Tips for Monitoring Your Social Networks – a HootSuite Tutorial

HootSuite is a social network management tool that allows team collaboration, multiple networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, MySpace, Ping, WordPress, mixi), tab organization and more. Webbed Marketing uses HootSuite to manage our own as well as client social networks. Here is how we do it:

Sending a Message

To send a message through Hootsuite, click on the text box at the top of the page that says, “Compose message…” When the text box expands you can enter the text you want to send, enter a link you want to connect to the message (and shrink if necessary) and select which network(s) you want to send the message to. You can select both a Twitter and Facebook page.

Scheduling a Message

To schedule a message, enter the message you want to send and click on the “Schedule Message” icon. You can select the date and time in the future that you would like your message to be sent. The message will then appear in your Pending tab(s).

Note: If you schedule a message for both Twitter and Facebook and want to edit those later, you will need to edit the message on both the “Pending Tweets” and “Pending Stream Posts” tabs.

Adding a Social Network

To add a new social network, hover over your already added social network icons and click the “Add Social Network” icon/plus sign. Next you will select the type of network you are adding and be asked to connect to Twitter/Facebook/etc. Be sure you are signed into the account you want to add. A new tab for that account will be created.

OR

Click on the owl icon and then Settings and Social Networks. Within the Settings window click on “Add Social Network.”

Adding a Stream

To add a new stream to a tab, navigate to the tab you want to add the stream to. Next click the “Add Stream” icon at the top of the page. From there you can choose which type of stream you would like to add. Types of streams:

Twitter

• Home feed
• Mentions
• Direct Messages
• Sent Tweets
• Pending Tweets
• Favorite Tweets
• Retweets
• Twitter Search
• Twitter Lists

Facebook (Profile or Page)

• News Feed
• Pending Stream Posts

LinkedIn

• Network Updates
• Pending Status Updates

Foursquare

• Recent Checkins
• Your History
• Pending Shouts

Adding Team Members

To add a new team member to a social network, click on the owl at the top of the page, then scroll to Settings and click on My Organization. Then select the social network you want to add a team member to, select a current team member to add or enter the email address of a new team member to invite.

Monitoring Networks

Users can monitor all of their social networks directly from Hootsuite.

For Twitter accounts you can monitor the home feed, mentions, pending tweets, sent tweets, direct messages, twitter lists and twitter searches. You can then reply to, retweet or DM the message.

For Facebook accounts you can monitor the page feed, including fan comments as well as pending posts. You can then like or comment on posts directly from Hootsuite.

For Foursquare accounts you can monitor friend checkins/shouts and your recent check-ins. You cannot check into locations from HootSuite but you can send “shouts” to your friends.

For LinkedIn accounts you can monitor connections’ activity and comment directly from HootSuite.

How do you use HootSuite? Share your tips in the comments!

Tags: hootsuite, management, socia media, social networks

LinkedIn Open Groups, Not to be Confused with Auto-Join Groups

LinkedIn is now allowing group managers the option to make their group “open.” This means that content within the group will no longer be hidden behind a group member’s LinkedIn login but will be discoverable by anyone on the web and found on search engines. Furthermore, LinkedIn Open Group content can now also be shared on other social networks, like Twitter and Facebook, as well as to your own LinkedIn connections who may not be members of that group. This ultimately makes LinkedIn content more shareable and search engine friendly.

LinkedIn Open Groups will have a “Share this” feature box added to each discussion page to highlight this new functionality. If you are curious what this looks like live you can visit an open LinkedIn group at the Social Media Marketing group.

LinkedIn says that after group owners make the switch to an open group they will notify group members. All content from that point forward will be open and viewable online. But all past discussions will still only be accessible to group members, through a members-only archive.

Still not sure if you want to make the switch to a LinkedIn Open Group? Here is a Pro / Con list to help!

