From Advertisers to Teenagers: Facebook's Widespread Reach

Facebook is frequently in the news. Okay, almost daily. Or, if you follow AllFacebook.com, multiple times a day. I follow many of the news stories since I'm a frequent Facebook user / contributor, but today's news seemed especially relevant and broad based, since it races from a new advertising tool to privacy controls to more user functionality to teenage usage statistics. And interestingly enough, I found three of these articles on Twitter, and one on Facebook.  I think the breadth of these four articles shows just how integrated and ubiquitous social networking, and specifically, Facebook, has become in the daily lives of so many of us.

Wall Street Journal: Buy Signal: Facebook Widens Data Targeting

Facebook is officially rolling out a new tool for advertisers that combines Facebook's treasure trove of information about its subscribers and their likes with data partners who will provide information about the items and brands a consumer buys through sources such as loyalty card programs, email lists they subscribe to, and how they're spending their money.

Not surprisingly, privacy advocates are not thrilled. "There's no place to be left alone," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a Washington, D.C., policy advocacy group. He said Facebook's relationship with data partners could become more worrisome if Facebook leverages the location data it passively collects from mobile devices to sell ads.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article.

Time Tech: Facebook Privacy Settings Guide

As the old adage goes, there really is no such thing as a free lunch. You pay for a "free" social media application such as Facebook with your personal data. People either are unaware of the exchange, or are comfortable with it.

Time Tech has put together a thorough little primer that walks you through the latest retooled privacy settings, such as who can see what posts, setting your timeline and tagging settings, blocking, app customization and more.

So now, if your friends post this inaccurate meme on their Facebook walls:

 You can refer them to the Time Tech article, or to the Snopes Urban Legend correction for accurate information.

Fast Company Design: Facebook Opens The Door To Dislikes, With Emoticons

 Image courtesy of digitalart
/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Everyone will soon have access to the new Facebook feeling/emoticon combinations — all 200 of them — on a drop down menu.

Having an alone, angry, or lost day or emotion? There will be an emoticon for it.  Feeling especially loved or great? You're covered.  Read all about it here.

Tech Crunch: Facebook Still Reigns Supreme With Teens, But Social Media Interest Dwindling

The results of the Piper Jaffray study quoted in this article are contrary to my experience. They claim that out of their survey group, 33% of the teens chose Facebook as their most important social network.  The teens I know (including the one who lives at my house) loved Facebook at the beginning, friending hundreds and hundreds of casual acquaintances, posting photos, liking statuses; all the things the rest of us do. And as soon as their parents and grandparents started flocking to Facebook, that was the kiss of death for it as far as teens are concerned. There is some hope that the new mobile Facebook app in the works may bring these younger users back, but we'll see.

Six Ways Social Networking Is Changing My Life

I follow and manage my work group’s social media presence as part of my job, so I’m sure I spend a lot more time online than many people. But I think because I’m always searching, comparing, and analyzing news, that I can step back and take a good and impartial look at the ways it’s changing my life.

#1 I’m better informed than ever

It used to be that you’d have to subscribe to multiple papers and magazines to get a well-rounded view of the world. Once I had my first child, my quiet early mornings reading the local paper with breakfast flew out the window – never to return. Now, all of the news is online, and thanks to social media, news organizations are pushing their hottest news stories out to me – I don’t even have to visit websites unless I’m searching for a specific story (how many advertisers did Rush Limbaugh lose or what’s the latest news from Syria), or want to get multiple viewpoints. I follow the major news sources on Facebook and Twitter, so the latest news is pushed right to my desktop or smart phone.

#2 The organizations I follow can communicate more easily with me

I admit I have a lot of varied interests (moderation is often difficult for me), and I love that organizations can easily keep me informed about their latest doings via social networking. And on the other side of that, since I manage several Facebook group pages, I appreciate being able to update our fans/followers easily via posts or tweets. 

I follow our local food bank, local family shelter, a micro lending organization, bands, accessibility organizations, friends’ small businesses, radio stations, entertainers, trainers, George Takei (he makes me laugh every day), and a multitude of other personalities and groups. I can easily customize my feeds; adding and deleting as I find new sources.

#3 Grass roots activism is keeping me in the loop

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been signing a lot of petitions lately. And I do believe they’re having an impact. Just in the last few days, I’ve signed a petition against the US government buying pink slime to put into school lunches, and a petition requesting that the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) reverse its decision to give an impactful film about bullying an R rating, making it inaccessible to the teenagers who needs to see it the most. I feel like my opinion counts, and governments, businesses and groups are listening. Grass roots social media is taking the world by storm. The Arab Spring, Komen Foundation, Rush Limbaugh, and U.S. politics, just to name a few, have been in the news, and all started with social networking.

