One of the nifty surprises with the newest Facebook makeover is that your privacy settings are going to be adjusted. This seems to be a common side effect of these types of updates. One specific update is troublesome: All of your pre-Timeline posts that were only viewable by “friends of friends” or “friends” will become “public.”

(Note: You can see how the public currently sees your page by finding the little gear icon drop-down menu and selecting “View as…” and presto! You can see how complete strangers view you page.)

Here’s how to keep your old posts private once you’ve switched to Timeline:

1) Log into your account and from the drop-down menu beside “Home” in the upper right, select Privacy Settings.

2) From the list on the Privacy Settings page, select Limit the Audience for Past Posts.

3) Click Limit Old Posts (see below)

4) A new window (see below) will appear with a scary message letting you know that you can’t revert this global change easily… but what is really happening is: you’re denying Facebook the right to take all of your previously private posts and make them available for the public to see. Unless you’ve had a change of heart, don’t worry that you’re maintaining the status quo you’ve already established.

5) Once you’ve confirmed, you can do another “View as…” to get a public view of your page and confirm your page is as private as you’d like.

Finally – do yourself a favor and click through your other privacy settings… just to make sure the settings are what you want!

*This article was originally published on Earnest Media.

Times Square, NYC was a perfect backdrop for this year’s FOLIO: Show, as it is the epicenter of all things contemporary, high tech, and digitally engaging. Coincidentally, that was exactly the theme of the show.

Workshops and keynote sessions touched on print and digital strategies, mobile apps, social media strategies, digital development, creative idea execution, business growth and audience engagement.

As sponsors and speakers at the event, Bates Creative was able to hear first-hand what many of the media savvy, publishing pros in attendance were buzzing about.

Discussions ranged from lack of resources and wearing too many hats, to creating digital publications “just because” and considering if the mobile apps space is right for them.

We learned that publishers are busy becoming more relevant to their audiences and advertisers and meeting them where they want to be met: print, web, and mobile apps spaces.

And just in case you haven’t heard, print isn’t dead. What is dead is the brand that doesn’t provide unique content across the right media platforms.

The Power of Print:

• Average paid subscriptions reached nearly 300 million in 2009.
  (Source: MPA estimates based on ABC first and second half 2009 data)
• The average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue.
• Magazines are the No. 1 medium of engagement and continue to score significantly higher than TV or the Internet in ad receptivity and all of the other engagement dimensions, including “trustworthy” and “inspirational.” (Source: Simmons Multi-Media Engagement Study)

The FOLIO: Show also emphasized new tools and techniques to succeed during the changing landscape of the publishing world, and dubbed our current technologically advanced state as a “Media Revolution.” To harp upon this timely motif of success in a demanding evolutionary phase, Bates Creative joined the show as exhibitors.

Because we want to be relevant to our audience too, our Creative Director, Jeff Caporizzo, had the great idea to use one of our own brand mantras as the backdrop of our booth. Perhaps you’ve already heard…but we do kickass work for our clients, so while exploring the idea of it’s unlimited unique definitions, or kickassology if you will, we asked booth visitors to draw or write what it means to them and post to our board.

Music, marathons, retirement, companies, kids, and tropical locations were all creatively displayed as definitions of kickass. (Check out our photomontage to see how our mantra turned into and interactive booth experience and a great representation of kickassology in motion.)

Thanks to all those who participated, visited or spent some time chatting with us while at FOLIO: Show. YOU definitely kickass.

Because we’re always looking for creative inspiration, we’re curious…how do you define kickass?

In the rush, any strategy seems to have been lost in a lot of cases. For example when using Facebook or Twitter, many peoples default mode of thinking is very casual and that colors the content posted to those media. It’s surprisingly common to see what I would deem as personal info, posted to media outlets that are in theory, for a company.

While there’s nothing wrong with a blog/Facebook/Twitter being more casual than a corporate site, and it is a great way to engage customers and colleagues on a more personal level. There still needs to be plan to the casual nature, the business blog is not the place to talk about an employees child’s 1st birthday party.

The problem is a ‘casual’ strategy is difficult to develop since planning to be unplanned seems rather antithetical. To be honest, we’re struggled a bit with it recently. Every individual in a business has different levels of comfort with lifestreaming and how much is personal/private vs. public. So beyond any content strategy, those concerns must be part of the larger strategy.

Some of us sat down and discussed which outlets we want to tackle and their uses. Content ideas were bandied back and forth (yes the 1st birthday was a real mention) and finally some of the rules were decided upon.

