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Why the “Profile Watcher” and “Dislike Button” Groups aren’t Legit

January 11, 2010 By 1 Comment

Lately, I see more and more of my friends joining groups on Facebook, which promise them that they will get a “dislike button” or that they will be able to see who visited their Facebook profile. So the message I want to send with this blog post is:

Why groups for “A dislike button” or a “Profile watcher” are not legit.

The Profile Watcher

Now, if you want to know why the” Profile watcher” does not work, I’m going to do my best to explain it to you:

  1. It is groups not applications. First of all this is groups and not applications that we are talking about. To be able to create this type of service they would have to create an application which can control who visits your profile page. An application that you would have to get and approve.
  2. You control what information applications get from you. In the Facebook Privacy Policy you can read that “You can control how you share information with those third-party applications and websites through your application settings.” This means that even if there were an application that was working, you would have to allow that application to show people that you had visited their profile.

Basically this means that to get this application to work both you and the people that are visiting your profile page would need to get this application, and then approve that the application can get this kind of information from your activity on Facebook.

I have read a lot about “visitor counts on Facebook profiles” on various forums and on the applications discussion board, where the general comments are “bullshit” or “Facebook privacy does not allow visitor count.” Ironically, I have to say that the first one of these are more correct from what I have read, as I have not been able to find any kind of statement about this particular issue in the privacy policy. Even though it is technically correct that “Facebook privacy does not allow visitor count” I am still waiting to find out where this is written.

The Dislike Button

First of all: There is a “dislike button” add-on available to Firefox users. Thus, all Firefox users which have installed this add-on can see what others dislike, which means that for them this is not an issue. Read more about this on Lifehacker.com.

Basically the first problem with the numerous “Dislike button” groups is the same as with profile watcher. It is groups not applications. Although this time, there are not any privacy issue that is the reason, it is common sense. Basically, the dislike button won’t appear just because you invite your friends to join the group, the groups are just created to market the person who created the account. There is an example of how on: Kramer’s blog.

Also, I do not know why Facebook have decided on not having a dislike button, because clearly people are interested in one, if you look at the petition group. However, if they did want to create one, it is not that difficult for them. They did the “like” button, right?

Some people still claim that they have heard that it has worked for other people, but I do not know anyone who have said so. Now, I cannot promise that there wont be a “Profile Watcher” or a “Dislike Button” for everyone in the future. But for now, please, think twice before you join one of these groups.

Friendly Reminder: Google or Bing the things that you cannot understand, or are not sure about. That is how I found these results.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

A few ideas for language-targeted Tweets

January 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I about 80 % of the time, I tweet, blog and communicate online in English. Though most people know English is not my mother tongue nor do I live in a country where English is the official language. Still I choose to communicate in English, simply because more people can understand what I am saying.

Even when it comes to sharing information it is usually easier to just communicate in English because if I refer to others work or writing, people do not have to be confused when it is in English. Many might disagree and just share in what every language the information is available, and that’s fine for them.

Either way, Chris Brogan’s post today about Geo-targeting on Twitter really made me see the possible solutions for sharing in multiple languages from the same profiles, without confusing people.

Basically all opportunities for targeted tweets would be useful for various reasons, especially when you have got a couple of hundred followers. But let’s take a closer look on what we could to if Twitter allowed language-targeted tweets.

How language targeted tweets could be set up:

There are a few different ways to set this up.

One idea is to choice the spoken and understood language in the settings. Then the receivers will get all the tweets that the people they follow send out on those languages. To manage the individual tweets there could be a box where you choice language that you tweet in. Preferably with a default language, as there will most likely be a preferred language. This way the set up would be easy, and after the set-up it would only “bother” the people who actually want to have this opportunity.

Another way takes a bit more setting up, but works the same way with the tweeting. But basically you choice what languages you want to follow a person in, when you begin following that person. This mean that you do not have to follow all people in all languages, only the one’s that you are particularly interested in.

Possible ways to use language-targeted tweets:

The more obvious benefits are that you will be able to answer @replies in multiple languages; still only send them out to the people who understand that language. You can also share links and other information which is written in another language than your default, and be sure that people do not end up on pages they do not understand.

For companies with offices in different countries this might also be a good solution to handle customer service instead of having many twitter accounts which could confuse the clients.

