Category Archives: Facebook

What’s the Big Deal with the Chewbacca Mom?

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the Chewbacca Mom this past week.

WHAT? You don’t know who she is? Seriously??

Fine. Click HERE to watch the original video.

OK. Are we all ready to move on? Good.

Chewbacca Mom - Candace Payne
Meet Candace Payne, the woman behind the Chewbacca mask who has taken the internet by storm! Last Thursday (May 19th), Candace broadcasted on Facebook Live while sitting in her car in a KOHL’S parking lot. This Star Wars mask made her smile and she wanted to share that moment with others.

 

And in less than a week, she has:

I mean, she’s a mother of two from Texas who never really did anything with social media before.

So WHY is she such a big deal?

That’s easy. She possesses one simple but very important trait that is unfortunately rare in the social media world lately.

POSITIVITY.

That’s it. Positivity. 

Although we still see the occasional cute kitten videos, many Facebook news feeds have transformed into battlegrounds filled with anger and hate. The seemingly never-ending tensions of the Presidential campaign have brought out such rage and divisiveness that it’s frankly making Facebook less enjoyable. So is it really any surprise that when this extraordinary woman practiced the most ordinary act of sharing JOY, we all jumped at the chance to experience it with her?

During the Good Morning America interview, Robin Roberts asked Candace.
“What’s been the best part of all of this?”

Her reply?
“In all honesty, the best part of all of this is being able to share joy with people…” 

Well said, Candace. Well said.

 

Chewbacca Mom

 

TODAY’S QUESTION:
Do you feel like you’re drowning in the negativity on Facebook? If so, what can you do right now to spread positivity?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

 

ELECTION 2016: FOR THE LOVE OF FACEBOOK, MAKE IT STOP!

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I spent the first half of this week sick in bed with little physical or mental tolerance for well… anything. Between work and personal life, I normally spend a significant amount of time online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But this week? I barely touched it. At the most, I would pick up my phone and open the Facebook app immediately out of habit (Damn that muscle memory!) and quickly close it before I got sucked into the abyss.

I know what you’re thinking. I LOVE social media. It’s my life. How could I, of all people, want to avoid Facebook?

Seriously, people. I get that the future of our nation is important, but can we give it a rest? As of today there are 282 days left until Election Day. I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish the thought of 282 more days of anger, hatred, and pointless Facebook fights.

I mean, social media isn’t just a pastime. It’s my job.

So how am I going to survive this?

Facebook Unfollow

That’s right. If you didn’t already know, Facebook has this really great option called UNFOLLOW.

Don’t want to see anything from that weird cousin who LOVES Trump and his hateful comment of the day?
Unfollow.

Have you had your fill of that co-worker who posts ALL of Sarah Palin’s crazed ramblings?
Unfollow.

Are you even tired of that friend who shares far too many articles about your own political party?
Unfollow.

The point is, your Facebook News Feed is yours. No one else’s. It’s yours.

So if you are feeling overwhelmed by the posts of any friend, no matter how close you may be in real life, then why should you continue to put up with a barrage of posts that bring you stress? Just unfollow those friends.

No, you’re not unfriending them.

No, they won’t get a notification to let them know you have unfollowed them.

You are, however, choosing to take control of what you see when you log in to Facebook. I would venture to guess that none of us log in to Facebook hoping to get mad or frustrated. So why keep letting that happen?

Here’s how to UNFOLLOW from your phone:

FROM THE FRIEND’S PROFILE PAGE
If you are already following the friend (which you probably are), simply click the drop down arrow by FOLLOW and select UNFOLLOW.

FROM A SPECIFIC POST
Click the dropdown arrow in the top right corner of the post.
Select UNFOLLOW (FRIEND NAME). As the prompt says, you’ll stop seeing posts but stay friends.

In any case, you can still see their posts at any time by going directly to their profile and reading at your convenience. All you really do by unfollowing is remove their posts from your News Feed.

Again, your News Feed is yours. Isn’t it time you reclaimed it and made Facebook a happier experience again?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go purge my News Feed of everything about Martin Shkreli. Ugh.

QUESTION:
Have you used UNFOLLOW on Facebook?
If YES, what made you do it?
If NO, why not?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

How We Survived the Blizzard of 2015

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Wow! It was a rough night, but we all survived it.

Even the most calm and organized person wasn’t truly prepared for the events that transpired in the wee hours of the morning. We all sat clutching our cell phones in fear as we watched the inevitable happen, and we were powerless to do anything about it. It just happened.

