Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, have become some of the main ways people communicate. The developers of these networks often change the layout or introduce new services in a continuous quest to make the platforms better. Google recently introduced a new update to Google+, with a number of interesting features.

Here is an overview of the new Google+ features recently introduced.

A new layout One of the first things you will notice about the updated Google+ is the layout has been drastically changed. On the main (Home) screen you will notice that posts have been changed to individual cards, similar to the Google Now cards, and are arranged in either one, two or three columns. These posts now take up more space horizontally which makes it far easier to view more content at the same time.

The menu bar that took up the left-hand side of the previous layout has been moved and is now collapsible. If you hover over Home on the upper-left of the screen the menu will pop out from the left-side. Circles and related feeds have also been added at the top of the window and clicking on a related circle name will bring up content only from your friends in that circle.

Adding new posts has also been turned into a card layout which is found at the top-left of the content stream. The different options e.g., Text, Photos, Link, Video and Hangout, are now big buttons that you can push to create a related post.

Improved Hangouts Possibly the most intriguing new feature introduced is actually an update to the existing Hangouts. The numerous Google chat functions have been merged into a single chat and video messaging app available for Google+, iPhone, iPad, Android, Gmail and Chrome.

This means that you can host group chats for up to 10 participants which users can access through various systems. What this means for businesses is that you now have an easier way to communicate across multiple systems without having to worry about compatibility.

Better pictures and albums A key component of any social media platform is visual content like pictures and videos. Google has introduced some interesting photo based features that could help make your content even more attractive. One feature is Auto Enhance, which will touch-up photos by looking at factors such as blur, contrast, saturation, etc. From what we have seen, the touch-ups are effective in making your pictures look better.

There is also a new feature called Auto Awesome, which looks at the types of photos you upload and can do various impressive things. For example, if you upload a series of similar pictures, say a sequence of images taken one after the other in a short amount of time, Auto Awesome will create an animated GIF which you can share on your wall. This function can also create panorama or HDR images.

Auto Highlight is another recently introduced feature which uses an algorithm to analyze pictures and skip over duplicate, blurry or underexposed pictures while uploading them, supposedly leaving you with only the best pictures.

Hashtags The hashtag (#) has become popular on many social media platforms and is an easy way to find similar content. Google+ has improved the hashtag system and will now automatically add relevant tags to your posts. You will see these as small blue tabs on the right of the card, and hovering over these will show the relevant hashtag. If you click on it, the card will flip over and show you other posts that have the same tag. This could be a great way to find similar content and could help bring more exposure to your profile.

The new Google+ layout is definitely a big change compared to previous versions and could prove to be useful for your company's profile and online presence. If you would like to learn more about using Google+ please contact us.

Social media has become an important part of any business's marketing strategy. By having an active presence on the main networks, you will likely see increased sales or at the very least an increase in brand recognition. So, while social media is an invaluable marketing tool, there are also other departments which could benefit from it.

Below are four non-marketing oriented uses of social media that businesses could benefit from.

Hiring LinkedIn is a social network dedicated to helping professionals and organizations connect and find jobs and new talent. Most social savvy companies will have a presence on this network and may even hire exclusively from here.

If you are looking for new employees, it wouldn't hurt to have a LinkedIn profile. To find the best talent, you need to forge and maintain connections (usually starting with people you know), and be somewhat active in groups and on message boards.

It's also important to not forget the other major networks when it comes to hiring. Tweeting a job opening on Twitter, or posting ads on Facebook could also help you find your next employee. Facebook can be particularly useful because you can pay to target ads (in this case, job openings) at specific demographics.

Internal communications Communication is an important part of business, and most people choose to communicate using email. You have probably seen emails with jokes, invitations to after work events, lunch orders, etc. sent to the whole company and also received the many replies that go with it. This can get very annoying, and also confusing.

Why not utilize social media for non-essential (aka. not related to work) communication. Set up a Facebook group where your employees can share content, invitations to lunch or after work gatherings, interesting stories, etc. That way you can limit email to more important, business-related aspects.

