s perfectly natural to hang out with the people you went to high school with, or who love the same sports team you do. You might feel more comfortable with fellow cancer survivors, horse people, etc.

Or you might want to set up a political echo chamber. Another thing you might want to do is spend time with people in the same profession as you, and do some networking (although LinkedIn really is better for that).

But no matter what, we people tend to group together. It’s a natural tendency. We’ve been gathering together since before there was a Homo sapiens species.

Facebook just exploits that. Really, really well.

And if antitrust cases go one way, they might not in the future. But we don’t know that yet.

Takeaways

FB friendships are as real and powerful and intimate as those which originated offline. I know more than one couple who met and married after initially meeting there. Don’t you?

Want More About Facebook?

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

… And Facebook for All

• Demystifying
† Creating a Page
• Working with a Page
† … Your Profile Page, Part I
• … Your Profile Page, Part II
† Home Page
• … Company Pages
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† … And Facebook for All
• All the Rest of It
† Advertising
• FB versus Forums

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The Numerati by Stephen Baker, a Book Review

Book Reviews, Killer UX Design, Content Nation by John Blossom, SEO Made Simple, Lee Odden, Dave Kerpen, Liana Evans, dummies, cluetrain manifesto, shama hyder kabadi, Numerati, Guerilla Marketing, White Space, Clay Shirky, Trust Agents, Kristina Halvorson, Stephen King, Zen, William Zinsser, Drupal for Dummies, Executive, XHTML, Communicating Design, Joshua Porter, Strategic Planning, Google Advertising Tools, Web Analytics, Right Hook, David Meerman Scott, web analytics, Revved Up, robot building, Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff, style guide, elements,

The Numerati by Stephen Baker, a Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 9, 2021

Time to Look at The Numerati by Stephen Baker

Who are the Numerati?

The Numerati by Stephen Baker remains a fascinating work about sensors, technology, data mining and where it’s all going when it comes to our privacy.

And it ends up all about data, about collecting, refining and interpreting it. People are, well, a bunch of fish in a bowl. Or, if you prefer, hamsters on a wheel. We are lab rats, we are subjects, we are collections of bit streams. We are … information.

And the kicker is that, put together enough things about us, and conclusions can suddenly be drawn.

Conclusions from The Numerati

Let’s say I go to the same grocery store every week (not a stretch – I really do). And I buy fish every single week. What if I buy, say, tuna steaks 70% of the time, and swordfish the other 30%? Am I automatically a tuna lover? Or am I simply scared to try something new?

Or am I getting to the fishmonger when everything else is sold out?

And what happens if a coupon is introduced into the mix? Does my tuna consumption go up to 80% if you give me $1 off per pound? However, that’s not too much of a victory, seeing as I normally buy it anyway. Will a $1 off coupon entice me to buy the more pricey salmon instead?

Ideas But Not Gospel

The data gives its interpreters (Baker refers to them as the Numerati, which sounds a tad like Illuminati and perhaps he means that) ideas. However, it’s not really a slam-dunk. Or, at least, not yet. Hence essentially the Numerati bucket you.

So I am a tuna buyer. And I am a sometime swordfish buyer. And I am also a Caucasian woman, in her (ahem) sixties, married, no children, living in Boston.

So far, so good. And when we herd all the data together, when we aggregate the bits and bytes of our lives, this may very well have a lot to say about us. Because it might be a predictor of how I’ll vote in the next election.

Or perhaps it will show how I’d use a dating site if I should ever need one in the future. Or it may even tell whether I’m likely to become a terrorist.

Border Collies and Data Goats

The data matters, but, to my mind (and to Baker’s as well, it seems), there are not only herds of data but there are also nagging outliers. And these constitute the Border Collies amidst all the data goats.

Perhaps I am buying tuna to feed to a cat. Or maybe I buy it with the intention of eating it to improve my health but, alas, never get to it and it goes to waste every single week.

So consider this case: a health professional places a sensor into a senior citizen’s bed, to determine whether that person is getting up in the morning. And, let’s say we also collect weight data.

Because a sudden dramatic rise in weight would indicate the possible onset of congestive heart failure. And let’s say the senior in question is a woman who weighs 150 pounds. Your own mother, maybe.

Day one: 150 pounds. Day two: 158 pounds. And then day three: 346 pounds. Day four: 410 pounds. Golly, is Mom really that sick?

