Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

For a while now, I’ve been trying to maintain both my Facebook and MySpace accounts. But, the time has come to choose a winner and it is Facebook. Sorry, MySpace. It came down to a time-management issue. I just can’t keep up with both of you and despite Facebook’s “new” layout and user interface (which most people seem to hate), I like FB better. It’s not you, it’s me … really.

I will keep my MySpace account, but I have purged my friends list down to actual friends and family and I don’t plan on checking it often. I will get e-mail alerts if someone leaves a comment or send me a message, but I average about one or two a month and those are usually from my younger cousins, who are much more suited for MySpace than me.

It’s not that MySpace isn’t cool or functional, it’s just that most of my friends, colleagues, classmates and family are on Facebook. Aethetically speaking, I find FB’s layout much tamer than MySpace, which is an assualt on the senses when you visit their site; ads flashing all over the place, movies playing without allowing me the option of turning them off (really bad when you’re at work), and a lot of the time, some questionable images in the form of ads that I really don’t feel are appropriate for a site aimed at the younger generation.

Facebook may not be pretty or have a fancy user interface with customizable templates, but I prefer it that way - one less thing for me to have to maintain or fuss about. I guess it comes down to MySpace having too many bells and whistles (also read “time wasters”), whereas Facebook is pretty straight forward - nothing to customize, no color schemes or background images. I like it. Plain, simple and to the point. Say what you have to say and share what you have to share and you’re done.

One of my favorite features of the “new” Facebook is the ability to comment on your friends’ posts/status updates/photos right from your home page. I don’t have to visit each friend’s photo album or wall to post a comment - I can do it right from the main page. That is a huge plus in my book, not that anyone would read it.

Well, that’s all for now. If you have MySpace or Facebook and are thinking of adding me as a friend, please do so Facebook (look on the icon at the top of the right column of this page). My goal is to see how long I can go without logging into my MySpace account. You know, when you view someone’s profile it will tell you when they last logged in? I’m going to go as long as I can without having to log in. Bets anyone?

Friday afternoon marked the completion of my first week back to the 9-to-5 world, though these days it’s more like 8-8:30 a.m. to 4:30-5 p.m., depending on your lunch break. Anyhow, I’m still getting settled and trying to get a feel for where I will fit in with my new team.

My primary responsibility is as chief Web editor (a.k.a. uber Web geek) for three Web sites run by my department. However, my job description also calls upon my search engine optimization and marketing experience, as well as my social media skills (i.e. Twitter, blogging, Facebook, etc.). It really is the perfect job for me in that it allows me to utilize all of my professional skills.

Because social media is part of the gig, I am on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day. I monitor my social and professional networks throughout the day and the majority, if not all, of my profiles are public, so finding out what I’m up to is not at all difficult. But I was a little taken aback when I saw a Facebook friend request from my new boss. Then came the Twitter follow. Yikes! My boss is following me on Facebook and Twitter … this could get interesting.

I am quite sure that he is clearly social media savvy, did due diligence (i.e. he Googled me) before he decided to bring me on board. So, I’m sure he realized that I am very active in my social media groups, which of course are public, and that’s one of the reasons I have achieved a certain level of respectability in my professional circles. Not only do I offer SEO advice on sites like Twitter, I also seek feedback when I am faced with a challenge that I cannot overcome alone.

During my interview, I was asked how I would go about finding a solution for a problem I was unable to figure out. My first response was - “I have experienced the power and reach of Twitter, so I would start there.” OK, maybe I didn’t say those exact words, but it was something close. :)

The point of this blog is that my new boss is now following me on Twitter and Facebook. I do not generally post negative or controversial comments on either, but there is still that fear that something I will post - even if it is on my own time - will potentially bother my new supervisor. He seems like a pretty open-minded and accepting guy, but you just never know.

The social media age is creating an entirely new set of issues for employers and employees alike. While free speech is still protected, your job is not necessarily protected depending on what speech you are freely throwing out there. Cases in point: the Philadelphia Eagles fired a seasonal employee after he blasted the team on Facebook for letting one of his favorite players go; a would-be Cisco new-hire was lambasted by the Twitterverse and other social media outlets after he was offered a job and then Twittered about a “fatty paycheck” and “hating the work.” No word on whether he was fired, but a Cisco rep found the Twit (er, Tweet) and replied with:

Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

I have no intentions of calling my current employer names and nor do I hate the work (or get a “fatty” paycheck for that matter), so I’d like to think that I’m safe. However, I’d be lying if I said I don’t put just a little more thought into what I post on my accounts. That’s not to say I’m not going to keep posting what I think, but I will give it a little extra thought to make sure that I’m not putting my livelihood at risk.

