Is Perry taking our advice about social media when a conversation turns negative? Doesn’t really look like it. Here’s what he had to say today:

While Perry has largely avoided questions on the subject, he told reporters in Iowa on Friday he does not consider Mormonism a cult.

And his campaign released a statement Tuesday in response to Romney’s comments vowing Perry would keep his focus on jobs and the economy.

“Mitt Romney’s comments are a distraction from the fact that Romneycare served as a blueprint for Obamacare,” the campaign said.

Avoiding the topic or changing the topic is NOT how to handle a conversation that turns negative in social media.

Man, I’ve never been an Anderson Cooper fan, but he completely demolished this guy that called Mormons a “cult,” and wiped the floor with him. It’s hilarious! (From the Facebook video description – which has since been taken down – go figure)

This was the description of a Facebook video, originally viewed on CNN with Anderson Cooper, that has gone viral and is being talked about all over social networks.

Here’s the video:

Here’s what just a few of my Facebook friends had to say:

No, this isn’t a post where I “share my testimony” about politics, faith or religion.

No, I haven’t really done any additional research on Pastor Robert Jeffress (nor do I plan to waste my time doing so).

But, as Anderson Cooper stated a couple times in the final questions: “Don’t you think a stand like this will only hurt Perry’s chances for the Presidency?”

Using Facebook to Spread the Word

Just from my Facebook friends alone, there were at least 197 mentions of this video within a couple hours.

I’m sure most of us know the potential Facebook has for sharing content all over the world. But do Pastor Jeffress or Governor Perry really understand the power of social media and reputation management?

Not only did Jeffress slam the Mormon faith, of which there is a strong following and support in social networks, but he also went on to basically slam all other religions that don’t follow his practices. And all this in an effort to support his politician of choice? Really?

Other Highlights of the Interview

Pastor Jeffress: When I talk about a cult, I’m talking about a theological cult as opposed to a social cult…(although he never explained the difference)

Pastor Jeffress: And we could get into an in-depth theological discussion and put everyone to sleep out there (Anderson interrupts)

Anderson Cooper: Well, I’m fine putting people to sleep as long as we educate people…

Anderson Cooper: Hindus, Buddhist, Islam – Cults?

Pastor Jeffress: Yes, absolutely.

Anderson Cooper: Do you worry that you’re actually harming your candidate Rick Perry…clearly Rick Perry is now distancing himself…do you worry you’re damaging him?

I was happy to see articles later this evening, some event written by Evangelicals, that took a stand for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

The 4 Social Media Takeaways for Protecting Your Online Reputation

1. Do Your Research

Take time to think things through before you blast away, especially if you’re talking about things that are near and dear to potential voters hearts. Jeffress should have asked himself these important questions before saying a word:

• What are my goals and objectives?
• Who am I trying to reach? Where do I think those people are online?
• What online channels or social media sites might be the right fit for my business?
• How much time do I realistically have to invest in this?
• Am I prepared for negative conversation about my products and services?

It appears to me that he didn’t ask himself ANY of these questions or he’d be “repenting” for all the fluff he said.

2. Listen to Your Audience

Can you imagine what’s happening on Google Alerts with phrases like “Pastor Robert Jeffress”, “Anti-Mormon Pastor”, “Evangelical Pastor”, “Mormon Cult”, etc.?

I wonder how this all ties back to Governor Perry and his run for the Presidency?

3. Join the Conversation

Interesting point: If you go to Pastor Robert Jeffress Youtube account, he’s turned off all comments, all likes and dislikes. Isn’t that ironic with social media? Does he really WANT to know what other people think and feel or is he all about his own $ocial agenda$?

4. When Conversation Turns Negative

What will you do if people write nasty things about you, or even worse, an issue explodes that could deliver a devastating knock-out blow to your business, or in this case, to Rick Perry’s presidential campaign? It appears Pastor Jeffress plan is to just turn off all comments, ignore the negative, and keep getting TV spots to make more of a fool of himself.

If you want to do social media the right way, the most important thing to do when and if you receive negative feedback is to respond as soon as possible—and that’s true of almost any online channel.

