Twitter has a great help topic on rules regarding all sorts of automation when it comes to posting updates on your Twitter profile. Because I manage other people’s twitter accounts I am often checking any updates and notices Twitter has to their terms of service and help menu. It keeps me on top of what my client and I can and cannot do.

Using a free platform such as Twitter, you will always want to be current with their terms in order to ensure your account does not violate any policies that will put you and your profile at risk.

Not only do you learn the ‘rules’ but you also get informed as to other aspects of using their service. There are many applications out there that allow you to automate messages, posts, @ replies and following and unfollowing users; and Twitter has some very specific info on what is allowed and not allowed when doing these types of actions. They explain how Twitter OAuth approval works as well (how the system works when you allow other applications to update your twitter profile).

If you have not read this recently – or ever – you may want to take 5 minutes today and check it out.

There are several Twitter Management systems out there – Hootsuite, Seesmic and Tweetdeck – which is my preferred system and today’s update confirmed my belief in them as the leader in their field.

Today’s release of Version 0.32 has seen them add some fabulous features to help you manage ALL your networks.

1. Linked In integration – add your Linked In account and keep updated of groups, status updates, Q & A’s and more!
2. ReTweet addon – Choose to Retweet as Twitter now allows you to – OR the previous method available on Tweetdeck which means you can still EDIT the tweet.  I personally like this choice as the option to add your own comment can increase the value of a Retweet .
3. Twitter List support – You can manage your lists directly in Tweetdeck, add other users to your lists and follow or unfollow other lists as well.

If you haven’t tried Tweetdeck lately as your Twitter Management System I recommend you do.  They have really changed since their first release.  One of the best features is the ability to post directly to your fanpage wall. The ability to keep up and in contact with those whose tweets you don’t want to miss is the mainstay of Tweetdeck, everything else is just icing on the cake.

On November 19th, Facebook announced a new change to fanpages and publishing of status updates. You may have noticed the new little button by your Status update box.

What this feature means is that for businesses and fanpages wishing to publish certain updates only to facebook users in a  specific location or in a  specific language – You Can!

Before you hit the “Share” button, click on this button and choose the country – and then by state/province or city as well -  and language. That update will then only be seen by people in those target areas.

Great feature for businesses with global clients and local ones as well or anyone looking to target a market in a specific city or town.

Here’s an update on the boxes changes that will be happening on Facebook in the upcoming months. According to the developers at Facebook, this is what will happen to any Static FBML boxes.

• If you created a tab using Static FBML, then that tab will remain.
• If you created a profile box using profile.set FBML that appears on the Boxes tab, that will go away. You should convert profile boxes to Static FBML tabs.
• If you have a Boxes tab with Static FBML  Boxes in it, then you can convert that box to a tab or use Static FBML to create new tabs.
• We’re not changing the number of tabs that display by default, and there will always be the >> button to see all the tabs.

In order to prepare and have a seamless change, I recommend going in and changing the Static FBML boxes to tabs now. Here’s how to make that change step by step:

1. Sign in facebook and go to your fanpage wall
2. Under your logo on the left wall, click “Edit Page”
3. Scroll down to all the Static FBML boxes and do the following for each: Click application settings, Click Tabs – Add (only if the tabs are not already added)
4. Go back to ‘view page’ and ensure the tab is where you want it.
5. Change your wall settings to have the non-fan landing page go to the proper tab now for welcoming your fans.

What will this change?

Well, one disadvantage I see is the inability to view them several FBML boxes all at once, under the “Boxes” tab.  It means you will need someone to create a good landing tab on your fanpage that incorporates many boxes into one – since the tabs do not all show, and unless a fan knows to click the >> to see more tabs – they may miss what you are trying to showcase.

Some people like placing their twitter connect image or newsletter signup in one box and move it to the left wall.  That won’t be an option with these changes.  The changes will happen so the big thing is to get ready for them – since there is no exact date of when it will happen.

As I mentioned last week, make sure you keep a backup file of all the information you have in these boxes and on the pages. I personally create a document that contains all this information and include any fbml/html coding used is saved in a Notepad text file.

