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Are You a Social Media Wallflower?

August 29, 2013 Beth Devine

Get off the wallIf you’re worried about being a social media wallflower, anxious that your online social skills come up short, then it’s time to get off the wall.

Learn how to step into the spotlight of social media storytelling and deadhead your wallflower days forever.

The New World of Social Media Storytelling Wants You

You don’t have to be boring and unpopular. With storytelling and “emotional” sharing, you can unveil the soul and spirit of your business through social media.

The 5 Emotions That Get More Shares

There are five emotions that are most likely to motivate people to share:

1. Awe
2. Surprise
3. Amusement
4. Anxiety
5. Anger

Because positive emotions are more likely to be shared than negative, promoting awe, surprise, and amusement are safe bets in increasing social media shares and interaction. Using anxiety-producing or anger-inducing stories can also be effective when they are used to promote social togetherness.

Like telling a story, sharing to promote social community allows people to feel connected to others and to something outside themselves.

The more emotion your story inspires, the more likely people will notice you and let others in on your story.

Social Media is a Giant Graffiti Wall

Look at social media as one giant wall of graffiti. The best graffiti will be the ones that stir the most emotions and cause us to feel the most united in a common cause.

This is also part of what’s known at the “herd mentality.” When it’s obvious others are actively engaged in sharing something, others will follow suit. Let’s face it, our digital-age society relies on the collective opinions of others to make decisions.

The More They “Like” You, the More You Will be Liked

“Is something popular because it is actually good, or is it popular just because it is popular?” The mass-approval syndrome was measured in a study on a news website to investigate how positive votes or likes influenced the overall rating of a social share.

It turns out that by earning a positive vote initially, more positive votes would follow. A negative vote didn’t make a difference. If anything, an initial negative vote would prompt follow-up positive votes and end up measuring the same as the control group.

So marketing a message will be more successful if you can lead the pack with a positive vote by someone.

Leading the Pack With a Good Story

Telling your story and getting others to like and re-share not only involves sparking an emotional reaction. It also means communicating a message with traditional storytelling features.

Who’s the hero of the story? What is the plot? The setting? And don’t forget the inevitable and necessary story conflict. Apple computer’s “1984” video tells a story steeped in conflict, brazenly marketing its original thinking.

Who’s leading the pack in this story? Don’t be afraid of introducing conflict into your storyline to inspire emotion and social communion. Get off the wall and get noticed. Dig into your archives, your creative reserves, and your inner bard. There’s a story in there somewhere.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing 101, Kacee's Posts, Marketing, Social Media

Business Owners: You Can’t Afford to Ignore Google Plus

August 12, 2013 Beth Devine

Google +Google Plus announced in the fall of 2012 that they had officially surpassed the 400 million registered users mark. About 100 million of those users actively check their Google Plus accounts, Gigaom.com reports. That is a potential pool of 100 million customers, some of whom will be interested in what you are selling. Companies such as H&M, BMW and Mercedes-Benz consistently engage customers through Google Plus, and the effort appears to be paying off. Each of these corporations has more than 2 million followers.

It’s understandable if your company is wrapped up in marketing efforts through Facebook and Twitter. After all, those seem to be the networks everyone is using. While you’re posting and tweeting in those spaces, though, you may be missing a large, well-educated audience that hangs out at Google Plus.

Who’s Using Google Plus

Google reports that, at nearly 70 percent, users of Google Plus are overwhelmingly male. They are well-educated and technologically savvy; they are not on Google Plus to find out what you had for lunch or how your sister-in-law is doing after the birth of her child. This is their tool for keeping up-to-date on the things that matter.

Another lure of the average Google Plus user: According to the search giant, their users have far more money than those who use other social networks. While 16 percent of Facebook and Tumblr users make more than $100,000 a year, a full 30 percent of Google Plus users do.

The Basics

Signing up for a Google Plus account is as easy as signing into your Gmail account. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you know the drill. Simply go to Gmail.com, and register by coming up with a user name and password. That’s it. Once you have a legitimate Gmail account, you can begin to access all those millions of people who also have Gmail accounts. You can reach your Google Plus account directly at plus.google.com.