There is nothing wrong with admitting a mistake or apologizing. Most people will stick with you if you work to make things right. Rick Perry has had one of his representatives make a comment – but if he really wants to win back votes he should take a stand himself.

What are your thoughts on this bad PR stunt for Rick Perry by Pastor Robert Jeffress? How do you feel it will effect his online reputation (if he had one to begin with)?

Quit. Your. Bitchin’!

I mean come on! Facebook is FREE! This image I saw today on Facebook summed it up perfectly:

One of the funniest things I read was a friend who said, “Just signed up for Google + – Goodbye Facebook…”  I responded: “Yeah right dude. You won’t do this. Google + is fine but it’s NOT Facebook and most of your friends AREN’T there or using it much. See you when you come back ”

Wouldn’t you know – less than one hour later he REPLIED to my Facebook comment!

Another friend who’s a “Facebook faithful” shared this “web-gem”:

Stop complaining about changes on Facebook, you will figure out how to work things again. Three months from now you won’t even remember how things used to be.

Well said, Will, well said!

Yes, there were many changes to Facebook recently. And yes, there will be even more changes to Facebook by Thursday, September 22, 2011. According to Mashable:

Facebook is driven by a single, unique goal. Its priority isn’t to gain more users (it already has 750 million of those), nor does it feel compelled to find stupid ways to increase pageviews. Its primary goal right now isn’t to increase revenue, either — that will come later.No, Facebook’s goal is to become the social layer that supports, powers and connects every single piece of the web, no matter who or what it is or where it lives. On Thursday at its f8 conference in San Francisco, the world’s largest social network will take a giant leap toward accomplishing that goal.

I have seen what Facebook is launching on Thursday, and it’s going to change the world of social media…The Facebook you know and (don’t) love will be forever transformed. The news that will come out of Facebook during the next few weeks will be the biggest things to come out of the company since the launch of the Facebook Platform.

As I read the complaints, the rants, and the moaning and groaning about all the Facebook changes last night and today, I decided to take pictures of things I thought were COOL about the new Facebook changes. Here’s my top ten:

8 Great Facebook Changes You Have to Start Using

(in no particular order)

1. The Facebook Ticker:

2. The Top Stories Section:

3. Birthday Wishes Made Easy Easier:

4. Facebook Circles Lists (Thanks for the cool idea Google +)

5.  The Subscribe (or Unsubscribe) Option for “Friends”

6.  A Solution to Clean Up Your Home Page Clutter

7.  Who Shared My Stuff Notifications

8.  Easier Access to EVERYTHING

I’m interested to see what they’ll roll out on Thursday.

But I feel these changes are helping Facebook do what it really intends to do:

…to enhance the emotional connection its users have to each other through Facebook. These changes will make Facebook a place where nearly everything in your life is enhanced by your social graph. These changes will make it so you know your friends better than you ever thought you could.

Now tell me WHY you don’t like these great changes with strong arguments, not crap like, “I was just so use to the old version…” or “I hate change…”

UPDATE:

Facebook just announced the roll out of Timeline:

Nate Moller works with businesses who want to improve their online business. For over five years, he’s worked with thousands of companies who are looking for answers in their online marketing journey. Follow Nate on Twitter and become a fan of Moller Marketing on Facebook!

Just how big is Facebook?

Infographic & Viral Marketing from Dream Systems Media

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Thanks to Jesse Stay, who got the whole thing on audio and reviewed it multiple times, this rumor is just that – a RUMOR. But you can imagine what it would have been like to have Mark reveal his secret to all his “Facebook Friends” in Happy Valley…

Anyway, now that we have that cleared up, here are some of the highlights of today’s conference:

Question and Answer Format

Orin Hatch: “The main reason I invited you, Mark, is to get you to accept me as a ‘Friend’. Think of what you could have been if you would have come to BYU…”

BYU Facebook Page Questions

How did Facebook get off the ground and has it turned out to what you’ve thought it would be?

Built first version as a sophomore at Harvard. I was quite certain we weren’t building a company. I built it because I wanted the product to exist at Harvard. We started getting requests from neighboring schools…it kind of just got out of control from there.

At the end of my sophomore year I moved out to Silicon Valley, still not with a purpose to start a business.