Does your boss or co-workers following you via Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites? Do you have any horror stories or funny anectdotes to share?

Today I got a Facebook e-mail from a good friend and colleague, someone I trust. The message simply read “Look at this!” and had a link to fbstarter.com (see image below, but do not go to this Web site). I clicked on the link and it came up with a page that looked exactly like the Facebook login page, but the address bar still says fbstarter.com. This is clearly a phishing scam designed to obtain your user name and password.

If you receive this message from a friend, their account has probably been hacked. Or, if you believe your account has been hacked, visit Facebook’s Security page to learn what steps you need to take to fix the problem.

Facebook Security page: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=797#

Repeat: DO NOT visit this site or enter your information - they will steal your login information and hijack your account.

Looks like another phishing attack is hitting Facebook. I got an e-mail from a friend (whom I rarely hear from) and I was immediately suspicious. It read as follows:

Subject: Help

“Look at mygener.im”

I clicked on the link and expected to see a login page that looked identical to Facebook, but instead I got a “Reported Web Forgery!” warning page. Just in case you do not receive this warning page, remember not to log into Facebook or any other account unless you are absolutely positive you are on the official page, or are logging in through a trust third-party.

Also, instead of clickong the “Get me out of here!” link, I simply closed the tab to that page. No sense in risking the web forgery warning page being a cleverly disguised attack. Happy Web surfing … now get back to work!

Remember Tiny URL? I do. I remember it like it was yesterday … well, it was about six months ago, but in the world of social media six months feels more like decade. I discovered a new URL-shortening tool called bit.ly. I have seen it before and even used it because it’s shortened URL structure was slightly smaller than Tiny URL, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered additional features that allow you to track how many people click on the links you share and even add a sidebar to make sharing even easier.

Both Tiny URL and bit.ly have browser bar tools that allow you to shorten a URL (Web site) by simply clickling a button in your browser. Bit.ly, however, takes it step further by allowing you to create an account and adding a sidebar that slides out when you click on the browser bar button. From this sidebar, you can send the automatically shortened link via Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or e-mail. Or, you can copy and paste it manually if you are leery about linking your Twitter account.

Once you have an account and are logged in, you can start seeing stats for how many times your followers and/or friends are clicking on the links you share via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. Cool, I know … but how does this help me?

For starters, it appeases general curiosity. How many people find what I share interesting enough to click on the link? If you aren’t getting any clicks then perhaps you should consider a couple of things:

1) Maybe your followers are not interested in what you have to say.
2) Consider rewording your anchor text (text describing the link) to make it more appealing.

You’ve probably seen the Twitter posts that reads something like…

“OMG! You HAVE to check this out! http://clickhere.dufus”

No way I am clicking on that link. I have no idea what it is and I don’t like surprises (at least not on the Web). I want a heads up about the link I am about to follow. Be more descriptive about the link you are sharing. For example:

“Check out The Lyric theatre in Blacksburg for a cheap movie date! Two tix, large soda & free popcorn (Mondays) for $11! http://bit.ly/uUHYO”

My followers know exactly what they are getting and if they like the “headline” that I have provided, they are more likely to click on the bit.ly link.

There was a time when using a URL condensing tool didn’t really make much sense because in some cases, it actually made the link longer and added more characters to your 140-character limit with Twitter. For example:

http://thelyric.com has 19 characters as does the bit.ly version - http://bit.ly/uUHYO. So, what’s the benefit? Tracking! That’s where bit.ly does a great job of providing incentive to shorten a link even when it doesn’t actually shorten a link.

For SEO folks (search engine optimization) there is the question of whether TIny URL and other link shortener tools pass “link juice” or anchor text value on to the link URL that was condensed. According to some SEOs Google has started following the Tiny URLs and passing anchor text value.

My other concern is that some of these services will eventually shut down and then you are stuck with a plethora of broken links and subsequently an error 404 hell for a Webmaster. Eventually a front runner will emerge from the URL shortener race and will hopefully stick around for awhile so that all our itsy bitsy URLs will remain intact.

For a more thorough explanation of URL shorteners and the various services available, check out Jane Copland’s post at SEOMoz.com. The post is from last September and Jane is no longer at SEOMoz in Seattle, but it’s still a valuable and informative resource.