Practical Viewpoint

A strong presence on Google Plus is directly correlated with stronger search engine results. The only real way to gain traction online is through search engine results, and Google is the gatekeeper. If you are going to market online, you need to see Google as your ally. That friend is handing you a golden ticket to the party through Google Plus. This complex system is one of the greatest assets in social media marketing, www.dsl.com reports, whether we like it or not; business owners who ignore it are missing out.

Google Is Listening

While behemoths such as Facebook and Twitter may take forever to make the kinds of changes their users clamor for, Google is good about keeping an ear to the ground. In fact, the organization of Google Plus has changed dramatically over the past two years to keep up with what users tell them they want. The site allows you to separate people into categories, depending upon whether they are friends, family, acquaintances or people you are following. While that may not sound like much, it enables you to pinpoint the audience you reach. There’s no reason to let your mother know about the new promotion going on at your gym if she’s not going to be interested. You can upload text, photos, links, videos or special events, and target them precisely to the people who are most likely to care.

Circles

While “circles” may sound like a cute way of saying “friends,” it really is more than that. Because your personal circle is broken down by category, the direction you choose to expand your circle is up to you. For example, if you have a particular business acquaintance and would like to have more like him, you are able to reach out to the people in his circle and ask them to join yours. No, you may not be as interested in your brother’s softball buddies, but then, you don’t have to expand your circle in that direction.

Growth

Business Insider made waves in May by reporting that Google Plus was outpacing Twitter and poised to become the second largest social network in the world (behind Facebook). What makes this particularly surprising is that Google Plus got off to a slow start following its 2011 launch. Although millions of people signed up to use it, critics panned it to the point that users lost interest, and many never even accessed the accounts they set up. Business Insider goes on to say the recent rapid rise of active Google Plus users is likely due to a number of factors, including Google’s efforts to link all of their services together—so if a user signs into one, he signs into them all.

Google Plus is already an important marketing tool, and it’s poised to become a force. Business owners need to be on board.

Image by Flickr user Bruce Clay, Inc.

Filed Under: Carolyn's Posts, Google Tips, Social Media, Tools & Tips

Social Media Gaffes That Scream No.

August 5, 2013 Beth Devine

don't do it

Everywhere you turn people and brands are making glaring gaffes that lead to social media scorn and disrepute. Sometimes the best way to avoid making mistakes is to learn from those with the egg on their face.

Posting with intent to titillate.

Anthony Weiner takes the cake with yet another sexting scandal as he embarks on his mayoral bid.

This has to be a favorite among the plain and simple don’t do it social media gaffes. If you’re thinking that anyone with common sense would know better than to repeat such a morally questionable maneuver, then you can join me in the dumbstruck category.

Say no and feel good about it. Anne Lamott compares saying yes when you mean no to a “martyred mentally ill position” akin to the tainted area a mile north of Chernobyl.

In this case, however, I think Weiner’s yes’s mean yes, and that adds up to the same mentally deranged outcome as Lamott’s metaphor.

Don’t over think this. (I’ve done that for you.) There’s no room for behavior that might jeopardize your reputation and integrity. Even texting will return to haunt you.

Sharing (fake) lies.

Staging fake posts to garner attention can be misconstrued as telling lies, and you will risk losing followers’ trust as a result.

When Chipotle’s Twitter account recently appeared hacked, it gained 4,000 new followers in one day, compared to its average of 250, and the hacked tweets earned 12,000 retweets, when it normally sees 75 retweets a day.

Such a sweet outcome is unpredictable, and its success has to do with Chipotle’s treasure hunt, its clues hiding in the Tweets.

The lesson learned here is be very clever in your social media sharing, and your followers won’t suspect outright lies. Anything veering from transparency and authenticity could quickly bring on the reproach brigade.

Just do what feels right.

While this sounds a lot like Weiner’s behavior again, let’s pretend this is about real decisions that are meant to be effective money makers and relationship builders.

The phenomenon of people or organizations who do what they feel is right in the short run and don’t bother considering alternatives or how it will pan out in the long run have what Seth Godin calls impulse control issues.

He compares this to Stoogecraft, the Three Stooges’ method of madness in all decision making. Moe, Larry, and Curly perfected a comedy of errors in their impulse management. Social media and content marketing require a consideration of alternatives and implications, not a fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants brouhaha.

Sappy quotes are passé.

