We all love seeing what’s new with friends, catching up to “the news” and laughing at the latest cute kitten photos (have you noticed less of those lately?). And all this happens while at the same time Facebook frustrates us. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a page owner, a group owner, or using a personal profile. Much of the absurdity crosses over. Let’s start with these:
#1. Pokes from non-friends. Okay, this one only applies to personal profiles. Bringing this up because I just got one. Didn’t think it was possible and posted my plight on my wall. A friend kindly looked in the “help area” and found this: You can only poke a confirmed friend, someone that is in a shared network, or a friend of a friend. That explains my poke from a friend of a friend. However, the question to Facebook is: Why allow it? Is it encouraging engagement or is it just simply annoying? Unfortunately, I’ve since received another one. Fellas, you don’t even know me! #2. Sponsored ads that list an ex-friend liking the product or service. Seriously now! If I see a product ad with the smiling mug of “David” who unfriended me a year ago do you really think I want to buy that product? Heck no! Fix this Facebook; you are not giving the advertisers a fair shake for their money here. #3 The most obvious one: Facebook controlling what you see and electing to show you posts from who they think your friends are. Beyond absurd! Google+ doesn’t do this and they make it simple for YOU to control what you see and what others see. One friend of mine on Facebook shared his remedy: Declare all his friends as “close friends”. Note: Do check off the notifications for close friends if you decide to take this route. Another idea is to create a list with all your friends and pages on it (thus having the ability to "see all"). Do you have the time though? Better yet, Facebook, why not make it easier for users and have lists work more like Google+ circles where you can drag and drop people in?
#4 Posts that disappear then reappear later: Applies to pages, groups and personal profiles; Hello, Houdini! This one has happened to me more often on my Groovy Reflections page. Initially, I thought the post didn’t exist and I’d post another one (and eventually have two!). Ah, but I’m now conditioned and know better. On a page, the notification lines at the top will show who liked and who commented and the missing post is available by clicking on one of those notifications. Give it time, say 15 to 30 minutes, and presto chango, the post appears on your wall; like magic. Whew. That’s a lot to absorb. Hold those thoughts, enjoy the tune below because "It's Magic" and click here for part 2. Oh, and do visit thewebsite, or on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
They say the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Well, mine received some lubricant. You may already know that Klout had some methodology change recently. And it seemed to me that they were allowing a user to connect with both a personal profile on Facebook and a page; managed to do just that. All was groovy; I was plodding along with my newly reformulated score and happy as a clam. Suddenly my Facebook personal profile was disconnected from Klout So I reconnected it. Several times. All this time, my score stayed the same. Then…WHAM! Overnight, my score dropped seven points. Not acceptable without an explanation. I needed answers and had no intention of resting until I got some. So I started blasting Klout on Twitter, like the Dave Clark 5 song “Over and Over”. This went on for a few days. Meanwhile, my MODern Marketing 4 U Facebook page was still connected to Klout and it was unclear if my personal profile was attached as well since there was some odd overlapping of text on my settings page. Finally, I received an email! It was addressed to “Hello, “ suggesting that it’s some manner of form letter that gets sent to annoying people like me. However, I got the answer I was after! They said: Your Klout account may have experienced a score drop recently, and we'd like to explain what happened. We only allow users to connect one type of Facebook account to their Klout account: either their personal profile or a Facebook page they manage. You're one of our users who chose to associate a Facebook page with your Klout account. Great! If that’s the case, why did you let me connect TWO Facebook accounts in the first place? There’s more… Prior to last week, Klout used Facebook personal profile data as part of your Klout score, even for users with connected pages. Your Score dropped because we are no longer including your Facebook personal profile data in your score calculation. We've made some changes to our product, and are now only using your Facebook page data to better protect your privacy. Klout made a decision on my behalf; the wrong decision. Thanks a lot guys. And this raised a red flag for me. With the new Klout, they’re showing posts that influence my score on my Klout profile. My Facebook personal profile is for friends only. Does this mean that they are going to publicize my Facebook activity? Again, I sought answers. And found! Their support page states that they’ll honor privacy settings in Facebook and ONLY show those influencing posts to my friends. Whew! This means I’ll gladly use my personal profile on Facebook for inclusion in their “moments”.
A Happy "Kloutist"
30 hours after receiving that email, all was resolved. I disconnected my MODern Marketing 4 U page and connected my personal account where my dear friends seem to love my amateur photography and quirky comments about slices of life. My score now reflects that engagement. One interesting note. A fellow tweep @kstaxman and I had a discussion via direct message about the whole affair. He thought it amazing that I got a response from them at all. So Klout, if you are reading this, I’m available to consult for you. I will assemble a crackerjack team for you and train them on the fine art of engagement and communication and thus make your own Klout score of 84 much more realistic. I will gladly drive up to your fair city and meet with you. And believe it or not, as I'm writing this, the song below is playing on 60’s on 6 right now. No kidding! Wow. This is a sign… Looks like I’ll be going on a road trip! Thanks Scott McKenzie. May you rest in peace and thank you for all the beautiful music you've given us. Here’s where you can find me: Klout, my website, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ ...and thanks for stopping by!
In the past few months there’s been a lot of uproar on the subject of allowing an employer to see a potential employee’s Facebook account. Have heard and read that it’s illegal, though I don’t know for sure.
The good news is there are current initiatives from several states that may put it all to rest.
One in particular, 'The Social Networking Online Protection Act’, would prevent potential and current employers from asking for access to a social media account of an employee or potential one. Hurray!
Here’s my ponderings on this subject.
How private IS your Facebook profile? If it’s set to public, your future employer will see it without even having to ask you. Are you nursing a beer in any photos? Is your language colorful? If so, you may be kissing that job goodbye.
If you are set to friends only or custom, a potential employer will see your profile pic and cover art and little else.
If you don’t want an employer to find anything, there’s a few options in Facebook as far as how searchable you are. Your profile can be removed from being searchable all together or perhaps you’d like friends of friends to find you; it’s another option to consider.
In all the discussion about Facebook profiles lately, why hasn’t Google+ received the same scrutiny? After all, there’s 170 to 195 million accounts there (dependent on source). Surely, there’s accounts that are tightly wrapped that never go beyond those folks in circles that an employer would love to take a look at.
And what about all those private accounts on Twitter? You know, the protected ones where the tweep has to follow you back before you can see their tweets?
Employers, don’t you want to see EVERYTHING? Why just Facebook?
But it gets better. Employers, why not ask to enter a potential employee’s home then? Have a look around. Do they make the bed and do the dishes? Is there a recycling bin? Are yesterday’s clothes strewn about on the floor?
No, you wouldn’t think of going to see someone’s home, would you? Is asking to see a Facebook account just as invasive? Family photos, the pet dog, their last vacation to the Jersey Shore or Santa Cruz? It seems absurd to even ask to see the private life of someone.
If someone has the ability to do the job, is it necessary to know more? It certainly wasn’t not so many years ago.
Facebook will defend you, the user, against this practice. How hard will they fight for you? Well, that remains to be seen.
Of course, you can always get sneaky and have TWO Facebook accounts. One that is buried way underground where you can hang out with your closest friends and curse, rant, and let it all hang out to your heart’s content and the other that’s more public and on the generic side. Don’t tell anyone I suggested this to you…
