Facebook Home? "Really?"

Okay — the curmudgeon is alive and well this morning. Facebook just released to the press a new initiative to wrap android phones with their own 'home' page experience. It is deeply integrated into the Android environment — to be always 'on' and be the dashboard to your social world. A 'start button' for apps on your Android device.

As they say on Saturday Night Live: "Really?"

I have found my Facebook usage declining precipitously over the past few years. In fact, many people I talk to (even Social Media Czars) say that they are using it less and less too. I even ask kids (14-22) about their usage and they give me a weird look — they never use it.

Why is my Facebook usage declining?

1. There are other better platforms out there. Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Texting, etc. allow me to stay connected with key people in my personal and business life.
2. If I do check Facebook, it's to see if my blog posts are live (confession: I've NEVER closed a client from Facebook) or if I want to wax nostalgic and interact with college friends or hometown photos from years gone by. That's it.
3. I hate any Facebook game, poke, snap-on, program that tries to suck you in (and read your usage).
4. And on usage, I am on high-alert about how Facebook tracks EVERYTHING you do — catalogs it — and sells it to the highest bidder. I've also am very wise to Google — that's why I use Duck Duck Go for my searches.
5. Have you ever seen, clicked-on, or used a Facebook ad? I haven't.
6. And then there's Facebook Envy - read this and this. I get tired of seeing all the 'great' things other people are doing - you know who they are - and they use Facebook to advertise their kids, their travels, and their pets. I'd rather read a good book.
7. They push things ON you — alerts, ads, snap-ons — all the time.
8. It's not an information resource — it's a waste of time. I'd rather use Reddit.

Now back to Facebook Home. Based on the information provided above — why would I want a more expansive, exclusive, and inclusive experience with Facebook? If you eliminate teens, young adults, and professionals, who's really using it?

Housewives/Househusbands, Seniors, and people who are less technologically savvy. Is this a growing market? Housewives/Househusbands are very fickle, the less technologically savvy tend to get more experienced, and seniors die off.

And let's cover their stock opening fiasco, their privacy issues, their ever-changing interface, their bloated code, and wonderful ability to tick anyone off with their presence. Facebook is not a pretty, simple or tight platform to use.

Facebook is doing well right now because there's no direct competition. Google+ is a joke. There is no iOS to Android competition comparison here.

In my opinion, this might be a swing for the fence for Facebook — inculcate themselves into a mobile platform (because their app sucks) to maintain their current pole position.

I don't think it's going to work (let's wait and see if they have to make a de-activate app to wipe it from those phones in the next 6-12 months).

P.S. A confession: I do use the Facebook 'like' app for my posts — I'm trying it out in addition to the basic comment plugin. Not sold on it yet.

"I Can't Find A Job!"

The title of this post is so often repeated in the media — all the way from college students who have just graduated to middle managers who have lost their job to workers in the sunset of their career. "I get up — I check out the job market — I send out a few resumes — and I never get a call back!" "What should I do?"

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE.

It's easier said than done. But the reality is, there are more workers than jobs out there right now. And the premium jobs (management) are disappearing at a rapid pace due to productivity gains, technology, and the current economy. Check out this article.

BUT WHAT CAN I DO?

One option is to start your own business. It's never been easier in the history of people working. To start your own business, you need to clearly understand a number of areas:

• Knowledge of the Marketplace - is this needed?, is there a market for this?, are people willing to pay you for it?
• Drive & Hustle - a 'get off your ass' attitude to make it happen AND a drive to help you through the hard and complex times.
• A Vision - what is the future of this business?, where is it going?, who is your competition?
• A Mission - what are you going to do . . . exactly?
• A Plan - what are the steps, the timing, the resources, - the who, what, where, when, why and how?

Now you might say — "Start a business? How will I make money?" Let me give you an example:

There's a small shop in Kentucky called Gil Hibben Knives. You might have heard about them. Gil makes knives. Really good knives.

In addition to manufacturing his own knives, he runs classes where he teaches people to make their own knives:

• It's only offered once a month.
• The class runs for one week, each day from 9 AM to 5:30 PM.
• He only allows four people in each class. (he can probably run the class by himself)
• The classes are held at his shop in LaGrange, KY. (hotel, travel, food, etc. are your responsibility)
• He charges $995 for each participant.

The classes are FULL for the rest of the year.

Let's do a little broad math here: $1000 X 4 Students X 12 = $48,000/year.

And that's only working one week per month! This model allows him to work on manufacturing and other projects the other three weeks of the month! And let's be honest here — his site is pretty basic — it does the job, but anyone can do the same thing to market their services and wares. What I'm really saying is that it's pretty easy — don't let your mind develop obstacles.

And let me hazard a guess . . . he probably LOVES what he does.

