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Facebook’s latest blog asks you to consider that the person sitting next to you in a crowded place is likely to know a friend of a friend of a friend of yours. The article argues that the widespread adoption Social media makes this is even more likely. The changes in the way we consume and share content makes it likely that any post you read, share or publish on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc. could be read by one or more people on your commute to work.
Make sure you’re up to speed with all the latest Facebook changes with our COMPLETE GUIDE TO FACEBOOK TIMELINE. After reading you’ll know about all the new features and we’ve even provided a FREE Facebook Timeline Photoshop template so that you can create your own cover image!
On Monday Facebook released two studies that looked at the ‘anatomy of Facebook’, the most interesting takeaway from the data released is that there are only 4 degrees of separation between Facebook users. This figure that has shrunk since 2008 when it was originally claimed by Frigyes Karinthy and popularised by a play written by John Guare, that everyone was on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth. As social networks and connections grow, is Marshall McLuhan’s Global Village becoming a Global Cul De Sac?
Anatomy of Facebook
This isn’t the first study of its kind. Earlier this year research showed the average degree of separation between Twitter users to be only 3.43. However, due to limitations of that study and the more common practice of following celebrities and weak acquaintances, the Facebook study is grabbing more headlines. Unlike the Twitter study, which was limited in the number of tests, Facebook examined all 721 million active Facebook users. That’s over 10% of the world’s population! Add to this the more personal approach to Facebook in which connections are more likely to be both real-life and digital and yesterday’s figures give the most accurate study of social networks to date.
Facebook’s study shows that:
- 721 million users studies share 69 billion friendships
- 50% of Facebook users have over 100 friends while the average friend count is 190 (skewed by users with 1000′s of friends)
- 99.6% of all pairs on Facebook are connected by 6 hops (5 degrees)
- 92% are connected by only 5 hops (4 degrees)
- The number of hops has decreased from an average of 5.28 in 2008 to the 4.74 in 2011
- 4 degrees becomes 3 degrees when the data is restricted to single countries
- 84% of connections are between users in the same country
- Users tend to cluster towards age groups, especially for younger generations
While this article looks at global connections it is interesting to note that a large number of connections are local/age based. This trend is strongest for users around their 20′s – as they’re more likely to befriend school, college and university acquaintances and not have made many connections around the world. However, for the sharing of information a somebody in Brighton only needs one friend in another country to share their content and they hav global reach. Read the rest of "Social Media’s Four Degrees of Separation and the Global Village"
Posted by Craig Charley in Facebook Tips and Tricks, Google+, News, Social Media on November 24th, 2011| No Comments »
Image by gnuckx on flickr
If you are regularly guest blogging and publishing content in order to get quality back-links and provide fresh content for your website, then we think you are doing a great service for your SEO and Social Media strategy.
After the lastest Google freshness update, content marketing has become the most powerful weapon in your artillery, the most respected authorities in the world of SEO are all agreed on this one. Looking for the best and most popular posts on the web is a must if you want to keep up with what’s hot and what’s popular (this is all important for those vital media shares) but what is acceptable and what amounts to simple plagiarism? It’s not just a moral dilema, Google will penalise duplicate content.
If you need more help with your SEO and social media then we offer some great deals on SEO Training, Google Analytics courses and social media training. Below Christopher Fielden, a published author, offers his opinions on the subject of plagiarism - all in his own words!
Plagiarism Definition
If you nick someone else’s idea and pretend it is your own, that’s plagiarism.
Inspiration Definition
If you see something which tickles your imagination enough to write an original story, that’s inspiration.
Examples of the Differences Between Plagiarism & Inspiration
If you went to see Lord of the Rings in the cinema and then decided it ‘inspired’ you to write a book about Rodeo Shaggins and his landscape designer, Jan-Flys Ganges, who discover a magical toe ring which has been imbued with the wrath of the dark lord Flower-on and will bring an end to all that is peaceful by covering the land with the unholy stench of ghastly garlic gases unless the ring is transported across Middle Birth and thrown into the fiery belly of Mount Bloom, that is stealing someone else’s ideas. That is plagiarism.
