Tag: social media

I am coming to the end of the “a week without Facebook” experiment with only 2 more days to run on it. It seems as though a life without Facebook is a very positive move in my personal life as each day I seem to putting my time into things that add value to my life.

Spoke to my family more

Since I gave up Facebook last Friday I have spoken to 3 members of my family in just the week I have ran this experiment. Before starting this experiment I would probably have spoken to a family member once a month for a very short time, 5 to 10 minutes each time. Now without Facebook updating my family about what I am doing every 5 minutes there is more to talk about and it allows a good communication to ensue as BT rightly put it, it IS good to talk. Facebook isn’t talking, in my opinion it is simply snooping on others, a bit like a digital peeping tom.

It was nice talking to my younger sister this day, we spoke for half an hour on the phone which wasn’t very common at all before this experiment so is Facebook actually hindering proper communication between people? Possibly…

Added extra security & learnt more

Sorry to make this sound like groundhog day but once again I have been more productive with my time than if I had it active. I have added 2 step verification processes to access my online accounts, making it that little bit more difficult to those with malicious intent on the internet, I created a backup system incase a succesful breach of security is reached and I am feeling better about what I do with my time than spending it all on Facebook.

When Im really bored, I want to Facebook

The only time I start missing Facebook truly is when I want to start gaming to pass some time. I do miss my top eleven game & I do miss tracking how my friends are doing on candy crush. Man its been tempting to reactivate my accounts just for this sole purpose.

My family add me on my works Facebook

I have a separate Facebook account just for work…it doesn’t have any pics , updated status or anything on it, its just simply so i can give my work a facebook page and some presence on the king of social media. My family have ALL added me on this account , desperate to stay connected on Facebook. I may be getting rid of the Facebook glue but my family certianly aren’t. That is the thing about social media, there are so many different options that certain social media platforms work well for others. I love my family to bits but my mother & sisters ( although very caring ) are also very nosey and want to know everything that is going on so I guess that is why they love Facebook so much…for me Facebook is a bit of time wasting and nothing else…I think I may just be shutting the door in the face of facebook…

Another day without Facebook, another day with more done. Is this a coincidence or not ? Is Facebook too time consuming or is it simply the fact there is plenty to do?

Update your status, show approval to your friends comments and likes,play games,update business pages, sharing news feeds, connecting various social media platforms together…Facebook really is the social hub of the world.

Another productive day

On this day I went on another little trip to the V & A Museum in London and learnt a lot about the history and cultural differences in the design industries. It was a beautiful building with really impressive architecture and artifacts, I wouldn’t have seen things like this on Facebook, the virtual world can only offer you so much in terms of knowledge. A lot of the information on Facebook is just noise and I would much prefer to gain some knowledge with my time than waste it being fed information on Facebook like a digital sheep.

Is Facebook unproductive

Each day I have been away from Facebook I seem to be more productive with my time and feed my mind with more beneficial information for an advancement in knowledge or life experience. Of course Facebook allows you to share your experiences with friends and family fairly quickly, it just depends if what your friends and family are doing as well as sharing what you are doing with those you know in your life is an important part of your life.

Choices

Life is all about choice, Facebook may be very beneficial to some, for those who enjoy the social aspects of life and like to be up on the latest gossip in your social circle really quickly but for others Facebook may be less beneficial. My preferred social media tool at the moment is Twitter as I feel it connects me to people who are interested in the same things I am, it can connect me to knowledge that I may not have previously known in my industry & also takes a lot less time than the other tools you can use to do something similair. The experiment continues…

Day 2 is drawing to a close without any activity on my Facebook account and I have probably felt no difference to if I had been actively using it. My partner and I did go for a nice morning stroll in the nearby greenery when the sun was shining which was very nice, but am I missing the app or not?

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Starting to miss it

On day 2, although I don’t like to admit it, I think I am starting to miss Facebook..a little. It is something to do whilst the adverts are on TV. I do use twitter & many other social media tools but I don’t spend half as much time on them as I do on Facebook. Like I mentioned yesterday, I am particularly missing Top Eleven Football Game.

More productive today?

Well my favorite football team had a match televised so I was quite busy watching the game until 3pm …If Facebook would have been active I may have updated my status that I was quite bored as the game was a bit of a stale mate unfortunately..but instead I just said oh well to myself and then continued to help my partner with flat & job hunting.

My Facebook Page

I am not missing my Facebook Page at all, it is lacking in real fans and to be honest for those kind of things it is better to use many other social media platforms for designers such as Behance an online portfolio tool.

Advancing skills

Now I am planning to practice some Photoshop and try and read a bit more about psychology, whether this is because I am not on Facebook as often or simply because I am more aware of the time I am spending doing things and what kind of things I am doing is debatable.