So if the corporation work environment is slowly collapsing/changing — maybe you should strike out on your own and start that business?

It will be hard — it will tax you — but in the end, it will be well worth it.

P.S. I know there will be commenters who will say, "He's a famous knifemaker!" or "He's had his business for years!" or "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah". You may be right, but from my viewpoint, they're just more obstacles you're putting in your way — moving you from success to mediocrity and failure. Get out there and do something!

The Rules Of Job Hunting Have Changed.

Bob Weinstein, a reporter who has interviewed me a number of times on job search, business, and career issues, has hit another home run again yesterday in the Connecticut Post, one of CT's largest newspapers. A whole article about job hunting rules from ME (click image or here to enlarge).

Bottom line:

• Take stock of all social media sites where you have been posting information.
• Step back and view each site with a laser focus — is there anything unprofessional?
• They are looking — especially LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.
• Use these sites to enhance your professional image and stature in the industry. 

A big shout-out to Bob — he's in a rarefied class all by himself - professional, understanding, and informs readers with solid and clear advice.

Social Media Is Ruining Your Life.

How many text messages do you send in a day? How many emails? Tweets? Foursquares? How many quotes/photos/links do you post on Facebook? Pinterest? How many sites do you surf to learn about the world around you?

All of this is GOOD. But it shouldn't be the end-all of what you do to communicate every day.

Do you interact with strangers anymore? Your neighbors? The shopkeeper down the street? The man at Starbucks who makes you that perfect coffee every day?

As we stretch out via the web, we are slowly and subtly closing out many people around us. Not our friends, but those people I call "Strangers". You know, the people you DON'T know and unfortunately, they don't know you either.

As we entwine our lives with more and more social media outlets, it allows us to forgo the opportunity to reach out to people we touch everyday — the waitress, the auto mechanic, the crossing-guard at the school — and have a meaningful conversation with them.

Honestly, we don't even have to talk to them anymore — they are not only strangers, they are 'non-people' in our lives.

You might say — so what? But you might be missing out on your new best friend, your new boss, or your new life partner.

A better title for this post should be "Start A Conversation".

In the next few days, start a conversation with 3-5 strangers whom you wouldn’t normally talk to:

Ask them a question, make them laugh, or give them a compliment (I really like how your arranging those oranges - how do you do that?). You also need to get a response back — and if the opportunity presents itself, have a conversation.

But this is my charge to you — you have to do it this week. Make it happen.

What You Don't See Will Hurt You.

As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview.

TED presents Eli Pariser, who argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

Your Most Successful Social Media Tool.

There's so much written out there on Social Media. There are experts, seminars, books, etc. all on this topic on how to learn it and leverage it for your business. I'd love to find out what works for you. Twitter? LinkedIn? Facebook? GroupOn? Something else?

But here's the catch — What REALLY works? Where do you make money? Where do you get customers?

Let me know - you can either comment on this post or send me an email - socialmedia@richgee.com.

I'd love to hear from you — I will post the responses.

Will Social Media Be of Any Help to CEOs?

Experts believe social media presents good opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers. By Fayazuddin A. Shirazi at Chief Executive Online.

Although industry analysts are increasingly advocating the usage of social media by companies, CEOs apparently are going easy on the suggestions. As against the increased usage of social media – such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and the fast growing blogs domain - by general public, CEOs are still lagging behind in adopting to such emerging trends and technologies.

Writing for his blog “My Three Cents”, Ken Makovsky, CEO and President Makovsky + Company, a NY based global investor relations company believes, CEOs are losing, what he calls, a powerful opportunity to connect with their customers by ignoring social media.

Commenting on a recent research piece which pronounced most of the CEOs to be social media slackers, Makovsky thinks social media is a rapidly growing community and CEOs should identify and align themselves with these emerging technologies.

The research by UberCEO.com, a blog watch on CEOs, found most of the Fortune 100 CEOs they surveyed were social media hermits. Out of the 100 CEOs analyzed only two had twitter accounts.

Eighty-one percent of chief executives did not have a personal Facebook page. Only 13 had profiles on the professional networking site LinkedIn. Three-quarters of the CEOs did have some kind of Wikipedia entry, but nearly a third of those had limited or outdated information, such as incorrect titles, or failed to provide sources. While some CEOs contribute to other blogs, not one Fortune 100 chief executive had his or her own blog, writes Makovsky.

However, recent research data from Nielsen revealed that people are spending more time on social networking and blog sites than ever before. Nielsen research found the number of minutes spent on social media in the United Sates is doubling over the past year. “Despite an increase (82 percent) in the total number of minutes spent year-over-year and average time per person (67 percent) year-over-years, the CEOs are still staying aloof from the rapidly growing social media community,” wonders Makovsky quoting the Nielsen and UberCEO report.

