Facebook Photo Changes

If it’s Monday (substitute any day here), then its time to check for Facebook changes in the night….This actually rolled out late last week, but with the Father’s Day weekend holiday, I’m a bit behind in sharing it. The change is with Photo Album Viewing in Facebook and applies to both Profile and Page albums. Facebook has added some options that make it easier to view not only album photo contents, but also the all important photo comments.

You now have two view options (Album/Comments) that look like this (see below) when you are in the album section of your account. Managing photos with the Add Photos & Tag Photos buttons makes it really easy to organize your albums and get the comment conversation party started!

Facebook Album Changes

These screen shots are taken from my personal profile Album of New Media Cincinnati events.  I think this is a great change and adds some functionality to the albums. My guess is that Facebook added this feature with the belief that picture sharing will become more prominent with the facial recognition tagging ability that was recently rolled out.

New Media Cincinnati founder, Daniel Johnson Jr. has a great post on the facial recognition roll-out. Read it and let us know your thoughts about enabling vs. disabling the capability.  Love to know what YOU think!

Album View

Comment View

 

 

Creating Connections in Cincinnati

Gotta love the whole idea of social media connectivity.  I was on the air Monday night (6/7/10) on Cincinnati Fox 19 News with an interview about a seminar I created called  “Keeping Kids Safe on the Social Media Highway” which ran at the METS Center on 6/8/10.  How the interview came about is a lesson in the six degrees of separation game with some good old fashioned social media sleuthing thrown in for good measure.

Various people had been spreading or RTing (Retweeting) the seminar information over the previous two weeks on Twitter.  Corey McConnell (@Fox19Corey), reporter for Fox 19 News, happened to see Suzanne Deatherage’s  (@SDeatheragePR) Tweet below:

@SDeatheragePR

Corey and I had never met and were not linked in any way on the social media highway.  She sent a public Tweet (using an @message) to Suzanne, asking her to call as she was trying to get some info on me.  Suzanne gave her my contact number which she happened to have because we met last fall at a Northern Kentucky networking event at Hofbrau Haus sponsored by Justin Rains, owner of Portal Planet- a web development & hosting company.  Since then, Suzanne and I have bumped into each other at other networking events around the city and frequently communicate on Twitter. Justin was one of the first people I met in the New Media Cincinnati Group almost two years ago. I’m not sure what the initial connection was between Suzanne and Justin, but I’m sure there is a great networking story in there somewhere!

I had my Droid on silent and did not realize that Channel 19 was trying to contact me.  I was, however, working on a project on my PC and received a LinkedIn notification from Suzanne that Corey was trying to reach me. Suzanne’s 9:30 a.m. Tweet finally brought Corey and I together at about 1:45 p.m. and she had a camera crew on their way out to the C3 Office for an interview within 2 hours.  The interview aired that night and the next morning.  See interview HERE.

What I love about this story is the thread of community connections.  People I have met in the Cincinnati area Social Media/PR/Marketing world have been incredibly willing to share their knowledge/expertise with others and to help promote events and work that colleagues are doing.  I am proud to be part of an incredible circle of business associates and friends and am honored that so many people believe in the work that I am doing in the On-Line Job Search arena for professionals in Transition and the Internet Safety/Reputation Management work I am doing for tweens and teens.

Often times we joke about living in the Cincinnati ‘Mayberry’ Bubble, where “everyone knows your name” or at least went to your (insert: grade school, high school, college, parish, church community) or knows someone who did.  I’m glad that my Mayberry Community is made up of special people like Shannon Boyer, Sean Ater, Jeanne Bernish, Ann Lightfoot, Daniel Johnson Jr., Erin Schreyer, Elaine Suess, Mike Boehmer and a countless host of others who

stay passionately connected to causes that make a difference in the lives of folks in our city.

Thank you!

Don’t Rob Me, I’m Just Checking In…….

Social Media Privacy Panel at NMC- Michelle Beckham, DG Hollums, Daniel Johnson, Jr. photo credit: Christiaan Todd Photography

Life on the Grid:

Discussions on Privacy all seem to be the rage right now. Thinking that this is due to the roll-out of Geo-location apps like Gowalla and Foursquare (1 yr old)  and the introduction of geo-loca capabilities currently with Twitter and soon to be with Facebook next month.  I sense that similar questions will arise from the unitiated as they did with Twitter.

“Why do I care what Adam had for lunch??”

will turn into,

“Why do I care where Adam went to lunch?!!”

