Facebook Moves to Block Fake News

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Laurie

New Facebook Update Expected July 17 will Affect Your Ability to Edit Posts–But is that the Right Answer?

In late June, Facebook announced they were taking steps to make if more difficult to edit what readers see in the “preview windows”. In reality, this ‘preview’ is all that many people actually do see.

And there is the underlying problem. Many, if not most professional “publishers”–the loose term given to anyone who posts content on the internet–make changes to the headlines and descriptions.

Why do we do this? Because we want people to click on our post. We want people to be so moved by what they see, they click it and “read all about it”–on our site, rather than the competitions.

Some publishers are really good at writing compelling copy that results in lots of people looking at their websites.

NASA runs a child-slave colony on Mars!

Photos taken by a Chinese orbiter reveal an alien settlement on the moon!

Shape-shifting reptilian extraterrestrials that can control human minds are running the U.S. government!

The above are some of the headlines that have been purported as truth in the media. (Thanks to Scientific American for these.)

So what is the problem with allowing people to edit the headlines and description?

Most people just want you to click on their site, but are not intending to pass off false information. There are more nefarious types out there though whose main goal is to make you believe things that are just not true.

This isn’t anything new. As the image above shows, Fake News has been an issue for a lot longer than Facebook or the Internet. The image is a portion of an illustration of reporters with “fake news” dating to 1894 by Frederick Burr Opper

There are more examples of fake news being propagate in history in this article by Scientific American.

Now, it may be that the headline and description are merely provocative, and if you were to read the actual post it would not be ‘fake news.’ The problem is that, as we mentioned earlier, most readers don’t bother to click and read more. They actually believe the headlines and descriptions, and share that information as if it were the wisdom of the ages.

After all, if we read it online if must be true. Right? Not right? Really?

Our goal is to support publisher workflows and app functionality, while limiting malicious misrepresentations of underlying link content. As content customization evolves we continue to work closely with our partners to support the best tools for sharing links on Facebook.

Even though Facebook is attempting to clean up the information stream that they control, it is still smart to question anything that you see online. Even if it is “everywhere”–probably even more so if it is everywhere!

Facebook of course is not the only entity facing this issue. Most of the social media outlets are looking at their policies, and trying to determine how much policing they should, or want to do.

Fake News is News Worthy!

PolitiFact is actually covering Fake News as a newsworthy topic!

There’s an interesting discussion happening now about the spread of fake news on the Internet and what companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter, among others, should do to stop it. That’s a healthy conversation to have, and one we hope continues in the weeks and months ahead. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something now. Here at PolitiFact, we’re beefing up our coverage of fake news to help our readers better sort out fact from fiction on their social media feeds. The claims can be about anything — politics, entertainment, a fishy-sounding medical cure.

There is no 100% fool proof way to verify that what you are reading is the truth. Reading the real article and not the “cliff notes” version is a good start. Be willing to read and engage your brain. Rather than having a knee jerk reaction and sharing everything you see, pause, take a deep breath.

Let us take a little bit of responsibility for what we believe. Maybe we’re being unkind. Scientific American in their article, How Fake News Goes Viral says that maybe we’re aren’t just super gullible. It could be that we are just overwhelmed with information.

“If you live in a world where you are bombarded with junk—even if you’re good at discriminating—you’re only seeing a portion of what’s out there, so you still may share misinformation,” explains computer scientist Filippo Menczer of Indiana University Bloomington

But, even SA admits that the solution may rest on the shoulders of the readers. At least, that is what they said in February: The Ultimate Cure for the Fake News Epidemic Will Be More Skeptical Readers. Despite computer algorithms, we have to be more discerning.

Is it true is it kind is it necessary

And in the words of the poet Mary Ann Pietzker, ask yourself, “Is it True? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?

In an example of the internet getting it wrong, this quote has been claimed, with some slight variations, to be the words of Buddha, of Sai Baba, and an ancient Arabian Proverb. No doubt there are others who have claimed the words, or attributed them to someone else entirely!

Thanks to Facebook, Scientific American, and PolitiFact for providing us with just the facts, ma’am.