Using social media for internal communication is also beneficial for companies with younger workers. Most already see Facebook, Twitter, etc. as their main form of communication, some even feel more comfortable communicating over this medium as opposed to speaking out in meetings. Having a group portal or Facebook page could give less-empowered employees a way to voice their ideas, and maybe even improve on them with feedback from others.

Learning A common complaint of many business owners is that they have a tough time staying on top of ever-changing trends and what currently interests their customers. Using social media to connect with your customers can be a great way to learn not only hot trends but also about new ideas.

Customer service When it comes to social media, users will often complain publicly on their wall or through their tweets. This is bad for you, as the reach of this complaint can go a long way and make you look bad. Some companies have decided to confront this head on by having specific customer service accounts. If a customer complains, has an issue, or even compliments you, be active and respond using that account.

If done properly, over time, you will see more and more people reaching out to your customer service account through social media. This also gives you another way to please clients or turn around negative customer experiences.

Social media and the various platforms are not only great for marketing, but can be incredibly useful for other business functions. Do you have any other ways you use social media? Let us know. Or, if you would like to learn more about how it can help your company, then contact us today.

Social media has been around, in one form or another, for more or less a decade now. It's kind of hard to believe the change it has brought, some even find it hard to live without. While many services have come and gone, there are a few that have real staying power. The newest being Pinterest, which has recently been redesigned. This redesign also introduces two new features businesses could benefit from.

Here's a brief overview of the new features introduced with Pinterest's recent layout changes.

How to get the new layout

Before you can use these features, it would be a good idea to upgrade to the new layout. While, like other social media services, this will be happening automatically over time. Unlike other platforms, the new layout is available for all users to switch to when they feel ready, however when you switch to the new layout, you will not be able to go back to the old one. Here's how you can switch:

1. Log in to Pinterest.
2. Hover your mouse over your profile/business name at the top-right of your profile.
3. Click Switch to the New Look.
4. Select Get it Now. Note: If you press this, you likely won't be able to switch back to the old layout.
5. Press Okay from the Welcome to your new look! pop-up window.

When the new layout loads, you'll notice that the pins are bigger, the category button has been moved to the left side of the profile beside the Search bar. You'll also notice that the comment button has been moved from the pins, you can access it by clicking on the image. On top of cosmetic changes, two useful functions that businesses will find beneficial.

Discovery

Now, when you look at an individual pin (click on the image), you will notice a number of changes.

• You can see all pins on the same board.
• You'll also see pins from the same website. For example if you pin something from a restaurant, you'll now see similar pins from the same website.
• Most importantly, you'll now be able to see what other people have pinned along with the same image.

This will make it easier for users to discover what other people are pinning. For your business this means potentially higher exposure. Think of this as something similar to the way Facebook works: If a person likes you, the chances of this like showing on their friend's profile, and that friend visiting your Page is higher. It's kind of like easy brand exposure.

Analytics

Arguably the most useful feature added recently is Pinterest Analytics, which allows you to see if your pins are being clicked on or shared, and the general success of your activities. This will go a long way in helping you determine the overall success of your Pinterest oriented efforts.

The main caveat with this is that your profile/business's website needs to be verified and connected with your profile. If you have an unofficial Pinterest account, you can change it to a business one by:

1. Logging into your Pinterest account and going to business.pinterest.com.
2. Pressing Convert your existing account and choose your type of business.
3. Entering the relevant account information like the name of your business, address and website.
4. Agreeing to the new Terms of Service.

If you would like to have a new username or account simply go to http://business.pinterest.com/ and press Join as a Business. You will be asked to set your account information, username, etc. You will need to verify your account which will involve you having to download a file and upload it to the server that hosts your website. We, or your web hoster can help you with that.

After your account is verified, you will notice that if you hover your mouse over your account name a drop-down list should pop up with Analytics being about half way down. Click on that to be taken to the section.

