In an attempt to keep up with G+, Facebook is rolling out updates almost daily. Whether you use G+ or not, it is all good for Facebook users!
For those of you that have not yet seen the updates, click on your ‘update status’ button (see red arrow below) to activate the new toolbar. Some of you have written to say that you see the updated bar but must have blown by the notes because you were not sure how they worked.
Note that this is for Facebook PERSONAL Profiles, not for Business Pages.
Here is a quick rundown of the top three changes:
You can click this button to TAG people in a post. Similar to how you could tag with the @ symbol, as you type, suggestions appear. Unfortunately, you do not seem to be able to back out their last name from the field like you could with the @ tag. The @tags were still working for me as of this post so I might stick with those til they upgrade this button but the button does make it easier!
Note that THEIR friends MAY also see these posts. Interestingly, sometimes you WANT as many people as possible to see your posts so this can be a good thing but I point it out in case you do NOT want others seeing your posts.
You can also add your LOCATION. Note that you have the option to skip this.
Best of all, you now have more control over WHO will see your post. This is a direct response to the finer controls offered by G+ and are, in my mind, a real leap forward for Facebook users!
You now have the option of which group you want to allow to see this post and even better, you can change this setting later! Also note that they have changed the label from “Everyone” to “Public” which I believe is a much better word for who will see it – some people may have mistakenly believed that “everyone” meant all of their friends. Now it is clear that it is open to the Public with this setting.
For more on these changes and to see how to set up a group, please see the FB tutorial here:
http://www.facebook.com/about/sharing
I can help you effectively use Facebook to engage your community and grow your business.
