Facebook is making a significant change to the Internet. They are doing it with their “Like” button. Participating websites are able to put a “Like” button on a piece of content. If site users want to share the content with their Facebook friends then all they have to do is click on the Like button, post a comment in the Facebook entry box that pops up, and click “Post to Facebook.” The comment and a link back to the article will be posted on their Facebook page.

The Like Button Announcement

The “Like” Button

The image below is the end of a Wall Street Journal article. At the bottom of the article is Facebook’s Like button:

The Facebook "Like" Button

Post A Facebook Comment Without Visiting Facebook

Once you click on the Like button a Facebook text box opens up for you to place a comment in. Type in your comment, click “Post to Facebook” and you are done.

Post to Facebook

Your Facebook friends are now able to see the post. If they are interested in the article then they can click the link that is placed on your posting and it will take them to it.

Got My New Facebook Page Today

Facebook is in the middle of switching to a new page layout!

The first thing a visitor to your page sees is info about you. Where you work, where you went to school, who you are in a relationship with, all of these items are on the top of your wall. This is a very appropriate introduction. The next thing your friends see are your tagged photos. If you don’t like one of the photos then you just roll over it and click the “x” in the upper right corner. Keep eliminating the photos from the top line until you get the combination you want.

Navigation has moved to the left column and everything is together. This is a lot more simple than tabs across the top and some links on the side.

You can now add more detail on your education and work.  Add projects, classes and other educational pieces. So if you are one of my Social Media students then my sure you list the classes you have been to!

Facebook also includes more information on your interests.

Do you like the new layout? Why or why not?

One of the most common requests on Facebook by its users has been to be able to post messages that only went to certain groups of people and not their entire group of friends.

Select A Target Audience For Facebook Messages

Facebook has acted on this request. Now Facebook allows you to create “groups” that are closed to the people you invite into it.

One handy thing to note. With groups Facebook has added a feature that allows you to chat with multiple people in the same conversation.

Potential As A Business Tool

This could be very handy for business. Postings could go to a group of employees, a group of customers, a group of vendors or some other group of contacts. Postings would be there for everyone to see and they could be referred to at some point in the future.

Here is a brief tutorial on how to create a Facebook group:

How will you use groups with your business?

Time Is Being Invested

If you know someone who still has doubts about involving business with Facebook, tell them about this: People are now spending 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

Huck Huckabee

More and more businesses are creating pages on Facebook. Too often many of those businesses do not know the basic things to put on their pages.

Offer Several Forms Of Content

First, if you have a blog, set it up to automatically post to your Facebook. Different software has different tools. I use TwitterFeed to to have may blog postings automatically posted on Facebook. The initial part of the article is posted and then linked back to the blog. This generates traffic for my blogs.

Second, link to content related to your visitors interests. You’re an expert in your field. You have some information sources available on the web that many of your followers may not know about. Share them by providing links in your posts.

Third, put photos on your Facebook photos page. Photos of you, your staff, and other people related to your business give visitors a feel of comfort. It helps personalize your relationships.

Forth, post videos on your wall. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a video worth? When you find something interesting on YouTube that you think will interest your fans, post it on your wall.

Finally, initiate discussions. Get your followers to respond. That’s where businesses start to learn about what they can do for their customers.

What is your favorite form of content on Facebook?

Using The Share on Facebook Bookmarklet

Facebook has a button available that people can use to share the web page they are looking at with their friends on Facebook. For example, I enjoy watching and playing golf. Well, this is the week of the PGA Championship. And the PGA has set up a really neat website for the tournament. So when I found the site I clicked the “Share on Facebook” button that I installed on my tool bar. By doing that I posted a message about the site on Facebook with a link to it.

Now, do you think any of my golfing buddies will pass that message on to their golfing buddies? I’ll bet they do!

Click here to go to the Facebook Bookmarklet page and put the button on your tool bar. It’s very simple to install and very simple to use.

Let’s Share Your Website

So now Facebook users are starting to add this ‘Share on Facebook’ button to their browser tool bars (it will probably come as a standard tool soon). And those of us in business want our websites shared on Facebook. So how do we get our site visitors to share our pages?

Make Your Website Content Facebook Sharable

Well, we’ve got to provide content that is “sharable”. Give the viewers of your website a reason to click that “Share on Facebook” button. Content is key. Take care in what you create and make it interesting enough that your site visitors want to share it with their friends.

How do you make your content interesting enough for people to share it?

Ford Explorer Introduced on Facebook and YouTube

Today Ford Motor Company is presenting the 2011 Ford Explorer on Social Media. This marks a major marketing change for the automobile industry.

On Ford’s Facebook page you can click on the “Reveal” tab and see 12 YouTube videos connected to the page. The videos are listed on a schedule. Their first video was available to view at 12:01 am. I am writing this article at 3:00 pm and at this time seven of the videos are available to view and five more are scheduled through the rest of the day.

Ford now has 48,919 people listed as “Likes” on their page. That is far above their goal of 30,000 fans. Keep an eye on this and see how it grows through the day.

Ford’s Facebook Page

Facebook has now given users the ability to “Like” comments. This sounds like a minor issue, but think about it. This should have a major impact on participation. How often have you seen a comment that you agreed with and thought “Well someone has stated my view, I don’t need to post the same thing.” In that case two opposing comments could be posted and it would appear that visitors are evenly divided in their opinions. With the “Like” button you can cast your vote with one click.

Business Can See What Customers Want

Businesses can use this as a tool to get a more specific view of what their target markets are looking for. If a business sees a Facebook comment on it’s page that generates several thumbs up, then the business knows to pay close attention to that particular comment. That provides a greater understanding for what the market is demanding.

If someone is hacking your Facebook account from a strange computer, then Facebook has the ability to notify you via email or SMS.

Set Up The Facebook Hacking Notification

To get the security notification operating go to “My Account”:

Account Settings

-

Click on the settings tab:

Click The Settings Tab

-

Click on “Yes” to receive notifications:

Facebook Security

-

Once this is submitted you need to log out of your Facebook account and then log back in. As you log back in you will be asked to register the computer you are on.

Register your computer:

Register Your Computer

You can receive security notifications by email or by SMS. If you receive a notification and you are not aware of the new access to your account then log in and change your password right away. And then notify Facebook

Dropped Cookies Require Re-Register

If your PC drops cookies for any reason you may need to re-register your computer. Facebook may also ask you some security questions to get into your account.