It appears the era of the inspirational quote has come to an end. For social media marketing purposes, you are better off with short and funny quotes.

social mediaWhen you Google while in incognito mode “inspirational quotes are,” the recent search results indicate they are considered annoying, stupid, for the uninspired, and bullsh*t.

Clearly Pinterest, with its inspiration quote stronghold, is comprised of less Google search users than one might think.

Googling “inspirational quotes that are,” brings up funny, short, aren’t cheesy, and uplifting.

It makes me wonder if cohorts of the truly uninspired are conspiring to warp Google search results by punching in these queries over and over, day and night, from sheer inanity.

However you choose to inspire your audience, try to encourage them by walking the fine line of uplifting but not cheesy, funny but not stupid, and short on the bullsh*t.

Let me know how that works out for you.

Filed Under: Kacee's Posts, Marketing, Social Media

Follow the 4 E’s of Social Media and Be Loved

July 31, 2013 Beth Devine

4 E's of social mediaIf you want to win people’s affection, appreciation, and approval – the three A’s – there’s another set of vowels to adhere to. The 4 E’s of Social Media.

Apply them to your online persona, and your followers will learn to value your input and trust you as a conscientious and reliable source.

The Four E’s of Social Media to win friends’ and followers’ loyalty start with having some fun.

1. Entertainment

We love to be amused. Entertain and divert us from our daily regimen of tasks and more tasks, and we will gladly accept the distraction.

Give your audience something to smile about. Make them giddy. At the very least, show them your fun side.

Sharing visuals is an easy way to entertain. Create your own Pinterest pin or meme to express your whimsy, or share a video with giggle potential. Check out Buzzfeed’s collection for inspiration.

2. Education

Whenever possible, take the opportunity to enlighten your audience with information they didn’t know they wanted.

Take the Transportation Security Administration’s latest educational ploy. Despite the annnoyance we may have over security check hassles, their Instagram photos of confiscated contraband ranging from loaded guns to inert grenades gives us reason to check our own discontent.

It’s also a chance to answer your customer’s questions. Be a teacher and give them the information they need to make informed choices. Even if it means sharing your family jewels.

3. Engagement

A new study by the Internet Advertising Bureau found that 90% of customers would recommend a brand to others after interacting with them on social media.

Surprise, surprise. Social media paves the road to two-way conversation, allowing both parties to share their point of view.

This is a good time to remember the premier Social Media Engagement rule. As any good social media cocktail mix will warn you – it’s not about you.

For other ideas on engaging with your audience, check out Socially Stacked’s infographic on 10 Quick Tips and Examples for Better Status Updates.

4. Etiquette

The list of propriety no-no’s will continue to grow despite the efforts of the Condescending Corporate Brand Page to put a stopper on it.

Like stop asking people to “Like” your page. The new etiquette for Facebook is to be less shallow and more content-driven. Rather than settling for a cheap click of approval, focus on the previous three E’s and share valuable content.

This doesn’t mean you never include a call to action. Just give them in small doses.

One of the most obvious codes of etiquette is keep it friendly and positive. Somehow this isn’t as straightforward as one would think.

Okay, so no one’s thinking it’s at all straightforward. If you have a Facebook account, I don’t doubt you’ve experienced the depths people will lower themselves in order to mock, insult, and generally flaunt their bad manners, all in the name of sharing.

Don’t go there. Share your good side and leave your scorn at home, no matter how hilarious you think it may be. For those unwilling to behave, going completely invisible on Facebook is a solid option .

The loyalty you hope to achieve with the 4 E’s of Social Media can only bring you better business and better relationships.

“By making people love, not just like your brand, you’re more likely to drive future purchases and increase sales,” said Ian Ralph, Director of Marketing Sciences.

Who doesn’t want to be loved?

 

Filed Under: Facebook, Kacee's Posts, Marketing, Social Media

Sign-In With Google+. Or Else.

July 25, 2013 Beth Devine

Google+ Sign-InAdmit it. You despise having to sign in to sites, remember your password, your username, and authenticate you’re human.

So show some empathy. Make it simple for your site visitors by installing Google+ Sign-In. Next to Facebook, Google+ has the largest percentage of social logins, more than Twitter and LinkedIn.