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I guess after day 2 what is quite clear is that people like Facebook because they feel it gives them a voice to the world and keeps them connected to close ones and brands they love. Every human being on the planet wants to feel important or they can offer something of value to the world…no one wants to be the grey noise, everyone wants a purpose in life and connecting with others ,even if it is only friends and family you know, is one way of giving your life, or more specifically, your thoughts more meaning and purpose than if they were just in your own head. A dangerous thing to think about really when the world is so diverse with good and “bad” thinking, for those with both positive feelings to improve the life of all and the others with negative emotions to try and ruin others…my experiment continues…

missed day 1? Read it here

Today is my first day of the week without Facebook not using the social media king. Want to know how my day gone? Have I felt withdrawal symptoms or has it it been a blessing and have I been more productive without it? Has Facebook become so important for modern living? Find out what life is like for a young designer without Facebook usage for just one day.

The Good Points of Day 1

Starting my day differently

Usually, when Facebook is active I turn off my alarm, i slowly open my eyes, pick up my phone and scroll down to the Facebook app to see what people have said the night before and see the latest things the pages I follow are talking about or promoting. Today…it was different. I gave my partner a good morning kiss and made her breakfast in bed and then decided to read that book I had got half way through but never managed to finish, I looked for jobs my partner and a new place to live..a very productive morning!

If Facebook was still active

I probably would have got distracted by notifications of people updating their status…I may have got bored of reading my book about seducing the subconscious in advertising and had a quick gander at my Facebook news feed or played a game…I do believe without Facebook active I was more productive.

Spoke to family more

I am not great at keeping in touch via the old fashioned telephonic waves, it’s not something I find that much enjoyment in. Don’t get me wrong, I care about my family a great deal but telephones are so boring thus why Facebook is much better for me to keep in touch with people I know rather than using the phone, but it was nice to have a little catch up on the phone.

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The Bad Points of Day 1

Concern about family

As a person that moved away from his home town a year ago to pursue a career in his chosen field Facebook has become a way of my family seeing what I am up to without having to phone me up and speak to me…I am not the greatest person at ringing family and friends, telephones just don’t do it for me..I’d much rather talk face to face.

It also works the other way…with my family being over 200 miles away from me I can see what they are doing and if everything is going well without having to phone them..that is an obvious benefit of Facebook I am missing.

Spoke to family more

This might sound quite harsh but I just don’t really like using the telephone, it takes too much time and I spent an hour and half using the phone because my family wanted to hear from me and they couldn’t see my latest status update ( and they don’t use twitter either so they can’t find me there. )…So technically i may have actually been using more of my time keeping in touch without Facebook than with it.

Facebook Games

I am a regular player of top eleven and I cant access my team unless I have access to Facebook…this is a major bummer 🙁 and that is probably the main thing I am missing from the Facebook experience right now.

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Life better or worse without Facebook?

It is too early to make this decision but I would say that I feel more at ease in the mind without Facebook on my first day. I do feel some concern for how my family are doing…and yes my football team on top eleven :(.

I know if Facebook was still active I would be accessing it whilst watching TV checking my Facebook friends status & updates, playing games or sharing an interesting feed on Facebook pages…is it really a good use of time to use Facebook whilst having the Television on or is our mind getting unnecessarily clogged by more and more information that may not even be benefiting my experience of life? The experiment continues…

Pretty much ever since Facebook was invented I feel as though it has been the third arm I never had, a tool that now probably seems it is an integrated part of our life, checking on status of friends, looking at inspiring photographs & playing games. Now I am exploring more social media platforms I am wondering just how important Facebook is to me as a creative professional, sometimes i feel as though I waste too much of my time on Facebook when I should be spending time blogging, spreading posts on Reddit or Stumbleupon or maybe just creating some entirely new art away from the digital arena?

Being disconnected from the Matrix

Video : Interesting the Blue Pill keeps you in a state of not knowing..

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The experiment has begun! My Facebook is now deactivated and I am going to see how my life is going to be effected. I will be reporting daily about the experience, what I am missing or what I am gaining from the fact I will no longer be using the king of social platforms. Will it be an eye opener or will it feel like I am missing an important part of my life? Only time will tell…

Living a semi-normal life

Trying to live a non facebook life will be interesting, it may be sad to admit but when I wake up the first thing I would do is check my facebook news feed for the latest bit of interesting facts. Surely this can’t be healthy and thus one of the reasons I am conducting the experiment.

Sign up to the rss feed

If you are interested to see how I cope for a week without Facebook and what I discover please subscribe to my blog at the bottom of the page to the right. I hope you enjoy following my anti-facebook journey.