No private lives –Everyone has their own outlet for their private lives, that they can filter as they see fit. It’s not the place of a business blog to talk about what folks do in their off time. Also, in my opinion, much of the personal traffic on a business is just noise. I will always favor any source that has a better ‘signal to noise’ ratio.

Keep it work related – Of course this is open to interpretation. In our case, we decided work related events outside the office (awards, conferences, teaching, learning etc) were fair game. Beyond that, was determined to be the personal life border

It’s not just about us – Well it is, but the core meaning is that the medium is not just going to be used to promote things we have done. Of course, items like that will appear since we’re proud of the work we turn out. But we want any streams to be more. Interesting things we find, useful resources and thought leadership are all items on tap. Looking back at the 1st rule, it’s a reaffirmation of the high signal to noise concept.

Add value – This works hand-in-hand with the previous ‘rule’. Though 100% of posts can’t add value, it should be something you actively pursue. Adding value can be as simple as linking to that cache of images or an intriguing article that was found. By adding value you’ll attract more interest and followers. If all that’s ever posted are no, or very low value items no one will listen to you – you’ll just be shouting into the void.

So, hopefully these rough rules, and just the thought of outlining a real strategy will help your forays into the social media sphere. Or if you’ve plunged in headlong with no set plan, perhaps they might cause a little reflection on what you’re putting out.

Evidently Twitter is not for everyone: 60% of all twitter users don’t return after the first month according to State of the Twittersphere, a new report released by Hubspot. But for those who do tweet for business, it can be a great tool to draw attention and traffic to your site or blog.

Will Twitter last?
Between five and six million users are engaged with this social media tool. Whether it does or doesn’t last is not the question unless you are thinking about investing large sums of money and time with Twitter.

How can I use Twitter to engage followers with our content?
Find those with mutual interests using tools like Tweet Works and Twitter Search. Then follow conversations, join in conversations and start conversations. NO promotion – offer relevant and useful information and links.

How much time should I spend on Twitter?
When is your Twitter audience engaged? When are conversations happening that you could or should be participating in? When do you have something timely to say? Get a rhythm going and try to be consistent [time of day, number of times a day].

How do I know if Twitter is working?
A useful article, “Best-in-Class Twitter Strategies” written by Courtney Barnes that appeared in MIN Online May 19, 2009 shares Twitter metrics.

My favorite Twitter tools are:

• RetweetRank – track re-tweet of your posts
• TweetDeck – Tweet filtering, search and organization
• Bit.ly: – a URL shortening tool that also tracks click traffic from Twitter
• Backtweets – track tweets that link back to your Website or blog.

Don’t miss reading about how to use Twitter in business at: http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/content/view/400/1/

Lou Sabatier
Twitter: louannsabatier
www.sabatierconsulting.com

But then 2008, came and Twitter exploded onto the central stage.

In 2009 it’s seen continued growth in the public eye. As such, it’s being touted as one of the top tier social media tools – which it has become. And as time has gone on a culture and etiquette have evolved – it’s gotten past those initial growing pains that turned me off that first time around, so it’s time to look at it again.

For this article, we’ll just be looking at business use. A lot of businesses use it – some well, some poorly. But how do you use it as a business?

If you’re in the promotional business, it’s pretty simple. But for other businesses the picture isn’t so clear. So here’s a small list of things to help you get started.

Don’t go in without a strategy. Are you thought leaders? Trendsetters? Focused experts? Is this a customer service tool? Plan out your Twitter persona and stay with it.

Do be responsive. If you are trying to encourage dialog, or using it as a customer service tool, you MUST be responsive. Don’t leave people hanging –that’s the fast track to getting people griping. Also, do make use of direct messages if you don’t feel a question/topic is of use or appropriate for the public at large.

Don’t follow everyone who follows you. If you are taking the position as a thought leader, trendsetter, etc., then you should think of yourself as a thick branch on a tree. In theory, you follow some people, bigger branches, and then have a much larger number of followers, your smaller branches.

Do post quality over quantity. If you want to be seen as a thought leader, large volumes of low quality items are the anathema. Maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio.

Don’t tell people ‘What are you doing?’ – Do tell them what has your attention – It might be your project (though be wary of too much self promotion) but should be something in line with your strategy/position. Of course you can always go off topic or off persona at times to keep things personable. Just don’t make that the bulk of your traffic.

Do use Twitters search to see if someone is talking about you. If appropriate, participate in that discussion.

Do be interactive. Besides being responsive to items put to you – put things out there. Ask questions, start discussions if appropriate.

Obviously this is just small amount of food for thought, but hopefully it will help you develop a plan on how to use (or not use) Twitter.