For users, Google+ Sign-In lowers the barriers to logging in. For website owners, when you offer login and registration with an existing social identity like Google+, drop-off during registration disappears, you increase referral traffic, and you learn more detailed information about your users.

Link Up With the Network

While the old version of Google sign-in is still working,  Google+ Sign-In links directly to Google’s social network and profiles, adding another layer of social sharing potential. With their permission, users give access to the basic information from their Google+ public profile, including the list of people in their circles.

If you have a mobile app for your site, Google+ will prompt anyone who logs in to your site through the Google+ Sign-In to download it. Results show that 40% of users are accepting the offer to install a website’s mobile app when offered in the Google+ sign-in process.

People trust Google as a secure provider of their online identity. Using Google+ as your sign-in service also gives site owners the benefits of any improvements and bug fixes that roll out.

It’s a win-win scenario for Google, who clearly is encouraging Google+ participation. If you haven’t created a Google+ profile, it’s not too late to jump on the Google bandwagon and reap its benefits. Authorship markup and author rank are two significant benefits for a website owner.

Google+ Isn’t Just Another Social Site

If you own a website and are interested in content marketing, then you should jump on quickly.Your family jewels may be at stake. In fact, your entire future may be at stake, for Google+ is not merely some silly social network where you make snarky comments and share inane drivel.

Google+, my fellow friends of the Net, is being compared to The Matrix.

As Mike Elgan writes on his Google+ page,  The Matrix analogy assumes the “synthetic world around us that exists not for our benefit but for the benefit of the machines, a.k.a. Google,” who “uses Google+ and the Google+ Sign-In to harvest signals from users, and that’s the whole point of the ubiquitous Google social layer.”

Elgan disagrees with this analogy. He says The Matrix is the opposite of what Google+ offers. With The Matrix, humans are stuck in the past as their energy is harvested for exploitation by the machines. Instead, Google helps us to move forward, offering us all of its services for free, a far cry from deceiving us into a virtual reality existence.

Adding Google+ Sign-In begins to sound entirely reasonable, rather like making a simple choice.

Blue pill or red pill? Sign in or sign out?

Filed Under: Google Tips, Kacee's Posts, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Tools & Tips

Steal Some Social Media Ideas Here

May 8, 2013 Beth Devine

social media strategiesResults show that small businesses are experimenting with and investing in social media. Nearly 50% are increasing their expenditure, and 39% are already getting a return on their investment. This return will continue to go up as businesses “shift from the experimental stage to a results-focused phase.”

Not only do you need to set goals, but deciding on a social media strategy is important. Your strategy could involve more than one campaign, and getting there includes experimenting with ideas.

Take a Shot of Creative Adrenaline

The best way to fuel your creative fix is with some of the social media strategies currently being played out in the field. Get your game on with these social media tactics.

  • Cuteness Fusion with Four-Legged Critters

Facebook “Like Ads” show that the most successful ads were those with adorable animal images. The least engagement came from text-only ads, with logo-based ads being marginally better in response rate.

Ads with product images received the best long-term customer engagement. Incorporating product with appealing animal photos could be your newest approach to reaching your audience.

  • Buy a Banana (or Save Some Other Silly Fool)

When Henry Gribbohm lost $2,600 playing a carnival game for a dreadlock-and-beanie-topped stuffed banana, CollegeHumor developed a Facebook Like ploy to pay him back. At 26,000 Likes at $.10 a Like, Gribbohm’s bank account will be restored, along with his infamous reputation.

Give your brand some recognition with a similar campaign. There are bound to be enthusiastic souls who need saving and won’t mind having fun with it.

  • Stir Up Some High Velocity Winds

The Weather Channel stirred up some hashtag fun and games with #TornadoWeek. Interns sat working in front of a “wind tunnel” while broadcast live. Followers controlled the wind speed through tweet mentions of the hashtag, upping the wind velocity to 200 mph when they reached  1,000,000 mentions.

What other Tweet-powered hijinks can you think up?

  • Launch a Beauty Contest

Hawaiian Tropic’s Facebook page search for the woman who best epitomizes “beauty, confidence, style, enjoying the sun and keeping skin healthy” wins a trip to Hawaii and becomes a Hawaiian Tropic spokeswoman.

A focus on inner beauty and healthy skin reflects the need for skin protection and an awareness of the whole woman. Give your followers a way to applaud their strengths with a campaign to put their best face forward.