Okay… so tonight I got an odd message on Facebook when visiting someone’s fanpage.  The error message that came up said:

IMPORTANT: Facebook have announced that all links, boxes and ‘info sections’ for applications will be REMOVED from your profile in the next few weeks. To continue using this application you must add a bookmark for it now so that you can return to it after the links have been removed from your profile. To add a bookmark now, simply click this button and confirm…

Well… this got me a little panicked and for good reason. Most, if not all, of the fanpages I have created for clients involves boxes.  Yikes!  At first I couldn’t find anything on my major research areas.  So I posted a couple questions online and in some communities I belong to. Then I did some more research and found the answer thanks to Allison Gianotti at Snipe.Net

Her article led me to the Developers Page on Facebook – which didn’t seem to come up in my initial searching.

And now after reading this, I am definitely SCARED, and apparently will be very busy in the next week.  I need to do more research as to whether this will affect Boxes tabs on Fanpages as well.  Profiles tend to refer to personal facebook profiles, so I am hoping, but it does not look good as they also make note of the fact that:

Application tabs will be the only way to integrate applications into profiles and Pages. Application tabs will shrink from 760 pixels wide (today) to 520* pixels wide to accommodate a slightly revised design. Boxes, info sections, and the Boxes tab will be removed in the near future.

When will this happen?  Well apparently in “Late 2009 or Early 2010″  – not the best description, and the error message I got above, makes it seem like it will be sooner rather than later.

I will be looking into more detail and keep you updated.  But it may be best to backup your fanpage info if you have not done so already.

I recently took a course through VAclassroom on Facebook fanpages, I had wanted to add more to my skills through this.  One topic that came up was contests on Facebook and how they can help you market your business and make more connections.

I was the naysayer that brought up the fact that Facebook had rules in their terms of service and the promotion guidelines section about contests.. and it shocked a few people to hear this.  Contests are popular on facebook and especially on fanpages.

You can run them but there are many rules/regulations you must follow and  you also may require written permission from Facebook to do so.

This past week Facebook has made a few changes to their promotion guidelines, but the basics still remain the same.  The biggest terms to make note of if you do plan to run a contest on your fanpage/facebook are the following:

3.4 You will not mention “Facebook” in the promotion’s rules except in the following ways:(i) “You can enter the Promotion through the [application name] application on the Facebook Platform. You can also find the application on the [tab name] tab on the [Page name] Page on Facebook.”; (ii) to fulfill your obligations under Section 3.7.

You do not need our prior written approval if you are publicizing a promotion that is administered completely off of Facebook. However, we may remove any materials relating to the promotion or disable your Page or account if we determine that you violate these Promotions Guidelines, the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities or any other of our policies. If you publicize a promotion in any way on Facebook, in addition to the other terms and conditions contained in these Promotion Guidelines, without limiting your other obligations you agree to the following:

4.1 You will not directly or indirectly indicate that Facebook is a sponsor or administrator of the promotion or mention Facebook in any way in the rules or materials relating to the promotion.

4.2 In the rules of the promotion, or otherwise, you will not condition entry to the promotion upon taking any action on Facebook, for example, updating a status, posting on a profile or Page, or uploading a photo.

In a nutshell, you may need prior written permission; you cannot mention Facebook at all – on or off Facebook – except to say they are not affiliated with this contest. Asking people to make a wall post, become a fan or share anything on the facebook wall is not permitted.

It all comes down to following the rules and having a good foundation of your own – ie your blog, website, newsletter list etc.  You need all these to be in place and working well to help support your social marketing efforts. I never recommend a client rely solely on social networks, your own foundation has to be string to support it.

My advice – read very clearly all these terms before undertaking any contest or promotion on Facebook. Be certain you are not violating their terms in anyway that could have the rug pulled out form under you and your Facebook community you have built.  Trust me – losing a fanpage is not fun.

Making connections on social networks should always be about more than just numbers – yes numbers are important , especially to reach the viral aspect of social networking, but you should also be making connections with a purpose.  Whether it’s a a connection in your target market, someone you would like to partner with or a role model… there should always be a purpose behind your connections.