Maybe Mom’s dog is 8 pounds. Okay, that explains day two. But what about days three and four? Maybe Mom’s got a boyfriend.

Or maybe she’s got two.

Messy Feelings

When I had the occasion to meet Stephen Baker at the 2010 Enzee Conference, we had the opportunity to talk a bit about these squishy, messy feelings.

Sure, our hearts are in the right place. And we want Mom to be safe and healthy, and we can’t be there. She might live in a warmer climate, and we cannot (or won’t) leave our cooler climes.

Or the job opportunities may be no good there for us. For whatever reason, we are here and she is there. So we want to be aware, and caring and all, but in our desire to gather information and protect her, what else are we learning?

If Mom is competent, and single, and protecting herself from STDs, we truly have no business knowing who she spends her evening hours with. Yet this technology makes this possible.

And if we have any sense of the future at all, we have to think to ourselves: what happens when I become Mom’s age? Will my bedroom and toileting habits potentially become a part of this huge bit/byte hamster wheel lab rat canary in a coal mine data stream? You betcha.

Are the Numerati Worrisome?

So, it is often said that only people who have something to worry about in their private lives are the ones who have worries. Everyone else should be fine, blithely giving up their warts and preferences, their virtues and secrets, to all who ask.

I say bull. I like my secrets. And I like my hidden life. And I’ll be damned if I give it up, even in the name of health, diet, voting, national security or even love.

A terrific read. I highly recommend this book.

Rating

Review: 5/5 stars.

Want More Book Reviews?

If my experiences with book reviews for social media resonate with you, then check out my other book review articles.

Check Out Book Reviews on Social Media, SEO, Analytics, Design, and Strategy

• Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0, a Book Review
† The Cluetrain Manifesto: 10th Anniversary Edition, a Book Review
• Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky, A Book Review
† Content Nation by John Blossom, A Book Review
• Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson, a Book Review
† Google Advertising Tools by Harold Davis, a Book Review
• Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, An Updated Book Review
† Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk

• Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
† Michael Fleischner’s SEO Made Simple, a Book Review
• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, A Book Review
† The Numerati by Stephen Baker, a Book Review
• Optimize by Lee Odden, A Book Review
† Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
• Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, a Book Review
† White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen, a Book Review
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

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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, Hype, Auto-Service Economy, Sharing Less, Social Media background check, formatted, Four Important Social Media Stats, Cheat Sheets, Seduction, social back, Social media background check, Collaboration, Wikileaks, Editme Webinar, Cyber Legacy, Campaign 2012, Demographics, ways, Time-saving tips, Campaign 2012, Happy Holidays, Neurotic Writers, Sharing Less,

Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 2, 2021

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’s an effort afoot to slow down and control the whirlwind.

Twitter’s Relentless Pace

Case in point: Twitter 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 don’t 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, yet again, looks to change its layout. In fact, it changes it every single day. They are the biggest A/B testing site on the planet, bar none! So, what’s changing? What isn’t?

The profile is going to 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 in the beginning, when it’s a 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.

Currently, they are using status types of communications. Sounds a lot like Facebook, eh?

LinkedIn also pushes articles, and tries to get you to follow thought leadership. 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’s not a lot of content happening. And it would, could, should make me want to hang around. 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.

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

Hence here’s what happens if my Facebook friends list is dominated by people I went to High School with over thirty 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 isn’t that what we would expect?

And if I instead tip my list in a different direction, and it’s 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’s anything but real if it’s at all successful. Because people just, generally, don’t 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’s got to be unreal, and scripted. It must become this fight or that rose ceremony or this other weird pancake-making challenge.

The big 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 doesn’t feel like a relentless pace.

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

It’s 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 doesn’t feel like a lot, until suddenly the bag is empty and you’re 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.

Community Management – Snakes in the Garden

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 5, 2021

Community Management Tidbits – Snakes in the Garden

Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?

It’s inevitable. Virtually every community open to the public is going to get its share of trolls and spam. To keep from being overrun, you need to be vigilant.

Trolls

A troll is, essentially, a disruptive presence.

But know your community. Chances are that a community of young mothers will have a far different tolerance level for disruptions versus a community of gun enthusiasts. And disruption also has a situational definition.

