Google+ Pages is out, now it’s google+ pages vs facebook pages

I have to admit, I was wrong – or at least Facebook kind of proved me to be wrong when I was saying that Facebook Hates the Small Business Fan Pages! Recently I could create as many pages as I wanted AND update them as many times as I wanted – with no facebook check / code to enter in! Wow, it’s almost as if “facebook heard me and gave me a free pass“!  A few days after I wrote the previous article I had no more Facebook Security Checks I start to love the Facebook pages now…

But guess what – the Google+ Pages is out! This may be part of the reason why Facebook wants more and more people to use their Facebook Pages: create pages, update them, comment on them, like them, link them to one another, re-share them, etc. There may be a threat to the Facebook Pages – though the google pages don’t offer a “vanity link” (where the name of the page is in the link, super-SEO stuff), yet it is GOOGLE+ PAGES! Whatever google does is very well positioned in the search results, and now that google is into social media and social networking… watch out, Facebook!

Google puts out Google+ Pages for businesses!

First of all this is not news anymore. This was news when it happened, but now… it’s yesterday’s headlines. Now if you’re a brand or you want to create a brand, a page for the local business (which is on google maps / google places), it’s free – all you need is a google account! They allow you to edit all the fields of the page, like: the name of the page, the 5 pictures at the top of the page, your favourite links, your introduction, more specific stuff about your business / schedule hours, phone no and contact details, the profile picture, etc. I’m still experimenting with it, but here’s some more articles / tips / things I wish they would implement:

• MORE pictures – with the famous picassa scrolling left-right – at the top of the google page! Facebook allows you to do that…
• I wish they would allow YOU as a page to add people to your circle, instead of allowing only google+ users to do that;
• vanity links – why not allow both on the profile, the google+, and the google pages, to have your own dedicated link? Facebook does…
• Google+ Pages: connect with all the things you care about – via their official blog;
• Google+ Badges Make it Simple for Users to Connect With Brands, via Mashable;
• 10 Tips and Tricks for Better Google+ Brand Pages, via Mashable;
• Google’s Brad Horowitz Explains Google+ Pages, at business insider;
• Google Launches Google+ Pages for Businesses, announces PC World;
• Google+ Pages Now Open For Businesses, Brands, Places & More, via Search Engine Land.

Why doesn’t Facebook Like the Small Business Fan Pages?

I was recently posting almost 20 pictures of the Facebook Security Check(sounds like the airport check when you go through security, right?) – and now I realized one thing:

Facebook Doesn’t Like Small Business Fan pages!

I mean, of course Facebook LOVES fan pages – especially the TOP inventive business pages, with lots of interactivity and fans, facebook specially designed pages and forms, videos and all kinds of polls and competitions, etc. And the businesses that are in the top – with much interactivity and high traction to the public – are very much appreciated, to the point that many of them don’t recommend people to visit their website anymore but visit their Facebook Fan Page! Here are such amazingly creative and highly respected fan pages of top businesses on Facebook(via the Social Media Examiner, top 10 facebook pages):

• Red Bull Facebook Fan Page – The team behind the Red Bull page is extremely in tune with their target audience. This is evidenced in their custom apps and unique content throughout their page.
• Coca-Cola Facebook Fan Page - Coca-Cola has secured their spot at the top of many best-of-the-best Facebook page lists due to their innovative promotions and fun, interactive features;
• Oreo Facebook Fan Page - Oreo does a fantastic job of creating unique experiences for their fans. Oreo knows that their cookies have been part of many people’s lives since childhood and they use this angle to create nostalgia with their fans. And it’s working for them because they have over 8 million fans to date!
• Burt’s Bees Facebook Fan Page – One of the best features on the Burt’s Bees page is their use of photos and video. They use the photos and videos to give a behind-the-scenes view of their company and products.
• Uno Chicago Grill Facebook Fan Page – Uno Chicago Grill has taken full advantage of the Facebook app FBML to highlight their menu options in an extremely appealing way.
• LiveScribe Facebook Fan Page – LiveScribe has incorporated two features into their page to help them sell more products and cut back on support calls
• Toy Story 3 Facebook Fan Page – Toy Story 3 has done an exceptional job of making their page both fun and functional. The fun factor is expressed in their new application, Toy Creator, where you can turn yourself into an animated toy. Both kids and adults can get in on the action and then share their new creation on their Facebook wall

So why do I say that Facebook Doesn’t like the Small Business Fan Pages? Well… if you’re BIG, you’re doing fine, and you’re an established brand, everyone knows you, etc. Guess what, Facebook even recommends the big brands to others, whether they like them or not, as “your friend so-and-so likes this brand page”… – but they NEVER do this with the small business pages!

