GenXmanager: Leadership for the Generation X Manager

This is the second video in the social media strategy series. In it I walk through the first step in the social media strategy process which is to determine prupose. I stress the importance of looking at the overall organizational strategy, goals, and objectives. From there, you select a few goals that will lend themselves to a social media solution.

This step in the process is not about social media but about strategic thinking.

Social media strategy. To implement social media properly you need a plan. This is the first video in a series that will discuss social media strategy. The strategy process involves seven steps listed below the video. This entire series will discuss each of these steps in greater detail.

Social Media Strategy: The 7 Steps

1. Determine purpose
2. Choose the platform
3. Integrate and enhance
4. Set the budget
5. Sell the idea
6. Implement
7. Measure

Facebook has been riddled with some kind of trojan and/or spyware the past few months. Here are some ways to help limit your exposure to these nasty critters. 

1. Make sure you are running anti-virus software. McAfee and Norton are used in corporate environments. For home use I suggest Avast (which is free) and PcTools Spyware Doctor Spyware+Anti-Virus version (it is $20).
2. Install Spyware protection. My favorite is PcTools Spyware Doctor. If you purchase the Spyware+Anti-Virus version you’ll get great virus and spyware protection in one package.
3. Never click on any link (YouTube or otherwise) that looks suspicious. If a friend’s status update is a link or a link with a phrase such as “This is funny” or “You gotta see this” or “This is a great article”…DO NOT CLICK IT. Here are some examples of suspicious links.
4. Only click on links where your friend gives context to the link. For example, here are a few examples that I would say are “safe”.
   

   Note the verbose description to give context to the video and the embedded video itself.

   

   Note the link and the embedded article.

5. If you click on a link from within Facebook and you go to a page (even if it looks like YouTube, the New York Times, CNN, FoxNews, etc.) and the page asks you to download a “new version of Flash” or to download anything else…DO NOT DOWNLOAD.

Don’t be scared to click on links, just be smart about it. Post a status update asking your friends to give their links and YouTube videos context so you can decipher the bad links from legitimate ones. 

If you did click on a suspicious link, then you will need to IMMEDIATELY purchase spyware and virus scanning and removal software. I found PcTools Spyware Doctor to be particularly effective. 

Don’t take this lightly! These are insidious critters as some are keyboard loggers and capture EVERYTHING you type including bank account numbers, user names, passwords, credit card numbers, and perhaps sensitive work information as well. Everything captured gets sent to pretty seedy individuals who I’m sure do not have your best interests in mind. 

 Practice safe Facebooking!

I’ve always wanted a button on this blog that would allow readers to share articles on Facebook, Twitter, or any of a dozen or more other social media sites. The problem was I wanted one WordPress plugin that would allow me to select which networks I wanted use. I use WordPress and was hoping for a simple plugin. Though I feel comfy playing around with code, I didn’t want the headaches.

After scouring Google and experimenting with some abysmal plugins, I came across Richard X. Tripp’s Tweet This WordPress plugin. This plugin does more than just tweet your blog entries. You can setup the plugin to share your blog content on Plurk, Buzz, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Myspace, Ping, Reddit, StumbledUpon and of course, Twitter. The installation and setup were radically simple.

Installation:

1. Download the Tweet This .zip file.
2. Run the .zip file and install it in the plugins directory (push it to your server).
3. Login to WordPress and click the ‘Plugins’ link on the left side.
4. Find the ‘Tweet This’ plugin and click ‘Activate’.
5. Scroll down and click ‘Settings’ on the left side of the page.
6. The ‘Settings’ will expand and you’ll see ‘Tweet This’ listed. Click ‘Tweet This’.

At this point you’ll be presented with a page to customize the Tweet This plugin. At first all you see are options for Twitter. Click on ‘Extended Services’ and you’ll see a plethora of other social networks you can add to your blog. This page is pretty self explainatory but for detailed instructions reference the Richard X. Tripp’s Tweet This page.

Tweet This screenshot. Click for full image:

Unfortunately it looks like Mr. Tripp will not be updating this any longer. His page states, “Sorry guys, I’m not planning any more updates to Tweet This. I don’t feel like coding anymore… I’ve gotten lazy.” At least he left us a great plugin and I hope he resurfaces to continue to maintain and improve this awesome plugin.

 You can see the buttons right here below.

Facebook just introduced new privacy settings to its more than 130 million members today (December 10, 2009). I took a look at the new settings and though I’m still evaluating I find them to be a remarkable improvement over their old privacy system. These steps will help you to better understand Facebook’s new privacy setting.

Facebook Privacy Levels

Facebook has four levels of privacy that you must understand before you change your settings.

Everyone: Everyone means everyone on the internet; not just Facebook.

Friends and Networks: This setting will share with just your friends and to those in the networks in which you belong. So, if you share your Birthdate both Friends and those in the same network can view your birthday (even though you may not be Facebook friends).

Friends of Friends: Imagine that we are Facebook friends with a guy named Joe but we aren’t friends with each other. If you set your Profile Information to this setting it means I can see your Profile Information because we are friends with Joe.

Only Friends: This will make certain that the only people who can view your content are those who you’ve friended on Facebook.

Customized: Facebook now lets you customize security down to the individual user. You can include and exclude. For example you can set your contact information so that only members of your family can see it. You can also block specific people from viewing certain persona information. (do you really you’re your boss to see you tagged in photos of you at that bachelor or bachelorette party??).

Updating Your Privacy Settings

After logging into Facebook click on ‘Settings’ in the upper right corner of the page next to the Search box. On the next page, the second to last option is Privacy. Click ‘Manage’.

Click on the ‘Privacy Information’ link. This page gives you a list of items to configure your privacy settings. You can set the level of privacy (discussed above) to each of these personal information items:

About me: Everything in your ‘About Me’ description in your Facebook profile

Personal Information: Interests, Activities, Favorites

Birthday: Self-explanatory

Religious and Political views: Self-explanatory

Family and Relationships: Family Members, Relationship Status, Interested In, and Looking For

Education and Work: Schools, Colleges and Workplaces

Photo Albums: You can set security for all of your albums individually

Posts by Me: This is everything that would get posted to your wall such as Status Updates, Links, Notes, Photos, and Videos.

Allow friends to post on my Wall:

Posts by Friends:  Controls who can see posts by your friends on your profile

Comments on Posts: Controls who can comment on posts you create

After finishing the ‘Profile Information’ Facebook privacy settings click the ‘Back to Privacy’ button. Click ‘Contact Information’. You can modify the Facebook privacy settings for each ‘Contact Information’ category.

Privacy for Every Status Update

 Now you can control the privacy of your status updates. Simple type in your new status and click the lock icon under the status update area. Select the appropriate audience for your status update and click ‘Share’.

Though Facebook would like you to share everything with everyone, it is now under your control. I personally like Facebook’s new privacy settings. Though there is potential to share much more if you’re not careful, you definitely have more control than ever before.