Hit Your Note

• Everything you need to know about the Facebook updates you hate

  Posted: September 25, 2011, 10:35 pm by Josephine Nekesa Were

  Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote at the fourth f8 conference introduced some major updates to Facebook, which many people seem to dislike.

  Timeline
  The timeline has been described as the heart of the Facebook experience. It provides a space for all your stories, all your apps and a new way to express who you are. It is a stream of information about you containing your photos, your status updates and even has places that you have visited shown on a world map.

  The timeline allows you to tell all the important stories of your life on a single page. It allows you to control what you show, how you display it and who can see it.

  Check out the new timeline here.

  Timeline is in beta and Facebook users will have to opt in to start. Eventually though, it will become the new default profile page. If you would like to use the new timeline right now follow these instructions.

  I have already changed mine.

  Facebook gestures
  You will now be able to connect to anything you want in anyway you want other than just ‘liking’ it. You can now read a book, or eat a meal, or listen to a song. Facebook will roll out the “watched” “listened” and “read” buttons. Developers will also be able to make their own actions.

  Ticker
  You can now share stuff without annoying your friends. The ticker will provide an avenue for all ‘lightweight’ information. There is a lightweight stream on the side of your screen, which provides a real time update of what your friends are posting on their Facebook pages.

  Things like change in relationship status or photos from your wedding will still appear in your newsfeed, but the new level that your friend has reached in Cityville, or Mafia Wars or what you planted in Farmville will now only appear in your ticker.

  Here is some advice from Beth Kanter for anyone concerned with privacy and new changes on Facebook.

  Apps
  Remember how apps had to ask you every time they wanted to share information about you on your timeline? Now they’ll only have to ask once.

  The first time you authorise the app, a new Facebook permissions screen explains exactly what type of stories will be shared. Once completed, it will no longer have to ask for permission.

  You should be sure what you’re signing up for; know exactly what you’re giving Facebook access to.

  Movies, Music and News
  You can watch a show on Hulu (in USA and Japan), listen to a song on Spotify ( in Finland, France, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States), or check out a story on Yahoo News .

  The ticker will tell you what your friends are watching, listening to or reading, allowing you to share the experience with them by clicking on a link.

  Here are some FAQs about the new Facebook that may help answer some of the questions that I have not already answered in this post.

  I really like the new features on Facebook. I’m just disappointed that some of the services like Hulu and Spotify are not available in Kenya. What do you think of the new changes?

• You are what you tweet

  Posted: September 24, 2011, 3:07 pm by admin

  About two weeks ago, I opened a twitter account for this blog. Then today, I came across visual.ly, a community to share data visualisations and infographics. So naturally I decided to create a visualisation for my new account. I’m not doing too well so far. But it’s still early days!

  Try it out. Find out how you’re doing on Facebook and twitter. This website allows you to make infographics on all sorts of data.

  Watch this video to find out more about visual.ly.

• Social Media Etiquette

  Posted: September 20, 2011, 8:08 pm by Josephine Nekesa Were

  Just like any other social or business forum, it is important to exercise good manners on Facebook and indeed any other social networking site. It also helps to always remember that what happens on the Internet, stays on the Internet.

  Here are a few areas, which you need to pay special attention to in order to avoid getting caught with your social media pants down:

  your appearance
  You might venture out of the house in your flip-flops and with your morning breath to get a packet of milk at the local kiosk. But you certainly would not get into your car and drive to the supermarket looking a hot mess. You never know who you might bump into right?

  Think of social networking sites as way bigger than your local supermarket. Think of it as one of those busy hot spots bang in the centre of town; the ones where you are likely to meet one of your biggest clients, or your boss.

  The avatar you use for your profile says a lot about you and you never know who’s ‘listening’. I would stay away from those photos of little babies giving the finger, or women falling out of their bikinis or you doing a keg stand. Work with half decent photos.

  Following and ‘friending’
  Don’t be shy about following and ‘friending’ people who you know or who you would like to network with, but realise that no one is obliged to follow you back or accept your friend request. So going on a tirade about it or making a public plea to them makes you look weird.
  Similarly, don’t be shy about ‘unfriending’ people or ‘unfollowing’ them. But remember that they will eventually find out what you did. There is no need to make announcements when you are about to purge friends, just go ahead and do it. In fact, it is so irritating to hear someone go on and on about purging, that some of your friends will beat you to it and get rid of you first.

  Updates, wall posts and promoting
  There is a difference between spamming your friends and followers, and giving relevant, helpful updates. Post content that highlights your personal interests and areas of expertise. This does not include facts about sitting on the loo, throwing up, getting drunk, or private plans with a Facebook friend. Save these for emails, phone calls or a lunch date.
  Leave room for retweets. Using up all 140 of your characters to promote a product or cause on twitter makes it difficult for anyone to retweet and help you spread the word.
  Be strategic about how often and when you post promotional information. Consider your target audience as well as time zones.

  Link, Like, Share
  Many times when you write a blog post, you will look for similar topics online and possibly use some of the information or images you get off blogs and websites. It is good practice to credit the author or artist or photographer.
  Share, like, tweet about and comment on blog posts that you like. Show your appreciation for other bloggers and their work.
  When you share links to other people’s posts, they are more likely to do the same for you.

  At the end of the day, all you need to remember is that one, the people and companies that you interact with on social networks are real. And two, being part of a social network makes you part of a community and this comes with certain responsibilities.

  What other goofs do people make on social media? Please share you thoughts.

  Sources
  Top 10 Facebook Etiquette Rules by Tom Miller
  A Beginner’s Guide To Facebook Etiquette by Buttermouth
  Facebook Etiquette: 10 Rules for Better Socializing by Christopher Null, PCWorld
  Facebook Etiquette: Five Dos and Don’ts by C.G. Lynch, CIO
  An Insider’s Guide To Social Media Etiquette by Chris Brogan
  [The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook] by Tamar Weinberg

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