Facebook and Instagram were BOTH down simultaneously for approximately one hour.

What?

Oh yeah. There was a blizzard, too.

But did you miss what I said?

Facebook and Instagram were BOTH down simultaneously for approximately one hour.

I even heard that the popular dating site Tinder was down as well. I mean, it felt like we were seeing the End of Days here, people!

Oh yeah. And there was a snowstorm, too.

But alas, Twitter was up and functioning, so we all had a place to go and vent…

… about Facebook and Twitter being down.

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the night:

 

TODAY’S QUESTION: Be honest. Were you having a little bit of withdrawal when Facebook and Instagram went down? Or did you even notice?

What are you doing to pass the time as we recover from this storm. No… the real one. With snow and wind? Yeah. That one.

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

 


How to Make Facebook a Happier Place in 60 Seconds

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Can you believe it? It’s almost Thanksgiving already!

Before you know it, our Facebook news feeds will be flooded with everyone stopping to reflect on things for which they are grateful in their lives. And let’s be honest… after surviving the increased political rantings of the elections earlier this month, won’t it be nice to have something positive to look at?

But don’t worry – it’s not long until Black Friday when all the thankfulness starts to fade away and the unadulterated rage and fury of holiday shopping will restore the anger to Facebook.

Because of the nature of my business, I spend a large portion of my day on various social media sites. And even though we all need to vent sometimes (inconsiderate people who don’t use their turn signals and slow people who clog up self-checkout lines are my biggest pet peeves), sometimes enough is enough! We’ve all got that friend on Facebook who does nothing but complain, right?

Unfriending them seems a bit harsh, especially if they are a good friend who just magically turns into a black hole of emotional need online… but did you know there is an option to still be friends but not see their posts?

It’s the UNFOLLOW feature.

 

Here’s how to unfollow someone in a few easy steps:

  • Go to the Facebook profile of the offending (or is it offensive?) party.
  • If you are viewing Facebook on the full site (desktop or laptop), look towards the bottom right corner of their cover photo on the top of the profile. There should be a box that says “Following” with a checkmark next to it. Click the dropdown arrow next to Friends. Click this box and the checkmark will go away.

 

  • If you are viewing Facebook on the mobile app, you will see a Friends icon under their profile picture. (insert screenshot) Click on that and then click Unfollow.

 

  • ENJOY LIFE!!!

And that’s it! You will still be friends with this negative time-suck on Facebook, but your NewsFeed will be purged of their draining ramblings.

Yeah. You’re welcome.

TODAY’S QUESTION: Have you Unfollowed someone on Facebook yet? If so, what made you do it. If not, what are you waiting for?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

 

3 Ways to Make A Snow Day Better

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IT”S SNOWING! Now what?

Yes. It”s snowing. In New England in the winter. I”m just as shocked as you are.

Since you”re reading this, there is a good chance that you are lucky enough to still have an Internet connection. But everyone on Facebook is complaining about bread, milk, eggs, and toilet paper. So what do you do?

Well, here are a few ideas to pass the time and make it better.

1. WRITE A BLOG
If you write a blog for your business, take advantage of the downtime to enjoy some casual and fun writing. Sure, the kids maybe home from school and the volume levels in the house may rival a small concert… but is it really any better in the office?

So what if you don”t blog for your business? If you have ever thought of writing a personal blog, why not go for it today? Blogging is a great way to express yourself, so head over to a site like www.blogger.com and start your own blog right now!

2. CLEAN YOUR FACEBOOK NEWS FEED
With so many people home from work and school today, Facebook is definitely going to be busy with all sorts of commentaries. On one hand, it is great that you may finally see some updates from a friend you haven”t connected with a while. On the other hand, we all have those friends who drip negativity and only post complaints. Or even worse… Vaguebookers!!! (I. Just. Can”t.)

Did you know you can filter what you see in your Facebook News Feed? If someone is overly negative and you don”t want to see it anymore, but you also don”t want to unfriend them, simply do the following;

Hover over the post and a drop-down arrow will appear in the top right corner of the post.

From the options that appear, click on Unfollow…

There. You”re still friends with them, but there will be no more of that person cluttering your day and bringing you down!

3. GO PLAY!
Remember when snow days were so exciting? Why did that have to stop?

So (after you comment on and share this blog, of course...) head outside and make a snowman! Make some snow angels!