Image of the special Fake News keyboard credited to Credit: Peter Dazeley Getty Images and appears on Scientific American, from their article “How Fake News Goes Viral—Here’s the Math”

Read more about Fake News on Scientific American:

Social Proof is in the Pudding

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Laurie

Social proof is a common catch phrase these days, but what does it mean?

It is being suggested by many “experts” that social proof is something new, something that business people didn’t have to think about before.

Perhaps I just think of social proof more globally than some other internet consultants, but I think that idea is crazy. Social proof is not a new local business marketing concept at all, but how it works today is quite different from the past when it was neighbors talking over the fence or over a beer.

Businesses have always relied on social proof in one form or another. It is just that the form changes and now we have a convenient label for it.

Word of mouth advertising has long been the standard for social proof, and is most certainly not a contemporary construct. Businesses large and small have long known that if they can get their happy customers to tell other people about them and recommend them that it is the least expensive and most successful advertising campaign they have.

Social proof has always been about customers indicating their support for your business. That has not changed.

What has changed is HOW they demonstrate their support.

Today your customers are online every day. They get most of their information from the internet, more than the television or radio, more than print publications. And this trend continues to accelerate as we are seeing the millennials and younger folks ever more tied to their electronic devices.

Whether shopping locally or buying something across the globe, more and more people are relying on the internet to gather information before making a purchase.

Social proof has always been part of that research process, it is just easier to get these days. You no longer have to talk to lots of different people to learn their opinions and experiences–it is all there online.

What is social proof in current terms then? It is how your business is supported online. This can be done by customers posting a review on Yelp, Angie’s List, or any number of other review sites. It can be comments left on your blog or your Facebook or G+ page. It can even be that someone links to your business website on their blog or Facebook page, or that someone shares a post that you have written.

How do you get more social proof for you business?

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but you have to get social. Nope, you don’t have to do it all. Unless you have a lot more time on your hands then most business owners I know, you can’t anyway.

Learn a little bit about the various types of social media and pick one, give it a go and see if you like it. I’m a firm believer that if you enjoy it, you will have better results. If you find you aren’t enjoying it, you can try a different avenue.

If you are a visual person or you have a visual type business, then Pinterest might be a good choice for you. If you naturally talk in sound bites, you might try Twitter. If you are in a B2B field, or are looking for professional connections, check out LinkedIn. Facebook is gaining ground on the major search engines and gives businesses some more flexibility in their posts and pages. These are just a few of the many options that are available to your local business.

There is no one best social media, one that works for every single business in every single market. Find where your customers are online and start there. Then dive into that online “pudding” and get some social proof.

Bit of Delicious Links Social Media Disaster for Local Businesses

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Laurie

Social media tip for local businesses: Google declares two sites contain malware, using them can result in YOUR site being blocked. Reconsider your links, on your site and also what you use in your social media campaigns.

While Google is not the only search engine around, it still is the kingpin. And what Google wants, Google gets. Or rather, what Google doesn’t want, Google slaps. This is an important social media tip for local businesses to keep in mind.

Case in point, this weekend two popular sites were blacklisted by Google.

In order to “protect” us, Google often declares that sites are malicious. This may or may not be true, but that is actually beside the point. Once blacklisted, sites will be flagged as contained Malware–especially if you (or your potential customers) use the Google owned Chrome browser.

According to Google’s Safe Browsing page on del.icio.us:

Of the 370 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 69 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2014-10-26, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2014-10-26.

Malicious software includes 17 trojan(s), 14 scripting exploit(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 1 new process(es) on the target machine

If you want to know more details about the most recent blacklist, read this article on WordFence: http://www.wordfence.com/blog/2014/10/a-malicious-del-icio-us/

A general rule of thumb is don’t click on a link you don’t know. If you use a link shortener (like bit.ly, which was also blacklisted, albeit temporarily) you may want to reconsider. If you use Twitter a lot for your business you may want/need to use the shorteners in order to not exceed the character limitations, but still it is good to keep in mind that many people will not click a link they can not read.

Local Business Reviews Update

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Laurie

Remember the old shampoo commercial where the woman is so happy she tells two friends and they tell 2 friends, and so on, and so on, and so on?

The point of the commercial is twofold (pun intended!)

