Facebook have finally jumped on the bandwagon with clickable hashtags

A hashtag is a word or a phrase prefixed with the symbol #. They have been used for some time by Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Chris Messina was the first to introduce them to Twitter. Searching for a hashtag will bring together all entries containing that word or phrase.

Image source: Matt Hamm, Flickr

Facebook have now introduced clickable hashtags and in their recent news post describe them as a way of adding context to posts and means of sharing public conversations about a given topic.

Hashtags are just the first step to help people more easily discover what others are saying about a specific topic and participate in public conversations. We’ll continue to roll out more features in the coming weeks and months, including trending hashtags and deeper insights, that help people discover more of the world’s conversations.

How to use them in Facebook

Add the symbol # directly before the word or phrase with NO gaps between and include this in your post. So for example “I am baking a #chocolate cake” would convert #chocolate in to a clickable link.

Searching for hashtags 

You can search for hashtags in the regular search bar, or just type in your browser: facebook.com/hashtag/xxx (replace the x’s with the tag you want to look up). The public posts containing the hashtag will appear in an order decided by Facebook’s algorithm which is based on popularity (like top stories) and as yet can’t be changed to date order.

The search will bring up the top 6 results. You then can choose to select one of them or see more results. This seems to list pages to ‘Like’ and not posts. However if you select the #chocolate Hashtag (second entry) you get to see posts containing the hashtag.

You can also see posts containing #chocolate via your browser: 
https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/chocolate
 (replace chocolate with the hashtag you wish to search for).

Privacy concerns

Mari Smith (Facebook expert) posted this entry outlining concerns you might have about hashtags, which she openly asks people to share:

“Lots of confusion flying around about #hashtag #privacy. This brand new feature is rolling out to all users. Here’s the scoop on privacy: 

* Hashtags work on personal profile posts, fan page posts, group posts, event posts, and all comments.

* As with all personal profile features on Facebook, privacy settings prevail.

* If you publish a post on your profile to friends only, and the post contains a hashtag – yes, the hashtag will be clickable and open up to display all other posts on Facebook containing that hashtag.

* But, ONLY friends can see friends-only posts that show up in hashtag searches.

* Public posts—with or without hashtags—are public.

* Private (friends-only) posts—with or without hashtags—are just that: private and visible to friends only.

*Even when friends include hashtags in comments on your friends-only thread, your post is still private and visible just to your friends.

*With hashtags shared in private groups, that clickable hashtag will open to show public posts with that tag (along with any friends’ posts with that tag), but posts from the private group would only show to members.

*Individual comments on threads do not surface in hashtag searches; just posts show in searches. 

Make sense? Please share with your friends! Thanks!
Mari Smith”

How will you use hashtags within Facebook?

LinkedIn: endorsements and recommendations

Recommendations

LinkedIn recommendations are used to give a colleague or business partner that you have personally worked with or a service provider, a recommendation of their work. There is also the option to recommend a student, but I personally would use this only where you have worked with a student. For example on a research project or where the student was an intern. A recommendation is different to a character reference.

You can also ask request a recommendation from someone you have worked with. Both recommendations received and those you give, can be seen by those connections viewing your profile. However you can edit the visibility of recommendations you have received yourself and are given the option to accept or decline when they are made.

Below are examples of what recommendations look like on a LinkedIn profile. The name of the person recommending you will appear first, then the statement they have written, followed by the date it was made and the name of the company at which they worked with you.

To give  a recommendation:

1. Move your cursor over Profile at the top of your home page and click Recommendations.
2. Click the Sent Recommendations tab and scroll down to the Make a recommendation section.
   • To recommend a connection, click “select from your connections list” and click a name.
   • To recommend someone who’s not a connection, enter the first name, last name and email address.
3. Click the button next to Colleague, Service Provider, Business Partner or Student and click Continue.
4. Complete the recommendation form.
5. Click Send.

Endorsements

Endorsements are situated in your Skills and Expertise section within your profile. When any of your connections visits your LinkedIn page they are given the opportunity to endorse any of your areas of expertise. They can also recommend new ones to add to your profile. It is a way to publicly validate the skills of connections.