Read the rest of "Why Inspiration Should Never Party With Plagiarism"
Posted by Heather Buckley in New Free Resources, News, SEO, Social Media on November 21st, 2011| No Comments »
Yesterday, Google unveiled Business Pages for Google+, a feature they’ve been promising for months. At first only a handful of businesses were able to create a page but it now seems (at least for us!) that Google have opened up business pages to the public and business pages are springing up left, right and centre.
Before you do anything else – circle our page on Google+ by clicking this button:
Google+ Business Page Layout
Here’s how our brand new Google+ business page looks:
As the page is similar to a personal profile you can use our guide to pimping your Google+ profile on business pages too. Make sure you stand out from the crowd!
The business page concept will be very familiar to those who use Facebook Pages. Even the way you switch between personal and business profiles with a drop down menu is straight from Facebook: Read the rest of "Google+ Business Pages Comprehensive Guide"
Posted by Heather Buckley in Google+, News, Social Media on November 8th, 2011| 1 Comment »
UPDATE: You no longer have to install a preview of Facebook Timeline – it has rolled out worldwide and is no mandatory. But don’t fret! You can read all about how to set up your profile before showing it to the world in our Complete Facebook Timeline Guide. We cover how to set a cover image, how to change your privacy settings, how to use the new features and even how to delete your profile if you don’t like Facebook anymore!
Facebook has officially announced the new Facebook Profile changes that will radically change the way we see and use Facebook. They demonstrated it earlier this week at the f8 conference.
Update: Due to an attempted law suit by Chicago-based Timelines.com Facebook have postponed the launch of Facebook timeline. Timelines.com’s plea for a temporary restraining order has been denied by a federal judge but Facebook have agreed to hold back on a full timeline launch until the parties meet in court on Tuesday. Interestingly the case has revealed that as of Friday over 1 million Facebook users have used the developer workaround to get the timeline early with 100-200 thousand extra sign ups per day.
The “Timeline” interface is more than just a surface redesign of the Facebook Profile.
The Timeline begins by showing users images in order of date. Newest information is presented in a Ticker on profile page, including “stories” about games that users have played, music listened to from Spotify and films watched from Netflix.
Below you can see Andy’s profile after he installed the preview:
Andy's Facebook Timeline in action.
Sean Corcoran a research analyst from Forrester called it “word of mouth on steroids”.
“This won’t look like the behavioural data some of us are used to in the display advertising market but eventually it could be even better if activity patterns are included – simply because it can be more relevant. Just imagine Ticketmaster sending you a custom offer for Radiohead tickets for you and your friend because you listened to their music together.”
Will timelines help Facebook regain it’s lead as the preferred Social Networking site?
Chris Saad, Echo co-founder, said after the announcement:
“Before f8 it was clear that Google+ was 1 or 2 years behind FB. Now they are 3 or 4,”
He went on to say that Facebook wields the ultimate “attention management platform” online.
Google have been the master data collectors for years, (see Why Google will rule the World). Sean Corcoran points out that Facebook enhanced user engagement data will provide more detail about a user’s content, behaviour and tastes over several years. I think that it’s good that Facebook have decided to do something radically different from Google+, it will become more about using both in different ways than about using one or the other.
Whilst Timeline is not yet available to everyone, we have found a quick fix for those not afraid of a bit of tech jiggery pokery there is an early preview available for developers. Don’t blame me if you don’t know what you are doing though.
How to install Timeline on your Facebook account:
- Click this link https://developers.facebook.com/apps
- Click on +Create New App
- Add the App display name and namespace, call it anything you like.
- The next page shows the App ID and Secret and other details.
- Click on Open Graph on the left sidebar
- Simply define what your dummy app is capable of, like ‘Making my first App’ and click Get Started
- The next page allows you to select Action Types
- Scroll down and click Save Changes and Next
- The next page allows you to select Time Aggregrations, scroll down and click Save and Finish.
Go you! You have created a dummy Facebook app using Open Graph.
Now when you visit your Facebook profile, Facebook will give you the option to switch to Timeline view.