One of the more important ones to seek out, in my mind, are role models – leaders in your industry.

Not to say you should always be aiming to be a ‘tag along’ but more from the point that these leaders have much to teach and by connecting with them you can gain valuable insight and learn more about your industry.

I follow several people I consider role models and ensure I have them in special groups so that when they ’speak’ I can hear them.  The WEB 2.0 room can be very crowded and hard to hear certain people at times. I use available functions on certain networks – like facebook or tweetdeck – to help me sort out my contacts. This sorting allows me to follow more closely those that I do not want to miss.

What system do you use to keep track of your industry leaders?  How do you sort through all the ‘noise’ on your social networks.

Or maybe you are a leader… I am curious to know if those considered leaders in fact do the same type of practice?  As an industry leader do you group out certain people to keep in better touch with them?

Last week there was yet another attempt to hack into facebook accounts (You can read about it on Mashable or Facebook)

Today, I had a new client ask me if all the emails she was getting about her password from facebook were part of the setup I was doing for her fanpage. NO!   She had 27 of them in her inbox, and when she forwarded me one – boy did it look good.  Very official.

If you know what to look for you can see the links – and though they have the word facebook in the website link – it was not a Facebook link at all.  There were many other periods breaking up the address.  (It looked something like this http://www.facebookmail.com.xxx.xx/etc etc etc ) The .com makes it look like it’s real but watch for where the actual domain extension is – it’s tricky.

So, how do you make sure you do not get tricked into anything?  Simple, remember that Facebook, Twitter, Linked in and many other social networks and websites will not go and change your password.  That is not how they work at all.

You control your password. And you also control who has access to the password.  Keeping this as a guiding principle will help you learn to see the real emails from the fake. Don’t get tricked into giving up your passwords.  They are secret for a reason. Always use caution when you see an email like or message of any kind.

I highly recommend subscribing to Mashable’s RSS feed (a way to receive email updates of new posts), if you don’t already.  It’s one of the most up to date sites out there and can help you stay on top of many newsworthy items about social media.

Value… everyone wants some great value in today’s economy. Marketing companies are all about promoting value in advertising these days. It makes sense considering how these ‘tough economic times” are hitting many people.

My family had a two week vacation this summer and a good part of the planning was ensuring we received good value for the money we were spending, whether it was a hotel, attraction or restaurant.

This same principle can be applied to what you do and say on Twitter. People are looking for value with their connections on Twitter. If you add value to your tweets, you will find yourself having more conversations and connecting with more people. Ultimately it is these connections and relationships that help you succeed on Twitter.

So… how do you add value to a 140 character tweet? Simple. You make it worthwhile for others to read. You also need to realize that everything you tweet should not always about you and your business. Big value can be had from making a post about someone or something else besides you!

Here are five tips to help you think of ways to post tweets with value: Read the rest of this entry »

Tweetdeck has a new release today – version 0.31.1 – and in addition to many other addons and fixes they have added a new column for New Followers.

With the click of a button you can now have column dedicated to any new followers you have.  For people like me – ones who hate the email notifications – this is fabulous and will help me connect with many more people.  It’s not often I would click on my followers column to see who is new and what kind of people I have been attracting.  Now with one glance I can see all these new contacts and quickly say hello if I choose.

When you have the column open and the new followers are there – what is so great here is that they don’t show in the column with their last tweet- but their Twitter BIO.  Just Fabulous!! You can quickly see who this new follower is and what they are all about. Another reason why your BIO should always be very representative of who you are and what you do – I always tell my clients, Think “Elevator Speech” when thinking of what to put in your BIO.

The Tweetdeck new version downloads are now much simpler – simply exit tweetdeck, download the new version and in a minute you will have your Tweetdeck back up and running with all the new features. Some of these new features are a new notification system, some keyboard shortcuts and a bunch of fixes to help Tweetdeck rum more smoothly on your system.

For me, this New Followers column is tops! It will allow me to better reach out and say Hi to new followers – Talking on Twitter is so much better than Selling!