Facebook turns down the volume, Google Plus lets you choose

{EAV:27f131d34f00a51f}

In case you have not heard yet, you can now control the number of notifications shown in your newsfeed on Google Plus.  This comes after Facebook has diminished the number of fan page posts that show in the newsfeed leaving fan page admins scrambling to recoup.

I admire how Google has made it possible for the user to decide how much or how little they want to see.  Check out the visual:

I inserted an arrow which points to where you can adjust what shows in your newsfeed.  The choices are:

• Show nothing from your Following in Home Stream
• Show some posts from Following in Home Stream
• Show most posts from Following in your Home Stream
• Show every post from Following in Home Stream
• Also subscribe to notifications for all new posts

I have mine set all the way to the right because I do not want to miss a beat.  Try it, and come back and let us know if you notice a difference or prefer one setting over another.

Don't forget to "like" our Facebook page, Extend Your Reach!  We cannot create a shorter URL until we have 30 followers.  I post helpful articles I come across each day over there.  

Read More

404 Error: Have a back up plan

English: 404 Error Symbol Deutsch: 404 Fehler Symbol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have a backup plan.  That's probably not the advice you need in the middle of something going wrong, but I am glad I have different options available to me especially when facing challenges with technology.  Today's challenge happens to be with Pinterest.  Like several other users, I could not access a board that I edited.  It turns out boards edited or created Monday, November 26th are not able to be accessed.

Pinterest assures they are safe and are working to fix the issue (It is now fixed 2:37 PM EST). When I went over to the support section I found a notice:

Issue Board 404 error https://support.pinterest.com/entries/22499898-issue-board-404-errors-cannot-access-some-boards

If you are like me, I hate the 404 Error message. I cannot say that it helps to be on different social networks when this happens because I have a whole new set of followers on Pinterest who do not follow me any place else.  My number of followers there have surpassed every other community except Twitter.  After I discovering the source of the problem, I thought about how I would proceed if in fact I would lose access to a board forever.  I am considering these options:

1.  Create a .PDF of boards with the most number of pins and followers.

Source: naptimeisthenewhappyhour.com via Robin Foster: Genealogy & More on Pinterest

2.  Pin the same content on my personal account.  Then if there is a glitch, I can simply make the business  account a contributor to the new board.

Either way, if you were to lose a board, you would loose followers to that board, and everyone that follows the board may not be following you.  You would have to keep track of who follows a board from the notifications.  Then let them know about your new board. You will have to prepare in advance by checking your board followers by clicking on the link to them on the top right of each of your boards.

I just checked, and while I was talking with you, my boards became accessible again.  No more, 404!  I do have to fully implement a back up plan though - just in case!

Read More

Discipline to go the distance

It's been a whole year and eight months since I last posted on this blog.  Those of you who have followed me during that time on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn know how active I have been.  Over that time we have seen the rise of Google+ and the surge of Pinterest.  I have helped create countless Facebook pages and coached a few of you on different platforms.

Believe it or not, I was too busy to even catch wind of Pinterest until a few months ago.  I am happy to say that I have been able to find a whole new set of friends there that I did not know before.  We are learning from each other.

All this experience has helped me to be able to go the distance.  My father called it "burning the midnight oil." When I am a wee bit tired, I can still feel the inspiration I need to keep going.  That is because I love people and connecting people to the resources they need.

Of all the place I have built so far, there is no place where I can put up my feet, reflect, and share what is happening so that you can process it.  It just feels right that I should do it on this blog. Technology is changing so rapidly.  It is impossible to keep up.  I will, however, embrace the resources that have the biggest potential to help build a community on the path of least resistance.

English: Red Pinterest logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I will be catching you up with what I have learned over the past year.  I will do it in bite sized pieces because that I how I digest knowledge.  For starters, I worked on cleaning up my Pinterest profile a bit lately.


1.  I updated my profile so that when someone stops by, they can tell exactly what I am about.

2.  I uploaded a professional looking photo.

3.  I converted to a business account.  You can read more about those here:

Source: blog.hubspot.com via Robin Foster: Genealogy & More on Pinterest

4.  I began creating covers for my Pinterest boards.  Hopefully they will make people more curious.

Example:

Source: pinterest.com via Robin Foster: Genealogy & More on Pinterest

5.  I stop by Pinterest a few minutes each day to see what has been shared that I can repin.  I also share my content there.

6.  I decided not to follow people who only have 50 or so followers because I need to keep my number of followers about even with those who follow me.  I did get a notice from Pinterest, so I will be careful not to follow too many folks which is hard to do because so much great content is shared.

I have some advice for those of you who cannot find your niche on Pinterest:  Join anyway and offer the alternative that you do not see.  If you have great visuals and provide a worthwhile tool or service, it is worth the effort.

Genealogy is a topic that would be very difficult to compete with against all the travel, recipe, and craft pins.  I am glad that I was brave enough to take the leap even after not finding to much to offer from the pins, boards, and pinners I searched.  I did try to get a few to join in with me there, but most people saw no reason to join.  You can be that reason for someone!  We will talk again soon.

Related articles

• Pinterest launches business accounts
• 8 1/2 types of content that go viral on Pinterest
• How to Setup Your Brand New Pinterest Business Page

Read More