The answer was a resounding ‘No’. You can see some of the responses as embedded tweets below

The rest of the responses were in the same vein. But it seems many Social Media ‘Experts’ and Agencies continue to do this. So I’m forced to ask,
What part of ‘No Automated DMs’ don’t you understand? Is it the No? Or is it the Automated DMs?

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1. Allow Pages to post to other Pages, Profiles, Groups

Right now, individuals may post to individuals, pages and groups, but pages can only post on the page itself. If a page admin wants to promote itself on other pages, he has to do it from his personal profile. By allowing pages to post on other pages, Facebook allows admins to cross promote linked pages. Issues of spam can be solved with a simple delete/report/mark as spam button as exists on Groups currently.

2. Allow Admins to comment as Individuals as well as Pages

Many a time there are comments and posts on a page that need not warrant a response by the page, but a reply or a like from an individual is nice. Or maybe a discussion veers into an area where page involvement may not always be appropriate but an individual may indulge in it. Allow admins to choose whether they want to do an action as  a page or an individual instead of restricting them to only ‘Page’ as it is setup right now.

3. Notifications on Interactions by Email

Yes it is the job of a community manager to thoroughly monitor the Facebook fan page, but email notifications will make life simpler for page admins. Allow users to subscribe to email updates for a particular discussion, comment or photo so they can stay updated on certain time-critical topics.

4. Allow Page Creator to be different from Page Owner

More often than not, it’s your intern or agency who creates the Facebook page for you. While it is necessary they have administrator access to your page, what happens when your intern leaves on a not-so-pleasant note, or you switch agencies and they aren’t too happy about it. Setting up the page by allowing the real  owner to indisputable rights lets you separate the two. An absolute god mode if you may. In fact, different access rights to admins may actually be a good thing.

5. Fans be allowed to contact Admin

Groups show who the creators and administrators of the page are. For fanpages, there is no such feature. So unless a contact form tab is specifically created, users have no way to contact the page admins. This can be fixed if Facebook itself were to provide a simple form with a ‘Contact page admin’ link under the profile picture.

6. Share Access to Ads

While Facebook may be an engagement driven platform, Ads are an important component of Facebook Marketing. The problem lies in the fact that only the ad creator gets access to it, and all modifications need to be routed through that user. Even wanting to check performance requires an export of the report by the creator and then send it via email. Again, setting up an access level system for users would solve this problem.

7. Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration

This problem is specific to pages with multiple admins. Right now admins work individually with no real way to trace back what action was taken by which admin. The problem is minimized if the admins are physically close and/or communicate well, but a log of actions in the admin section would increase accountability and collaboration. Moreover a view of the page by any admin may display “Admin: Username” to display what action/comment is attributed to an admin would allow them to keep tabs on each others actions minimizing the need for manual action logging by users.

These are some of the annoyances I’ve faced when working with clients on Fan pages. Have you had any similar experiences?

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The main area had a bazaar style layout with businesses on either ends – everything from Home made toffees like @toffeeprincess to training companies like @Loomni – who got the platform to connect to a community they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. . The event even had an iPad 360 give away by @me360 and the lucky winner for that was @Dorksterdave. Local student darlings @campusradiome was present broadcasting live from the venue and despite my requests, they did not let me read the news. The inside room featured talks. The event also featured community talks which were on topics ranging from Nutrition among Emirati Society to Educating for Road Safety.

The atmosphere, as is always at such an event, was very jovial. People formed new relationships and strengthened existing ones.

Pictures from the event can be seen here (by @mich1mich) and here (by @faisalkhatib)

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Suddenly marketers are sitting on unprecedented levels of data, opening up a new world of opportunities limited only by their definition of it.”

Read the entire article on Emirates Business 24/7

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The event takes place on the 30th of June at The Shelter although celebrations will begin on 26th June with Social Media Week (#SMWeek on Twitter) with local businesses offering special promotions as “Social Media Offers” at their venues and web locations.

Businesses can register their interest for Social Media day here

Individual may RSVP on the Facebook Event page and become a fan on the fanpage. For updates follow @SMdayUAE

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Foursquare and other Location based networks, on the other hand are meant to be for your existing friends only, especially given the sensitive nature of the information they are built around. And that is what Dennis Crowley, founder of Foursquare would want you to believe as well. He has said before that Facebook is a place where people may become friends but on Foursquare people connect with people who “they truly wouldn’t mind running into during a night out”

A glance through my Social Graph paints a picture where users (including me) connect with people they may be acquainted with – over Facebook, Twitter and other networks – but may not necessarily have met each other, let alone be friends.