This section will display a bunch of graphs including:

• The number of daily pins and pinners on your site.
• The number of re-pins you have done.
• How many times your content has been repinned.
• The number of clicks and website visits.
• The most clicked and repinned pins.
• The number of times your pins have been seen.

Overall, Analytics is a useful tool that will give you a clear picture of what is working and what isn't. If you pinned a picture of a dog and noticed that it got zero pins while another got hundreds, it may be a good idea to create/look for more similar content.

If you are looking to integrate Pinterest into your business's social media strategy or would like or learn more about how to use the service, please contact us today.

 

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, are the foundations of social media. Together, these sites have made it possible for social networking to really take hold and take off. As with any popular platform, you start to see trends that are evident across all networks. One of the most popular trends is the use of the hashtag (#). But what exactly is it, and can your company use it?

The hashtag (#), commonly referred to on telephone systems as the pound key, is a character first used by users of the popular social network Twitter. According to the help forum on Twitter, "It is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages."

Look at nearly any Twitter message and there will usually be hashtags attached. If you were to search for the term e.g., #Cloudbackup on Twitter, you would get a list of all tweets that have mentioned the above example. When Twitter talks about a 'trending topic' it means a subject that has become popular.

This way of categorization has become so popular amongst Twitter users that it's starting to spill over onto the other networks. Instagram for instance has given members the ability to add hashtags to pictures, so that they can be added to groups which can subsequently be searched for. Even Google has gotten in on the act, with Google+ and YouTube both supporting this system.

With Facebook, the hashtag has come to give context to a status. You've probably seen some status updates such as: I love Mondays #sarcasm #bored. This should be read with a sarcastic and slightly bored tone.

Because of the usefulness of the hashtag, some users have become overzealous in their use. Reading a Tweet that says '#Friday is #awesome, here comes a #fun #weekend.' just looks unprofessional and could put off followers.

While effective, there are some basic rules you should follow to help get the most out of your hashtags. Here's four.

1. No long hashtags. Hashtags are meant to be short and associated with one word. Don't make the mistake of adding more than about two words together, as the likelihood of users finding the tag will decrease. e.g., #Cloudservicesareawesome should be avoided, use #cloudservices instead.
2. Minimize their use. It can be tempting to hashtag every keyword in messages, however makes them look weird, while decreasing their readability. It is a good idea to limit use to one or two per message.
3. The hashtag is special. Don't use it for everyday words. Instead use it for product names, or a special part of the announcement. Remember that you don't have to use hashtags in every message. Check out Samsung Mobile's Twitter feed to see a good example of proper use.
4. Use a unique hashtag. If you can, try to use a unique hashtag, something that followers will be able to associate and relate to you. The key here is that when it's used, the user is referred to you, and only you. Do a quick search on Twitter for the hashtag you would like to use, to ensure it's not taken. Many companies will shorten their tag to initials or a shorter term, which is perfectly acceptable.

Hashtags, when used correctly, can be a great way to build brand identity and increase social media presence. If you are looking for a social media plan, please contact us today to see how we can #expandbrands.

Social media plays an important role in many people's daily lives. Not only that, but companies have also found that having a presence can go a long way toward securing that all important sale. There are numerous other ways you can use social media to improve your company's image, as well as the company itself. One of these ways is using the services to search for and learn more about possible new hires.

Here's three steps you can employ to learn a bit more about potential hires before they come in for an interview.

1. Google them Googling yourself can be seen as vain, however putting a potential hires name into Google Search is smart. You can enter their name along with specific queries that can help you narrow information down. One thing you can do is enter their name with double quotes around it and the city they are based in, this will help you find their presence on related social media sites. You can also put their area code, zip or postal code to narrow down the search.

The point of this is to help you find more information about the person without having to search on individual social media sites. This will also return results like photo albums, recent account activity and maybe even some hobbies and interest groups. Searching on Google, or other search engines is a good way to see if the prospective employee is legitimate.