Because a community of atheists very likely does not want to hear from someone extolling the virtues of prayer. Similarly, a community of fish owners may not wish to read about how to make fish ‘n chips. Or maybe they do.

Shaping the Dialogue

You, as the Community Manager, can shape the dialogue. And one thing you can do is to help dictate the community’s response to, and level of tolerance for, off-topic digressions.

For example, with the possible exception of a dating site, few communities will welcome new people as their main subject of conversation. Yet every community probably should have a means for the currently existing membership to welcome newbies.

This is not only common courtesy; it can help newbies to stick around. So decide just how much going off-topic you wish to allow. This can also help to keep the off-topic discussions from invading the money-making ones. At least, not too much.

Getting Help

Next, enlist your super user(s). A super user is, essentially, someone who loves the site, is around a lot and probably makes a lot of good or at least decent content. These people can often be tastemakers so you can enlist their assistance to defuse a troll’s behaviors or bring discussions back on track.

Or, at least, these people can take the lead in creating and promoting other content, thereby burying and nullifying a troll’s handiwork. Furthermore, if your super users can create, promote and magnify their own content, that can assist your other users in wielding a great and powerful weapon against trolls: ignoring them.

Technological Solutions for Dealing with Snakes

Another solution is to use blocking software, either to suspend the troll’s posting privileges or to curtail them. Or, if available, allow your users to electronically ignore a troll (or at least demote or vote down that person’s posts), by either blocking the troll’s posts or disproportionately promoting those of their friends.

Going Nuclear on the Snakes

Completely suspending a troll from all usage of, and interaction on, your site is something of a nuclear option. It does not mean you should never use this tactic, although I would advise you to use it relatively sparingly. After all, a troll may simply be someone unused to forums, who charged in without looking.

Tone and humor are hard to gauge, even with a liberal sprinkling of emoticons. Everyone has bad days and your “troll” could actually be a perfectly good member, or even a superstar user, in disguise, if properly nurtured. So go easy on the heavy-handed moderation if you can.

Pick your moments and battles: a person urging suicidal members to go through with it should not be tolerated, but isn’t a debate among music lovers about the merits of Bach versus Mozart, well, healthy?

Spam

Onto spam. Spam is essentially a form of commercial speech. You first need is to define it in your Terms of Service. You may wish to allow your members to promote their own blogs but not their own commercial ventures. Or you may be more tolerant of commercial speech if it’s more on topic (say, a parts dealer’s site being touted on a Chevy enthusiasts’ board).

However, you need to get this rule clear, and you need to be consistent in its enforcement. You will, inevitably, miss an exception or two. Accept that as just something that’s going to happen, post your rules and move on. And make certain to make it clear that the Terms of Service may be subject to one-sided changes at any time. This is not the time to ask for a vote by the site’s membership.

Zero Tolerance for Spam

Once you have spam defined, you really should go with a zero tolerance policy. First off, it’s easy to be overrun if you’re not careful. Plus, if you allow spam to remain on your site, you are allowing the spammers to piggyback on your SEO. Excise them and their messages quickly and, unlike in the case of trolls, don’t be afraid to rapidly go to the nuclear option.

You will, inevitably, get appeals on any form of communication you’ve provided to the membership, whether it’s in the form of a Help Desk ticket, a feedback form, an email address you’ve made public, a “contact us” link or something else.

Monitor these channels and investigate every appeal. Some will be groundless, while others might not be. So, if it’s at all possible, make sure that you have fully reversible means for excising potentially spammy messages.

Enlist Your Membership to Help with the Snakes

Also, provide your general membership with the means to report spam and get those snakes out of there. The membership will not always perfectly understand your rules or apply them consistently and fairly. But that’s not their job. It’s yours.

All you need is a report, and for them to be your eyes and ears on the ground. You, of course, should also be checking, along with your moderating team if you have one. But give your membership the means to report spam and they can help you. They want to help you.

Trolling and spamming are not the signs of a failed forum. To the contrary, they are often signs of success, that your forum is large enough that spammers wish to market to your members or trolls seek to shake them out of complacency.

Spamming and trolling only indicate a failed forum if you let them take over your site, drive out all other means of interaction, and those snakes send your other members scurrying for the hills.

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other articles about how online communities work.