If I were doing this again, I probably wouldn’t choose Silicon Valley.

My girlfriend probably wouldn’t be psyched if I move to Utah.

One thing that gets blown out of proportion is the emphasis of one single person…the success of Facebook is about the team we’ve built.

We’ve focused at Facebook on keeping the company as small as possible. We service 500+ Million people but we only have 2,000 employees. Every person you hire has to be GREAT.

What classes would you recommend, the most beneficial classes to you?

I wasn’t in school for that long…

All of our problems are human problems – I was a double major in Computer Technology and Psychology.

Psychology and Sociology is a big part of what we do.

On Computer Science side, there are highly theoretical and the practical classes too.

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

You have to really love and believe in what you’re doing.

Building a business is hard; you encounter a lot of challenges. If you don’t completely love what you’re doing, it becomes rational to stop it when times get touch.

It requires introspection.

A lot of the founding principles of Facebook deal with empathy, developing relationships, etc.

It’s important, if you’re going to take on any big challenge, is to have faith and a strong interest in what you’re doing.

Mark Question for Orin Hatch:

What does Congress and our Government think should happen with budding entrepreneurs on the Internet?

We haven’t over-regulated the Internet. I prefer keeping innovation alive.

Napster didn’t have the basis that you’ve built at Facebook.

What is Facebook trying to do to promote a better development environment?

We want to make it so Facebook doesn’t set up a situation where we’re the only ones who can build services and apps for Facebook.

A good independent entrepreneur or developer can usually do things better than a branch of a big company.

A lot of the specifics things people are going to build – we’re not going to be the best at.

It’s humbling to see the success that a lot of people have had.

We want to make it so people can build things that will help long-term success and a much stronger eco-system of apps.

How can we maximize Internet potential while minimize the dark side of the Internet?

We offer extremely robust privacy controls. You can publish things that only certain people can see. More folks understand more now where there information is going. There’s a huge value in being able to share information like this.

We try to build a safe environment.

What other steps is Facebook taking on the security front to protect user data?

We are one of the first products that offer people the ability encrypted (https). This makes it extra hard for people to get access to the information to share.

If you login to Facebook from a new place, we want to make sure it’s actually you. We’ve invented new security measures so we ask questions to verify you are the owner of your content.

We’re always thinking about little and big things we can do to keep people safe when using our service.

How can technology help education?

Technology can help improve education by measuring.

The ability to spread information in a transparent way.

Mark Question to Senator Hatch:

What do you think we should be doing for education?

I’ve taken a roll of enhancing education through technology…. (Deep thoughts)

What do you see as the roll of social media technology?

We believed that something like this would be built, we just didn’t realize we would be the builders of it.

We thought a lot about giving people the ability to connect it ways they couldn’t before.

You can now stay in touch with people in a more passive way – that’s the basis of Facebook.

Businesses can now communicate more with their consumers. They can’t really hide any more behind corporate walls.

Tools like Facebook will affect government as well.

Facebook and the Internet give people a voice to be heard where 20 years ago they couldn’t.

See peace.facebook.com – maps out relationships countries are creating.

“Ask about the Church!” someone yelled…

What can BYU students do to get on Facebook’s radar?

We look for people who are passionate about something. It really doesn’t matter what – we just look for things people have shown initiative for on their own.

What about Facebook Ads?

Everyone likes Facebook to be free, right?

We don’t sell any information – people’s trust is so important to us.

Ads keep Facebook Free!

My Conclusion

Yes, I was happy to be there.

Yes, Zuck was wearing the classic Facebook hoodie.

Yes, the place was pretty packed (not as packed as if Jimmer would have been there).

And yes, Mark shared a few things that were worth taking notes for.

However, I left feeling like Orin Hatch made a good attempt yet FAILED at his political strategy of getting 18-25+ voters to re-elect him.

His comments were stupid and included statements like:

“I’ve had about 1,800 BYU girls contact me wanting to marry you…we Mormons don’t marry like that…” (paraphrased)

and

“We’d sure love to have you move out here to Utah.”

and finally, when ask a political question by Mark:

“Blah, blah, blah, a new bill here, a program there, and…But I just really respect and admire what you’re doing for the Internet.” – SERIOUSLY?