Well from my perspective, there are a lot of great reasons to care.  Using Foursquare as an example, I see the following benefits:

• Keeping tabs on where your friends are
• Knowing who the tech-savvy people are when you arrive at a venue (check in list will show this)
• The venue knowing that you are on-site or nearby and having the capability to offer you a discount
• The gaming aspect that strikes at the heart of all us competitive Type A personalities (unlock badges, awards, become Mayor, etc.)
• The stalker aspect- ability to glean info about friends that you might not have known (for example, who was out into the wee hours…)

I participated in a panel on Internet Privacy yesterday at the New Media Cincinnati 2nd Saturday Event and Foursquare was prominently discussed.  Check out the Live Stream HERE.  I personally had been holding off on all of the fun because I had concerns about privacy issues.  After reading up on the applications and attending an American Marketing Association meeting in which Foursquare and Gowalla were featured, I came to realize that this cool tool offers a hot bed of marketing opportunities to the venues who jump on the bandwagon.  By the way, Starbucks just announced that they are partnering with Foursquare which should help to nudge the rest of the retail world into joining the party.

I joined Foursquare about 24 hours ago and am really liking what I see.  Will continue to update this blog with my experiences as I make my way through all of the settings and repercussions that ensue based on my choices.  And for folks who know about the Please Rob Me. com site- I will NOT be checking in/out of my home.

For the record, I have an alarm system and a killer watch-dog, so keep on going when you hit my  ‘hood……..

PRIVACY VS. AUTHENTICITY: CAN THEY CO-EXIST ON THE WEB?

Ever have a nagging thought that is just dying to be dissected and discussed?  The issue that is bugging me today and preventing me from enjoying the uber-nice Sunday spring weather is the issue of Internet Privacy.  Lots of hacker attacks and phishing scams are becoming rampant on Twitter and Facebook and the traditional media is picking up on the stories and spreading the gospel warning.  Recent examples include the 3/4/10 article in USA Today, entitled: “How a Friendly Click Can Compromise a Company” and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s article, “Foursquare Networks into Cincinnati“, on GPS-based applications like Twitter & Foursquare which announce your current location, be it the local Thai restaurant or the local Urban Active. (Local Cincy social media “activists” Kevin Dugan, Daniel Johnson Jr. and Chris Beiting are mentioned in the article.) In fact, a corresponding site has been launched called PleaseRobMe.com that shows how broadcasting your whereabouts can make you a victim of crime.

I recently completed an interview session with a local public radio station, WNKU, in which we talked about Facebook and privacy issues (airing week of 3/8/10). I was also tapped by New Media Cincinnati Founder Daniel Johnson Jr. to be part of a 3/13 panel discussion on privacy use with social media sites.  I am billed as the moderate person on the panel, which is quite ironic given the way I grew up and the current business that I am in.  Can’t go into the details of my upbringing as this is obviously a public venue, but let’s just say the circumstances of my family’s career choice lent itself to the utmost of privacy and secrecy.  On the other hand, my business is Social Media Strategy Consulting in which I advise companies on how to integrate social media applications into their marketing mix.  Trust me, you can’t advise other companies successfully until you have created and lived publicly in the social media space yourself  in a very transparent and authentic way.  As testimony to my experience and Web 2.0 presence, I was recently tapped as a candidate for a Global Social Media Director position for a well-known CPG company (and no, it was not my former company Procter & Gamble!).

Given my family upbringing and my own personal tendency to be uber-private, I work hard at striking the right balance of privacy with my public business presence.  Ironically, the upcoming panel discussion will be recorded, live-streamed, twit-pic’d, live-tweeted and blogged about, thus thrusting my privacy issues into the public.  What a conundrum for me!  Will be interesting to see how I balance what I say from who I am.  In the end, there is a modicum of me that must be protected……or is there?

What is your take on privacy issues?

RL (REAL LIFE) ROCKS!!

Me, Ann Lightfoot & Friends at the Social Media Holiday Happy Hour via Christiaan Todd Photography

In my previously addicted MMORPG days (that’s massive multi-role playing game for the uninitiated) we used to refer to our player relationships off-line as RL or “real life”.  Players in game would ask clan members (yes, I guess I was somewhat of a nerd; although not so much from the computer technology aspect, but from the highly competitive aspect of being the best with the highest player stats….that’s a blog post for another day!) if they knew each other in RL or just via the game.  Well, last night was a night for the Cincinnati Social Media Community to take their “game playing” completely off-line and meet up in RL.

