automaticable

It has been a while since I’ve posted on automaticable, so let me catch the world up on a few things.

First, I’m still doing SEO at BKV in Atlanta. And by that, I mean it is taking over my life. Because of the life-takeover problem BKV graciously hired me an assistant, Tom. He is brand new to the SEO world (just as I was) but will become an expert shortly since I’m kind of throwing him in the deep end. Sink or swim, baby.

Not only am I (and Tom) working on SEO, but we’re also in charge of everything social media at BKV. That means we get to spend most of our day on Twitter, Facebook, and every other site most companies ban access to. Sweet deal. If you have Twitter and want to follow me, you can find me at twitter.com/kwegner. Make sure to @me so I know you are automaticable fan.

I don’t usually like to pump work stuff on personal posts, however we are doing social media work for a non-profit right now that is totally awesome. We are working on promoting an event for the March of Dimes called “March for Babies.” It is an event to help raise money to support research into premature birth & other birth problems. If you want to help out the cause, check out www.marchforbabies.org or follow March for Babies on Twitter at twitter.com/marchforbabies.

That is it on the update. Expect more posts from me in the near future, as I’ve recently been reinvigorated by the fact that automaticable just suprassed 100,000 total views.

In this new age of social networking and being able to find just about ANYTHING on the internet (Thanks Al Gore!) it seems like your typical websites like Myspace and Facebook are where you can basically find anyone and their mom, literally.  I have experience with both websites and have watched both grow and deteriorate over time.  I’ve still noticed that I spend the majority of my time on websites like these, and it got me to thinking, “What is it about these websites that make me so attracted to them?”

Continue reading “Social Networking: Is it for you?”

Happy Download day everyone! This is an exciting thing on all ends, because not only is this my first techy blog on good ole automaticable, but today is the Firefox 3 Download Day!! There’s many plans going on, the biggest of all, of course, is the ability to pledge to download the new update today, in the next 24 hours, to be apart of the Guinness Book Of World Records 2008! That’s right, with the new release of Mozilla Firefox is trying to have the most downloads in a 24 hour period. When I pledged, just moments ago, there were 1,683,932 other pledges just like mine! So head on over to www.spreadfirefox.com and make your pledge today! While you’re there check out some of the other cool things happening. You can plan an office or school Download Fest where you all meet up on your lunch breaks and download the new Firefox 3, join some of the great Download Day groups on Facebook, or Myspace, or become a campus rep for Firefox! All of these things are very exciting and I want to encourage ALL of our automaticable fans to head on over and make the pledge to download Firefox 3 today and be apart of the magic happening all around the world!

While the majority of people browsing the internet use Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari, these are not the only options available to surf the web. One browser I recently started testing that I have learned to love is Flock, a social web browser based on Mozilla’s Firefox web browser. A fusion of social networks, user generated media, and super-fast web browsing, Flock brings together the best parts of the web in an easy-to-use interface.

Above is a screen shot of Flock’s initial home screen. The only modifications I have made are to log in to a few of the social sites Flock supports, Twitter and Facebook. Flock also supports social sites such as Flickr, YouTube, and almost every blog platform you can imagine. Below I’ve outlined a few of the major functions of Flock, but with so many innate features it will be worth your while to check out the Getting Started page on Flock.com for additional information.