The best props I can give to Mr. Hatch is that he got Zuck here. It was a fun experience.

What questions would YOU have ask Mark Zuckerberg?

photo credit

Facebook recently announced it’s facial recognition software and so shouts of “Privacy Issues” are screaming across the blogosphere. But how much of a privacy issue is it?  The statement used by Facebook, “We’ve automatically grouped similar pictures”. Background, lighting, and other elements of the image can be used to group similar pictures.  In fact, Techcrunch reported that “Google researchers published a paper describing progress they are making in teaching computers how to identify famous landmarks” in a post dated June 22, 2009. Granted this isn’t facial recognition software they are developing, but the momentous task of identifying faces is equivalent if not greater than identifying landmarks.

Facebook’s spokes person is being anything but clear as to what level they are taking this. This statement given, “It’s pretty standard technology that is already out there,” would suggest it’s not an ID system. Identifying people is not a standard technology.  Face.com has been working on developing this technology for some time.  However, face recognition is a common technology.  Many digital cameras quickly and easily identify a face within the frame.  Two eyes, a nose and mouth grouped closely together are pretty easy to find.

Having said that, Facebook could be a learning system with potential to breach facial identification.  Apple has provided a face recognition software that allows tagging with their iPhoto since 2009. Apple’s software does begin to identify faces that you tag regularly. The more you tag an individual the easier it is for the computer to identify and auto suggest an individual, not just a face. When tagging with iPhoto, the program can also find/sort images on your computer for that individual’s face. They also allow places tagging. The cool part is that you can search your photos by places or faces. So to say that Facebook can’t do it would not be an accurate statement either. And even if they cannot do it now, who is to say that they won’t go back and do it later once the technology is perfected?

And for those that want to believe it’s a violation of their privacy and the Big Brother Skynet is just around the corner, Justin Mitchele does state “…to match your new photos to other photos you’re tagged in. We group similar photos together and, whenever possible, suggest the name of the friend in the photos.” So is Facebook creating identification software? The common link in the facebook suggest is you. It connects you to your friends. Connecting you to a random photo of you on the internet taken by a stranger is still a long way off. Without significant input from human users that can teach the facial recognition software with whom to link the image, facial recognition software used to identify individuals is still a light-year away.

Testing the Facebook Identification Software

So far the software is not available for all users. I did get a quick sneak peek and this is screen shot of them grouping Arnie’s photo together.

Photos from AZIMA meet up. | "Who is this?"

The fact that it grouped Arnie’s images together at the top is not too alarming as it could be attributed to the lighting, background, and sequence. But Arnie’s profile image was also in sequence and the lighting background is similar. Further David Mihm’s profile image following Arnie’s was not grouped in. With these as indicators, the software is certainly more sophisticated than a simple face recognition program. The software very well could be a photo identification/privacy nightmare.

Although I must admit that I did appreciate the auto rotation Facebook threw in with their new program. Yes, they now have auto horizontal/vertical image rotation. Man I love time saving inventions.  Just wish I knew how to bank that time saved.

-Thomas Ballantyne
“Don’t mind me, I am just the pest control guy.”
Find me on twitter @Thos003

Remember that an event could be you came out with a new product, you opened a new store, etc. You can promote more than just events that people attend in person, but milestones or launches.

Also, if you missed it there also a link that lets you record a video directly from your laptop. You can either upload a video that you’ve already recorded or create one right from your computer. All you need is a webcam. I’ve noticed that short video updates usually get more comments.

I hope that you’ve already claimed your Facebook URL (http://www.facebook.com/usernames) for your brand and for your personal profile. For now, Facebook requires that your Page has at least 100 fans to get a custom URL.

I’m always trying to keep up on what is happening on Facebook. I recommend this 50 pages of Facebook Tips. The link goes to a guide from Joan Stewart. It is not free – it’s $40 but IMO it’s worth that because otherwise you’ve got to spend hours trying to figure it out by yourself. Following a conversation about Facebook (which helps you get context for the various features you can use to market your business), there’s a guide with screenshots. It explains a lot of confusing elements of Facebook and features you may not know about. I print it out and refer to it often. It’s quick to skim through and saves me when I forget how to do something.

