Facebook in Everywhere! – Except Guam.

Despite what the title says (and there are plenty of non-English Facebook versions out there), what caught my attention was:

1. Social networks that I had never heard of;
2. The complete lack of any sort of social networking site in Iran (I am not sure why I am surprised by this).  It’s a big-ass hole in the map in the middle of the Middle East.  But despite what the autocratic, bloodthirsty mullahs of that country think, there is something called “a cell phone”; and
3. MySpace, which a few years ago tried to jack up the agency that I was working for by charging us $60,000 for a site, is now #1 in..GUAM.  I suppose that this is the social media equivalent of the loser’s lunchroom table.

Interesting read.

Mark

Yesterday, I had a long conversation with a friend of mine who has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship and is currently living in Canada.  We assiduously avoided the topic of politics, but healthcare sneaked into the conversation, itimating that universal healthcare was a right bestowed by the almighty.

Um.. unless your Canadian insurance company finds picture of you frolicking on the beach on Facebook.

Yep.  Read that one again.  I’ll wait.

According to a Washington Times article, “Insurance cut over Facebook bikini pictures“:

Nathalie Blanchard, 29, took long-term sick leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, more than a year ago for severe depression. She was receiving monthly benefits from her insurance company, Manulife.

When Ms. Blanchard called Manulife to inquire why the payments dried up, the insurance company said that “I’m available to work, because of Facebook,” she told CBC television.  She said that Manulife cited several pictures Ms. Blanchard had posted on her social-networking Web-site page, including some showing her enjoying herself during a male strip-tease show at a Chippendales bar, celebrating her birthday and sunbathing. Based on these postings, the firm claimed Ms. Blanchard was no longer depressed.

Ouch.  So maybe Canada is not the healthcare standard of the world, one that so many on opposite sides of the healthcare debate hold up as an example.  The bigger picture?

In the past, as my students prepared to launch full-time job searches, I stressed that having TWO Facebook profiles was a good idea.  One that is public with you in a suit grasping a law book or something, one that this is private that shows what you REALLY do on the weekends like kegstands.

I won’t even enter into the debate about Ms. Blanchard’s depression (although they do say that Vitamin D from the sun is great cure for depression), but this is yet another piece of evidence that:

1. The Internet is FOREVER.
2. What you post online you must assume is completely visible to everyone.
3. Think of what is out there online about you that has the potential to impact your life in the future.

Facebook and privacy?  Remember the uproar over Project Beacon?  Recently, Facebook enabled people to comment on their revised privacy policy.  According to ISP Geeks, if more than 7,000 people had commented on it, an automatic vote of Facebook users would have been triggered.  So SURELY, of the millions of Facebook users, 7,000 people gave a damn, right?

No hanging, pregnant or curious chads.

453 people commented.  That’s right.  453 people.  So the current Facebook policy:

“..advises users to make full use of the social network’s privacy settings and application settings to control how much information they share, and with who they share this information with. Facebook provides controls, but it is up to individuals to check and ensure that appropriate settings are in place.”

So do kegstands or appear on the beach in a bikini or at a male strip club (shudder) if you are being treated for depression, but for God’s sake, update your Facebook privacy settings.

And if you are getting the cold sweats reading this thinking of all of the picture of you that are tagged out there, below is a handy-dandy little screen shot of how to change (and make restrictive) your privacy settings in Facebook:

Mark

Ok, maybe the title is a bit of an exaggeration, but when listening to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson’s “For Immediate Release” this morning (congratulations, gentlemen on the FANTASTIC accomplishment of your 500th episode), the topic came up of what is likely to happen in the future of social media.

One of the terrific comments came from a listener who suggested that essentially the future of social media lies with teenagers.  Yep.  Teenagers.  Those snarling, lovable little people.  And when you think about this, this makes tremendous sense:

MOST teens:

• Are on social media sites like MySpace, Facebook and Youtube – and completely comfortable using them;
• Can multitask and Tweet on something like Tweetdeck with multiple windows open;
• Text at an unbelievable speed and volume, while simultaneously publishing to other online meeting places lke the aforementioned Facebook and MySpace; and
• Crave what is next, new and interesting.

Think about it.  In ten years, or less, these teens will be hitting the workplace with an opportunity to make a difference.  At 25, these folks might find themselves in an entry level or even mid-level position and bring with the the habits that they grew up with.  In short, the more that they evolve as consumers of social media and their careers grow in the process, the more we will see integration of these aspects in the workplace.

And as Shel said, “At 30, they’ll probably be managers.”  These now teens (or even tweens) will be in positions to make decisions and influence those both senior and junior to them.

So while I wrote some time ago “How to Sell Social Media to Your Dumb Ass Boss,” this one is a lot simpler. It’s a sticky note with this post:

“Dear Boss:

Please start using social media in many of the ways that I recommend now, because like the factory workers of yesteryear, you can either update your knowledge and skill sets or find yourself on the ash heap of professional development.”

Someday, you might just rule the world.

Mark

I had an economic wake-up call this week.  Big time.

A friend of mine and one of the smartest social media people out there, someone who has not only succeeded on the biggest stage possible, took a money-hemorrhaging business and turned it into a money maker in four years — was told about six weeks ago that we was “redundant” and given a pink slip.

In addition to making me really mad for my friend, this was a severe wake-up call for me.  If my friend could lose his job, a star in an otherwise sinking ship, someone whom I admire greatly and think he’s a lot smarter than me — then I  gave some serious thought to maintaining or establishing a market for yourself when we are facing severe economic times.

Quick note:  times are horrendous and I am loathe to blog about this because I think that most recessions are 51 percent fiscal and 49 percent psychological — but this one hit home.  So I came up with some suggestions that I think could apply to most people — to establish or protect your “personal brand” (and by writing “personal brand,” I know that I am inviting the wrath of Geoff Livingston).