2. Take a look on Facebook Almost everyone and their dog are on Facebook, so don't forget to search for them on this popular service. With the recently announced Graph Search, this should make searching a lot easier too. Enter their name, along with some specific interests or information from the resume and the chances of finding this person's profile go up.

While some would argue the ethics of doing this, you may see information or posts that counter information in the resume, or even paint a better picture of the applicant. For example, you can ask them about their family when they come in for an interview. It could prove to be a great ice breaker.

3. LinkedIn Most social media sites focus on the social aspect of people's lives, while LinkedIn focuses on the more career and professional oriented areas. Searching for the candidate on LinkedIn can often shed more light on their history, and may even showcase common links between you and them. If you notice that the candidate worked for a previous employee, you could contact that employee to see if they have any thoughts about the candidate.

Researching your future hires is a good idea because it can help you learn more about them than you might otherwise do from just an interview. It also gives you a bit of a deeper understanding of if they would be a good fit for the company. If you would like to learn more about how you can leverage social media in your company please contact us today.

When it comes to technology the only thing that stays the same is change. You can always expect that something will alter.It's the nature of the business. Facebook, as you most likely know, is one of those services that seems to be constantly evolving, and in late January they introduced a new feature that will change the way we use Facebook in the future.

This new feature is called Graph Search, and with its introduction comes a number of new ways one can use Facebook.

What exactly is Graph Search? The idea of Graph Search is that it provides users with a new way to search the Internet. Now, you won't be using it like you would other search engines - to find websites - instead you will use it to find people, pictures, posts, information, etc., already published on Facebook. This feature integrates with Open Graph - a feature that allows users to share pictures, music, videos, etc., with the public.

If you enter a search query that Facebook can't find results for within the platform, it will return results from Bing (Microsoft's search engine). This is an interesting move, mainly because of Bing's lower usage rates compared with Google. Then again, Google does have Google+ - an impending major competitor of Facebook. And knowing Google, they would use Facebook's information, something Facebook probably doesn't want.

What is the main focus of this feature? Bing search results aside, Graph Search focuses on four main areas: People, Pictures, Locations and Interests/Likes. It takes these four focuses and combines them into a near limitless amount of search possibilities. Want to find small business owners, who like Office 365, in San Diego, in California? What about: Friends of friends who like Windows 8 and are looking for work? This will be possible.

Graph Search essentially turns Facebook into a powerful recruiting tool, an incredible specific targeted marketing tool, a great way to find new friends, and more. Upon its release, it will be available for finding information related to the four focuses, but you can be sure that highly advanced marketing and advertising tools that use this feature aren't too far behind.

How do I prepare for it? There's no doubt that this could give small businesses a large boost, both in terms of presence and marketing power. This will also likely make having a Facebook profile essential if you want to be considered to have any form of valuable Internet presence at all. But, with every up there must be a down. If you don't have content, or have incorrect information on your profile, you will be either glossed over or could see your online reputation falter. Here are five things you can do to get ready for the switch:

1. Confirm business details - Go through your profile and ensure your contact details are up-to-date and accurate. This includes your address, email, operating hours, etc. Any spelling mistakes and people will likely miss you in search results.
2. Confirm your classification - When you signed up for a Facebook Page you were asked to pick an industry your business operates in. It would be a good idea to check this and ensure you are in the right industry classification. This can be done by: Going to the Admin Panel, selecting Edit Page followed by Update Information.
3. Get some content ready - Content, especially pictures, likes and shares, are about to become very important. So, go find some interesting images, articles and Facebook pages and share or like them. Just be careful what you like, because this could be used against you.
4. Check existing content - Perform a profile audit to check and see if there are any posts that can be considered as inappropriate, offensive, or implicate you in any negative manner. Use your best judgement: If you think it's a little controversial, or could be construed to be negative, then you're better off unliking it, or deleting the post.
5. Optimize SEO - When the masses start using Graph Search, there's a high chance that many Facebook power users will no longer switch over to Google to conduct a search. They will likely just do this from Facebook. If you haven't been conducting any Search Engine Optimization, now may be the time to start.

