Facebook Annoyances

I’ve been managing Facebook and Instagram posts for a friend of mine for a while now (she’s a real estate agent just north of Seattle, Sarosh Altaf…check her out). And if you’ve spent any time with me, you’ll know that I’ve been doing that sort of thing for years, for a number of people and organizations.

So, this morning I post an article from a local newspaper about an art contest (Puget Sound Bird Fest poster art contest announced). Fun, great content to share and connect with the community. However, something with the way I posted the article made something with the Facebook algorithm think it was a job post. I didn’t catch that until we had a few applications come through. So, pulled down the post and sent apology messages to the applicants. A bit awkward, but nothing too horrible. What’s doubly puzzling, though, is that when I went and posted it a second time, from the publishing tools window, using the same language, hoping to see whether I missed something, or if it’s some weird “autocorrect” type of thing. But, nope, nothing. It posted the article on the way like I thought I had the first time. Weird.

Have any of you come across something like this with the spawn of Zuckerberg?

Twitter, Facebook and the next thing

social-media-collective

I’ve thought a bit lately about social media platforms. For me, Twitter seems to becoming more dominated by brands and “community” profiles. Most of my recent new followers have not been individuals, but brands/services. But that’s really only a piece of the pie.

From a US/western cultural perspective, Facebook and Twitter have probably hit their highest volume. I expect there’ll be incremental growth, but the ability to really leverage these two mostly consists in engaging folks already there. And there’s the digging through the morass of content; EVERYONE is on Facebook, nearly everyone is on Twitter (at least as far as brands go).

There’s something to be said, though, for being part of a community as it launches. Early users of sites that become popular end up with richer connection opportunities. Now, the glorious question is “what’s going to be the next big thing?” Welp, god knows. The best way is to be dipping your proverbial toes in everything, which is what I try to do. Whether Instagram or Snapchat, I’ve made it a point to explore them. I also make it a point to keep “young folks” in my life, and ask them what sites/apps they’re using.

No, I’m not projecting the death of Twitter, or Facebook. I do see these platforms evolving, though, and somewhat stagnating. For me, I want to be aware of what’s coming, where the cool kids are. Living ahead of the curve has been a desire for ages. As much, tech-wise, as my budget allows. By establishing presence on newly minted app and web goodness, I seek readiness to pivot as the winds of social media life flow.