There’s this page I help taking care of – Sparks Direct Electrical – with under 100 fans, and every time I add a link there I get the Facebook Security Check! Of course, I also help take care of pages with >4.500 fans and NEVER do I have to put in a Facebook Security Check when I add a link there! It can get annoying, you know… so Facebook loves BIG BRANDS, but the small little business fan pages they just marginalize and make it difficult to promote, update, and maintain…

More Facebook Security Check for the past 3 days – Facebook hates Small business Fan Pages

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Facebook Security Check – the facebook captcha – does it make sense?

What is Facebook Captcha? It is NOT Facebook Gotcha!, whatever that is, but is a way to limit the automatic posting of links on facebook or the “hyper-activity that can disturb other users”. It’s a

Facebook Security Check

which shows up when you put online TOO MANY links, or when they think you’re trying to “trick the system”, “over-promote yourself and your websites”, and so on. Most people do NOT get such a security check on facebook, but since I’m posting sometimes 3-4 links per hour(!!!) and also status updates, etc… every day I need to fill in these Facebook security checks. I have put some of them below(only SOME of them, I will definitely come up with more of them…) – most of them MAKE NO SENSE! Why would them? – facebook itself doesn’t make sense, it just offers a medium for people to connect, communicate, and share…

On the blog – especially on blogger.com – you get these captcha pictures which need you to fill in a field with the text in that picture…. but on WordPress – nope! I think it’s better to have a username and password, or use your facebook / twitter / wordpress / google credentials, or your OpenID…

Other LOL groups/pages on the Facebook Security check:

• ANNOYING SECURITY CHECK BOX!!
• What is Facebook Security Check? (via Yahoo!)
• Facebook’s Security Check Asks Users to Identify Photos of Friends’ Dogs, Gummi Bears;
• an independent and open tool for scanning your Facebook privacy settings;
• Facebook’s security check is anything but.
• How To Stop The Security Check on Facebook
• Facebook security barriers make for uneasy access

Really? Facebook Security Check?

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the 30-day challenge – One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

You may have heard of the “30-day challenge“, where you set aside 30 days to do something every day – which you don’t normally do. Many times people go for cool things they always wanted to do but “never had time to do them”, while other people go for healthy stuff / foods / principles / recipes that they adhere to for 30 days. Some of the most interesting and common ones are,

• 20 minutes of jogging every day;
• read a book in 30 days;
• spend 30 mins every day to learn a language for 30 days, as much as you can;
• no fizzy / carbohydrated drinks for 30 days;
• no sugar for 30 days;
• one picture per day with description for 30 days,
• 30 Day Letter Challenge
• Cut back on FarmVille
• 30,000 words in 30 days – Personal Challenge
• Study for exams
• 30 Day Blog Challenge
• Don’t use electronics every time I revise, for 30 Days
• Contest for Business Forum
• 30 Day Song Challenge
• To Get a Photograph with 20+ DeviantArt Favorites
• 30 Days of Photos
• 30 Day Blog-A-book Challenge
• 30 day NO facebook Challenge
• Run 100km
• 20,000 words in 30 days
• 30 day Juiceing
• No Chocolate for 30 days
• Push up Challenge
• Phone a friend a day for 30 days!
• 30 Day Outdoors Challenge
• Make something everyday for thirty days

and many others. I think it’s up to each one to decide which of these he would go for. So about 3 weeks ago I also started this -

30-day challenge – One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

and somehow I managed to keep it up! Now I’m almost close to the end of “the first round” and I need to find a new topic / a new subject… so I’m fishing around for ideas. If you have any, leave me a comment! Here are some of the meaningful things I did + wrote about every day until now…

• Praying My Problems Away – Glorious Freedom!
• Treasuring the Morning Revival Time with the Lord;
• On Time 4 the LTM + Thorough Cleaning;
• Wearing my, Christians On Campus T-shirt Today;
• Baptizing a Brother into the Triune God;
• Being Supportive Without Being Noticed;
• going shopping with the Lord;
• Get some rest + the Prayer Meeting;
• Playing Football with the Brothers;
• Leaving In Haste from the Carnival in Notting Hill Gate;
• Updating My Phone Contacts;
• Making a 3-months Commitment to Read the NT;
• Redeeming the Time at Lunch;
• Customer Service Done Properly;
• Going Through Psalms 2 thoroughly!
• Gym and Psalms(1) msg 2!
• The Most Important Thing In the Week, the LTM!
• Fellowship and …. Walk! (Saturday, 20 Aug 2011)