Community Management Tidbits

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Analytics
• From Small Things
† Get Together
• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Handling Yourself as a Good Netizen
• Let’s Get this Party Started
† Look at Me!
• Risks of a Community Without Management
† Snakes in the Garden
• Superstar Users
† The Circle Game
• Wandering off Topic

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The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, A Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 12, 2019

A Look at The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott was a fascinating book that I had as required reading for Quinnipiac University’s Social Media Platforms course (ICM522).

The Premise

First of all, the premise is, like a lot of other books about the Internet and social media marketing, that marketing has become less of a one-size-fits-all/push system. Instead, it has instead evolved into a far more balanced bilateral conversation.

And perhaps the most interesting part of the book consists of the rules themselves, which are in Chapter 2, on page 31 and are as follows –

David Meerman Scott and The New Rules

The New Rules of Marketing and PR

• First of all, marketing is more than just advertising
† In addition, public relations is for more than just a mainstream media audience
• You are what you publish
† And people want authenticity, not spin
• People want participation, not propaganda
† Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it
• Furthermore, marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of underserved audiences via the web
† In addition, public relations is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the web
• Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. Instead, it’s about your organization winning business

And the internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media

• Furthermore, companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content
† In addition, blogs, online video, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate
• And social networks like Twitter (X), Facebook, and LinkedIn allow people all over the world to share content and connect with the people and companies they do business with
† Finally, on the web, the lines between marketing and public relations have blurred

Because customers are talking back. And companies and their marketing departments had better start listening.

Rating

Review: 5/5 stars.

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White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen, a Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 30, 2019

White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen

I read White Space is Not Your Enemy on my own, and then for class.

White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen is a beginning design book. And I purchased it because I definitely need assistance with design. While I (at least I think I do) have something of an understanding of which color goes with which, it is sometimes difficult for me to make something look good. Seeking some inexpensive professional help, I turned to this book.

Practical Help With Your White Space and More

So apart from the obvious title, the book offers tips on color combinations, font selection, focal points and even how to prepare a document for a professional print job. And the chapter on design sins really resonated with me.

I have seen poorly designed advertisements (both online and offline) and websites, and have never really been able to adequately articulate just why they were so hideous. So now I can.

Exercises

The exercises in the back of each chapter seemed, I thought, somewhat superfluous. However, I did find myself beginning to look at designs with a more critical eye.

For example, I noticed a print advertisement where the background photograph was of varied colors. Some were light, some, dark. The print, however, was pure white, and cut horizontally along the middle of the photograph.

Hence this would have been fine, except the copy crashed straight into a white space, so some of the print was invisible. Which part? The company’s name. Epic design fail.

Foolproof

Another extremely helpful chapter: the one on the “works every time” layout. This layout is all over the Internet and all over print media, and for good reason. It is, essentially, a full width photograph or other graphic across the top third of the screen or page, with the remaining two-thirds divided into two vertical columns for text.

A cutline (caption) goes directly underneath the visual (if appropriate; some visuals don’t need a cutline), with a more prominent headline directly below that.

Break up the columns into paragraphs and beware widows and orphans (one or two short words on a line). Place tags (these aren’t Internet meta tags), which are the logo, company name and small nugget of information such as the URL or physical address, in the lower right-hand corner. In addition, round it all out with generous margins all around. Voila! An instant beautiful (albeit somewhat common) layout!

If nothing else, that chapter has a greater value than the price of admission.

Learning Creativity

Creativity cannot, truly, be taught. But the peripherals around it can, such as how to gather ideas and nurture them, and how to place those ideas together in a coherent format. It’s like teaching pottery and smithing but not cookery: you get enough so that you can set the table, but not nourish anyone.

For that, you need to be an artist. And that, sadly, no book can ever teach you.

Rating for White Space is Not Your Enemy

5/5

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Interview with EJ Roberts

Adventures in Career Changing | Janet Gershen-Siegel | A Drop of Ink Reviews

Interview with EJ Roberts

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 22, 2018

Meet EJ Roberts

EJ Roberts is an all-around indie author reviewer! Back in July of 2016 I did something different and handed over the reins to her.

She’s from A Drop of Ink Reviews. So take it away, EJ Roberts!

Background

I am EJ Roberts, the reviewer for A Drop of Ink Reviews. So let’s sit and talk about what all of this entails and how it affects the indie author.

