In this weeks roundup I look at how my Twitter bubble has been burst, the difference between a geek and a hipster, Google+ and SEO, a great tip for Facebook advertising and more.
Twitter, Propaganda & War
When I woke up this morning and read that Israel and Hamas have been using Twitter to announce attacks and celebrate deaths I realised that social media really could be used for evil. Of course it was inevitable that warmongers would eventually use social media in the same way they have used all available communication channels to distribute propaganda in the past. The idea of Twitter being used for war has shattered my bubble but has also reaffirmed my belief that we need to continue to push to use it for good.
Whether Twitter are able to, or if it would be right for them to clamp down on these accounts is yet to be seen.
Geeks v Hipsters
Earlier this week I was asked if I was a Hipster, of course I’m not, I’m not cool enough to be a Hipster but it got me thinking about what is really meant by the term Hipster, in fact what differentiates a Hipster from a Geek? Luckily there is a guide to help you find out. So here’s my silly link of the week, a great Infographic that will help you identify the Geeks and Hipsters in your life. After some consideration I’ve decided I fall in to neither category. Perhaps I’m a Geekster or a Hipeek?
Invaluable tip for Facebook advertising
As Facebook advertising seems to have become essential I’ve been upskilling. It’s an interesting area to explore with lots of options and targetting, I’m having fun playing with the medium. This week I launched my second promoted post and this time I was selling something. Luckily I had read this two part article from Jon Loomer before starting so when I started seeing the spam Likes and comments coming in I knew exactly what to do. You should read this before embarking on any promoted post advertising to save your self money and to ensure that you are reaching the right people. Click here for part one, & here for part two.
Why Having A Sense Of Humour Is Essential
This story caught my eye this week both for being fun and for the amazingly opportunistic but brilliant marketing from one of the companies involved. It tells the story of ‘Thomas Cook’ who thought it would be amusing to ask for compensation from the Thomas Cook Travel Company for years of taunting. Read the full story here, I guarantee it will make you smile.
Google+ and SEO
It’s one of those things you hear over and over again. Google+ is apparently good for SEO. And of course some of my own experience bears that out. I personally don’t think it’s just good for SEO, I think it has and will become such a strong part of the way we search the web that we can’t ignore it. This article is full of interesting tips from how to optimise your posts on Google+ – something I can’t see myself doing – to some pretty cool tools including Google analytics.
How much content does Facebook Edgerank hide
As far as I know Techcrunch were the first to break the story, a link had been found that would show Facebook users their unfiltered newsfeed, a newsfeed that showed every post from every friend and page that they were connected to. Sadly by the time I read about it Facebook had removed the link. Edgerank Checker did manage to click the link before it expired and were able to do a comparative analysis comparing it to the filtered stream we usually see. It’s fascinating reading to see which posts we are and are not seeing in our feeds. Read more here.
Do you always click the links you ReTweet?
It’s a crime I’m sure that more people are guilty of than will admit, but it happens more than we may expect, people are RTing links on Twitter with out clicking them and checking them out first. I know I am sometimes guilty, I’ve outlined my reasons on Facebook. According to this data from Hubspot many more links are Tweeted and ReTweeted than actually clicked. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who tracks their click throughs, a tweet that gets shared a lot can often receive more RT’s than clicks. Read more here.
I’d love to hear from you if you are guilty too. When do you think it’s alright not to click before you share? What are your reasons. Share your thoughts with me on Facebook.
And from Spiderworking.com this week
Find great free images for your blog with PhotoPin
This weeks cool tool is one I’m delighted to have found. It’s one that will see a permanent place in my toolbox. Photopin searches creative commons images so that you can easily find the right one for your blog. Depending on the license you can use these images for free as long as you attribute the source. Luckily Photopin even makes this attribution easy. Read more here.
How to schedule posts on Facebook
This weeks 30 second video tip shows you how you can schedule your posts for a future date or time on Facebook. This is really handy if you want to try and reach your audience at a premium time. Watch the video here.
LinkedIn endorsements, the good the bad and the ugly
I’m really not a fan of LinkedIn endorsements so this week I decided to look closer at the advantages, disadvantages and the downright silly of this new feature. Take a look at the screen grab I took of one of my connections endorsements page. Read more here.
Email marketing workshop
If you are based in or near Kildare come along to this Email marketing workshop that I am facilitating in Naas at the beginning of December. By the end of the two sessions you will have created an email newsletter just in time for the Christmas rush. There’s only 20 places available so make sure you book your spot. Find out more here.
photo credit: qthomasbower via photopin cc