Just be sure to post some pics to Instagram and maybe even some six-second videos to Vine. Leave your name in the comments and I”ll come check out your pics!

TODAY”S QUESTION
What else are you doing to pass the time and enjoy this snow day today?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

Three TRICKS to Make Your Halloween a TREAT!

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Oh, how I love those words! Seriously… without a doubt, Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. Extravagant costumes, make-up, candy, and mischief… what’s not to like?

Since we don’t yet have a way to download my favorite Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups online (Come on, 3D printers! Get on it!), I’ve decided instead to treat you all with some social media reminders to keep the monsters away… Well, away from your profiles at least.

1. “You’re wearing WHAT?”
Yes, we know that Halloween is the one day each year to be whatever you want to be. And TRUST me, I know very well that a scandalous costume is the BEST costume. But you DO know that everyone has a camera on their phones these days, right? You might want to check out the PRIVACY SETTINGS on Facebook and check the settings on who can tag you in photos. You want to be President someday? Well, you won”t be once THAT costume pic leaks!

 

2. “Hey! I never said that!”
Here we are online… on social networks. You got that first word, right? Social?
And when you share something on a social site, people see it. Sure, you can delete it, but that doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t have a saved copy of your words. (Trust me. I’ll gladly call out my friends with screenshots of past posts. Go on… ask them. I”ll wait.) Take a minute and THINK before you post. Otherwise, your own words just might come crawling back from the dead to haunt you like a zombie…

 

3. “You are SO getting egged!”
And lastly, if you’re the house that gives out bad candy for trick-or-treat, you better be ready for some kid to tweet about it. So unless you’re in the mood to scrub cracked eggs off of your house, you might just want to turn off that front porch light and call it a night. Otherwise, you might see THIS at your door…

 

There. Now you”ve got a few tips to help keep your Halloween safe.

Which of these tips was most helpful for you? Have your own tip to share?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

 

Facebook is CHARGING! Membership Packages Introduced.

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First of all, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog! Mondays are always SO busy (especially Mondays after a holiday weekend), so I wanted to take a moment just to thank you for stopping by.

Especially on a Monday.

April 1st.

Some call it April Fools Day.

(See where I”m going with this?)

So PLEASE tell me that you didn’t believe the headline that Facebook is charging?

(You didn’t believe me, right?)

Good. Because that is one of the oldest online hoaxes out there!

But there are some great new April Fools pranks out there online today. Here are some of my faves:

Google Nose

 

YouTube is shutting down!

 

Twitter

 

So… did YOU fall for any of these?

What other April Fools pranks have you loved today?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

 

 

Social Media Gets Offensive!

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Let’s be honest. We all have friends on Facebook that might get a little bit… well, out of control in one way or another, right?

Seriously. You”re thinking of at least one or two of your Facebook friends right now.

In my last blog, I shared my list of 5 Things NOT to do on Facebook. So it’s no surprise how much I LOVE these Social Media Citations that I purchased from my friends at Mirth In A Box. (If you love these like I do, get your own here!)

 

So… Which of these offenses are you guilty of?

Which one is your biggest pet peeve with your friends?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

 

 

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart! (5 Things NOT to do on Facebook)

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HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, EVERYONE!

Whether you are celebrating today with flowers, chocolates, and dinner, OR if you are cursing Cupid, Hallmark, and the entire production, I want to share with you how NOT to break my heart online.

 

Here are my TOP 5 THINGS NOT TO DO ON FACEBOOK:

 

 

5. Habitually click like on “LIKE THIS IF YOU / IGNORE THIS IF YOU” pics.
You know what I’m talking about, right? Those pictures or status updates that say things such as “Like this if you hate cancer. Ignore this if you love cancer”, etc.

Seriously??? Why would someone post this? Desperation? Need for attention and “likes” on their profile or page? In any case, please don’t feed into this. It”s OK to keep scrolling past these updates. No one will judge you. In fact, they”ll probably thank you.


4. Copy/Paste status updates that say things like “Repost this. 99% of my friends won’t do this”.
This is another one that really grinds my gears. It doesn”t matter how beautiful or important the status update may have been until that point, because when I see “99% of my friends won’t do this”, my response is “You’re right!”

Don”t stoop to guilting people into sharing your post. Focus on creating interesting and engaging content (whether for business or personal), and if it’s good, people will share it… without the guilt trip!


3. Share a large number of photos of wounded and abused animals.
I love you, Sarah McLachlan and I support your cause (and other causes with the same mission), but STOP IT! Shock Marketing does work sometimes, but too much is too much.

