Facebook: New Adventures in Cover Photos.

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Remember when we all groaned about timeline? I took the plunge early and made an effort to embrace the changes so that I could ease my page admins into it and help them avoid some confusion. I thought you might have needed a little assistance too so I blogged about cover art and easy ways to create it if you’re not a graphic artist. That blog is here. 

In that blog I summarized some of the initial guidelines from Facebook surrounding cover photos:

• No selling! Don't tell us about the latest deals here.
• It's meant to be visual so have fun with it. 
• Should be representative of your product or service.
• No pleas to people to let others know about your page.
• Don't include anything about asking them to share or like the page. 
• No URLs, emails or any info that leads them to another way to contact you.

Note: The bullets above are my words not the ones that were previously in the official Facebook guidelines. They were much more detailed than that! You get the idea though.

And cover photos started popping up quickly. I noticed immediately that no one was following “the rules”; there was plenty of copy being used and URLs, etc. And here’s the rub: I have never heard of anyone getting penalized for their non-compliance either! And now, Facebook has thought…what the heck; let’s loosen up a bit!

Here's an excerpt (actually it is most of it) from the Facebook cover art guidelines: All cover photos are public, which means anyone visiting your Page will be able to see the cover photo. Coverphotos can't be deceptive, misleading, infringe on anyone else's copyright or be in violation of the Pages Terms. You may not encourage people to upload your cover photo to their personal timelines.

This is fuzzy stuff! Do you understand WHY they had to reword it? I sure don’t. Is this rewording going to make the stockholders happy? No. Will it make the users happy? No. Will it make the page owners happy? They weren’t listening anyway.

Here we go again with my Facebook wishes. Excuse me while I get on my soapbox: Facebook pay attention to the users; pay attention to protecting our privacy. Let posts from us struggling business owners (like me) be seen! 

Give us an opportunity to grow with you instead of forcing us to work around you.

Taking precious time to rewrite guidelines that no one pays attention to provides no benefit to anyone. Rethink your priorities and your long term strategy. 

Speaking of covers, a certain band formed in New Jersey wanted to be on one for a well known magazine and sang about it at the end of 1972 (see below) and got their wish the following year! Don't forget to visit us at our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.                       where we cover lots of great topics! 

Hurricanes, Social Media, and You.

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Friend's photo, Toms River, NJ

For once, Florida was spared. Sandy was no longer considered a hurricane by the time it struck New Jersey where many of my friends live. Yes, I’m from there. Exit 2 off the PIP or exit 158 off the GSP; either one works.

I witnessed real life tragedy as stories unfolded before my eyes, non-stop devastation reported by my Facebook friends. Trees toppling over, howling wind, a historic boat shattered to bits, a favorite boardwalk of my youth crumbled into the ocean, an evacuation where people were already seeking higher ground on the third floor, a friend huddling in her basement posting on Facebook via her phone after losing power. Many lost electricity; one friend is without light until November 6!

Photo: Northjersey.com / Binghamton, Edgewater NJ

News services were posting too, yet their photos didn’t hold as much emotion as those coming from my friends. 

One exception is the Binghamton, a historic ferry boat that once floated passengers back and forth from the Jersey side of the Hudson to New York City and later served as a restaurant and night club. Shuttered in 2007 and rotting in the water and weather, Sandy smacked her hard and pieces of that vessel, which had earned a place in the National Register of Historic Places, are now strewn about in the water.

Photo: Jersey Shore Hurricane News, Seaside Heights Funtown Pier

I also looked in astonishment as photos of a pier on the Seaside Heights boardwalk were ravaged. The news said 50 feet of it. It was hard to tell what had happened via the photos posted during the storm, however, now that Sandy has passed, pictures are showing the roller coaster submerged in the Atlantic. 

Friend's photo of her deck: Hightstown NJ

Social Media, being the up-to-the minute medium that it is, brings us the play-by-play, with tales unfolding before us like a movie. Some folks posted several times, creating individual story lines. Some of my New Jersey friends know each other, others have never met. Yet in a strange way, they were all connected as they shared their individual experiences of the storm together.

Friend's photo, New Milford NJ

Friend’s posts relayed realism that the media at large did not capture as they focused on what would bring the most sensationalism including numerous photos of masses of submerged vehicles; in contrast, I saw trees in a friend’s backyard swaying and heard the wind that caused this. I saw a toppled tree that just missed hitting one of the structures in the garden apartment complex where a friend lives. I saw a saw a submerged staircase taken by a friend seeking shelter in a motel.

Friend's photo: Above 1st floor at a motel, Toms River NJ

Social Media from those I know upstaged much of the journalism. And this phenomenon of course, is not limited to disasters; it can be applied to other events and news as well. Would I be more likely to read about and see the photos from a friend’s recent attendance at a Presidential campaign stop or would I rather read it on CNN? 

We the people. Power to us! We can consider ourselves junior reporters. We are on the scene. Many of us have smart phones with cameras and video capability. We bring our opinions. We bring realism. All through social media.

In the 1970’s Bruce Springsteen sang about a gal with a certain name. Little did he know that she would wreak havoc on the city he sang about as well. For more from this proud Jersey girl, visit on the website, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Thanks for reading.