First, if you have a great product, people will tell their friends about it! Word of mouth advertising is free, so all businesses can benefit from it, and afford it.

Second is the concept of geometric progression. When these happy customers each tell 2 friends the company isn’t adding just 2 need customers: they are quickly adding hundreds of customers because of this concept. 1 becomes 2 which becomes 4 and so on… 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256…

Bottom line, every happy customer can result in a huge lead pool for your business.

Today the way we tell 2 friends, and so on and so on, is through the internet and social media!

If you have a service that gathers customer reviews be sure it is easily found on the internet. Having a service that actively solicits reviews from your customers after they have been to your store can be a great benefit for some–as long as customers don’t feel harassed, which is a huge turn-off.

Don’t have a service? Don’t worry. One of the best ways to get reviews is simply to ask your customers to give you one!

The best situation is when you get reviews on a variety of sources. A few reviews on several different sites, such as Google+, Angie’s List, and Yelp! is better than having all of your reviews in one place. This also makes it easier for your customers. Gone are the days when all your reviews need to be funneled to one site–so wherever your customer already goes on line is the perfect place for them to write a review for you!

Remember–you want to make it EASY for customers to let others know how pleased they are with your product or service. Unhappy customers will make the effort to leave a negative review, but those that are happy with your work may not unless you ask for it. Let them know you could use their help in getting the word out.

If your clients tell you they aren’t online or don’t know how to leave a review online–have a card handy for them to leave you a review in writing. Ask their permission for you to post it to your website on a testimonials page and you are good to go!

To more happy customers leaving positive reviews resulting in more happy customers!

Successful Facebook Timeline Suggestions for Local Business

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Laurie

If you are a local business without a Facebook page you might not know what the big fuss is all about. And, if you don’t already have a Facebook page, then you might not think you need to care.

Unless you have more clients and money than you can handle, then you definitely want to care about Facebook. Google is constantly updating its algorithms and more and more weight appears to be placed on social media for ranking your business pages in the search engine rankings.

Depending on your specific industry there may be other social media venues that are important for your business, but Facebook is still the #1 place to be seen, and found, on the internet social scene.

The good news is that you can put your own personality or brand on your Facebook page much more easily now with the Timeline format. Big businesses are using Facebook Timeline to their advantage and so can you.

Local Business Marketing Tips to Benefit from Facebook IPO

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Laurie

There are lots of pundits who are talking trash about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, wondering if anyone but MZ will benefit from the upcoming IPO.

Some are already predicting the demise of FB, or at the very least a shift in how FB will operate. Anyone who has any experience in business, whether that is local business or internet based, knows that in order to survive today, companies MUST be flexible and be willing to change. So why is this necessarily a bad thing?

Facebook is currently making more than $3 billion in revenue by taking market share from Google and Yahoo…they are doing something right. Maybe this is why the Yahoo pundits are some of the harshest Zuckerberg critics!

As long as USERS still flock to Facebook, “Like” business pages, and click on ads, it is good for business.

Local businesses can benefit even without paying for Facebook advertising as long as they participate in the social aspect of the medium.

If you, as a local business owner or manager, expect to build your Facebook page and then never touch it again and still have people find you–and find you interesting enough to share with others–than you have missed the point.

Your Facebook page should not be the equivalent of a Yellow Pages advertisement…you know, the thing that is getting thinner every year and is used more as a doorstop than anything else.

Like all social media, Facebook is first and foremost, SOCIAL…that means you must interact with people.

As Facebook is forced to focus more and more on making money for stockholders (we have seen this over and over) the users will likely find they are seeing more and more ads. Facebook already sells users information (and according to it’s own figures profits $4.50 per user on that info…doesn’t sound like a lot? Multiply $4.50 x the 850 MILLION active users!) With the IPO it is expected that more information will be sold, at a higher price. (want to read more about how FB makes money, read this article on money.cnn)

The trick for FB is to profit from the users without ticking them off so much that they leave, which would leave Facebook broke.

