Last week’s most interesting Social Media and tech stories:

• Google+ Redesign: This Week in Social Media
• Yahoo Board Has Approved A $1.1 Billion Cash Deal For Tumblr, WSJ Reports
• Five Best Android Phones: 2013 Edition
  There are so many Android phones on the market that choosing the best one can mean a ton of research, price-checking, and waiting to see what’s coming out in the next few weeks or months.
• The Time Has Come For Chrome In The Home
• Google unveils new Google Maps for desktop with unified imagery, new interface, live 3D and more
  Some pretty amazing stuff!
• What’s coming down the pike in social marketing?
• LinkedIn Invitations: Everything You Need to Know
• How To Lie, Cheat, And Manipulate Your Way To Social Media Dominance
  Trust Me, I’m Lying is a great book. I highly recommend it.
• This Is The Most Epic Brand Meltdown On Facebook Ever
  Here’s what happens when your social media engagement is driven by anger.
• “Facebook phone” flops, rumored to be discontinued soon
• Chris Hadfield Creates First-Ever Music Video From Space
  Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield covers David Bowie’s classic (and incredibly appropriate) song "Space Oddity."
• Advice for Clueless Brands on Social Media

These and other social media and tech links are at http://delicious.com/joespake/socialmedia. If a link is particularly interesting to you start a conversation about it in the Comments Section below.

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Last week’s most interesting Social Media and tech stories:

• State Department Demands 3-D Gun Blueprints Be Removed
• 26 Social Media Marketing Tips from the Pros | Social Media Examiner
  Are you looking for actionable tips to improve your social media marketing?
• Thoughts on Responsive Frameworks | George Spake
  To harness the power of responsive design, and implement some agreed upon best practices, a few responsive frameworks emerged…

These and other social media and tech links are at http://delicious.com/joespake/socialmedia. If a link is particularly interesting to you start a conversation about it in the Comments Section below.

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78% of my referred page views come from Google

I was looking at the referral stats for one of my blogs, and was actually a little shocked at the search engine numbers.  Google search sends me almost 25 times the views that Bing does – over 78% of search engine  traffic.  And that’s not counting Google Image Search which produced 4 times the results that Bing did.  Yahoo and AOL results are almost negligible.  I seem to index as well in Bing as I do in Google for my keywords and phrases, but the results just aren’t there.  I am just wondering if my results are common, and if so, do I need to even think about spending time on  SEO and SEM for Bing, Yahoo, and AOL.

Google+ and Pinterest out-refer Facebook and Twitter

Looking at referrers outside of search engines, once again Google plays a big part.  Google+ is a top referring source, followed by Pinterest, then Facebook.  I expect G+ referrals to rise as more and more folks learn to appreciate the platform and find it to be a refuge from the constant exploitive  changes at Facebook.  I don’t pay much attention to Pinterest, but for the amount of time I spend with it, it seems to be quite a powerful referrer- maybe it’s because I pin mostly my own self-hosted images.

I would love to hear about how the search engines are performing for you in driving traffic.  Is this just a quirk, or are you seeing the same type of numbers?

 Related articles

• “To Bing, Or Not To Bing?” Will Microsoft’s Search Engine Ever Become A Verb? (lifehacker.com.au)
• Bing’s brand problem: People prefer Google regardless of search results (bgr.com)

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

If you love cupcakes, try the 3-2-1 mugcake

If you are like me and try to avoid junk food, but occasionally have that irresistible craving for something sweet, here’s the best use of a mug I have found since I started drinking coffee.  Would you like a cupcake on a minute’s notice?  Try this incredibly simple 3-2-1 Mug Cake Recipe.

3-2-1 Mug Cake Recipe

You will need 2 boxes of cake mix.  One can be any flavor you like (I like chocolate fudge), but the other MUST be Angel Food cake mix. Mix the 2 cake mixes. Hint:  a gallon size zip lock bag is perfect for making and storing the mixture. When you get the craving for a little something sweet, mix 3 Tablespoons of the, 2 Tablespoons of water in a mug.   Microwave at full power for 1 minute, for a small cake you can eat out of the mug,or pour out for an un-iced cupcake.  For variety, I add a few chocolate chips to give the illusion of chocolate icing, chopped nuts, or crumbled bacon to the mix before microwaving.