But I’m sure that the uses of language-targeted tweets would create many more possible functions than the ones that I just mentioned.

What could you use it to? To you see any advantages or disadvantages of this? Or perhaps you have a better idea on how to set it up?

Filed Under: Musings, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Can anyone afford to stay away from Social Media? And if so, Who?

January 5, 2010 By 6 Comments

I just found this move produced by Erik Qualman on a blog written by Swedish Gert Frost.

Watching this movie I start thinking about all the people who have made the choice to stay away from all types of social media for various reasons. How long will people be able to stay disconnected from social media? And on average is it better to join or not join? Who should join and who shouldn’t?

I have been thinking a lot about this, because I think that many people hurt their reputation more than anything by being online. But I have not to any conclusion, probably because there are none.

Let’s look at two examples:

First we have Lisa, who is 38 years old, she has two children and is happily married. Lisa has worked for a governmental organization for the last 12 years, and as she is very satisfied with her work and the possibilities for advancement within the organization she does not think she will change jobs anytime soon.  She has already “chosen” whom of her collage friends she want to stay in contact with and she is not interested to find out what her old high school classmates is up to.

Honestly, I think that Lisa is very hard to convince to join Facebook etc. And even if she did, if she does not spend any time using it, will it help her career or let her stay more connected? If she ends up losing her job in the future, she will probably be able to bet other applicant for a new job because of her experience, though others might be more available online. Or, do you think that society will think of her as lazy for not prioritizing her career and perhaps for not he taken any initiative that show interest of what she does on work on her spare time?

Compare Lisa with Paul, who is 52 years old, has three grown up children and is divorced. Paul has been working of a local factory all his life, and has lived in the same city all his life. He has heard about social media and his children have shown their online profiles from time to time. But he does not see the point of him being online as most of the people he knows also live in the same city and they talk on the phone and meet occasionally anyway.

Paul’s children might try to convince him to join Facebook and Linkedin, but he might not have many connections or even completed profile pages. If the factory closes, can Paul’s chances for a new employment rise if he is on social media. Perhaps a potential employer would see that Paul easily adapt to new things and tries to stay updates as promising characteristics if he has to change field? Though, it could as well hurt his changes if they think that he does not “understand” the new media.

Is Social Media for everyone, or can the Baby Boomers stay outside without it affecting them?

If you were not sure about your opinions before I guess you might be even more confused when I uses personas to demonstrate the problem. Personally, I think that both Paul and Lisa could benefit from social media if they were using it in a good way. However, if not, they might as well stay away. But because they are from the baby boomer generation they can both make this choice. I’m not sure that people that haven’t turned 30 yet can.

What do you think?

Filed Under: Musings, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

An open letter to Dell: Give me a reason to choose you again.

January 4, 2010 By 2 Comments

To everyone that have an opinion,

Almost two years ago I bought my first Dell laptop; it was a Dell Inspiron 15. The reasons for my purchase were many, everything from the fact that I heard so many good things about dell computers to the long lasting batteries. Personally, I needed a good, reliable computer to use mainly for school work.

Today, two year has not even passed but the problems have been so many that I see no other solution than to buy another computer.

  • I have changed the keyboard once, after it stopped working when I used a special key board cleaning spray.
  • I had to exchange the whole screen after it had cracked in on the side, which turned out to be a manufacturing defect.
  • I have not been able to run the computer on any other mode than “low-energy” for the last year as it overheats immediately.
  • The mouse point can move when I type though my hand hasn’t touched the touchpad. (This I have got instruction on how to fix but I have not had the time to yet)
  • Last but not least, my computer has started to “flare” and fail with the moves of the screen, which seems to be because of some issues with the motherboard.

 The last problem I have not talked to Dell about yet, because I’m just so sick of all the troubles and plan on buying a new computer instead.

Many might not even consider buying a laptop of the same brand again after facing the same issues as I have. But as Dell’s customer service has been impeccable I really want to give Dell a chance to convince me to try again (hopefully with better luck).

Any words, statistics, reasons, or perhaps advice on how I could have prevented having these issues are appreciated.

That’s what I have to say! Dell Employees or Dell customers, tell me why I should choice Dell again, or if any other brand wants to be in this conversation, tell me why I should pick your brand instead.

If I end up not getting any responses to this, I just want to send an extra tumbs up to Dells Incredible Swedish Costumer Service!

Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: , ,
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