…. any suggestions on what challenge should I go for next? I was thinking One Picture per day – one London Tube Station per day This means I’m gonna travel… but I’m open to suggestions…

my Diaspora* invitation is coming soon, and “we’re making a difference”

Yes, everyone is on facebook, and of course I’m on twitter. So when Diaspora* was announced as this amazing project where you own all your data and can share only what you want to share with whomever you want to share, etc – full control over your data – I was also very happy! But then we all had to wait… 3 months… 6 months… 1 year… In the meantime google+ came out and they are continually developing their product, bringing many new features to the table, such as the google circles, the hangouts, the huddle, sharing with the circles you want or persons you want, public sharing, etc. Pretty cool – and it’s here, now!

One of my friends sent me an invitation to Diaspora* so eventually I got an account with them, but the excitement is gone by now… and today, just like many others, I got this email entitled, “Your invitation is coming soon, and we’re making a difference.”

Dear Friend of Diaspora* -Thanks for your interest in being part of the Diaspora* community. You may not have heard from us in a while, but we’ve been working hard, head-down. We’ve built the first stage of a new social web, one better than what’s out there today: a place where each of us owns our own information, where each person controls his or her own privacy, where no-one is a product, and where we all control our own destinies.We’re sending out alpha invitations now, as quickly as we can. If you haven’t gotten yours yet, you will receive it by the end of October.There’s been big news in the social networking world recently, and we can’t help but be pleased with the impact our work has had on two of the biggest developments. We’re proud that Google+ imitated one of our core features, aspects, with their circles. And now Facebook is at last moving in the right direction with user control over privacy, a move spurred not just by Google+, but more fundamentally by you and thousands of other donors, as well as hundreds of thousands of people who’ve lined up to try Diaspora* — that is, by all of us who’ve stood up to say “there has to be a better way.” We’re making a difference already.And aspects is just one of the many ways we’re pioneering the future of the social web.Here’s a quick preview of some of the other ways: We’ll make the social web more fun than it is today. Our distributed design gives you the security of owning your own identity and data. This also gives you the freedom to do what you want online. Our ecosystem provides the commons, the connective tissue for an evolving social web. We’re not gatekeepers, so our ecosystem will always support the latest apps. We’ll tell you a little more about each of these points in the weeks ahead. And we’ll keep working to get your alpha invitation to you just as quickly as we can. Until then, thanks again for your interest in Diaspora*. Sincerely, - Maxwell, Daniel, Ilya, Sarah, Yosem and Peter The Diaspora* team Thursday, September 8th, 2011

C’mon, guys, you need to be more quick in releasing the new products! The web is moving at the lighting speed… if you want to make a difference, don’t try to do this TOO LATE! Facebook is updating really quick(remember the funny groups and pages on facebook? – where are they now?) and so does twitter, google+, and facebook!

ego-tickling and self-uplifting up-to-date blog spam comments

I continue to be speechless. I mean, I have a lot to say, but the spammers also have a lot to say! If you blog, you’re bound to have people trying to put spam comments on your blog. But these comments here listed below are just above and beyond anyone can imagine – totally ego-tickling and self-uplifting! When someone comes on your blog and leaves such amazing comments, why would you not let them through? LOL – this just means that the SEO and SEM people “know how to get around it” when it comes to shameless persistence in “promoting their website in any way with any cost”…