Pro

• Content can be shared with anyone on any network
• Content can be found on search engines
• New Share this Discussion box encourages members to share

Con

• Past content is still only visible to members
• Non members can view, share, follow content without joining the group

Need even more details? Follow LinkedIn Groups @linkedingroups on Twitter and check out the LinkedIn Open Group directory.

Tags: groups, linkedin, SEO, social media

A New Facebook Page for the New Year

Facebook has launched a major upgrade to Pages!

The most exciting change is that administrators can now interact on Facebook as their Page. This means that Pages can now like other Pages, post on other Page’s walls and view their own news feed of activity they are following. This update will make it easier for page owners to engage and communicate on Facebook. Pages cannot “friend” people or comment on personal profile’s walls.

To use Facebook as a Page you can visit the page you wish to control (and are an admin for, of course) and click “Use Facebook as Page Name”.

Or you can select “Use Facebook as Page” from the Account drop down. From here you will be asked to choose when Page you would like to switch to. Then to switch back just select “Switch back to me” in the Account drop down.

The new design more resembles the new personal profiles with the left hand navigation replacing tabs and featured photos at the top of the page. The new tab navigation allows for longer tab names when creating a custom landing page or application. The featured photos are automatically pulled from most recent uploads and if there is a photo you do not want to be featured you can simply click the “x” in the top right corner to hide that photo. Pages can also highlight other Pages they are connected to, as well as people managing the Page. To set this up navigate to Edit Page – Featured.

Old

New

Admins will now also receive email notifications for activity on their pages, like when fans post or comment on their wall so they can more quickly respond. To edit this notification setting visit Edit Page – Your Settings. When logged in as a Facebook page the notification bar will show new posts and comments on the Page the admin is using. The friend notification bar shows how many new likes the Page has received.

Facebook also updated the wall filters to just include an Everyone and Page filter. The new “Everyone” filter shows the posts Facebook has deemed the most relevant to that user (posts from friends, posts with the most likes/comments, etc). The Page filter shows only posts from that page. You can still edit the wall settings by navigating to Edit Page – Manage Permissions.

If you are curious to see how these changes look live you can preview the changes first before you make your decision. Whether you choose to upgrade now or later Facebook is sure to push these updates to all pages sooner or later so why not make the switch now!

What do you think of these changes? Are there some you like more than others?

Tags: facebook, new, pages, social media, update

Something New, Something Blue: Today Twitter Has a New Homepage

New visitors to Twitter.com will now see a brand new front page! The new page provides some brief explanation of what Twitter does – “Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.” The new page also offers the option to search Twitter first to “see what people are saying about” a topic. Another change to the homepage is the trending topic highlights. Hot topics on Twitter are shown by the minute, day and week. One final change is the drop of the infamous “What are you doing?” in exchange for the invitation to “Join the conversation” by signing up on Twitter.

Biz explains the change on the official Twitter blog:

To compare, the old Twitter front page looked like this:

Which do you like more?

social media, twitter

Facebook Usernames Start Tonight

You have probably heard a lot about Facebook usernames this week and we wanted to offer our advice on how to manage this new Facebook feature.

Facebook profile URLs have always just included a randomly assigned number like "id=123456789" to distinguish profiles. While this works fine it does not make the URL easy to share. Facebook is starting to offer usernames to make it easier for people to find each other and connect.

The transition will look like this:

(photo credit Facebook Blog)

Starting at 12:01AM EDT on Saturday, June 13, you will be able to choose a username on a first-come, first-serve basis for your profile and the Facebook Pages by visiting www.facebook.com/username. Once a username has been selected, you won't be able to change or transfer it.

Facebook offers the following guidelines for choosing a username:

• Your username should be as close as possible to your true name (e.g. Jsmith or John.Smith)
• Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (".")
• Choose a username you will be happy with for the long term. Usernames are not transferable

Eligibility

Eligibility is limited to anyone who joined Facebook before 3 p.m. (EDT) on June 9, 2009 (before usernames were publicly announced). This limitation is temporary to prevent squatting. All users who joined Facebook after the cut-off date will be eligible to register usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009.