First off, I’ve been reading since I was four. I made my family teach me how to read when I couldn’t get anyone to read to me often enough to keep me happy. And I have been devouring books left and right ever since.

I honestly can’t get enough of the written word. Though it wasn’t until about 2009 that I began to have an inkling that such a thing as an “indie author” even existed and could be viewed in a good light.

Writerly Ambitions

I used to think I wanted to be a writer.

Adventures in Career Changing | Janet Gershen-Siegel | EJ Roberts and A Drop of Ink Reviews — Welcome to EJ Roberts of A Drop of Ink Reviews!

And I have some skill at putting words together, but the idea of exposing yourself as an author and facing the rejection and judgement of others – that scared me to death.

I eventually came to the realization that I could use my skills in writing for something else entirely.

I frequented a writing group on Facebook that featured mainly indie authors. There were a few traditionally published writers in the group, but not many. However, their lament was all the same. They couldn’t get reviews for their books. So, in 2015, A Drop of Ink Reviews was born.

Why Reviews Matter

Reviews are incredibly important to an author, and more so for an indie author than one traditionally published. The reviews tell other potential readers that someone took a chance on this unknown author. The more reviews there are, the more the book gains recognition.

Indie authors don’t have advertising and marketing budgets. They have to do all of the work themselves, so each and every review is precious. It’s free marketing and helps propel their book further.

How She Got Her Start

Until that moment, I’ll admit I’d never written a review. I looked at a lot of review websites out there to see how others were doing them. I then created my own idea and ran with it. Before authors would trust me with their books, I had to essentially audition for the right to read and review them for free. I started with a few books I had on my shelf and off I went. It wasn’t long before I was swamped with requests for reviews.

How to Get a Review

Most indie book reviewers will do this free of charge. The only thing being they are given a free e-book. Each reviewer will have their preferred genre, so it’s always important to pay attention to their submission guidelines. Think of it as trying to get an agent. You have to pay attention to their guidelines or your book will be tossed aside.

Personally, I’m quite open about what I’ll review. I do avoid horror, LGBT, non-fiction, poetry, and erotica. I joke that I’m a prude and don’t even want excessive scenes in a book. If they’re important to the storyline, that’s one thing. If they’re thrown in for shock value? Please don’t bother. I’m also fond of Young Adult and Middle Grade books. A lot of reviewers won’t touch those, so it’s important to pay attention.

The Indie View

But how does one go about finding these elusive reviewers? There is an excellent list out there called The Indie View. They sponsor a list of active book reviewers. They also list what genres the author will and will not read so you can eliminate a lot of guesswork. This is not a comprehensive list as indie reviewers must submit themselves. I was on there at one point, but have since been removed.

That’s okay though as I have a steady stream of people still interested.

It’s Just an Opinion (from EJ Roberts or Anyone Else)!

One super important thing to remember about a book review. They are all the opinion of a single person. Once, I posted a 2 star review on my site. I rarely post those, but I was one of the few of hundreds of people who’d read it and gave it a low star rating. I figured the readers of my blog would still be interested and it could bring more readers to the author.

About four people told me they were going to buy the book and read it themselves. That was until the author approached me about removing the review from my site and I made the mistake of doing so. From that moment on, an entire wave of people vowed to never read anything that author ever wrote.

While your feelings might be hurt by a review, let it stand. Don’t say a word. You never know when that negative review will actually bring readers to you.

The Joys and Occasional Downsides of Being a Reviewer

Being a book reviewer I’m put in a unique position. I’m handed someone’s pride and joy and they wait anxiously to hear my opinion. I take this position seriously. My greatest joy is when I can put a 4 or 5 star rating on the book and recommend it to everyone I can think of. I have actually come across a few authors that I will buy their books as soon as they’re released because of my review site.

Unfortunately, along with the fun of discovering a great new author comes the pain of having to tell an author their book wasn’t ready for publication. I do not review those. I quietly give the author a review in an email and point out the flaws. Then there are the books I cannot read for whatever reason. That hurts the most.

Though I believe there is an audience for everyone, sometimes I’m just not it. I am not in a position to review the book if it wasn’t written for me.

Pet Peeves

As I continue to review, I am finding I’m growing a small list of pet peeves. I’m fairly lenient because I still dabble in writing on the side and I know I have my own flaws.