  • Broadcast Your Superpowers

Dominos Pizza is pounding the Internet pavement each night with a live broadcast of their pizza-making prowess from a store in Salt Lake City. Because their online ordering has been so successful, they felt it a natural move to take the whole pie to the World Wide Web.

People love behind-the-scenes, real-time viewing.  Social media gives us the opportunity to be more transparent and more authentic. So give them something to gawk at!

  • Play a (Safe) Prank

The idea of tricking someone for a laugh is only as good as it’s received. Trying for a repeat of Nathan Fielder’s, star of Nathan for You, tweet-a-gram might not be advisable, yet the humor is inescapable.

He asked his Twitter followers to text their parents “Got 2 grams for $40,” then claim it was meant for someone else, and screenshoot the responses. Needless to say, the replies were worthy of social media Oscars.

Rallying for entertainment with shenanigans that you know your audience will enjoy might be your ticket to a winning streak of fun and fame.

  • Offer a Feature Photo Challenge

Appeal to your consumer’s love of the local, like Mashable did in their Hometown Photo Challenge. Anything your audience will want to share and get some star treatment as a reward is an offer they’ll find hard to refuse.

While you’re at it, you can use more than one social platform to bring in the submissions. Mashable used Twitter and Instagram for photo uploads, as well as their website.

  • Grow a Mustache

When thirty guys decided to raise awareness for cancer research, they reinvented Movember, a movement to bring back the mustache in November.

They asked guys to grow a mustache and ask friends and family for donations. They gave them a variety of social tools to invite people, share the spirit of competition, and embrace the sense of brotherhood that was central to the movement.

Most importantly, growing a mustache for a cause is positive and proactive. Having fun while you spread your message makes it more contagious.

What will your next social media move be?

 

 

Filed Under: Internet Marketing 101, Kacee's Posts, Social Media

How to Harness the Power of Good and Influence Decisions

April 30, 2013 Beth Devine

kittens fightingPINWhen you engage in social media, you’re not only showing the best side of your brand. You’re given the opportunity to reach the good side of your audience.

Create conversations that celebrate all that’s good, and bring out the compassion, generosity, cooperation, and altruism in your followers.

At the end of the day, you’ll feel even better about yourself and your brand.

These studies show the power of good is in demand and human nature easily leans toward the force of goodness. Here are seven ways to help your audience find the best in themselves and spread goodwill in the process.

7 Ways to Help Your Followers Choose to be Good

1. March to the Beat of the Same Drum

If you want to make someone more sympathetic, have them perform something in sync. Marching armies, religious chanting, and cultural dancing all have this “muscular bonding” as a cohesive element that encourages cooperation and “weaken[s] the boundaries between the self and the group.”

Stanford University’s behavioral psychologists asked volunteers to do different exercises in sync, including walking and singing, and then measured their cooperation through various methods. The groups who acted in sync were more willing to cooperate.

This evokes childhood games of Mother May I?, where we learned to behave more harmoniously without any adult reprimands. Could this work for encouraging workplace harmony too?

2. Spontaneity

When people have less time to think, they are more generous. Harvard researchers demonstrated how participants chose to contribute more money to the common pot for later redistribution when they reacted quickly.

When acting on first impulse, volunteers showed greater results for sharing than when they were given time to consider. The results show that people are “intuitively predisposed towards cooperation.” We become uncooperative when we are given time to reflect.

Set quick deadlines for your fundraising and charity appeals, and keep the emotional bar way up in the kindness level. People are more likely to follow their inner tendency to cooperate and donate when they have less time to think and let selfishness set in.

3. Get Awestruck

Has the vista of a starlit night sky ever sent you into a dizzying awareness of your general insignificance?

Merely thinking of an awe-inspiring natural scene is enough to produce selflessness and a focus on your surroundings. As University of California, Berkeley, showed in its Nature of Awe study, the inducement of awe is a powerful tool in creating a disinterest in self, whereas participants responding to an instance when they felt pride reported feeling more fear, more challenged, and more tired.

Give your audience a reason to be more interested in something bigger than themselves with notions of nature’s grandiose beauty.

4. Share the warmth

We are more prone to give to a stranger when we experience warmth. Based on Yale University studies on the brain and trust, holding a hot cup of coffee before investing in an anonymous person caused investment amounts to go up.