To receive endorsements you first of all need to add skills and expertise to your profile

1. Move your cursor over Profile at the top of your home page and select Edit Profile.
2. Scroll down to the Skills & Expertise section and click the pencil icon in the upper right.
3. Type the name of a skill and then choose it from the dropdown list that appears. If your skill doesn’t appear, completely type in the skill name.
4. Click Add.
5. Click Save.

You can add up to 50 skills to your profile. Skills with the most endorsements will be listed first. Skills without endorsements are displayed according to when they were added. You also have the option to hide any endorsements you do not wish to be visible.

Below is an infographic created by LinkedIn to celebrate the huge milestone of 1 billion endorsements given by 18 million people.

Infographic image source

LinkedIn icon image source

Alternative ways you can display and share your tweets

Aside from the Twitter web page, there are a number of different ways you can view tweets. Two of my favourites are:

• curating tweets to produce a digital style newspaper and
• showcasing tweets as a back channel that can be viewed publicly at an event 

Time saving tech tips you may well have forgotten

There are so many time saving keystroke tips and tricks around and yet many of us (including myself) have either simply just not picked them up or along the way forgotten what they are!

David Pogue talks about some really useful ones in his TED talk. These include:

• Tap the space bar to scroll down a whole page and Shift + space bar to scroll up
• Use the tab bar to move between boxes on a form
• View a web page in bigger text by pressing + with the Ctrl key or - to decrease
• Simply tap the call key on your mobile to dial the last number keyed
• During a PowerPoint presentation tap B to black the screen and repeat to resume the presentation (or use W to white the screen)

 

Social Media Shortcuts

You might also like these keyboard shortcuts that can be used on Twitter and Facebook:

Twitter Shortcuts Cheat Sheet is an infographic that was produced by mycleveragency

Facebook Shortcuts Cheat Sheet is an infographic that was produced by mycleveragency

Do you have any more to share?

The 5 Stages of Getting Twitter

Below is an excellent article written by Shea Bennett on the 5 Stages of Getting Twitter. I am sharing her 5 Stages (in its entirety) as it is such a good summary and one that even the most prolific Tweeters will be able to resonate with. Having had numerous conversations on the topic, I know that many colleagues have also gone through these very stages. Those that have persevered and reached stage 5 now have a valuable resource at their finger tips. The key thing to remember is that Twitter is what you make of it. Follow people, companies, groups or brands that interest you. Do look at who other people follow and then if their tweets also interest you, then by all means follow them too. It’s a personal choice and will depend on the interests you have. If you only follow celebrities but are not interested in what they say, your Twitter feed will be meaningless.

Google+ Hangouts on Air

One of the features of Google+ is having a ‘Google Hangout‘, which is very similar to Skype. However the added value is that it is free for you to hang out with up to 9 people and have a private discussion or meeting AND be able to see each other. Using Skype for a group chat you can only hear each other unless you subscribe to the premium option.

The other feature is Google Hangouts on Air. This allows you to have a group conversation in the same way but it is opened to the public to view and listen in to. The hangout is also automatically recorded and uploaded to YouTube. This provides unlimited opportunities to share public conversations, debates, Q&As etc.

Developing your LinkedIn Profile

If you are thinking about creating a LinkedIn profile or have one but have not looked at it recently, the following tips may be useful.

Kickstarter: crowdsourcing funding for your creative project

Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects. It is a platform where anyone can launch a project and seek funding. The project creators set a funding goal and deadline for their project. Projects only get funded if the funding goal is met. If people like the project they can pledge money to help make the project happen. In 2012 over 2 million people pledged just under $320 million, resulting in 18109 successful projects both in the US and UK.

Putting the spotlight on audioBoo: a useful tool to record and listen to audio

audioBoo is a free app that allows you to easily record, tag and instantly share audio. You can record from your desktop, by using the app on a smartphone or by uploading as an audio file. There’s a 3 minute limit for the free plan, but you can upgrade for more. You can share your boos with Twitter and Facebook or embed in blog posts or your website.

Some simple tips for new Bloggers

There are many reasons why people choose to blog. This blog was originally set up by me to introduce my students to blogging and other social media tools. I therefore chose to make the blog public, so that all of the students could access it. However there are two other options. One where you can make your blog private and the other where you can choose who may view it via invitation by entering their email address.