To register a username for your Business Page it must meet two requirements: it must be live on Facebook prior to May 31, 2009  and it must have a minimum of 1,000 fans as of May 31, 2009.

Reserve a Trademarked Name

To prevent the registration of a trademarked name you can fill out a form at http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=username_rights. This form is for rights holders interested in preventing their trademarks from being registered as usernames, not for reserving generic words or keywords. Facebook is strongly encouraging, and will hopefully be monitoring, to be sure all Page administrators choose a username that closely matches the true identity of their profile and business to prevent squatting.

To reserve a trademarked name you will need to provide:

• Company Name
• Your Title
• Contact Email
• Trademark to protect (Must be your exact trademark)
• Registration number

Intellectual Property Rights

If you find someone whose username infringes on your intellectual property rights, you can fill out a Notice of Intellectual Property Infringement form at http://www.facebook.com/copyright.php?noncopyright_notice=1.

Under 1,000 Fans? Why Not Create Your Own Vanity URL!

If you feel left out and still want your own vanity URL, your web team can create a Facebook URL on your own domain that is just as easy to share. This involves creating a new sub-domain and redirecting that URL to your Facebook Page. Like so: http://webbedmarketing.com/facebook.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions!

Tags: facebook, facebook username, social media

Columbus Corners: High Street and 4th Avenue (cbuscorners)

One of my favorite corners in Columbus, Ohio is at High Street and 4th Avenue. Some of the first shows I went to were at Little Brothers. So many great bands came through Columbus to play at Little Brothers. I saw Pete Yorn, The Damnwells, The Decemberists, Jude, Bob Schneider, and more that I am forgetting. I often remember walking to Skullys for Ladies/80s Night after an awesome show at Little Brothers. 4th Ave and High Street is great! Now Little Brothers just needs to come back!

View Larger Map

This project brought to you by the Columbus Social Media Cafe

Tags: cbuscorners, columbus, columbus corners, little brothers, ohio, skullys

Columbus Corners: My favorite place to be in and around Columbus, Ohio #CbusCorners

My favorite place in Columbus, Ohio is to be outside on my bike cycling through some of the best parts of the city. Columbus offers cyclists some gorgeous and safe options to navigate the city.

First a bit about myself.. I ride a Trek 5200 that I have been riding for over 10 years. I have participated in the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure for nine years, which is a 300-mile bike tour around Ohio with 3,000 other cyclists.  On GOBA, I traveled through towns including Mt.Vernon, Lancaster, Athens, Marietta, New Philadelphia, Bowling Green and Newark. Although I do not routinely participate in many organized bike tours anymore, cycling is still a very important part of my life.

My interest in cycling extends beyond the physical training aspect and into the culture of bicycling. I have always been interested in the bike messenger service and the subculture that the messengers belong to. I even thought about being a bike messenger for a few years after graduating from college. I think that messengers are part of a unique group that comes to know the ins and outs of their cities.  Every city has its own, unique identity, which represents and influences the personalities of the messengers.  Travis Hugh Culley, a bike messenger from Chicago, once said, “Who I am is a parallel pursuit, a city and a man.”

After many years of cycling, I think that I have gotten to know a few of the ins and outs of cycling in Columbus, Ohio.  I know that Fishinger to Dublin Rd is one of the best routes to get to less busy riding road, Roberts Road is no fun to ride on and has far too many trucks, the Heritage bike path in Hilliard connects a few country roads and offers a quick route back to civilization, there is a bridge over 315 for bikers and walkers to get to the Olentangy bike path from the Upper Arlington area and the Tour de Grandview is a must for any local biker!

One of my favorite corners of Columbus is one of my regular bike routes (I built this map with an online tool called MapMyRide – it is shareable!):

 

Columbus Corners #CbusCorners

This project brought to you by the Columbus Social Media Cafe

Tags: cbus corners, cbuscorners, columbus social media cafe, cycling

Online April Fools Jokes

A few April Fools Jokes I have noticed around the web this morning.