The effects of temperature on our willingness to extend ourselves and accept another’s input was measured in the insula, a tiny portion of our brain where visceral sensations are translated into emotions. When we hold something cold – an aversive sensory input – the insula registers it.

Think steaming cups of latte as you challenge your audience to make decisions – and get them to heat up too.

5. Vegetarians are More Aggressive

The sight of a juicy steak sparks the exact opposite of what you might expect. When McGill University’s Frank Kachanoff attempted to prove images of hearty beef would instill aggression, he was surprised to find the results were just the reverse.

Participants who viewed ready-to-eat photos of meat were less likely to dole out harsh reprimands than were those who were shown neutral pictures. The findings suggest that meat-eating prompts feelings of mealtime community and safety, not discord and aggression.

So display those photos of hearty, charbroiled hamburgers and grilled steaks before asking your followers for a positive and flavorful heaping of support.

6. Create a Ripple Effect

How you choose to treat others “can influence dozens or even hundreds of people,” whether you know them or not. Political scientist James Fowler, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego, and medical sociologist Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, at Harvard University teamed up to test participant’s selfishness in a game where selfishness was the rational choice.

Instead, volunteers mimicked the example of one another’s generosity. This ripple effect in social behavior was shown to have up to three degrees of separation (from person to person to person to person), and as a result, can spread beyond your network of acquaintances.

The critical component is making sure others witness you doing your good deed. They will mimic the observed behavior, causing the “pay it forward” phenomenon to occur in a setting where reciprocity is impossible.

The implications here are enormous, placing great potential for organizations and businesses to create a setting for this cascade of cooperation.

7. Surrender Your Fates to the Universe

While people are waiting for something they deeply desire, they’re more likely to donate their time and money, as well as show an increased sense of optimism. University of Virginia’s Benjamin Converse ran a study indicating our belief that “helping others may indulge the intuition that if one acts virtuously the universe will reciprocate.”

In other words, we believe good things happen to good people, and when we await the outcome of an uncontrollable event, we are more prone to good behavior.

For example, participants who reported having to wait on the results of pregnancy attempts, graduate admissions, and court proceedings were more likely to volunteer their time to give food for the hungry and wishes for terminally-ill children.

Encourage good behavior through offering longed-for results, and you’ve got people who are more prepared to invest in your goodwill.

Being a Force for Good

Use these potentially powerful methods with goodwill and good motives. Your ability to influence decisions toward the greater good are only as sound and authentic as your intentions.

Filed Under: Kacee's Posts, motivational, Social Media

The Hashtag is Invading

March 24, 2013 Beth Devine

Facebook incorporates HashtagsAmidst the Internet rumblings of a #hashtaginvasion, there are those who remain blissfully unaware.

“Why is there a number sign before all these highlighted words?” my husband asked me this week as he checked out my latest tweets on Twitter.

Even my college-aged son, who’d been creating his own off-the-wall Twitter hashtags for weeks, didn’t realize that hashtags are links to a common page where all other hashtags like it can be followed.

The Demise of Hashtag Ignorance

This obliviousness is about to change. The goliath of social media, Facebook, is stomping into your Timeline, hashtags in hand.

No longer will you be able to avoid it, much to the distress of hashtag-bashing opponents. Facebook page “This is Not Twitter. Hashtags Don’t Work Here” recently hit 10,000 fans, with the cause “If you can’t click it, it’s not real.”

Reality is about to change. With hashtags working on Facebook, will users take to it like they do on Twitter? We can be sure of one thing. Facebook’s hashtag invasion will assure more people understand it’s use.

And You Thought Hashtag was a Weird Name

Hashtag has a unique history in the name “octothorpe.”  It seems that Bell Laboratories’ scientists made up the name for the newly added key with the eight-pointed edges symbol, what we commonly call the pound key, made to send instructions to the operator.

Today the hashtag continues to send instructions in the form of common topics, conversation beginnings, and search options.

Hashtags are used on Twitter as keywords or phrases (with no spaces) preceded by a hash mark (#) to identify a topic of interest, create and facilitate a search, and categorize Tweets.