So below are a few tips and those that I would encourage folks to consider as they would from the perspective of someone who does not know you personally, but can discover a lot of wonderful things about you online.

1. LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn. I have not used this as much as I could or should since Facebook and Twitter are a lot more fun, but read any “How To Find a Job” book or article and it will tell you that the best start is by networking.  It used to be hanging out around “Association of This and That” breakfast meetings, but now you can do it online.  Seek out and  connections that could benefit you.  When I went back and checked my own LinkedIn profile, I had forgotten that I was linked to the DC Recruiters LinkedIn group.  This group has never benefited me, but I have never reached out to them either.
2. Two Faced-Facebook. I have written about this in the past, but consider setting up a second, open-to-the-public Facebook profile.  Not the one with you doing kegstands, but the one with you in a business suit listing all of your accomplishments and muckety-muck friends (whom you will warn under penalty of death not to tag you passed out on the floor clutching a Bud Light).
3. Blog, blog, blog.  You have to be smart or passionate about something. It takes zero time to set up a free Word Press account, and about $100 a year to do a self-hosted Word Press account with your own domain (what I have done).  Then, with a career/personal brand-building focus, start writing about, and connecting with others in your field or desired field.  As an example, when I started this blog (erasing my last one..sniff) if you Googled “Mark Story” I was about #40, making me virtually (pun intended) invisible in search engines.  Plus, there are a urologist, sports writer and photographer all named “Mark Story” (and the photographer grabbed “markstory.com.”).  I checked the other day and was amazed that now, my LinkedIn profile is the #1 result and my blog is #5 and #6.  I did not set out to do this, but it happened literally, organically.
4. Play around with some other resume services out there.  I tend to think that Monster.com is probably getting crowded, and there are a few executive recruitment firms out there that let you build your own online, schnazzy resume.  Or you could just grab a domain that is your name (unless you are late to the game, like me) and build one yourself.  You don’t have to be an HTML guru, just use WordPress as your content management system.  If it’s good enough for Number 10 Downing Street, then WordPress could probably  handle your resume.
5. You might get mixed results now, but still try a recruitment firm.  If you are an executive, there is a list of executive recruitment firms out there (some of which do not accept unsolicited resumes – they want to find you).  Bottom line is that it better to have a bunch of people looking for you and you looking than just you looking for a new or even potential gig.

And for the most controversial statement of all (and this is based upon my early career experience in the recruiting field) remember that the initial, front-line search for candidates in a down economy is based upon a search for the negative. That’s right, I said “negative.”  What I mean by this is the amount of resumes that are being sent and processed is increasing exponentially.  Nine times out of 10, the person who is the gatekeeper and holds your possibility of an interview in his or her hands is a lower to mid-level person who links “God, I have to go through 300 resumes today.”  Never — ever — give him or her a reason to exclude you.  This individual’s job is to get to the “right” resume for the position and it means eliminating all of those that don’t fit. So if you do all of the above, you are in decent shape.  Do be in better shape:

1. Customize your resume to the position opening.  If they use the word “new media,” swap out the words “social media” for “new media” in your resume.  Write carefully (and for God’s sake, error-free) and tell a story using your resume (in the order in which the job description does) of why you are might for the position.
2. List ALL of the above in your resume.  LinkedIn profile, personal Web site, Congresional Medal of Honor, blog, etc.  They are going to look for it anyway, so make it easier for them to find the stuff that you want them to find.

This is all just a top-line approach in what should be a semi-full time job in this economy.  And one more note:  when I was in recruiting in President REAGAN’S second term, the rule of thumb was for every $10,000 you want to make, give it one month.  I think that if you do some or all of the above, you can shorten that time frame.

And I am happy to report that my pal did indeed land a new gig.  I just Googled him, and he had 10,100 results.  That’s some online presence.  Good luck, pal.

Mark

When I listened to the Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable this week, I realized that I had not visited Ike Pigott’s blog lately.  I have said this in this space and on his blog, but I admire Ike’s intelligence and ability to make complex topics seem simple.

The latest post stopped me in my tracks a bit, though.  I learned a lesson about social media, but not about zeros and ones, circles of influence, but about life, death and absolution.

Ike bravely talks about a childhood that included a lot of bullying — with one bully in particular with whom he re-connected via Facebook a couple of months ago.  His friend and former bully, Scott, openly shared his experiences in the 22 years since they had connected, apparently filled with struggles and addictions.  Recently, Scott fell, hit his head and never recovered.  Ike eloquently notes:

Scott’s Facebook page is still up. His status message still reads “Scott is resting in peace.”

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a death notification on Facebook. But there’s much more to that message.

I can’t speak for him, or Debbie or anyone else. But I know for a fact he and his family were checking his Facebook from the hospital bed. And I know they saw the messages of support coming in. And I know that if it weren’t for Facebook, he wouldn’t have passed with the knowledge that he got the absolution he wanted from Isuck Pignuts.

Yeah, this social media stuff can be pretty stupid sometimes. Check that, a lot of the time. But when real people connect in ways that are truly meaningful and lasting, you can’t ignore the power. People use phones for stupid things too, but a call from the right person can change your life.

Scott – and to all from Scott’s family who read this – you brought a lot of joy to a large body of people.

Peace out, Scott.  Peace out…

When someone says something that is so eloquent, you can only mess it up with extra words.  But in a world of Facebook filled with keg stands, drunken parties and thrown sheep, it made me feel a little bit better about the world of Facebook.  It does connect us — not always in ways as meaningful as this, but it does.

Thanks to people like Scott and Ike and their circle of friends — on Facebook.

Mark