The venue was Jag’s in West Chester, an upscale steak & seafood restaurant that was beautifully decorated for the holidays.  We had the entire back room and patio of the bar section and had live music playing on top of the bar.  You gotta see the pictures to truly appreciate this feat!  The aim was to mix up the local social media community with other friends and colleagues from a variety of professional backgrounds to get a conversation started and facilitate learning.  Anne Castleberry, Julie Sweeny Bogart and I are members of the New Media Cincinnati (NewMediaCincy) and Cincinnati Social Media (CincySM) social/digital networking groups.  We met virtually through Twitter and Facebook this past May and became great friends.  In fact, the three of us attended a recent REO/Styx concert and tweeted, twitpic’d and facebooked our hearts out as we swayed and clapped to the music.  (Note: the flashlight app for iPhone works great in lieu of a lighter for classic songs like Come Sail Away!)  It was at the pre-concert dinner that we hatched the plan for the Social Media Holiday Happy Hour.  I think that several people were glad that we did!

Who said you can't dance or play on the bar? via Christiaan Todd Photography

Over 100 people registered for the free event which featured complimentary appetizers, drink specials, live music and prize drawings.  Approximately 60 to 70 people representing a wide variety of backgrounds from social media folks, politicians (Charlie Luken was on the list), writers, non-profits, corporate types, attorneys, real estate professionals, bloggers, etc. made it out to Jags and from the comments that have been running on Twitter and Facebook, I think it was a very successful event.

Social Media Holiday Happy Hour at Jag's via Christiaan Todd Photography

Here are a few:

“Thanks for a great event, it was a good time and a great chance to network and catch up with people.”  -Brandon Kilby

“Great job putting the event together…great turnout!” -Carole Baker Hicks

“Great job Michelle, Anne and Julie.” – John Fleck

“Thanks to Anne Castleberry, Michelle Beckham and Julie Bogart for a FANTASTIC party!!! Those appetizers were delicious. I got to see people I hadn’t seen in a while; make new friends; catch up with friends; and had an absolutely wonderful time. Thank you SO MUCH for planning this. I look forward to the next one.” -Vickie Sceifers

Me & Julie Sweeney Bogart at the Social Media Holiday Happy Hour at Jag's via my Droid cam

“Wow-what a great party. Thanks for all you 3 did. We had a wonderful time. Everything was perfect and the place was just gorgeous. Met some interesting new people and many special friends.” -Ann Lightfoot

Thx to great girlfriends @julieunplugged @michellebeckham and @CastlePoint for fab & fun SM party last night!- Debba Haupert via Twitter

Cincy social media holiday party is a huge success w @benjaminmccall & Rhonda Silbiger @michellebeckham see pi http://tweetphoto.com/6563893 -Margo Rose via Twitter

@michellebeckham It was a great time! I’m glad I went and was able to meet you! Great job! -Annie of ArtsyGirtie via Twitter

Many folks asked the name of the organization putting on the event.  They seemed surprised when I replied that there was no group, this was just about three friends throwing a party.  No hidden agendas, no ulterior motives, just the pure desire to bring people together in the act of being social.  I met someone who had been directed by his boss to come to our event in her place.  He had no idea about the evening; just that there was a social media element and it made sense for their company to be involved.  Gotta love it!  Ended up having a great conversation with him and I’m sure he is thinking that his substitute attendance was time well spent.

The point of this post is to simply say that social media is a starting place and a conduit for building relationships that lead to community; but somewhere in the process one must take the connection off-line and into the real world.  It is a fact that we all do exist in Real Life and it is here that we can create and establish deeper and more meaningful relationships, both professional and personal.  Cincinnati is on it’s way to becoming a Digital Hub, I’m just glad to be along for the ride.

Want to know more about how you can become involved in the local Soc Med scene?  Feel free to contact me at:  http://twitter.com/michellebeckham

Warning!  Shameless Request Here: Become a Fan of my Facebook page to stay connected and be in the know about breaking news in social media and local happenings:  http://www.facebook.com/C3.CreatingConnectionsConsulting

Happy relationship building!

Glenn Corbin and Me at Jag's via Christiaan Todd Photography

People Experiencing REAL LIFE! via Christiaan Todd Photography

Thanks to Daniel Johnson, Jr for manning Eventbrite, spreading the news through the New Media Cincy community and offering great tips!

Thanks to Christiaan Todd Photography for the great shots!