ENJOY!

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

Last week’s most interesting Social Media and tech stories:

• How to Stop People From Swiping Your Online Photos
• Hotmail is officially dead: Microsoft shifts to Outlook
• LinkedIn is 10 years old today: Here’s the story of how it changed the way we work
• Why hang on to your unlimited data plan?
  You may be surprised at how little data you use.
• SNL mocks Google Glass
• The 7 types of digital marketers
• Facebook EdgeRank [INFOGRAPHICS] via Social Media Today
  Still having trouble understanding Facebook Edge Rank? This collection of infographics might help.
• What Would Happen To The Media If Facebook Collapsed
  “A 20% decrease in audience, or a broader trend away from link-sharing on the largest social networks, could be disastrous for an industry where 20% year-over-year traffic growth is a prerequisite for success.”
• The Real Victims Of Facebook’s Nefarious New Messaging Fees
  How much would you pay to get your message in your idol’s inbox?
• The Begrudging Death of the Social Media Superstar | Brass Tack Thinking
  “When it comes to roles that involve social media, community, or similar responsibilities, we made some mistakes in how we glorified them and set the expectations around their role…”
• Facebook Cheat Sheet: Image Size and Dimensions | Infographics | Rise to the Top Blog
  This infographic is a handy reference tool especially for the designers who need to know image sizes for Facebook fan pages.

These and other social media and tech links are at http://delicious.com/joespake/socialmedia. If a link is particularly interesting to you start a conversation about it in the Comments Section below.

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Last week’s most interesting Social Media and tech stories:

• David Pogue: 10 top time-saving tech tips – YouTube
  Some tips here for everyone.
• 15 WordPress User Errors That Make You Look Silly [Infographic] | Copyblogger
  Through superior flexibility and excellent quality, WordPress shed the label of mere “blogging” software long ago. It’s become an indispensible content publishing platform for millions of real businesses and talented writers and thinkers across the web.
• Resource Roundup: How to Migrate Google Reader to Feedly – Rebekah Radice
  I am now using Feedly instead of Google reader, and I love it. If you are an RSS junkie, give it a try.
• Why Putting the Intern in Charge of Social Media is a Recipe for Disaster
  So companies are still doing this?
• Is Your Twitter Password Strong Enough?
  Worried about the security of your Twitter password after the @AP hack? A New York-based web developer has created a website to help you check
• A Look at the 'Inside 3D Printing' Conference in New York
• Tips for protecting your teen online [infographic] – Holy Kaw!

These and other social media and tech links are at http://delicious.com/joespake/socialmedia. If a link is particularly interesting to you start a conversation about it in the Comments Section below.

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Early 20th Century Snowdrift Shortening painted billboard on the west side of 1661 Lamar

has now been painted over in bright blue.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.

Last week’s most interesting Social Media and tech stories:

• How to Protect Your WordPress From Attack
  An ongoing brute-force attack on WordPress-based websites has compromised more than 90,000 blogs, but there are simple ways to make sure your blog won’t be next to fall.
• Social Media Marketing: Get Out Now… You're Doomed to Fail | Social Media Today
  If you’ve jumped blindly into social media and have no clue WHY, might as well get out now because you’re doomed to fail!
• 7 Essential Social Media Tools To Stand Out Online | Likeable Media – A Social Media and Word of Mouth Marketing Firm
  Amongst the many online conversations I have with people each day, one of the key questions I get asked is: How do you keep up?
• 7 ways to avoid identity theft on social media networks – AGBeat
  The sad truth is that identity theft is a part of social media, and no one is immune, but do you really know how vulnerable your information is?
• How to Contact Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Other Social Networks
  Do you have a burning question you want to ask the support team at a popular social network, but you gave up because you couldn’t find the actual contact form through the endless maze of self-serve support documentation?
• Life after Google Reader
• Seth's Blog: The easy trap

These and other social media and tech links are at http://delicious.com/joespake/socialmedia. If a link is particularly interesting to you start a conversation about it in the Comments Section below.