If you need help to sharpen your skills in SEO, Social Media, Google Analytics, JavaScript, or Web Design take a look at the courses.
Posted by Heather Buckley in Facebook Tips and Tricks, Google+, News, Social Media on September 26th, 2011| 3 Comments »
We’ve now been running Social Media Courses here at Silicon Beach for nearly two years, and during that time we’ve seen some interesting shifts in the experience and objectives of the people attending, providing an insight in to how things have moved on in the fast-changing world of Social Media marketing.
Twelve months ago, a large proportion of people attending our courses had not yet set up business accounts on LinkedIn or Twitter, weren’t blogging, and often didn’t have personal Facebook profiles, or a Facebook business page.
Facebook business page admins can check out our range of Facebook Tips and Tricks here by the way!
The delegates coming through the door today have usually had some (if not all) of these accounts set up for a while, and attend the course to learn how to increase their friends, fans and followers and achieve specific business objectives, rather than just to find out how to use the different platforms and what buttons to click.
Here are some of the other changes we’ve observed…
Early Social Media Rush Replaced by More Considered Approach
There was certainly a period when people were flocking to use Social Media for their businesses because it was the “next big thing”. There was a sense that “we have to be on Twitter because everyone else is doing it”, rather than thinking about “how can we add value to our customers using Social Media?” or “How can we use Social Media to increase Brand Awareness ?” or “How can we use Social Media to build links for SEO?”
Today – a lot of our delegates have a much better idea of what is possible with Social Media, and want to get some ideas about how to manage their activity more effectively and creatively..
Our 2-day course is designed for both absolute beginners and those who are more interested in strategic issues like as how to plan a marketing campaign for a specific product or service using social media.
So whilst we look at the specific platforms and networks and teach people about how to use them, we also fit that in to the wider strategy, and get people thinking about where their customers are communicating, what content will be of most use or interest to them, and get people to generate ideas about the strategies that will work for them. Everyone leaves with an action plan for improving how they use social media.
Less Fear of Failure – More Long Term Thinking
Another trend we’ve seen is that people have become less wary of Social Media. When we first started delivering the courses, some businesses were quite wary of letting their staff loose on Twitter and Facebook – there had been some fairly high-profile Social Media disasters (remember United Airlines?!).
Last year, one delegate asked: ‘How do I protect my tweets on Twitter so no-one can see them?’ ‘Why would you want to do that?’ I replied. It can be done, but one aim of being on Twitter is to share what’s going on with your sector, your business and yourself. If your tweets are sufficiently informative or entertaining, retweets will mean that people in your network will pass your messages on to people in their own networks, and so the word about you will spread.
Read the rest of "How Social Media has Changed"
Posted by Guest Blogger in News, SEO, Social Media on August 1st, 2011| 3 Comments »
Our last Photography Competition ended on 23 May – and our judge picked this fantastic winning photo – a stunning San Francisco panorama by Charles Tu
Our prize for the Environment Photo Competition was a place on any 2-day course here at Silicon Beach – however as our winner Charles is based in the USA – he wasn’t easily able to attend.
If you’re interested in entering our current ‘Lifestyle’ Photography competition - with a chance of winning 2 stunning aluminium mounted prints of your choice – HURRY! it ends on 2 September!
Charles didn’t want his prize to go to waste, and was keen that a local not-for-profit organisation benefited. So – having done a little research online - he very generously donated his prize to Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.
The Museum was thrilled to receive the free place and have chosen to send a delegate to attend our Social Media course in August.
Paula Wrightson, the Museum’s Learning Officer, said:
“I was delighted when Brighton Museum was donated the prize. The first thing I did was have a look at Charles Tu’s winning photograph, which is a fabulous piece of work and I immediately thought how kind of him to think of donating his prize to us.
The offer of a place on this course could not come at a better time. We all think we could use social media better to promote Brighton & Hove Museums but feel we are not quite all on the ball yet or using new media as effectively as we could.
My interest is in promoting museum events like gallery tours and our more unusual experiences like our ghost-related programme at Preston Manor … we probably do far more in museums than people realise.
Ghost event attendees are usually slightly younger than the typical visitor and more likely to be users of social media.