1. The Social Sidebar – After logging in to all of the sites Flock supports, tabs will be added to the People Sidebar for quick access. Here I have the “All” tab selected, which currently has a chronological time line of when all of my Facebook friends and Twitter contacts have updated. On top of simply knowing what their most recent update is, the Media button will be highlighted whenever new pictures have been added to one of your friend’s profiles. Also, if you have any private messages, pokes, or other notifications, each tab will highlight individually notifying you of the update. What provides the most convenience, though, is the ability to update your own status across all of your networks simply within the sidebar instead of visiting all of the different sites individually. As someone who recently joined Twitter and is getting back into the Facebook game, this saves me a ton of time throughout the day.
2. Media Streams – Flock makes it easy to find, access, and browse all different types of media in the integrated media bar. You can load up your own streams from any site that supports picture and video updates, as well as access automatic streams that come from the social networks you are a part of. An example of this is the stream I currently have running. Because I am logged in to Facebook, I can access pictures posted by my friends, any recent photos that are public, or just pictures of myself. In order to keep Facebook’s embarrassing photos from marring the reputations of any of my friends, I only have my photos across the top. If there is anything incriminating up there, ignore it. Thanks.
3. My World – My World is a unique homepage powered by Flock that integrates many of its best features in one place. As you can see, there are columns that show the most recent updates to your Favorite blog Feeds, your Friend Activity from any social networks you subscribe to, and your Favorite Media as defined through Flickr, YouTube, Picassa and more. There is also a Favorite Sites widget you can include to show a set of bookmarks you access frequently. All of this can be customized easily and works great as a snapshot of everything you define as important across all sections of the web.
4. Other Sidebars – Even though the only sidebar you can see is my People Sidebar, there are many more options available. Flock includes an integrated RSS feed reader, accessible through the Feeds Sidebar. Although I am a big fan of Google Reader for RSS, Flock’s integrated Feed Sidebar reminds me a lot of the Firefox extension Sage, which is super convenient as well. Another sidebar available is the Webmail bar, which allows you to get up to the minute updates from all of your webmail services at once. This is a great feature for someone like me who is forced to subscribe to Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail for separate work groups. Other sidebars available are a Favorites (or bookmarks) Sidebar, a Web Clipboard manager, an integrated blog editor, and an amazingly convenient and efficient photo uploader.
5. Firefox Extension Compatible – Because Flock is built upon the open-source Firefox browser, almost all of your current Firefox extensions will work with Flock, though currently Flock doesn’t support additional themes. This is a saving grace for any diehard Firefox fans, as you get to keep all of the customization and work you have put in to Firefox while reaping the benefits of Flock at the same time. Pro-tip: Instead of reinstalling all of your Firefox extensions, you can copy and paste your current Firefox profile folder into the Flock profile folder. Make sure to name your new profile exactly like the original one. It should look something like: p61rvkbt.default.

These are just a few examples of the many benefits of Flock. If you are a frequent social networker, media-guru, or just want to add some power to your Firefox browsing, Flock is for you. Although I am currently testing Firefox 3 at work and at home, I spend the bulk of my time browsing, Twittering, and Facebook stalking through Flock. As I mentioned earlier, there are a huge amount of features available in Flock, so check out the Flock homepage for more information.

As an added bonus, Flock is not only Windows compatible, but runs seamlessly on Mac and Linux machines as well.

I know there are many other browsers than the few mentioned above, so if you have had success with any other lesser known browsers, leave some words on your experience in the comments.

[ get flock ]

A few weeks ago I joined Twitter not knowing why it existed or what purpose it would serve in my life. I was pretty skeptical, as a 140 character message limit in my mind meant people would only be sending messages like “Going to the bathroom!” and “I am so sleepy right now “  While many people do only use Twitter to this extent, I’ve found alternate uses that fit my needs.  Below are the benefits I have seen through Twitter:

• Twitter is social, but not that social.  What I love about the social aspect of Twitter is that there is no obligation involved with following someone else’s life.  Unlike Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc., I do not have to take the social leap and call you my “friend.”  Beyond that, there is no obligation for me to follow someone who follows me, and vice versa.  This, I think, might be my favorite aspect of Twitter.  I don’t have to act like I know you.  You don’t have to act like you know me.  But we can still have an interest in what each other is saying.
• Twitter brings like-minded people together. The majority of the people that follow me are internet marketing or SEO professionals.  They have followed what I have to say in an effort to better themselves in their own work through any pearls of wisdom I may have to say, and they have also extended their professional network.  Because of the type of people that have followed me so far, I have actually tailored many of my messages to include more of my professional happenings than I probably would have otherwise.  I consider this a good thing, as I don’t want to be limited to “Going to the bathroom!”
• Twitter is easy. Although a 140 character limit is, well, limiting, it also means there is no pressure to expand upon ideas.  This makes it easy to form questions and responses since there is not the expectation of a fleshed out response that cover every aspect of a topic.  What also makes it so easy is how accessible it is.  Since I started using Twitter, I have also started testing the FireFox-based Flock browser.  I will go more into detail about Flock in a future post, but at this point, the ability for external programs to feed Twitter information in and out of the system is super convenient.
• Twitter is a promotional tool. Like it or not, a ton of people join Twitter so they can promote their own content.  The great thing about Twitter as a promotional tool as opposed to Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and others is that there is no negative connotation involved in self promotion.  Because people can choose whether or not they want to follow you, Twitter has no problem with people promoting their own content.  I know I have thrown up new automaticable posts as they are published, and this has added value to the people that follow me.  I have also read some amazing posts I would never have found if I had not joined Twitter.

