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Everyday is Thanksgiving on Social Networks November 23, 2011

Posted by carolhagen in Facebook, linkedin, Social Media Tools, Twitter.
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Thanksgiving is an American holiday but I see people universally thanking people across all social networks.  Here’s what needs to be said on each of the major social platforms:

Twitter (My followers) – Thank you for following, mentioning and retweeting my content. If it weren’t for you no one would hear me and Twitter would be a big time waster – funny thing is that the majority of uniformed business people think this way. Let’s keep the Twitter value a secret as it is a competitive advantage, especially for the AEC sector.

Twitter (I’m following) – Thank you for unselfishly sharing your business acumen, thought leadership, and technology wisdom with me.  For taking the time to answer my questions and developing lasting friendships with many I may never meet in person, I am forever grateful.  I look for ways to reciprocate with you and hope to continue growing personally and professionally through your blog posts, event tweets and shared content.

Linkedin – A special thanks goes to each personal connection who has written a recommendation for me.  Your “trust” gift to my profile has attracted speaking engagements and business opportunities that have contributed directly to my professional success. To my connections – your likes and shares have helped countless others with their social media, technology and business education. Thank you for sharing announcements, blog posts and networking opportunities with the construction industry. We’re all working for the same outcome – growing infrastructure opportunities, a healthy housing market and a prosperous year ahead.

Facebook friends – It’s wonderful to connect with old friends and new, sharing breathtaking photos and humorous video moments. For those also sharing business content, thanks for caring about my success. A special thanks goes to Mari Smith and ALLFacebook who continue to make facebook changes less intimidating and offers ideas for your business to leverage Facebook. For the contractors and employees who have chosen me as a Facebook friend or liked my company page, please inform your employer that Talent attraction and community outreach work well here and to the residential contractors it’s a must for reaching business opportunities!

WordPress – Appreciation goes out to all my blog subscribers, and those that have commented on a blog post. Each of these small actions (like, share, +1) has helped to drive traffic to my website often leads to business synergies.

Google+ – You’re new to the party. While few people have asked to be in my circles, many of those that have are my closest influencers, news sources and advisers. Thank you for being here – Your deserve a +1 everyday. Thank you Google for making a better social network that makes content curation, communication and collaboration easy.

To my entire Business Network (those I email, see at association meetings and call on from time to time): You know the secret to networking is just genuinely caring about the success of others and building trusting relationships. May you enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family and come back with greater appreciation for every connection you make each day.

To my family that I love dearly: I know I see you infrequently and wish that instead of video conferencing and phone call a Star Trek Transporter were available so I could be there more often, share more meals, hug, laugh and cry together. May your turkey be plump, your pies be sweet and your afternoon nap be restful.

Bing Loves Facebook January 3, 2011

Posted by carolhagen in Facebook.
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facebook loves bing

Bing loves Facebook more than Google these days. If you haven’t noticed, Bing displays Facebook profile pictures in their search results using Facebook’s Instant Personalization Notifications so now you can we see all your connections to the right of the regular search results. This is great if you think your friends tastes match yours but you need to think about it from your business friend’s point of view – as a tool for branding you and your comapny – construction or otherwise.

Bing will display your Facebook friends “likes” as it pertains to your search.  This is wonderful for TV Shows, restaurants, movies and music thanks to Pandora, Yelp, Rotten Tomatoes and Clicker. But there’s more to it. With Docs.com and Scribd businesses and entrepreneurs can extend their search reach and position themselves as experts with original content. What am I suggesting to the AEC industry? Architects, Engineers and Homebuilders that cater to the homeowner and are using Facebook need to get on board!

You may also want to think about whether you wish to opt out of certain applications. Here are good instructions from the Electronic Frontier Foundation on how to opt-out…yes it is one application at a time. Again Facebook makes it cumbersome to keep your privacy private.

Bing people searches will also provide recommendations for people you should friend in Facebook.  Will this increase visits to profiles? Absolutely! It will also expose you to more ads, but as a public speaker discussing social media topics I’m hoping it leads to more opportunities. 

I’d appreciate it if you “like” this on Facebook. You may be interested in reading how Google loves LinkedIn.

Facebook is Scary October 29, 2010

Posted by carolhagen in Facebook.
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Facebook is ScaryFacebook is scary to me this Halloween. Facebook has been criticized frequently on their default privacy settings, but what’s frightening is they continue to want permission to access more information. As a business owner doing business with business (B2B) I was looking for more tools to improve my Facebook search results earlier this week. Low and behold Facebook has Advanced Profile Search 2.2 (Beta). What’s scary about this application is what you have to allow access to if you want to use it. I’m glad I noticed the Birthday, Political and Religious views in the Request Permission notice. Request for Permission with Advanced Search 2.2 in Facebook

So the dilemma is do I want to test a beta version of Facebook’s Advanced Search app, that has been rated with low marks, when I must grant access to birthday, religious and political views? Perhaps I need to change the content on my political views and religion to “Not applicable” before proceeding. I noticed that more than 27,000 Facebook monthly users have jumped on and started using the beta version already.

Yesterday I met Karen Thomas, Director at Global Diversity Consulting, LLC at the American Subcontractors Association membership mixer in Phoenix. Diversity is more than skin deep and having just considering trying the Facebook’s advanced search app I just had to ask her what she thought about granting Facebook this permission. “There are two rules of thought. One, it’s Facebook’s product and we have to abide by their rules…after all it is free”. Karen continued, “Two, Granting access to the religion and political affiliations is either to increase fear or revenue. Free enterprise has no limits, we should monitor ourselves to not offend or use this information to support any bias.”

By now you no longer wonder why some businesses ban Facebook at work. By talking about this in a public setting, perhaps we can all become less fearful, or just more skeptical. What do you think? Let’s share our thoughts with the public and Facebook in the comments section. All perspectives are welcome (no expletives please).