Facebook Privacy 101: Keeping Facebook Fun & Not Losing Your Job

21st September 2010

I think in tweets … occasionally, my go-to post meeting activity is to form Linked-In connections and thanks to many hours of avoiding studying in college with my roommate Elizabeth – I’m a Facebook stalking pro.

My Facebook profile has been with me for four year of wall posts, relationship statuses and breakups and every photographed event I could manage. As college came to a close and I began my job hunt, I heard it time and time again – don’t put it on Facebook if you don’t want an employer to see it. The truth is, although your employer may – and probably will search you – Facebook has a arsenal of security features to help keep your professional and personal lives separate.

Here are a few of my favorite Facebook features.

  1. Lists: Consider creating various lists for groups of people. Coworkers, family members, college friends, ex. boyfriends, you name it. Rather than individually block users from specific portions of your profile, you can do it all in one setting. Late night status updates are now secure.
  2. Targeted updates: Consider targeting your status updates. While your BFF might care that you just scored a great deal on an adorable pair of pumps, your boss probably does not.
  3. Computer Sign In: Try to avoid the spam postings by this setting that emails you immediately when someone signs in to your account from a new device. If you’re like me and have a smart phone, this will help you change your password ASAP.
  4. Individual photo album settings: Still want to put those post concert photos up on Facebook? Not only can you change your overall photo settings, but also those for individual albums.
  5. See my profile tool: If you are concerned about which tagged photos a friend, coworker or boss may see, you can use this tool to find out exactly which ones are available to them by viewing how your profile looks when they log in.

We all use Facebook for multiple uses and audiences, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. The last thing you want to happen is to end up here …

OR here

Or even end up like Gabe.

What are your suggestions on Facebook privacy? How do you make sure to keep your information secure?

Email Goes Social (and makes social stalking a cinch)

17th September 2010

It’s no secret that google runs my life. It may sound like a joke, but since my first days with UGA HEROs, I have been addicted to everything Google has to offer to organize my life. I run on Gmail, google docs, gchat and even gave Buzz more than a week to impress me (though our relationship ended there).

What makes Google even better are its ad ons. Many of the features can be found in Google’s Labs, but often a little gem comes along from somewhere else. And a post from Nick Lucido, a friend of mine on Twitter and PRSSA National President, caught my eye as one such feature.

No need to email someone new, perform a Google search and them find them on various social networks. Rapportive does it for you and all within Gmail.

What does this person do? What do they look like? Where are they based? The tool answers it all and more. Take a look at the sample of mine to the left.

Rapportive is simple, it allows a user to install the add on to Gmail in literally ONE click. The tool is fairly new (the company itself was only started in January 2010) but if it hasn’t yet found information on a person, you can help out by adding notes and information for a user.

The tool currently sees more than 20 million lookups in the system each month and people are talking. A lot. Check it out for yourself.

As the online identity becomes more integrated with each facet of our daily lives, tools like this are not only cool and innovative, but also highly effective it making work easier – and in turn my life.

Could it be any easier to be social? Give it a try.

New Kid on the Block

14th September 2010

I’ve officially entered my second week of work here at Engauge and I have to say I’m really loving it so far. As I’m new to Engauge, agency life and this blog I thought it best to give a little background on myself and why I’m here!

I graduated from UGA in May 2010 with a B.A. in Journalism, my major being Public Relations and minors in Spanish and New Media. I have always had passions for writing, design and communication and from the time I was accepted to UGA I knew I wanted to make a career out of journalism.

At the end of freshman year I went with PR, thinking, well, I can do pretty much anything with this one. I had an amazing experience within Grady College of Journalism, but somehow felt pitching, calling media and planning events, wasn’t for me.

That’s where I got lucky.

After several internships, countless classes and many late nights with student organizations I somehow fell into the world of digital and social media. I landed an internship with the Coca-Cola Company in May 2009 and haven’t looked back since.

I’d like to think I really was just in the right place at the right time as it took off and I am more than happy to have been given the opportunity to have a career centered around the technology that’s so much a part of my daily life.

As my time with Coke came to a close more than a year later, I knew I wanted to try something new and different, heck, isn’t that what your twenties are for? So I took a leap and landed in the agency world, here at Engauge in fact.

I’m now a member of the Digital Innovations Group and learning more and more each day. It is my hope that I’ll be able to share some of the innovation and inspiration I find with you through this blog.

I’m still a PR girl at heart, who’s just a {bit} of a nerd, and I’m eager to see how my two worlds collide, so stay tuned!