social media » LunaWeb

You've been hidden! What can you do?

Posted by lunaweb on July 22, 2010 No Responses »

Jul 222010

Around mid-May, we noted in a Facebook post (with this video) that Insights for fanpages will now show how many people have hidden your updates from their news feed. If it sparked your curiosity, maybe you went and saw how many people have chosen to hide you. But then what? There’s nothing you can do about those lost fans. You can’t send them a reminder that they’ve hidden you or a promise to do better. The best you can do is try to pinpoint a cause for any flux (maybe you were promoting a big event and went overboard). If your graph looks more like a steady incline, though, it might be time to rethink your posting strategy.

Now this isn’t the end-all-be-all list of Facebook Post Categories, but after some consideration, we think posts from businesses fall into one of the following ilks:

Horn-toots for the company.
Horn-toots for an employee or employees.
Horn-toots for clients, partners, or causes.
Links to information.
Requests for response.
Idle chatter.

Now, there is a time and place for horn-tooting. And there’s even more time and place for horn-tooting the merits of others, like local business, your clients, or the latest fundraising campaign. But how much is too much? Dominating your customers walls is not the goal, and certainly being absent is not good either. What is the right ratio of types of posts to frequency that will leave you with lots of impressions, but few hiders?

Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing. Even assuming you are putting out a great ratio of self-promotion to outside-promotion and being an engager instead of yacker, it still depends on your audience. The number of times you appear on their wall varies by how much you post, of course, but also how many friends they have, how often they post, and whether or not they are set to “Top News” or “Most Recent.”

Then, of course, there is your content. How much meaty content can you reasonably expect to have in a given period of time? Is it better to only post good content, or post frequently enough to be a presence in the news feed?

Here’s the good news: you can ask. Ask your customers what they think of your content and your frequency. Ask them in person. Ask them on Facebook. Not only is this a great way to engage your clients, but it’s a great way to show that you care about their opinions. The fact of the matter is that everyone is constantly trying to adjust and update their social media presence. By it’s very nature, social media is ever-fluctuating, and so are the expectations. No one will hold it against you or think less of you for asking for advice on your strategy, because they’re probably in the same boat.

We’ll start. What do you think of our social media life?

'Facebook Free Friday' Makes Headlines

Posted by lunaweb on June 4, 2010 No Responses »

Jun 042010

This past Friday, The Memphis Daily News gave a shout out to the Facebook Free Friday movement in an article by Bill Dries, ‘Facebook Free’ Day Protests Lack of Privacy. LunaWeb’s own Dave Barger was quoted for the story -

“They’ve pulled the carpet out from under your feet. They gave you an expectation of privacy. And they have reneged on that deal. They are in for some hot water. They are being viewed as a utility.”

If you Google “define utility,” the first result is a definition from Princeton: “a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation.”

The Memphis-based Facebook Free Friday movement wasn’t the only backlash Facebook faced this weekend – QuitFacebookDay.com had 34,000 users committed to quit the social media site on Memorial Day, May 31. However, that’s 34,000 of 400 million users, a mere .0085%, and there’s no word yet on how many of them actually went through with it. The QuitFacebookDay fan page still has more than 7,000 members that evidently did not really intend to delete their accounts.

Like water, gas and electricity, people are finding they simply cannot walk away from Facebook. Many have tried to abandon their accounts only to return. Many more don’t even kid themselves by trying. Sure, we can survive without Facebook. We can survive without electricity, too, but do we want to? No. But the costs, distribution and regulations that allow us to enjoy electricity, and now Facebook too, must be government regulated.

The new Facebook privacy controls are better, but still not totally comprehensive. For instance, the controversial “Pilot Program” is still opt-in, the opt-out check box is still buried in layers of settings, and it’s still unclear to the average user what in the world the Pilot Program even is.

Amid the din of users’ outcries, both Facebook and Google received letters from Representative John Conyers of Michigan demanding an explanation of their recent privacy violations. As the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Conyers is positioned to bring forth a hearing against the two groups and introduce legislation to regulate online privacy. It would appear that Facebook’s reluctance to operate under its members’ expectations will almost certainly result in legislative measures for controlling the utility of social media.

Facebook Privacy Resources

Posted by lunaweb on May 18, 2010 No Responses »

May 182010

facebook-privacy

Last week’s announcement that four NYU students were developing a Facebook alternative suggests that they want its global dominance to shift: in the name of freedom. The students have more than raised their needed-for-development goal of $10,000 in 27 fewer days than scheduled.

But before the project, Diaspora*, is launched, we’ve found some articles that can be used in the meantime:

1) A timely article entitled “Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative” which discusses the viral, yet ambiguous, nature of its privacy laws, or lack thereof.

2) ReclaimPrivacy’s tool that allows users to scan their profiles for privacy intrusion.

3) Consumer Report’s Facebook rule of thumb: “7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook”

4) SaveFace: A tool that allows users to reset most user settings back to “Friends Only.”

We aren’t against Facebook; we just want our privacy back.

Step Zero: A (once) unwritten rule

Posted by lunaweb on May 14, 2010 2 Responses »

May 142010

With a social media expert or guru at every turn these days, we’re bombarded with rules and best practices and top tips to be the kings or queens of social business. Do this, don’t do that, always say this, never say that. But in the muck and mire of all these bullet points, we seem to forget the fundamental rule.

We’re calling that rule Step Zero.

Step Zero: If businesses become operative within social media without regard to their community, they become irresponsible and oppressive.

"Laptop Megaphone" by jj_pappas423 on Flickr

We’re aware of these boundaries in the real world: an overzealous sales associate who stalks each new customer with nonstop pleas for service: “May I help you?” “Would you like to try that on?” “What are you looking for today?” A customer is likely to walk out of the store every time. But in terms of the web, it takes a different form: countless fan page requests, despite denial time and time again. And then there’s the megaphone effect, when businesses use social profiles as a megaphone to broadcast their message, without actually participating in the community.

All other subsequent “laws” hinge upon this idea. We often forget that real world rules and courtesies apply within the web. Bombarding social profiles with requests and suggestions is no way to earn business. Once this intangible, invisible line is crossed, marketing efforts become oppressive.

People are generous to extend some level of accepting interruptions. By connecting with businesses online, customers are granting permission for marketing purposes, but don’t take advantage of this generosity. If business exceeds this level, the community will regard it as being socially irresponsible and insulting.

@LunaWeb

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