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Last week’s most interesting Social Media and tech stories:

• How Facebook and Twitter mess with DUI checkpoints | Technically Incorrect – CNET News
  One of the more human aspects of social media is that people use Facebook and Twitter to warn their fellow men and women of DUI checkpoints. Now police are attempting to spring more surprises.
• Facebook Home launches: why I won't be using it – AGBeat
• The Facebook Emoticon: More Than It Appears to Be | Social Media Today
  "Regardless of what emotion (or emoticon ) this registers with each user and whether or not most will adopt it (I personally find them abhorrent), it is important to see that there is a greater design at work here: a first step to a reimagined Status Update aiming to capture more consumer habits and preferences with better frequency."
• 6 Ways to Spring Clean Your LinkedIn Profile
• 10 Annoying Social Media Habits Businesses Need To Stop Doing
  "Chances are you’ve visited a page that has done a variation of what’s listed below. Here are a list of the most common habits that will put users off your page for good."
• Just Who Uses Social Media? A Demographic Breakdown
  You think you know social? How about who uses it? Well, you might not know it as well as you would have guessed. with Infographic
• How Facebook Uses Your Data to Target Ads, Even Offline
• Teens Abandoning Social Networks, Study Says
  "Facebook is the "most important" social media site for about 10% fewer teenagers than it was a year ago"
• Facebook Unfriend Finder and Unfriending … – Joe Spake's Weblog
  What causes you to unfriend someone on Facebook? How to you feel about being unfriended?
• Dr. Shaquille O’Neal Dunks on Investing, Geekery, and Social Media | Social Media Today
  On the technology front, Shaq is always looking for the next big thing.

These and other social media and tech links are at http://delicious.com/joespake/socialmedia. If a link is particularly interesting to you start a conversation about it in the Comments Section below.

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[UPDATE ON THE UNFRIEND FINDER FACEBOOK APP - May 17, 2013
This was posted by the developer of the app today:
The social network asked the removal of the extension because it violates its terms.
Specifically, Unfriend Finder injects unauthorized code into the social networks's source code in order to alter the way that the webpages are rendered in users browsers
It adds unauthorized links to users' bookmark sections;
And posts unauthorized notifications regarding which users have "unfriended" the user or "ignored" his or her friend requests.

I cannot enforce this and will cease the developement of this Extension.
Unfriend Finder has been around for 3 years, and many of you enjoyed this, but it cannot go further.

Thank you for your support.]

____________________________
Last week, on Facebook, I asked this question: Would you unfriend a Facebook “friend” who won’t speak to you or even acknowledge your presence in public?”  The comments reflected a wide range of feelings about the nature of Facebook friendship: Friend vs. acquaintance, mood at the time of encounter, context, setting, intentions – responses indicating that Facebook relationships, even with people you have never met IRL (in real life) can be complex and emotional.  Perhaps the best thought out comment was from my IRL friend, Roy Barnes:

 ”Here’s a flowchart that I may or may not use: are they a friend or an acquaintance? If friend, try to say something to them IRL. If an acquaintance, was it a shun (not returning friendly gestures) or just narcissistic obliviousness? If former, unfriend. If latter, flip a coin.”

Last year I posted about the then new and somewhat controversial Unfriend Finder Facebook App, asking if it was somehow helpful to know who had unfriended you, or if it could be stressful or even dangerous to have that knowledge.  If you want to give the app a try, you can find and install it HERE. The app displays like this:

 Search Facebook for SyncMyFriends.  After installation, the app lists friends you have added and deleted.  The deleted list includes those who have unfriended you.  Press the “Check” button for the latest update.  Of course the app can be blocked by any user,  just like any other app. So what do you think?  Good or bad?  Do you want to know who unfriended you or does it even matter?

Bottom line, many of use Facebook as sort of a buffer and filter for relationships.   We may carry on a long thread with an acquaintance on Facebook and not relate IRL, or maybe we have friended someone for business reasons or because someone close to us recommended them.  The only real way to test if friends are real friends is by employing some old-fashioned methods  like picking up the phone or meeting for lunch for some real IRL interaction.

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit Joe Spake's Weblog where it was originally published.