If you want even more in-depth Facebook information, Jesse Stay writes about Facebook programming and features quite often. I’m hoping that he’ll update his book about Facebook. The guide I refer to happened this month. A book that takes several months to produce just can’t keep up with the changes.

Why should you be interested in Facebook? For starters, in 2009 Facebook had a 276% growth rate for people ages 35-54. It is essentially doubling every two months. To me Facebook takes a close second to Twitter (follow me! and Dream Systems Media) as far as social networks go.

50$ In Free Facebook Ads

If you have been thinking about giving the Facebook Ads a try, now is your perfect opportunity because I am giving you a chance to win $50 bucks in free clicks – (I am gonna keep this simple too) all you gotta do is comment and let me know why you wanna try out the Facebook Ads program – and I’ll pick one of you to give it to.  I will just email, or DM the code to the winner on Monday March 30th, and you can have all $50 bucks of free clicks.  Keep in mind that this is only good for users that are new to the Facebook Advertising program.

WHY am I doing this?

I already have an account, and got this card while I was at SMX West 2009.  I actually just found it in the bag you get (almost tossed it) and am not going to use it, so I decided to give it away so it can be put to use.  It expires June 30th of this year, so if you win it – use it fast!

If I choose you, you will have to come back to this post (not a requirement) and let me know if the ads did anything for you and what you learned while using the $50 bucks!   You can even follow me on Twitter for good measure, but that’s not required either!  I look forward to the comments!

Good Luck!

PS – Let this be a reminder to those of you who got bags at SMX West 2009 that you got a free card with $50 bucks in free FB Ads – unless I was the only one???

PPS – You can even leave a comment as to why you wouldn’t want this too?  I would love to hear all reasons!

UPDATE: We have a winner!  Congrats to Missy for being the winner of the free ads!  I appreciate all who commented!

Is This Google Ad Relevant?

As I was in my Facebook the other day this ad was showing up, and it raised the question about relevance. (and several other questions)

Would an ad like this be allowed on Google?  I am still not aware of the quality scores on Facebook ads, but would you actually click on this ad? Do you really think that a girl with … two obvious features is going to help make you 10k a month?  I am thinking these are very poor ads that will have a low conversion rate.  Who cares if the CTR is high, its all about the conversion IMO.

I guess Facebook just wants to cash in because I think these ads are crap.  Look, I get it – sex sells, but why would you waste money on these kind of ads?  They would be better off, and probably make more money if they had a page to other “Google Girls” and had adsense on the page with links to a contest, or “Submit your Google Girl pictures here?”

THAT, would be more relevant and give users more of a reason to click – Don’t ya think?

I am amazed that more web designers and developers are not more familiar with the power of social networks – especially Facebook.   I love Facebook because people are trying to find YOU, they want to see what YOU are doing and what YOU are up to.  If you have your profile set up correctly, using the tools Facebook gives you to add RSS feeds to your profile etc. the people who are trying to find information about YOU will do just that, and that is why you need a Facebook page!  It is the easiest sell you will ever make.

Within days of setting up a Facebook profile page, my neighbor has already gotten several web development/design leads from people he had forgotten even existed!  Old friends growing up, school buddies, college buddies etc. all found him and what he did for a living very interesting! Again, its the easiest sell you will ever make because they know YOU, and are coming to YOU!  He told me that someone even came up with a Facebook app idea they wanted him to create.

…He’s addicted now (and blames me) but that’s ok because he’s making money and that is never a bad thing!

I had to laugh when he told me after the first day of creating his profile, his email was blowing up because something like 34 people had added him as a friend and they were all commenting wanting to catch up.  What I told him is that is 34 more people that know what he does for a living, and 34 more people that can tell their friends when they hear someone say – “I need a web design” or “Do you know anyone who does web design?”  His number has since gone up and continues to grow everyday, but he finally is understanding the power of social networks and why it is a good thing to have a Facebook page and be “social”.

I love the power of Facebook, and how it allows you to find and stay connected with people from your past and future.  Please feel free to connect with me on Facebook here, and let me know if there are any Facebook questions you have that I can help you with!