• Just discovered this blog through Google, what a pleasant shock!. you’ve gotten an ideal blog right here! would you prefer to make some invite posts on my blog? outstanding .
• I usually don’t post in Blogs but your blog forced me to, amazing work.. beautiful. Just thought I’d drop you a line to tell you your site really rocks! I have been looking for this sort of information for a long time. tremendous great awesome.
• Thank you for posting this, It’s just what I was browsing on bing. I’d very much rather hear opinions from an individual, rather than a corporate web page, that’s why I like blogs so much. Thanks!. I really loved the post so I used my Digg account to digg it. more please tremendous pleasing.
• Noticed your site on delicious right now and genuinely enjoyed it.. I don’t usually reply to posts but I will in this case. WoW awesome outstanding great.
• My sis advised me about your site and how great it is. She’s right, I’m really impressed with the writing and slick design.. I really loved the post so I used my Digg account to digg it. awesome fantastic.
• Hey, I just hopped over to your site via StumbleUpon. Not somthing I would usually browse, but I appreciated your views none the less. Thanks for creating something worthy of reading.. Love the post, thanks keep up the good work! Bookmarked! great great tremendous.
• Good blog. I got a lot of good data. I’ve been keeping an eye on this technology for awhile. It’s fascinating how it keeps shifting, yet some of the core factors remain the same. Have you seen much change since Google made their latest acquisition in the area?
• I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
• Rather interesting site you’ve got here. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. I definitely want to read more soon.
• While I agree with a lot of what you post, there are some items I would do differently. But, I am thankful of your being able to express a great deal of my beliefs on the subject.
• It is usually difficult to get qualified people on that matter, but you sound like you are aware of exactly what you are posting about! Regards
• Such a type of blog post will definitely click to numerous viewers. A good article and useful for its written content. Many thanks for sharing it up!. Hey very nice blog!! more please terrific tremendous.
• Just bookmarked your site! I’ll be back to check out your future postings.. Just thought I’d drop you a line to tell you your site really rocks! I have been looking for this sort of information for a long time. pleasing great.

Sorry for the length of the article, but if you would get such comments on your blog, wouldn’t you just love them?

to-do websites and to-do lists, organizers and organizing

The more you become involved in things, business, people, relationships, the more “fragmentary” your life tends to be. There’s no “central website” where you do everything, get everything, or plan everything; there’s almost no way to organize everything or even live in the same place for a while so that you would manage things properly. It is the same with the to-do lists – it’s so hard to stick around with one of these many websites that are out there! Recently I realized I need a more efficient way to organize my to-do lists both for work and for the personal things I need to take care of. So I did some research, and here are some of the top ones that are more interesting:

• ToodleDo - An easy to use, online to-do list. Get organized, stay motivated, and be more productive. It lets you: Organize Your Tasks, Improve Your Productivity, Go Anywhere, Collaborate, Customize, Import Your Existing Tasks, Web 2.0 Buzzword Compliant. It even has an iPhone app!
• RememberTheMilk! - Never forget the milk – or anything else! Free account, sync with google calendar, gmail gadget, twitter, microsoft outlook, blackberry, etc. Android and iPhone app. Email tasks, reminders, iCalendar feeds, etc – Manage tasks quickly and easily, locate your tasks, get reminded anywhere, organize the way you want to, work together to get things done, plan your time, search your tasks, add tasks…
• VO2DOO - View and Edit Tasks, Keep Notes on Each Task, See Next Actions at a Glance, Organize Tasks into Projects and Contexts, Review Deadlines and History, Assign and Publish Tasks – a complex yet free service!
• Zoho Planner - Online Organizer – Plan • Organize • Share – Add to-dos, notes, and images. Share it with your friends. Get things done – it’s simple & free. Works with google accounts, yahoo, facebook, google apps account, etc – a complex solution;
• ToDoIST - Simple design and easy to use – inserting dates and times, filtering tasks, formatting text, links, netvibes widget, igoogle widget, dashboard widget, keyboard shortcut, iPhone app, android app, on the mobile, and the API available!
• Tu-Du list – web based accessible list, share lists with friends, RSS feed, completely free and the source code is free + ready to be modified!
• Bla-Bla List – Lists without any blah blah! Secure, simple, sharable to-do lists! Make a list of things to think about later when you’re not so busy, share them, publish them via rss, email them to yourself, etc

The amazing increase of spam websites, link filled websites, and web directories…

I’m not against good quality websites and adding value to the market, but I’m more and more concerned, just like many other online people are(including the guys at techcrunch) that there are too many high-quality-spam-websites out there. Let me describe you a scenario:

You are a small business somewhere, and decide to go online also with an online store. You invest a lot of money in creating and maintaining the website, updating the prices, etc. Then, you’re being told: hey, you need SEO, you need a company to optimize and promote your website! You get one of these companies to work for you and they do a pretty good job – you’re pleased…

Guess what: once you’re being “up there in the top 10″ for some major keywords, there are several calls each day from some super-amazing SEO companies that are ready to “optimize your website“, do “email marketing for your website“, do “article marketing” for your website, or “social media gurus” trying to contact you via email, twitter, facebook, etc. Aside from all these, there are some websites that literally start with nothing, and they take some of your content + put it on their website(they organize it by categories, tags, etc). You’re just one of the many companies they “list” on their website, creating a good link system in-bound and out-bound…. So you’re happy: they properly introduce your company, your website, etc. You may get some visits from them, and even some orders…. In 2-3 months after they start sending you visitors, they start sending you emails: “Hey, do you need us to update any of your details on our website? Is there any other pictures, details, etc that you want us to put on your page on our website?” – yuppy! Of course you wanna do that, so you add either some products, pictures, details, etc….