Admit it. When you”re watching TV and those commercials come on, you dive for the remote control and change the station, right? So why would you post those photos on Facebook? I understand that this is a very important cause, but who wants to log in to Facebook to find their News Feed full of injured puppies? You don’t have to shock to convey a message.


2. Post non-stop pics of your food
We all know someone like this… they post photos of their meals almost every day.

Do you do this? You do? Really?

Come here.

No. Closer.

Closer still. I need to tell you something…

STOP IT!

Posting a photo of a really special meal or something from a new restaurant from time to time is OK, but every day? Why?

Unless you are a chef or a nutritionist like my friend Lisa, then please… Please stop it!

 

And the top way to break my heart on Facebook…

1. Share conspiracy theories and spam without checking Snopes.com first.
“There’s a new virus!”
“OMG! They’re giving away free iPads!”
“Facebook is going to make us PAY!”

AAAAAARGH!!!

Here’s my rule. If it sounds fishy, then it probably is. So before you give in to the adrenaline and click SHARE, take a second to copy the status update with these claims and paste it into the search bar over on Snopes.com.

Snopes is a website that researches and reports on urban legends, internet hoaxes, rumors, email forwards, etc. If Snopes says it is true, then fine… share away! But if it’s false info, break the cycle and do not share lies with your friends or fans! We are all responsible for our words and actions online, so do the right thing and briefly check the content for accuracy before passing it on to others.


So there it is…

How about you? What breaks your heart on Facebook?

Sound off in the comments below!

 

Nemo is coming! Four Tips for Today’s Snowstorm

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Ready or not, here comes NEMO!


No, really… that’s the name of the big blizzard that is slated to hit the Northeast US today. (Seriously… Nemo? Who names these? OK. I’m over it.)

So if you are like me and live in an area where the snow forecast is in feet instead of inches, you may end up stuck inside with a whole lot of time on your hands. Here are some suggestions to keep you busy:

1.) Review your Facebook Privacy Settings

After so many changes to Facebook’s Privacy Settings over the years, it looks like they finally may have got it right. They are now broken down to answer three basic questions:

  • Who can see my stuff?
  • Who can contact me?
  • How do I stop someone from bothering me?

It’s pretty intuitive, actually. Take a minute and click through these options by clicking on this image on the top right corner of Facebook (desktop of laptop) after you log in.

 

 

Mobile device users should scroll in the app menu to find “Privacy Settings” and go from there.

Trust me… you’ll be glad you checked this out. Why wonder what people can see? Go find out!

 

2.) Join in a conversation on Twitter

So many people on Twitter, just watch… and that’s OK, but you’re missing out! If you’re going to the party, why cling to the wall? Dive on in and be part of the fun!

If you know me, then you’ll know that I am absolutely clueless when it comes to sports. But tweeting during the Super Bowl was a blast! Seriously… I couldn’t stop laughing with all of the witty commentaries on Beyonce and the commercials. (Apparently there was a game, too, but I wasn’t following that.)

Find a topic that interests you (perhaps in the Trends list), or do a search for a hashtag.

How do you do that?

Once logged in to Twitter, go to the search bar and enter the number sign in front of a word or group of words. But don’t use any spaces or punctuation.

When a hashtag is used in a tweet, it creates a hyperlink where you can search for others commenting on the same topic.

For example, today people are talking about the storm using many hashtags such as:

#Nemo     #blizzard     #findingnemo     #snowfail

You get the idea. Search, click, read, retweet, and REPLY! Keep the conversation going!

 

3.) Photo Time

Whether you’re a fan or Pinterest, Instagram, or anything else, take some pics of the snow! Get creative! You know there will be a TON of snow pics out there today, so yours better be special if you want it to stand out.

I absolutely LOVE snow, so if you’ve got a good pic from Nemo, be sure to post it HERE on my Facebook page.

 

4.) Disconnect and Reboot

No, I’m not talking about your phone. I’m talking about YOU!

Sure, we all live in this virtual world in Social Media. And I LOVE it!

But chances are you may be stuck inside with friends and family, so take a few minutes to put down the phone, tablet, or keyboard away for a little while. Make some hot chocolate, light a fire in the fireplace, and have a good conversation.

After all, it will probably give you something to post about in a status update or tweet later anyhow. Whatever you do, stay safe, stay warm, and have fun!

So what will YOU do during the storm today?

Let me know in the comments below!