This leaves me wondering, what is your door policy on Foursquare? Do you accept every request that comes your way? Or only the ones you interacted with on a different social network? Or do you strictly maintain it to real life connections?

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Twitter’s fairly simple privacy control system (protected tweets) is bypassed when a user retweets a tweet from a ‘protected’ user. On Facebook, unless specifically blocked, a friend can reshare an item shared by a user. And the fatal flaw – characteristic of just about everything online – is the ability for a user to manually copy and paste content outside; wherein a user from within the walled garden takes the content out. The one thing common to all three examples is the action of a user rendering the privacy controls ineffective. The human element is the weakest link in the chain.

There are those who scream foul and then there are those from the other side of the pond who see it as an evolution of online user behavior. Until not too long ago, many of us (including me) used to hide behind pseudonyms, aliases and cartoonized avatars of ourselves. But the last few years – especially with the given emphasis towards the notion of Personal Branding – have seen users move away from anonymity to publicly established presence. Nicknames bundled with prideful adjectives have given way to full names with real pictures.

And it is these users that connect, and they connect by sharing; sharing thoughts, notes, opinions, pictures, videos and everything else that builds makes them a personality online instead of just a username. The marketers and websites that use data provided to them by Social networks use it to provide a better experience by serving personalized content. Wouldn’t you rather have that then being served a standard page with irrelevant content?

Users need to realize anything they put on the internet is not completely private and that should be the centermost point of concern when posting content. The term ‘Online Privacy’ has become an oxymoron

The debate around privacy isn’t one to die out anytime soon, and the increasing growth of location based services (geo-networking) is only going to add fuel to the fire. The sooner the illusion of privacy is shattered, the better it is for users who will make smarter and wiser decisions about what they share and where. As for the battle with privacy, that is over. Privacy lost. Connecting and sharing won.

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Given the competitive nature of Foursquare, it is natural for users, including those in Dubai to clock as many check-ins as possible . But how far should an individual go in this endless quest for points, badges and mayorship.

The mundane everyday check in.

Most users, during weekdays, only really go from home to work and back. Does it make sense for them to check in at both those places then? There are those who bring a privacy element to this, but this isn’t about that. It’s the sheer inanity of these checkins. Although there are those who say checking into work helps ‘brand’ the place.

Couples: Checking in in pairs.

Much like offline (*gasp*) social networks, couples in which both partners are online have a huge set of connections that are common to both of them. If they spend all their time together, at the same places do they both check in? Sure, they’re both individuals with their own accounts right, I mean as long as they aren’t quarrelling for mayorship. Or is it similar to a situation where a couple gets, well, couply, on Facebook. We’ve all had those friends right?

The compulsive Geonetworker

Imagine you go into a mall for a shopping spree, do you just check in to the mall? Or do you check in to the mall and then check in to every single store you go to. Given the loyalty building objective of Foursquare for businesses, they would promote the latter. And the users gain their badges and mayorship. But this scenario does have an inexplicable sense of the ridiculous too. After all, walking less than 5 metres to the next store doesn’t really count for ‘Travel’ in ‘Travel Bonus’ right?

Exhibit B: if you scan for venues and you find the venue, only misspelt; do you check in to that anyway or do you add a new venue with the corrected spelling fully well knowing you’ll get the extra 5 points for adding a new venue (and a chance at mayorship)?

I’m not passing judgements here, nor am I saying what’s right or wrong. I myself have been  guilty of some of those actions listed above and continue to practice the others.

Given the competitive spirit underpinning the platform, where do you think the boundaries of fairplay end and those of cheating begin?

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“Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have taken relationship marketing and permission marketing to a whole new level. But don’t blink yet, the next step in social networking and media is already here and it is telling you where to go and who to meet.”

Read the entire article here on the Travel and Tourism news website

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“The moment you take the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 out of the box, you know you’re holding on to something expensive. With a smooth curvy back and excellent finish, the phone feels solid and fits well in your hands. In fact, it is a very good looking phone but that, of course, is not its only merit.”

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