#4 My virtual/worldwide water cooler

Social networking lets me catch up with colleagues and friends who live around the world. I work at home and remotely from my team, so team lunches and happy hours aren’t part of my colleague relationships. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to know what they’ve been up to, or check out the latest kid pics. And those friends from high school and college who’ve settled overseas or out of state and didn’t make it to the last reunion? What a great way to keep in touch. Plus, when these Facebook/Google/Twitter/Pinterest friends share their interests and causes, I find out 1) a lot more about those people that may not surface in a face-to-face working relationship and 2) new stuff to learn about.

#5 I get to share the causes and news in which I’m interested

This one may drive you nuts if you’re friends with me or following me on social networking sites, but I love sharing my interests and causes. I am always looking to recruit volunteers for the volunteer organization I manage events for, and if I sign a petition, I like sharing that information too. And if you don’t agree with me or don’t want to read what I’m sharing? You can easily skip over it, or if I really offend you, de-friend or unfollow me. And of course, vice versa. But I rarely do that – I love the exchange and varied opinions I find.

#6 YouTube videos

Need I say more? Okay, I’m not sure there’s a positive here, except that when I’ve had a tough day, I don’t mind zoning out for a few minutes and watching cute kitten, puppy, elephant and baby videos. And the number of how to videos is truly astounding – ranging from cutting your own bangs to installing a garbage disposal. I’m sure we all have our favorite YouTube genres.

So, has social networking changed your life, and if yes, how? I'd love to hear what you think.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: worradmu / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How Facebook Has Become Today's Village Well

Hmm. I really never thought I'd write a headline like that. But I was catching up on Facebook posts, and realized just how true it is.

Well before the invention of the printing press, news was passed along in letters by the elite to the elite, but for the common people — most of whom were illiterate — all news was communicated verbally, face to face. (It does make you wonder about the veracity of the news by the time the last person got it — thinking of how the game of Telephone always worked out when we played as kids.) And what better place to meet and share news of the day than at one of the common destinations of villagers — the community well. Water for the household was a daily need, and when you get down to it, so was the social connection — the life and breath of a village or community. Reputations were made or broken, alliances forged or dissolved, news and gossip were shared. All around the simple task of getting water from a well.

Jump forward hundreds of years to our current lifestyle. Illiteracy, while still an issue, is the exception rather than the rule. Neighborhoods were built around the car and the wide streets it requires, not the footpaths and walkways that encourage walking and biking and neighborly interaction. Often neighbors don't know each other more than to wave in passing. Colleagues and friends are spread across the globe. But throw in this newfangled set of communication channels known as social networking, and all of a sudden, our large and disconnected world has become smaller, more connected, and more personal again. Many would argue that if it's not face-to-face it's not real, or it doesn't count, but I would argue that it does — we just happen to be connecting across long distances and different time zones, virtually. And communication is communication — whether it's face to face, by phone, by Skype, by handwritten letter or postcard, by email, or by social media channel. Sarcasm is the one tone or emotion that doesn't travel well via the online communication channels, but hope, joy, happiness, anger, disappointment — the entire range of human emotions travel quite well. (Sarcasm doesn't travel well across languages either, so it seems best used sparingly except for face-to-face interactions with close associates.)

On the serious side of personal news, I found out a friend's father in another state had a medical setback, but is now doing well — via her Facebook postings. A colleague's mother passed away several days ago, and again, I found out from Facebook. I know when my father passed away seven months ago, one of the few people who'd actually been notified by phone posted her condolences on my Facebook wall, and it saved me the many, many calls I wasn't up to making or receiving the first few days, yet people found out about our loss, brought dinner, sent flowers, or sent along their thoughts and prayers, which made me feel connected and cared about in both my virtual and real communities.

 I love logging into Facebook in the morning — checking to see what's been happening while I've been away, and whose birthday it is, who from my past or present has tracked me down and requested connecting. I had a birthday last week, and of course Facebook told all of my friends. And I have to admit, it's a great feeling to have so many people all over the world acknowledging your existence and wishing you a wonderful day, lol.

Am I giving up face to face interactions or phone calls? Not on your life — I cherish all of my personal connections, it just doesn't matter to me whether they're sitting at the table across from me, or sitting at a computer across the world. We're still connecting, and that's what it's all about.