This “haven” lasts for at most 6 months when this type of websites email you / call you / send you a letter saying, If You Still Want To Stay on our website, you need to pay an annual / monthly fee… the benefits are: 1. When someone searches for your name, we’re right there behind you, amost taking over in google! 2. We have hundreds of thousands of visitors because of businesses like you from whom we took the rightful visitors… 3. We send you lots of orders! (yeah right!), etc.

Examples of such websites? In the UK, there is TheBestOf, FindTheNeedle(which is more like “get lost on our website”), and many-many others, even shopzilla.
Here is the tricky part: there are so many such websites that are packed with solid links yet adding so little value to the internet, that you can safely classify them as spam websites. It used to be “web directories” where you would find the websites you’re looking for; today it’s these website aggregators / ecommerce directories, which are just a composition and compilation of links organized – with very little to offer but – pointing you(hopefully) to where you want to go! So confusing! So many superfluous articles written about certain areas/products that when you search for something on google it will take you AGES until you get to the real thing / the manufacturer / the origin… Someone needs to clear up this mess, kill / diminish the importance of some of these websites, and “clean/purify” the mess online!

I’m not saying “they all are useless and should not exist“, I’m just saying that this kind of websites are so many and so similar + so well optimized that PEOPLE(the real people who actually search and are interested to find things…) are CONFUSED and many times directed to websites that don’t offer them what they are looking for… too much spam content online that does not offer you any value + does not lead you to where YOU want to go…

if you’re happy and you know it, you…

don’t really need to prove it to anyone! You don’t need to try to convince anyone that You’re Happy! Happiness / joy is not that can be explained – you simply have it! It is actually so real that when you’re happy, everyone else knows it, and if you’re not happy, as much as you want to show it, it just doesn’t work! Telling others that “I’m a happy person!” is actually something superflous / ballast – it’s obvious, especially since if you’re happy, just like when you’re in love, there’s “no comment” about it(everyone can see it!).

Recently I was put in the situation where I found myself saying, “But I’m a happy person, you know…” – and I realized that it is unreal, unpractical, and untrue to tell this to someone. How can you “defend love“, “defend the fact that you’re happy”? People may be jealous at you for being happy, but actually everyone wants to be genuinely happy. They want what others genuinely have – these pure human states of mind / states of soul are desired by everyone. Of course, there are some who are not just jealous but do their best to put one down when he’s happy – either consciously or unconsciously… – let’s leave these sad persons aside… And then there are those who think that “when I’m happy, everyone should be happy; when I’m not happy, no one else should be happy!“…..

So in conclusion, after this tirade of thoughts on being happy / being in love – you can’t explain it, but “if you’re happy and you know it, you simply don’t need to prove it!” Once you genuinely have something, you have it!

wikileaks and the rest of the world, the wikileaks bomb and us

Everyone talks about wikileaks these days, especially as their top spokesman/leader Julian Assange was arrested in the UK. They unveiled / made public several hundreds of thousands of cables and international secret telegrams, papers, letters, emails, etc. Many of these impacted the relations between countries and shook up goverments. USA, of course, wants the website dead, so they “killed it” – their hosting company refused to host it anymore. More than that – paypal, VISA, and MasterCard, among other online payments processing companies, refused to take any payments that would help wikileaks. Strangely enough, it looks like at the moment MasterCard online payment processing has some serious problems – no payments can be taken(at least at the moment) – the hackers that support wikileaks put the website and their online services down.

What’s going on? Who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy? Sweden because they want Julian Assange on a ridiculous charge of rape? USA and the other superpowers because their real intentions and attitudes were revealed in these cables / documents put online? The hackers who kicked wikileaks out of USA? The newspapers and radios and news medias who are pros / cons the wikileaks? The hackers who DDOS attacked MasterCard and other online payments processing companies? The rest of the wikileaks people who continue to publish leaked documents via wikileaks? USA who bans any discussion or mention of wikileaks for people who want to work for them? The newspapers like guardian who analyze the cables and periodically put out some analysis regarding the relations between the countries and the ambassadors / foreign affairs ministers? Wow, talking about the world becoming smaller – via these thousands of leaked documents you can see some state secrets / secret operations that took place in the war…. all of them for free. I have no idea what’s going on… but wikileaks definitely placed a bomb and now, the rest of the world…