Tag Archives: free speech

How To Hide Facebook Status Updates From Certain People

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Stephen M. FellsSocial media blog, Mashable, recently posted ‘10 cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks‘ and the one I like most is ‘How To Hide Facebook Status Updates From Certain People’.

I have around 850 friends on Facebook and some of them are a little too enthusiastic when it comes to speaking about their religious and political beliefs. I actually love talking about both of these things but there is a time and place for it and it isn’t Facebook.

One of my good Realtor friends recently had his Facebook account permanently revoked following a status update related to Israel. A chain of comments resulted and the conversation became heated. Ironically none of the allegedly inflammable commentary was made by my friend but his account was still deleted by Facebook along with his almost 5,000 friend connections and content.

The lesson here: free speech does not exist on Facebook.

Or twitter for that matter. In another blog post on another day I’ll talk about law suits related to tweets.

Personally I hate (I use that word rarely but in this case it’s valid) being preached at. With so many faiths and political biases everyone can’t be right and yet we all believe we are. Several Facebook friends routinely quote scripture or have a dig at one political party or another. I know social media has proven to be a great political marketing platform but there is a difference between me ‘fanning’ or ‘liking’ a page and seeing daily diatribes from the social pulpit or soap box in my news feed.

I’ll put my neck out here (yes, I know I’ll get some flack): I don’t want to hear or see religious or political commentary, ever, on Facebook. If you have spiritual opinions keep them in your church or mosque of synagogue. If you are anti Obama or have a dislike for any flavor of tea party create a Facebook page and shout until you go hoarse. In the interim, shut up and stop using Facebook to circulate your biases, no matter how well intended.

The problem I have is that I like these people and really don’t want to tell them to keep quiet in such a public way. I know this blog isn’t exactly private but I’m not pointing my comments at any one in particular, I’m talking to everyone. I don’t want to unfriend these people so my solution is to hide their statuses and so back to the Mashable post: how is that done?

“Using Facebook’s general privacy settings (find these by hitting “account” on the top right of a Facebook page) you can select whether everyone, just friends or friends of friends can see your status updates. However, there is a way to narrow those options down even further.

You can select specific friend lists to see your status (relevant for work, special interest groups, etc.) or even individual people by name, which is useful for anyone organizing a surprise party.

To take advantage of these options, click the padlock icon just below your “what’s on your mind” box on your wall and a drop down menu should appear. Selecting “customize” will bring up more options such as “make this visible to” and “hide from” with the option to make your selection a default.”

To see the other nine tips click here.

A Chinese Blogger Who Defines Free Speech?

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Stephen M. FellsAs a relatively new American citizen (only six years) I look at things from a slightly different perspective and I think it’s why I am surprised (and saddened) to still see so many Americans who think social media is a fad, something that might be of interest personally but can’t help them professionally.

It’s tragically ironic when an American, more so than any other nationality, dismisses the new social world we live in. Why? Because social media represents free speech and as a result will go away when free speech does; that is never.

Many are blind to the significance of this moment in time. Perhaps it’s because we are at the beginning of a historical change in how humans communicate. Perhaps it’s because they are just too lazy to spend the time thinking about it. The sad thing is we really aren’t at the beginning – as a company we have been using social media for four years and we aren’t alone.

We live in a world where the only constant thing is change. We also have to acknowledge that the speed of change is increasing exponentially. That means the next ten years will see significantly more change than we have seen in the last ten years. Do you find that scary or exciting?

I use the word ‘historical’ intentionally. I expect social media to eventually be ranked alongside the printing press, radio, TV and even the Internet in terms of importance in the evolution of human communication. Never before have we been in a position where one person can reach an almost unlimited number of people. And this is where the double edged sword comes in for anyone in business.

The one to many marketing campaigns of the past have been replaced by many to many conversations. This offers an opportunity to reach consumers at unprecedented levels and Facebook (the number 1 most visited Website) is the social soupe du jour. But it also means we have no control over our brand. People (and that includes your clients and prospects) are talking about you and your business. Your only choice is whether to engage in that conversation. Whatever you decide, you have to acknowledge that the conversation will take place with or without you.

How do I explain this diplomatically? How about – if you don’t believe in social media you are crazy.

Yes, MySpace, twitter, even Facebook will eventually be replaced but don’t expect that to happen soon. And when it does happen the new kids on the block will take social conversation to an even greater level.

I’ve been criticized for saying the following but I’ll take it a step further. If you think social media is the solution to continuing the cheap sales techniques of the past you are mistaken. If you suck socially offline you will suck socially online.

At the core of the problem is that a lot of the conversation is about technology. Personally I follow the ideology of Clay Shirky who says:

“these tools don’t get to be socially interesting until they get technologically boring”

We need to get over the fact that social media isn’t about technology, it’s not about software, or computers or the Internet; it’s about communication.

Countries like Iran and China fear social media because it facilitates free speech for the masses. And that’s why we should all acknowledge the bravery of “China’s most popular blogger” Han Han.

Nominated by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, 27 year old Han:

“doesn’t focus on the mundane details of his daily life or celebrity gossip. Instead, he zeroes in on the ills of contemporary Chinese society, his barbed posts targeting topics from official venality to the failings of a state-produced movie about Confucius.”

In the following CNN video Han Han talks about the award and his view on social commentary. At many real estate conferences I’ve heard people say ‘We need to look outside of our industry for breakthrough ideas’. I hope those American’s who don’t believe in the power of social media can learn something from someone outside of their border.