However, the longer I dwell in the indie book world, the more I’m finding less excuses for what are obvious errors. One being not taking the time to proofread your book. A ton of typos drives me nuts. The author cannot see them. He or she has been looking at the book too long. It requires another person to do it. Have a friend who’s picky as all get out help you. Your other option is to pay someone.

When faced with this decision, keep in mind you are investing in the future of your book. I have had the privilege of watching a book blossom from a new cover and editing services. It went from being dead in the water to netting the author a decent little income. Never underestimate the power of editing and cover art.

One Book, Though …

In the past year and a half I’ve been reviewing, I have come across a single book where I could get past the fact it wasn’t edited. A single book. I have 77 reviews on my site. I have read over a 100 books. Only one book. Think about that.

The storyline was so incredible and amazing I could overlook the typos, and there were a lot. Do not think your book can do that. Do not make that mistake. It takes an incredible author to pull that off and they’re a rare breed.

What’s Next for EJ Roberts?

I love what I do. I love reading new books and sharing my opinion with others. And I love that I can shine a light on unknown indie authors and convince people who’d never think to look at an indie author to give one a try. Indie authors break the rules.

Sure, there are a lot out there who will still follow the same worn paths as traditionally published books, but the rule breakers are here. The ones that are carving out the new genres are alive and well in the indie world. I’m glad to be a part of it.

Thank You!

Well, Hello There

It’s me again (Janet). Thank you to EJ Roberts! Please check out A Drop of Ink Reviews when you get a chance.

Just about seven years later, the need for reviewers is still huge! Indie writers need reviewers. And readers need them, too.

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A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 21, 2017

A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Whether paid or volunteer, the life of a community manager tends to be fairly similar. Community management can be a piece of Social Media Marketing and Management, but it doesn’t, strictly, have to be.

Most of a Community Manager’s time divides into three different modes:

1. Discussions
2. Nurturing and
3. Disciplining AKA Trust and Safety

Discussions

The discussion piece involves creating new discussions and shepherding them along. Users will not return, day after day, without new content. While the users are, ultimately, responsible for the content in a community, the Community Manager should create new content as well.

This is not always topics as it can also encompass informing users about changes in the site’s blog (if any) and even a Facebook fan page (if it exists).

This discussion piece evolves as the community evolves. In a community of fewer than one thousand users, the Community Manager’s content might be the only new content for weeks! Which…can sometimes be problematic.

As such, it can loom very, very large, but can also have a much stronger calming effect if other content is snarky.

As the community grows, the Community Manager’s contributions should diminish. But there should still be some involvement. Otherwise members may feel the Community Manager is hanging back a bit too much.

It is a community, and that means that the users want to know the Manager(s). An easy and somewhat safe way to do this is by creating discussions.

On Topic/Off Topic

And the discussions need not always stay on topic! Lively discussions can be almost spun from whole cloth if the Manager can get the people talking. An automotive community might thrill to talking about cooking.

A cooking community might engage in an animated discussion about the Olympics. And a sports community could very well bring its passion to a topic like politics.

In particular, if the community is single subject-based (e. g. about, say, Coca-Cola), going off-topic should probably at least peripherally relate to the overall subject.

Hence Coke could branch out into cooking and, from there, into family relationships. Or into health and fitness.

But a push to discussing politics may not work unless it’s based on a major recent news item or if there is precedent. And, if you get started with politics, it’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

Finally, if a member is ill, or has passed on, getting married or having a child, an off-topic discussion can spring naturally and effortlessly. This happens regardless of the community’s main subject matter.

Corporate management may not love off-topic discussions. But they keep a community together, and they help to keep it viable.

Nurturing

The nurturing piece relates to the discussion aspect. However, it tends to encompass responding to and supporting good discussions on the site.

This is especially helpful if the Community Manager identifies superstar users who are good at making topics who the community likes.

And then nurture them to promote those persons’ discussions over more inferior ones.

Use nurturing to encourage newbies. And use it to encourage members who might become superstar users if they only had a little more self-confidence. Give them a track record of support and positive reinforcement.

Welcoming people can get old rather quickly. But there’s nothing wrong with a form welcome, whether it’s an email or a private message or even a popup. Why not explain where to go to contact a Moderator? Or where to look and even where to report if the site is down?

Another use for a welcoming message can be to link to the Terms of Service and any other rules the community must abide by.