Although there are plenty of other reasons I enjoy Twitter, those cover the main aspects.  At first I didn’t think I would stick with Twitter, but now that I have gotten the hang of things I think I will keep tweeting.  If you are on Twitter, or would like to jump in and give it a try, you can find my profile by clicking here.  Leave your profile link in the comments so I can follow you too.

Also, on a totally unrelated note, I’m doing pretty well on my one week promise, huh?  Stay tuned throughout the next week for even more posts.

Staying true to my promise for this week, here is another daily post!

Although much of what I enjoy throughout the internet eventually makes its way to the readers of automaticable, a very large chunk of what I find useful or entertaining hasn’t found a home here.  That doesn’t mean, however, that these gems are lost.  Much of what I find across the net is through the many blogs I read daily.  My RSS reader of choice is Google Reader for its flexibility, portability, and speed.  If you aren’t up to speed on RSS readers, you can find out what all the hubbub is about here.  Anyway, Google Reader recently added a new feature to the “Share” function: comments.  Instead of blindly “sharing” a story, I can now add a small comment about what I found useful in the post.  This adds a huge amount of functionality and usefulness, especially when sharing with a large community.

How does this help you?  Well, for one, if you use Google Reader already, you can become my “friend” through your gmail address.  My name is simply kyle.wegner[at]gmail.  Add me and you will automatically be subscribed to my shared posts.

For those of you who do not use Google Reader (or any RSS reader, for that matter), you can also check out my shared posts at this URL.  Bookmark that page if you enjoy it, as I tend to share stories quite often.

You may notice that many of my shared stories have comments on them directed at a specific person (Scott, I’m looking at you!).  I have taken the functionality of comments and integrated them into a Twitter-like conversation.  If I respond to someone else’s shared feed, you will see their original comment as a blockquote at the top of the post, directly under my comment.  If this sort of functionality is popular throughout gReader, I am hoping they start integrating a reply function so I do not manually have to quote other people’s comments.

Some other quick notes for those of you who want to experiment with the “share with note” function on Google Reader.  First, you have the ability to change the original post in any way you see fit.  This may be a blessing and a curse, as changes are not marked, meaning people could change the original text and the readers would never know it was not the original post.  What is nice about this, though, is you are able to use most HTML tags, so if you want to add a link, bold or emphasize text, or blockquote a response like I do, the functionality is there.

So check me out.  If you frequent Google Reader and share posts often, leave your gmail address in the comments (or email it to me) and I’ll subscribe to your shared posts as well.

I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I’ve taken the plunge and created an account on Twitter. I honestly do not see the value in constant reminders about what all of my contacts are doing, but so many people (especially bloggers) have been talking about it lately that I feel I will be left behind if I don’t at least check it out. Is this anything more than another type of away message or facebook status? I guess I’ll see soon enough.

So automaticable, do you Twitter? If so, find me! My screen name is: kwegner. I know, pretty original, huh? Anyway, I need some automaticable readers to become my Twitter tweeters, otherwise it is a fairly useless service. So come and find me, or leave your name in the comments!

*edit*  I guess it would make more sense to just send you directly to my profile.  Here you go: kwegner.