There is no official release date, as of the writing of this article, for Graph Search. However, you can head over to Facebook's Graph Search page and sign up for the Beta test. If you have any questions about optimizing your Facebook profile for the switch, please contact us today.

It's the year 2013, or if you follow the Chinese Zodiac, it's almost the year of the Snake. Regardless of when you celebrate your New Year, social media will be sure to be there to help you connect with other revelry makers. Because it's a new year, you can look forward at what social media trends will be popular for small to medium businesses in the coming 12 months. Below are five potentially huge social media trends for 2013.

Social goes mobile The way people view information is changing thanks to increasing adoption of tablets and mobile devices. The adoption rate is forecasted to rise in 2013, with the number of users who view your content on mobile devices soon overtaking those using a more traditional browser.

Because of this, the use of web technology that resizes text, images and other content to any screen size, will become even more popular. What this means for social media managers is that you will need to keep mobile users in mind when developing content and ensure it can be easily viewed on tablets and smartphones.

Visual marketing Visual marketing is the use of video, images, infographics, etc. to get your message across to your target audience. The key to this type of marketing is that it enhances brand memory, recall and identity.

Social media sites like Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook, are perfect platforms that, with effective use, can create an awareness that resonates with target groups, creating increased engagement.

While this marketing concept isn't new, you can expect to see more companies focusing on developing more content that's visual in nature throughout the next year and beyond.

Content marketing (B2B) When it comes to B2B marketing on social platforms, companies have been using content as the main brand driver. This takes many forms, including: Papers, ebooks, infographics, webinars, etc. For example, infographics have proven to be valuable tools in increasing brand awareness. Most companies are well aware of this and it's hard to find a business that doesn't have some kind of content on their website.

In 2013, you can expect to see many enterprises turning to social media platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, Google+, etc. to develop and share content. Couple this with an increase in visual content and there will be an increased trend for smart marketers to develop engaging posts that are also visually appealing.

Google+ is a Google must Google is playing the long game with it's social media platform, Google+. While it currently isn't anywhere near as popular as Facebook, Google is making changes to the platform and turning the service into a central hub for managing your online presence - when it comes to Google that is.

Last year, Google rolled out a number of services, such as Local, into Google+. This forced businesses with a Google presence to use this service to manage it. This trend will likely continue over the next few years, with the slow release of valuable services that are exclusively for Google+ users and force users to switch to them.

In other words, for companies using Google's services: Google+ is a Google must.

Facebook remains king. For now! Despite a disappointing IPO last year, Facebook is still #1 when it comes to social media. This likely won't change in the near future. Facebook is well aware of this and will continue to take steps to keep users.

We can expect Facebook to introduce a premium version of Pages, along with increasingly powerful analytics tools. Alongside this, their mobile advertising service will likely mature into a viable business option. What this means for businesses is that they will need to keep on top of these offerings and figure out how to best leverage their content.

These are just five social media trends for the coming year. Have you identified any more? What do you think will be the biggest change to social media in 2013? We're interested to hear your thoughts.

There is no doubt that a solid social marketing campaign on sites like Facebook can help build a brand like no other way. It seems that the power of your brand on Facebook is something nearly all marketers are talking about. The thing many are glossing over is how to keep track of what's working and what isn't. Luckily, Facebook has powerful analytical tools to help you measure how your brand is doing.

Here's three basic points on using Facebook analytics to help figure out what content is working and what isn't, and make your social media campaign even more effective.

Gain some content insight with Insights Facebook's built-in analytical tool - Facebook Insights - is a powerful way to keep track of how well your content is doing. Insights is available for free to Facebook Page administrators and can be accessed by pressing the Settings cog - located in the top-right of the window - and selecting View Insights.

Among other things, Insights allows you to view your content's Reach, Engaged Users and Talking About numbers. Reach is how many people have seen your posts; Engaged Users is the number of users who have clicked on your links, and Talking About is the number of users who have shared or liked your posts.