So why is that CEOs are wary about social media? Experts believe CEOs fear, their open dialogue could spell potential trouble for them as they are closely watched by the law and the governance agencies.

"No doubt regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Reg-FD make CEOs cautious about communicating freely, but they're missing a fabulous opportunity to connect with their target audience and raise their company's visibility," Sharon Barclay, editor UberCEO.com told Reuters, referring to financial reporting regulations aimed at protecting investors.

Experts feel unless CEOs are motivated to use the social media themselves, they really cannot know what it is.

“You (CEOs) can't understand Twitter, Facebook, or blogging by reading an article in a magazine or a report from your CMO. Sure, they can tell you what they are, but you won't be able to truly understand how they could change your business unless you actually use them,” George F. Colony, CEO Forrester Research and the self-proclaimed CEO Guru had observed in his recent blog posting. He says the only way CEOs can understand social technologies is by using them.

“Social is like sex. It's fun to talk about and read about, but you can't truly comprehend unless you do it,” Colony noted in his blog posting at Counter Intuitive CEO.

According to Colony, the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, uses social extensively and now has 300 customer service representatives at the company on Twitter. Why? As Tony says..."People don't relate to companies, they relate to people."  “This is important insight. You, the 57 year old CEO may not use social, but that doesn't mean that your customers don't use social. You are not your customer,” Colony points out referring to Tony Hsieh’s view.

Makovsky believes, while not every CEO has the skills, inclination or regulatory freedom to blog, it’s worth remembering that the social media represent a powerful opportunity for a company — or virtually any other entity— to really connect with its most important stakeholders.

“Yes, much of the social technology is a titanic time waster. And yes, much of the technology is crap. But there may be real value here for your company -- something that you can't grasp unless you engage with social,” George F. Colony pointed out.

Facebook Postings Close Doors For Job Candidates.

More employers than ever are researching job candidates on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter in order to find out more about their activities and character. And, it turns out, many candidates are doing a great job of showing their potential bosses poor communication skills, inappropriate pictures, and even how many workplace secrets they can leak. By Jacqui Cheng at arsTechnica.

Some of us had the luck of doing stupid things online before most employers knew what social networking was. (I'll admit it: in my early working days, I said some not-nice things online about some of the people I worked with.) These days, however, those looking for jobs have had many years to build up an unsavory history across the Internet, and employers now know how to do their homework. In fact, nearly half of the employers in the US now search for job candidates on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, according to survey results from CareerBuilder. The job-finding firm said that the numbers reflect a twofold increase over those who reported doing so in last year—45 percent in 2009 versus 22 percent in 2008—and cautioned that many employers choose not to hire based on information they find online.

Facebook was the most popular site for researching job candidates this year — no surprise there, since Facebook has exploded in popularity as of late. "Professional" networking site LinkedIn came in second at 26 percent, MySpace came in third at 21 percent, 11 percent read blogs, and seven percent followed candidates' updates on Twitter. Paranoid yet about any of your recent tweets?

If you're looking for a job, you probably should be. More than a third of survey respondents said that they found info that caused them not to hire the person applying for the job, including "provocative or inappropriate photographs," content related to drinking or using drugs, and finding postings that badmouthed previous employers, coworkers, or clients. Other candidates showed poor communication skills on their social networking profiles, made discriminatory comments, lied about their qualifications, or shared confidential information from a previous employer. The one that made us cringe? "16 percent dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an e-mail or job application."

On the other hand, some candidates are doing a good job of presenting their professional side when posting online. Half of those who screened candidates via their social networking profiles said that they got a good feel for the person's personality and fit within the organization. Other employers said that they found the profiles supported the candidates' professional qualifications or that they discovered how creative the candidate was. Solid communication skills, evidence of well-roundedness, and other people's good references (we assume this one came from LinkedIn) helped boost people's credentials, too.

For most of us, it seems like common sense not to talk trash on your Facebook wall or post drunk pictures where potential employers can see them, but people are still catching up to the idea that their future bosses are on the same sites as they are. Anecdotally, I have worked at many an office that has casually looked up interns and new employees online, only to find sides of them that were less than flattering (one intern publicly declared that our company's parent company could "f-ing suck it!" immediately after we offered her the job).

Some may argue that employers shouldn't use information they found through a little bit of online stalking (something we've heard in our forums)—after all, what someone does after hours is his or her own business. At the same time, it's hard to deny that discovering truly alarming information—such as leaked workplace secrets—would be good cause for choosing another candidate. These days, everyone hunting for a job needs to exercise some judgment on what to post online and who they let access it if they want to stay in future employers' good graces.