We have all read the news stories: students kicked off of sports teams for incriminating pictures on Facebook or recent graduates not getting jobs because the employer Googled their name and found controversial discussions on message boards. These kinds of stories are generally met with frustration, but are ultimately accepted as OK since it was the individuals decision to incriminate themselves on the internet. But what happens when activities that happen often offline, such as student study groups, start moving online? According to TheStar.com (via Slashdot), Ryerson University believes these actions should end in expulsion.

I’ll give you a quick overview, but for a full understanding of the story check out the link above. One student set up a Facebook group where he and other students would ask questions and provide tips, not solutions, to homework problems. Over 100 students had joined the group and have treated it as a virtual “study group.” They even named the Facebook group the same as the popular group study hall on campus.

Because the actions of the students are nearly identical to how students have been studying in groups for decades, this issue is a slippery slope. What if the students were to bring a tape recorder to their offline study sessions so they could refer back to the conversations? What if copies of this tape were made for all the students that participated in the study group? What if this tape were then shared online for other students wishing to participate in virtual study groups? Where is the line drawn here. Because this started as an offline medium, is it ok? Or do these faculty members think students should only be working independently in the first place? I can’t imagine what college would have been like without guidance from my peers.

What this comes down to, in my mind, is a lack of understanding on the part of the faculty. If precedence is set here, then I don’t know a single student that has not “cheated” his or her way through college. Everyone relies on their peers for help, and any university that tries to quash this is in serious denial.

Reading the headline, most of you probably already know what I’m talking about.

Earlier today, Facebook posted on their blog about measures that it’s taking to cut out the application spam.   This refers to the dozens of “Zombie” and “Top Friends” notifications you get every day, that make Facebook unpleasant to use.  Now, Facebook will be making it easier for users to block these notifications, and penalizing applications that encourage users to send out “spammy” requests.

Last year, Facebook opened up its API further than it already was, to enable 3rd-party applications to integrate directly inside of the Facebook webpage.  This was great news for developers– it meant easier access to Facebook’s large user base, better interoperability with profile pages, and a very easy-to-use interface for developing their applications.  Many large companies have taken advantage of this, and started developing useful applications for Facebook, and also promote their products.  For the most part, though, it’s been bad news for users.

Because Facebook made it so easy to use their API, just about anyone can make a Facebook application now.  And, just about everyone has made a Facebook application now, with over 16,000 profile applications developed since the launch last year.  Most of the applications are entirely useless, and have become a nuissance for anyone using Facebook simply to keep in touch with their friends.  Many have critisized Facebook lately as becoming the next Myspace.  So, this announcement comes at a good time.

I used to work on a Facebook application, Mitra, which is partially why I’ve been following the Facebook blog.  Although nearly all of the newer profile applications are useless, there are still a few worth checking out.  For example, I like the “Where I’ve Been” app.  But, to cut out the cruft, I find the best way to stop the annoying notifications is to completely block them.  This was previously done by going to the application’s homepage, and pressing the “Block” button there.  However, this is one of the specific features that Facebook is said to be improving.  Thanks goodness.

As promised earlier, here is my first post regarding my new position in the interactive media department at my job. I am specifically learning search engine optimization (SEO) and social marketing, so it is a hip new department to be a part of.

One of the problems with being part of emerging media is people often hear very little about the subject but have been told they NEED to be a part of this new and exciting marketing technique. The problem here is that social marketing does not work for everyone. The basic idea of social marketing is that you let your message spread virally through social networks, blogs, etc. That only works if you have something people want to talk about, and not every product or service is exciting enough to be considered newsworthy.

The hard part is convincing a client that their product or service, which they are generally passionate about, is not “cool” enough to spread socially. Nobody wants to hear that, and if you say it the wrong way you may lose their business altogether. This is even harder to deal with because of the mantra “The client is always right!”. As an agency our job is to please the client with the results they want to see, so if they specifically say they want to move into social media then darn it we better get them into every blog and network we can possibly find! While that would be an easy short term solution and would bring in more money to the agency up front, when (not if) the campaign fails, we as an agency will not look good and will have a hard time picking up repeat business. I am proud to say I work at an agency that prides themselves on their honesty about these types of things and hope all of our clients see the value in such honesty.