Looking at these three numbers will give you a pretty good indication of what your followers like and don't like. You can also compare the results from different types of content which will give you a great overview of what type of content your customers like.

To take it one step further, Insights also allows you to view activity by day. So, if you notice a picture or article got a lot of likes on a Saturday, this may be a good day to post similar content.

Get to know your audience Insights doesn't just provide information about your content, you can also get a snapshot of your audience by tracking data too, such as the average user age clicking the "Like" button and where they clicked the button - on your page, through a plugin, etc. If you notice that the majority of your users are older, it may not be a good idea to use slang commonly used by younger users.

The information Insights provides about your audience can help you gain a clearer picture on the type of content you should be creating to reach the intended audience. Furthermore, if you notice that a lot of likes or shares are coming from a website, or your blog, it may be a good idea to make the button more prominent or easier to find.

Take Facebook Advertising out for a spin Once you have mastered Insights and know the type of targeted content you need to develop, why not try Facebook Advertising? This service allows you to target your content and posts to specific demographics in the hopes of increasing your brand's exposure.

While this is a pay-service, you can choose to sponsor stories - these show up on the right-hand side of the page - or promote posts - these show content to users who have already liked your page. Both of these options allow you to set the demographic indicators which will place the ad in front of the users you want to target.

It's important to not go too overboard however, as you could over-reach your brand and end up alienating potential customers. It's a better idea to start small and continuously track how things are going. If something doesn't work, you haven't wasted thousands of dollars and can go back to the drawing board.

If you would like to learn more about Facebook Insights and how they can help your business reach the audience you want, why not give us a shout, we're here to help.

Social media has become an integral part of many of the younger generation's lives. They see it largely as an extension of themselves; a cornerstone to their personal identity. Because of this, many feel that they should be able to access social networking sites while at work, often complaining when they can't. Is this such a big deal? A recent report says maybe.

The report, published this past summer by Kelly Services reported on social media in the workplace, and highlighted findings and opinions from three major regions: The APAC (Asia Pacific), The Americas and the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Below are some interesting results on the use of social media in the business environment.

Social media at work by region Social media and it's use in the organization is a hot-button topic. Many argue that by allowing employees to access it at the office, they will spend all day surfing their personal accounts and not doing any work. The study found that an average of 30% of employees across all regions feel that it's ok to access their personal accounts while at work. Interestingly enough, the APAC has the highest percentage (48%) of users who think social media access at the office is acceptable, while The Americas had the lowest (16%).

Social media use at work by generation Going a little deeper into the use of personal social media accounts at the office, the survey breaks down the numbers by generation. Not surprisingly, Gen-Y (36%) are the most inclined to think it's acceptable to access social media while at the office. What is interesting about this is that 30% of Gen-X also think it's fine to access these services while at work.

These statistics go to show what most people already know: Younger generations are more embracing of social media. This does run counter however to prevailing thought that all Gen-Y and X want to do, and think it's okay to do, is access social media in the workplace.

Impact of social media on productivity Experts are always saying that social media can help improve productivity in the office. While this may be true, the study found that over 40% of respondents find that social media hampers productivity in the office.

You might predict that Gen-Y, with their higher levels of embracing social media, would think drastically different from other generations. However, the findings say otherwise: 49% of Baby Boomers, 44% of Gen-X and 40% of Gen-Y believe social media hinders productivity.

Impact of social media on work/personal relationships Look a little deeper at the downsides of social media in the report and you find that slightly lower than half of all respondents, regardless of age or location, feel that mixing work and pleasure connections can cause problems in the workplace.

What do the numbers mean? By themselves, the numbers really confirm what we already know - social media is important but the way it's used and viewed differs enormously. Put the findings from the survey together and an interesting picture emerges. The acceptance of social media is growing, and will continue to do so younger more social media savvy generations join the workforce. Social media may be a main form of communication outside of the office, but when it comes to personal use in the office, the majority are not as comfortable with it.