Local Business Marketing Tips For Usine Facebook:

Build your Facebook page if you haven’t already,
Be social–interact with people, talk about what is going on in your industry, your neighborhood, your business, and yes…even your life!
Let people get to know you and trust you. Then they will then want to do business with you.
Be real.
Provide value…that can be your service, or just brightening someone’s day!
Ask people who come to your store if they’ve been to your FB page–and to “Like” it
Don’t focus on how many “Likes” you have, focus on what you can do for your customers

Facebook can, and (for most, but not all businesses) should be part of your internet advertising package that works for you. If you don’t know how to get started or you don’t know or want to participate in the day-to-day social aspects of it, then you can hire that out–just like you would hire out any other service you don’t have the skills or time for!

Local Business Helped or Harmed by New Google Search, plus Your World

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Laurie

Google announced yesterday that they are launching “Search, plus Your World” claiming that this will be revolutionary for people searching on the internet. While this may be helpful for some search purposes, it may be harmful for others–or benign at best.

What will the impact be on local business search?

Only time will tell for certain, but it appears that it will place even more emphasis on the importance of getting positive feedback from customers as well as having a presence on social media. Less emphasis on traditional SEO and more on getting conversations going and putting more and more content out on the web.

First, to summarize the Search, plus Your World, it is just being launched and will be rolling out over time as is normal for any big changes from Google. So, what you see today and what you see “tomorrow” may be radically different. Again, nothing new when dealing with Google. Search, plus Your World only works if you are signed in to Google.com and, at least for now, only works if you are searching in English.

While touted to increase the uniqueness of your search vs a search on the same term by your neighbor or BFF, it appears that there is greater weight put on Google+ and YouTube content at the expense of competitors such as Facebook.

This shouldn’t be a surprise since Google+ and YouTube are both properties owned by Google. Facebook has already been coordinating similar search results with Microsoft’s search engine Bing and sharing content with sites like Yelp, Pandora and Spotify.

This all reeks a bit of 1984 to me and rather than broadening our horizons, “personalizing” our searches may instead make our worlds more lopsided. If Facebook is any indication, while you can find lots of great information there, your stream (or wall) is flooded with what Facebook deems is the most relevant to you. The problem is because they are pre-filtering content unless you go out and seek out your other friends who post less frequently, you are apt to be taken down a more and more narrow path.

What does this mean for local search for business? Well, it could mean that potential customers do not find your business quite as easily, especially if you have been relying on traditional SEO. However, if you have embraced social media and are developing a following then your local business can do very well with this change.

Read Google’s official post about Search, plus Your World including what they are doing to protect privacy in these personalized searches.

If you have not yet embraced social media, you still have the opportunity to take advantage of it to market your local business and bring in new customers. Rather than thinking of it as something more you have to do, think of it as an extension of your existing customer relations projects and word of mouth advertising–because even on the internet, that is advertising that works!

Unlike Netflix Check Social Media First When Creating Business Name

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Laurie

When creating a business name, it is smart to check Social Media first.

Case in Point: Qwikster the new company that was formed when Netflix split its home delivery and streaming video services.

The argument that Netflix is charging more for less service with this split is the subject of a different post.

Let’s just focus on the business name.

Businesses seek names that are unique, easy to remember, memorable, and often, but not always, are meaningful.

Qwikster meets none of those criteria–in addition it does nothing to capitalize on the brand millions of people associate with the successful video business: Netflix.

Not only is Qwikster not unique–it is alarmingly similarly to names that could be offensive to many of it’s customers. Read Qwikster: Not to be Confused with Quistar, QuickStar, Kwikster, Quickster, Kwik Star, Quick-Star, or Kickstar for more on similarly named companies.

When hearing about the company by word-of-mouth, still the best free advertising there is, one wonders just how is it spelled?

People of a certain age are apt to type in the “most correct” spelling as a first effort, which would be q-u-i-c-k-s-t-e-r.

According to UrbanDictionary.com a “quickster” is someone who can get girls “in the sack quick”

A Quickster is also a type of sports net…and lots of other items.

BTW, “The Quickster” was a superhero that appeared in a single SpongeBob SquarePants episode. OK, maybe that’s not a problem for Netflix, but it does make you wonder about Sponge Bob…buy maybe that is why the character is retired.

Now the customer or potential customer is left to wonder if there are hyphens in the name or what “sounds like” spelling was chosen. And why?