I am keen to promote Preston Manor via social media to get a buzz going about this extraordinary building and its ghost story. We are lucky to have a real-life Victorian ghost story at the Manor – and right now I am in the middle of planning a fantastic new season of ghost events starting over Halloween.
I have spoken with a colleague who attended a course at Silicon Beach Training and she spoke very highly of the course and the trainer.”
We’re really pleased that Charles was able to find a worthy home for his prize – and we’re really excited to see the results of Paula’s Social Media campaign to promote Preston Manor after she attends the training in August.
Watch this space for more details soon!
Posted by Andy Trainer in Brighton, Competitions, News, Social Media on July 19th, 2011| No Comments »
I pretty much live on Facebook - it’s my connection to the lives of my friends, a way of sharing information and self-expression in the further digitisation of our modern lifestyle. For many it has become the standard channel for social interaction and boasts six hundred million users and climbing.
Today Google launches its answer to Facebook. Google + 1 which is a potential challenger to Facebook – but can it seriously provide a challenge to Mark Zuckerburg’s behemoth?
What is Google + 1?
Google +1 is a social media networking service like Facebook, but with a slight twist, search results become based on friend’s recommendations from the use of a +1 Button. Google says, “The beauty of +1’s is their relevance—you get the right recommendations (because they come from people who matter to you), at the right time (when you are actually looking for information about that topic) and in the right format (your search results).”
How does Google +1 work?
You can start to use Google +1 by signing up with a Google Account. From there you are able to create your Google Profile. Google Profiles has a similar interface to the Facebook Info page, allowing users to put in details such as a brief Introduction, Occupation, Education, Looking For and Relationship Statuses. It’s a nice looking page but does not have a Wall or the options to comment that makes Facebook so appealing.
But the Google Profiles is not really what Google is trying to push into the social networking market but rather their . Users will be able to recommend a website to their +1 Friends by pressing a +1 button. For example say you go to search Snowboarding Holidays and your best friend is a keen snowboarder you will be able to see any recommended sites he has pressed the +1 Button on. This is an interesting idea, clearly influenced by the Facebook “Like” button, but very much depends on people taking the time press the +1 button. The Like button on Facebook allows users to publicly show they like a certain person, programme, event etc. meaning it is far more a tool of self-expression than recommendation.
Posted by Guest Blogger in News, Social Media, Web Design on June 2nd, 2011| No Comments »
circus of horrors
Some of you may have seen The Circus of Horrors on Britain’s Got Talent recently. Amanda Holden described them as “gruesomely good” after seeing a woman being swung around by her hair.
I was lucky enough to see them live performing for the Brighton Fringe Festival. I asked permission to take photos as performance photography is a passion of mine, and as usual tagged the images and geolocated them so that they appear in Google Search. Sure enough when you type in “circus of horrors Brighton fringe” I will come up number one.
For marketing my photography this is a great tool. If you take a look at my flickr account, you will notice that I link the rest of my photography sites Brighton Photographer, Heather Buckley Photography (my Facebook page) and my twitter account, in the image description. Its a good example of cross marketing.
To learn more about SEO and Social Media, you could come to Brighton and enrol on one of our Social Media Training. If you would like to learn how to improve your image editing skills for your business blog than you might like to try our Photoshop Training courses or WordPress Training.
In doing this exercise however I noticed that the Circus of Horrors was in the news today, of all the acts on Saturdays show this is the act that the papers are talking about. I got me thinking about how marketeers can learn from Dok Daze and his freak show. Bear with me and enjoy the images and I’ll give you some inspiration for your marketing endeavours.
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circus of horrors
In the mirror today
“Kilt-wearing Captain Dan the Demon Dwarf, for example, uses a delicate part of his anatomy to swing a bowling pin between his legs. Then there’s Hannibal Helmurto, who can pull a four-ton truck with ropes attached to meat hooks in his back”
Read the rest of "Circus of Horrors on Britain’s got Talent – Marketing Inspiration"
Posted by Heather Buckley in Brighton, News, Sales & Marketing, SEO, Social Media on May 16th, 2011| No Comments »