While use and acceptance is growing, this report's findings highlight that many employees still feel that social media is more of a hindrance than an improvement to the working day. This is interesting, because a decent percentage think it's acceptable to log onto such sites in the office, while arguable knowing it causes a decrease in productivity. This is a conundrum all businesses are facing: Do we allow social media to blur the lines between work and life, or resist it? Look around, it's plain to see it's creeping into work and being met with mixed results.

The question this report raises, and doesn't answer, is whether social media and its use by employees at work for personal reasons is a good idea. The truth of the matter is social media isn't going away and reports and findings like these emphasize a need to understand how people embrace and use these platforms. From this understanding it's essential to develop policies that everyone feels comfortable with. Above all, it shows large differences of opinion which indicates a real need for flexibility.

We'd like to know what your thoughts are on social media and how it's currently used in your office. Do you embrace or resist? Let us know.

Facebook is to some the greatest thing on earth, to others a necessity and to the rest a form of modern-day narcissism. While it's been around for nearly nine years, many users have only been using it for the past five. Since then it's become a place for people to share nearly everything about their lives, with many arguably sharing way too much. This sharing has led to a number of security updates from Facebook, and each time the Terms of Service is updated, users freak out, often sending chain letters or posting on their wall complaining about who owns what.

The most recent letter popping up on user's walls is a copyright notice. You've probably seen it and been curious enough, or enraged enough to share it. The problem is: it's completely fake and 100% unenforceable.

The letter, which looks and reads something like this: "In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, graphics, comics, paintings, photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner (sic: Berne) Convention). For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!

Anyone reading this can copy this text and paste it on their Facebook Wall. This will place them under protection of copyright laws. By the present communiqué, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The aforementioned prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents and/or any staff under Facebook's direction or control. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of my privacy is punished (sic: punishable) by law (UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).

Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are recommended to publish a notice like this, or if you prefer, you may copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once, you will be tacitly allowing the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile status updates…"

If it sounds legitimate it must be, right? Wrong! Here's something you should know about this post:

• The Berne Convention: This is at least a real act, and it focuses on international copyrights related to literary and artistic works. The problem is that it was established in 1886, almost 100 years before the Internet. Therefore, anything in relation to the Internet (read: Facebook) isn't covered by this act.
• Legal language: There is some legal language, or at least legal sounding jargon, in this post. For example: 'By the present communiqué'. Communiqué is the French word for statement, it has no legal bearing whatsoever. The thing with legal language is that just because it's included doesn't mean the post is legally binding. Also, if this was a legal message, the '!' wouldn't be used.
• Rome Statute: We're not sure why the Rome Statute is mentioned here, as it covers mainly International crimes such as genocide and other serious war crimes. Last we checked, Facebook hasn't been hauled to The Hague and put on trial for genocide or other serious crimes against humanity.

So, this post and many like it are useless. There is an important underlying issue however: Who owns the data, pictures, movies, etc. you post on Facebook? The answer: You do. According to Facebook's Terms of Service you own any content you produce and put/share on Facebook, and have complete control over how it's shared.

Caveat Emptor There is a catch though. According to Facebook's Terms of Service, "For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it." Essentially Facebook can do whatever it likes with your photos and videos, and you are mostly powerless to stop them.

What can we do? This policy sounds a lot worse than it really is, Facebook has publicaly said that they don't use/sell user's images or videos. The issue to many is that Facebook can use your content, and that's what has experts so nervous. At this time, there isn't much you can do, if you're really uncomfortable with this policy, you could delete your pictures, or not post any to begin with. Another option is to contact Facebook's customer service and ask them about potentially putting an opt-out clause on image and video content which allows you to determine if they can use your images or not. Who knows, if enough people do this, then Facebook may integrate it.

When it comes down to it, if you see posts like the one above, it always pays to do a quick search on the Internet to check the facts. If you'd like to learn more about Facebook and how it can help your company, please contact us.