Googling is a challenge when people don’t know how to spell your name...and there are so many variations. Today people want instant results–even people who want their videos mailed to them.

By Googling Netflix you discover the spelling is Qwikster. Ok, we can handle that, right. Well, the execs at Netflix must have been smoking dope, because they didn’t check Twitter for the availability of their new moniker. Nope. @Qwikster is already taken by a guy who mostly tweets about smoking dope and chasing girls. Not exactly the image the video giant will want to many of their clientele.

The lesson in all this? (Ok, there are LOTS)

Social Media is imperative to your business. If you already HAVE a business, check to see if your name is available on on the Social Media sites that your customers frequent–especially Twitter and Facebook. If it isn’t, get as close as possible, use abbreviations, whatever, but CLAIM YOUR SPACE.

If you are just starting your business, or considering a name change, check out the Social Media spaces where your customers hang out, including, but not limited to Twitter and Facebook. If the name is already taken there, TRY SOMETHING ELSE. Especially if it is claimed by a dope-smoking young quickster. Unless that’s your target market, of course.

Searching Twitter for People to Follow

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Laurie

Once you start your Twitter account you will find that Twitter offers suggestions on people to follow. If you login to Twitter, you will see on the right side of the screen the people who are following you, “Followers” and below that “Who to follow.” When you are first starting out, there may not be many suggestions, however as you follow more and more people Twitter will interpret your interests and make more (and presumably better) suggestions for you.

The top listing in the suggestions is frequently, but not always, a promotion, which you may, or may not, want to follow. You will know it is a promoted Tweep by the “Promoted” box next to their handle. I find the promoted Tweeps don’t seem to have any real connection to me or my interests, but other than that the suggestions are generally pretty good.

You can either click on the “Follow” next to their Twitter handle or click on their handle and review their profile to see if they are indeed someone you want to add to your list of followers. Clicking on the X to the right of their handle will delete them from this list.

If you click “Refresh suggestions” you will be served up additional people you can follow.

Browse Interests to Find People to Follow

Below this you will find “Browse interests” and “Find friends”

Clicking on the Browse interests link opens a full page “who to follow” and allows you to look through Twitter by categories such as Business, Funny (not to be confused with funny business), Government, Sports, Travel, Technology, Health…By clicking on a category you will find people who have similar interests that you can choose to follow.

For example, I clicked on the category Food & Drink and a list of 81 people to follow came up.

Or if you have a specific topic that you are interested in you can enter that into the search box directly. For example, I can enter “chocolate” and anyone who expresses in their profile will be listed. Similarly, if you want to find people in your town or region you can enter that in the search box. (Hint: this is a great way to connect with people in your local area!)

The more people you follow, the better the suggestions made by Twitter will become, especially if you are searching for a particular niche or region.

Keep in mind that if you want people to be able to find you, then you should be sure to complete your Twitter bio with the keywords or terms that you want to connect over. If you are an artisan chocolatier in Loveland, Colorado with a retail store downtown then you would want to include all that in your bio so people in town who love chocolate will be able to find you easily.

When you are searching on interests and when you are writing your bio, think about the various ways that people might search for your topic. For example, not everyone will think to search on “chocolatier” but “chocolate” is an easy search term.

New Facebook Update Expected July 17 will Affect Your Ability to Edit Posts–But is that the Right Answer?

So what is the problem with allowing people to edit the headlines and description?

Fake News is News Worthy!

And in the words of the poet Mary Ann Pietzker, ask yourself, “Is it True? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?

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Today the way we tell 2 friends, and so on and so on, is through the internet and social media!

To more happy customers leaving positive reviews resulting in more happy customers!

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Local businesses can benefit even without paying for Facebook advertising as long as they participate in the social aspect of the medium.

Local Business Marketing Tips For Usine Facebook:

Build your Facebook page if you haven’t already,

Be social–interact with people, talk about what is going on in your industry, your neighborhood, your business, and yes…even your life!

Let people get to know you and trust you. Then they will then want to do business with you.

Be real.

Provide value…that can be your service, or just brightening someone’s day!

Ask people who come to your store if they’ve been to your FB page–and to “Like” it

Don’t focus on how many “Likes” you have, focus on what you can do for your customers

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