Knowing which social media is best for your purpose can be tricky. With so many social media platforms out there it has become quite difficult to decide which ones to use for your business or personal progression. Using them all may not be as beneficial to your company as you may think. It is probably better to harness the power of one than dribble only a little bit of great information out to the public realm. In this post I will discuss various different social media tools and what type of account it is most likely to benefit.

Twitter

For B 2 B , B 2 C, fans & industry news

If used correctly, Twitter is the most broad ranging tool, that is so easy to get found for those wanting to connect with people in their industry and keep abreast of what is happening. I recommend when you start using twitter to find users that have the same interests as you so for example, i follow artists, designers, marketers, architects, gamers & spiritual people. These are my main interests and so they will also be interested in those areas of my own thoughts thus a follow back process will begin. You will then be able to exchange and share, retweet and make some virtual friends in your little old community! Nothing like meeting those with like minds ay! 🙂 This is why this is my preferred social medium.

Best time to use :

1pm to 3pm

Traffic Builds after 11am

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Facebook

B 2 C, fans, industry news & younger market

Facebook has the largest audience which you may think is probably the best social media platform to choose for any business but you would be wrong. Why? Well the majority of people who currently use Facebook are young people ( mainly women ) up the ages of 29. These are the people who have little in the way of equity  I would only recommend using this social media platform if you are confident that you are targeting the younger market generation such as music sales and awareness, gaming, fashion & other youth products. In my opinion its a bit harder to get your facebook page found without advertising.

Best time to use :

1pm to 4pm

Wednesday at 3pm is the best traffic time

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LinkedIn

B 2 B, Industry news & Job Hunting

LinkedIn is a great tool for those who do a lot of business with other businesses such as those that offer services. Consultancy firms, building maintenance, builders, engineers & such like would find this very beneficial. It is the social network for professionals to create links. It is also a fantastic place to find work. When you enter your skills to your profile LinkedIn use these tagged keywords to bring you jobs that match your ability and to jobs local to where you live! Could you ask for anything better?! If you ever get tired of your job you will never have far to look even in this terrible economic climate.

You can also show how competent you are in your profession by joining groups & answering  questions, posing questions & more! You will make new connections & start to become a recognised voice that obviously loves their industry that way.

Traffic is always best before working hours and just after 5pm Tue – Thu . Mon & Fri aren’t as good for traffic

Best time to use :

7am -9am & 5pm – 6pm

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Pinterest

B 2 C, fans, great for e commerce

The majority of Pinterest users are female living in rural areas with middle to high incomes. It is a social networking platform initially set up to find inspiration to for your next major project but it can also be a great place to showcase products particularly if you are an e commerce owner selling things like jewellery, artworks, fashion or gifts. What is also interesting about pinterest is that out of the current users 50% have children. Sell something children might like? Pinterest is the place for you to be!

Best time to use :

 8pm – 1am & 2pm – 4pm

Traffic is highest of a Saturday morning

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There are many more platforms for social media ( of which i know quite a few for creatives ). I will be sharing them in the very near future on this blog so don’t forget to check back shortly for more tips and tricks on using social media.

Want some more twitter related websites to boost your super tweeting powers? Check out some of these websites. They offer some fantastic features to enhance your usability of social media platforms.
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Social Bro

Brings into clear focus your target audience of clients, customers and influencers and helps you to define the right people to engage with, at the right time, a great little tool with big talent. This is my personal favourite at the moment.

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Crowd Booster

Crowdbooster helps you achieve an effective presence on Twitter and Facebook. We show you analytics that aren’t based on abstract scores but numbers that are connected to your business and your social media strategies: impressions, total reach, engagement, and more. We then give you the tools and recommendations you need to take action and improve each one of these metrics.

[button url=”http://www.crowdbooster.com” target=”_blank”]Visit Site[/button]

I was asked by one of my blog readers how to add social media icons to your email signature. ( See post, how to create an email signature in MS Outlook ) So I have created this quick blog post in order to help you guys out with how it is done. Continue “Add social media icons to your email signature”

Before we talk about the Twitter profile picture size, I’d like to clarify what  the profile picture is. It’s the image that appears in the top left corner of your Twitter profile page and next to every tweet you make.

Note : If you are looking for the latest 2014 profile sizes and some tips on how to make you Twitter profile stand out then follow the link here.

Having a Twitter Profile Picture helps people take you more seriously, (If someone follows me and they don’t have one I usually block them).  Your profile picture should reflect your brand, both from your website, your corporate stationary and business identity. Continue “Twitter Profile Picture Size”

1) Twitter Backgrounds are left-aligned.

If you look at my twitter background you can see that my icon is to the left. When designing keep in mind that it will be JUST the left side of your tweets that will be being branded. important background content on the left of the screen. Continue “Creating a branded Twitter Background”