SlideShare

Like many others, I received the following message from the SlideShare team this morning.

We've noticed that your slideshow on SlideShare has been getting a LOT of views in the last 24 hours. Great job … you must be doing something right. Why don't you tweet or blog this? Use the hashtag #bestofslideshare so we can track the conversation.

Thrilled by this news I logged into my account to see that indeed my slideshow appeared to have thousands of views!


Good one SlideShare! Looks like you had everyone fooled!

Google

While checking my Gmail this morning I noticed the new Gmail Autopilot feature.

This humorous feature is:

The easiest email could possibly be.

As more and more everyday communication takes place over email,
lots of people have complained about how hard it is to read and
respond to every message. This is because they actually read and respond to all their messages.

Google even provided some sample autopilot responses that you could expect with Gmail Autopilot.

Columbus Underground

Columbus Underground announced they will be launching a magazine for young professionals.

We are proud to announce that Columbus Underground will soon be launching a brand new monthly magazine called Columbus Underground Magazine (or CUM for short) aimed at the growing Young Professional demographic .

YouTube

Have you checked out YouTube's new layout? Everything is upside-down! YouTube is even offering some tips for viewing the new layout, including turn your monitor upside down, tilt your head to the side and move to Australia. 

Wikipedia

The stories on Wikipedia's front page are pretty hilarious right now!

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a world-renowned institution dedicated to showcasing the finest art acquired from Boston-area
refuse. The museum started in a pile of trash in 1994, in a
serendipitous moment when an antiques dealer came across a painting of
astonishing power and compositional incompetence that had been
tragically discarded.

Have you seen any other April Fools jokes this morning? Share them!

Tags: april fools, internet

Webbed Webinar: Webbed Marketing Approved Twitter Tools and Applications

So we have convinced you to start using Twitter. Now, learn how to use it like a pro. We will share some of our favorite platforms, tips, tricks and add-ons that will help you fit Twitter into your already busy schedule. Can’t decide between TweetDeck, Twhirl, TwitterFox and Twitterrific? See our list of ten great twitter tools and applications, how to get the most out of them, why we use them and how they will improve your Twitter experience.

Tags: friend or follow, mr tweet, rebecca roebuck, social media, tools, tweetbeep, TweetDeck, tweetstats, twellow, Twitpic, twitter, twitter grader, twitter search, twtpoll, webbed markeitng

Who are the local twitter rockstars? Your decision is powered by Google Docs

There has been talk about who the most popular, important, influential or rockstaresque people are on twitter. Some say the most important tweeple are those with the most followers, others say it is those with the most interesting tweets and still others say it is more about who they are off twitter that makes them important. One thing for sure is that everyone has their own opinions on who receives the title of twitter elite, or twitterati.

To help solve the debate, local tweeter Jamie Grove (@hownottowrite) is asking the twitterverse who they think their local rockstars are. Anyone can submit their opinions and explain their selection.

Jamie says:

This seems like a fair way to decide who really is the twitter elite. Let the people decide!

The most interesting thing I noticed about this effort is that Jamie is using Google Docs to gather and share this information. Google recently added a form option to Google Docs that allows users to setup a feedback form, embed it
on any website and collect and share data easily. When someone fills out the form, their responses are automatically timestamped and collected in a Google spreadsheet. Just like any Google document, the forms can be shared with others to view at their own convenience. This makes collecting and sharing feedback incredibly easy! The information can even be published as a web page to share with the world.

At Webbed Marketing, we are using Google Docs Forms to gather entries to our Google Hates My Website SEO Makeover Contest and to collect information from people interested in Webbed Marketing University courses.

So what are you waiting for?! Start asking your questions right now! 

p.s. If you haven't already, you will need to set up a Google Account and visit https://docs.google.com. Then click "New" and scroll down to "Form."

- from the Desktop of Rebecca Roebuck

Tags: form, google docs, spreadsheet, twitter, twitter elite, twitterati