The Life of a Community Manager and Relationships

Nurturing can also take the shape of developing relationships with members. The Community Manager doesn’t have to be friends with everyone, even if the site is very small. However, they should get to know the users.

Private messages (if available), writing on a wall or the like can do this.

Furthermore, the Community Manager can use private messages, etc. to head off potential problems at the pass.

Headstrong members might be wonderful when they write on topics not related to their overarching passion. Or they might respond to a tactful request to tone things down a bit. Or a lot.

The Community Manager can encourage those members to take part in those other discussions. The manager can reach out to other community members. Friendship can help to minimize flaming.

Disciplining AKA Trust and Safety

And this leads me to the disciplining part. It’s often the first thing that people think of when they think of community management. That includes things like pulling spam.

It also includes giving users timeouts or even outright suspending them when their activities run against a site’s Terms of Service.

Trust and Safety can also mean checking content to be sure that it fits community standards. Those can be everything from avoiding porn to getting rid of health misinformation.

The Facebook Trust and Safety team, for example, once had the unenviable responsibility to weed through violent and disturbing imagery. Nowadays, that’s done by AI.

And it also includes shunning and ignoring. These can be extremely powerful. The Community Manager can help to mobilize other users.

But Do It Right

An email or private message campaign is almost always a very poor idea. Rather, the Manager must lead by example. Don’t take the bait when challenged, unless it’s absolutely necessary. But that is rare.

It’s the Community Manager’s call when to take it, particularly if personal insults fly.

Often the best tactics include: (a) get offline and cool off. And (b) ask another Community Manager or Moderator to determine if it warrants disciplinary action. And then enforce that if it is.

One thing a Manager should never forget: there is far more to the community than just the people posting. There is often a far larger audience of lurkers, both registered and unregistered.

They are watching events unfold but rarely comment. By leading by example, the Community Manager can influence not only active posters but also the community at large.

Customer Service is Key for a Community Manager, Even if the Forums are Free and There are no Real ‘Customers’

During a typical day, new members register. Also, members lose their passwords, or start and respond to topics. Furthermore, they answer older topics. People engage in private communications (if permitted on the site).

Members may disagree on something and they may do so vehemently. The site may get spam. Or someone might add violent and disturbing imagery.

The Community Manager can become involved as a content creator if content creation lags or goes too far off subject. He or she should discipline difficult members if necessary.

However, generally, a Community Manager’s main task, both daily and over the life of the community, should be to carefully nurture and shape relationships.

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other posts about how online communities work.

Community Management Tidbits

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I’ve learned.

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Tag: business

Liberty, Justice (?), … And Facebook for All – Company Pages for Writers/Authors

Main Tab (Posts)

About Tab

Followers Subsection

Photos Subsection

Videos Subsection

Two More Subsections

Mentions Tab

Reviews Tab

Followers Tab

Photos Tab

More (with a down arrow)

Also, there’s…

Posts

Company Pages and Details

Events

Wall

Company Pages Info

Photos

Notes

Videos

Company Pages: Post Scheduling

Various Apps

Want More About Facebook?

… And Facebook for All

Like this:

… And Facebook for All – All the Rest of It

Groups

Group Management

Notes

Want More About Facebook?

… And Facebook for All

Like this:

For Liberty, Justice (?), … And Facebook for All

Universality

Real Names

Not So Fast On Those Real Names

No Real Name, No, I Mean it, Facebook!

Why Facebook?

The Best Parts of the Site for Social Media Marketing

The Concept of Universal-ish Reach at Facebook

Clutches of People

Takeaways

Want More About Facebook?

… And Facebook for All

Like this:

Time to Look at The Numerati by Stephen Baker

Conclusions from The Numerati

Ideas But Not Gospel

Border Collies and Data Goats

Messy Feelings

Are the Numerati Worrisome?

Rating

Want More Book Reviews?

Check Out Book Reviews on Social Media, SEO, Analytics, Design, and Strategy

Like this:

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

Reviews of Books on Social Media

Working with Social Media

Social Media for Writers

Like this:

Community Management Tidbits – Snakes in the Garden

Trolls

Shaping the Dialogue

Getting Help

Technological Solutions for Dealing with Snakes

Going Nuclear on the Snakes

Spam

Zero Tolerance for Spam

Enlist Your Membership to Help with the Snakes