Hashtag Envy Breeds Copycats

A good thing begs to be imitated. Whereas Twitter refuses to buddy up with Facebook-owned, hashtag-using Instagram, its new photo-flame, Flickr, has just introduced an IOS app using – you guessed it – hashtags.

It doesn’t stop there.

Google+ has adopted the hashtag, listing its Trending Topics with hashtag-laden keywords, promoting awareness on topics such as #DownSyndrome and #WorldWaterDay.

As of now, hashtags don’t have functionality on Facebook or Pinterest, although people add them to status updates and pin descriptions, much to the annoyance of those who understand how they work.

Once Facebook incorporates the hashtag function, it will be similar to tagging for people and location with the @ symbol. With the # symbol, anyone who wants their posts easily searched and categorized can create public posts based on specific keywords.

Hashtag is Still a Weird Name

There are those out there, undoubtedly from Twitterland, who are born and bred on hashtags. A baby girl recently named Hashtag marks the level of social media preoccupation some of us share.

France is not immune to the hashtag infiltration, although they’ve banned the use of the word. Instead, social media followers must use the French term for “sharp word.”

What else is there to do but accept the pointed-edge invasion and follow the hashtag links? Is our social media destiny to be a clamoring for hashtag acknowledgement and authority?

What about you? Are you a hashtag supporter?

Filed Under: Facebook, Kacee's Posts, Social Media

Photos are Getting Bigger: On Facebook and Beyond

March 8, 2013 Beth Devine

Facebook Gives Visuals the Royal Treatment

Facebook pictures betting biggerContent may still be king, but images, videos, and music are holding higher court on Facebook. Facebook’s changes in its News Feed include new ways to filter what you see as you pay homage to the stream of information. No longer will the various feed options be hidden in the left sidebar.

Oh, you didn’t know about those either? They’ve been spread out among the Newsfeed, Pages, and Apps categories, where you’ll still find them until the upgrades are fully dispersed.

With the News Feed upgrade, front and top-center or top-right (depending on what type of device you’re on), you’ll find options for a photos feed highlighting Facebook and Instagram photos, and a remade music feed sharing what friends are listening to, as well as new albums and concerts.

Instagram Takes the Stage

The format is very much like Instagram in its clutter-reduced and photo-focused approach. Richer content, larger visuals, and interactivity is designed into the News Feed as cross-platform features. Whether you’re viewing on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, the results will be similar.

Images from both friends and advertisements are larger as part of this new wave of dedicated feed. Since acquiring Instagram, this is a strategic move to utilize the power of the photo. Studies show that we process images 60,000 times faster than text, and Facebook photos generate more engagement than text alone.

Read: more likes, comments, and link clicks, all in less time. Larger imagesFacebook images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s easy enough to satisfy that basic desire to respond to images in Facebook and drive more traffic to your website. Instead of sharing as a link, which brings up a smaller-sized photo (these screen shots are pre-News Feed updates), add as a photo and include a comment with the relevant link.

Be sure to always include a live link to allow easy click-through to your website. With the add photos/video option, you can share more than one photo to further engage your users.

Photos are Content’s New Queen

Photos are growing in size and number everywhere. On Google+, the cover photo specs just got bigger, so be sure to update yours with an eye-catching maximum resolution of 2120 x 1192.

Larger photo backgrounds are a fast-growing design trend and large images on website homepages are surging on the swell of the photo-riffic movement. While these make marketing sense in capturing your visitor’s attention, other photo trends lean more towards the unconventional.

Stranger Than Photo Fiction

Facebook’s Poke app came out soon after Snapchat, both boasting disappearing photos and videos for your ephemeral viewing pleasure. With Poke, the photos and videos are only viewable for up to ten seconds before they disappear, and a warning will appear if a screenshot was taken.

Beware of the temptation to send something you’ll regret later. Sources say that disappear is different from delete, however, and there are ways to record Poke videos permanently without alerting the sender.

Stemming from the disappearing-photo craze are horror stories based on the phenomenon. And any picture-taking and photo-sharing culture wouldn’t be complete without the bizarre Pretty Girls Making Ugly Faces as seen on Reddit, a user-generated social networking site similar to Digg.

Let us know what you think of the Facebook News Feed changes. Do you think that visual integration is at a saturation point, or are we merely skimming the surface of a potential image-laden future?

Filed Under: Facebook, Kacee's Posts, Social Media

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