While browsing the social media if we find something interesting, our first urge is to share. Our brain conspires to keep us happy. At that moment we want to share happiness with either the someone special or a small group of friends or to the world.

Depending on a large number of factors, you either want to share it and leave it or want a response in return. If it is that special one, you would wait for a response because you want to share that moment of happiness you just experienced.

We care about a few special people in our life and want to see them happy. Sharing a thought, good experience or a picture are ways of sharing happiness.

We respond to happiness because of our brain and the ability to find happiness. Your brain will respond to only those with whom you had a prior moment of happiness.

It is this happiness effect that the social media and even messengers are cashing on.

You can now proceed to read the longer version.

History of stories

In 2013, Snapchat introduced the feature of stories for the first time which had a series of pictures which disappeared after 24 hours. At that time, Snapchat was mostly used by the young people. Stories drew its popularity even further. Twitter was the first one to copy it two years later in 2015.

In 2016, Instagram copied it and soon Facebook and WhatsApp also followed. Finally it appeared on YouTube too.

Curious case of Instagram

For the first time Instagram in a blog update explained how they rank Feed & Stories, Explore section and Reels. Take a look at the screen grab below.

Originally Instagram assumed that people were only interested in seeing original stories shared by people. Also Instagram was initially not ranking anything from stories shared. However soon Instagram realised that people were sharing anything and everything in their stories and soon enough they had to change the algorithm.

The happiness factor – exploited

Happiness is believed to be the most dominant human emotion. So our brain is working overtime to keep us happy. All the day we have our happy moments. Instinctively we reach out to share. In the old days, with no digital communications we used to wait till the end of the day for a family time for talking and sharing. Today we are connected 24×7 and each happy moment we reach out for our smartphone.

For those lucky ones, be rest assured that you will get a constant stream of updates from that one special person which will actually make you more happier. While sharing this person is actually waiting for your response.

For those unlucky ones, who do not have that someone special, there is a group of close friends. Stories is the place where status updates are posted and the response goes to DM.

For those cursed ones who do not have friends share their stories to the world with their public account.

With most of the behaviour data available with the social media, they have seen the rise of story sharing. They are exploiting the happiness factor.

Story sharing for different scenarios

For personal accounts sharing for friends or for entertainment purpose is what most of us do. Instagram and Facebook measures the metrics just for data mining about behaviour. If you share sensitive information, you will land up in trouble with a ban.

For public accounts and small creators, Instagram goes all the way to give them space to grow and reach more audience. Originality and consistence is the key to get more visibility.

Brand owners can use stories to promote content and allow it to reach a wider audience. The first action which most people do as soon as they open the app is to check stories. It is basic human tendency to check what someone else is doing first. To get to that, you have to first have a target list of people whom you have to follow. Here is the suggest list of whom to.

• Other accounts of similar products which you sell
• Your suppliers and whole-sellers
• Other accounts connected to your brand
• Your prior customers/clients
• Potential target audience

The post Why do we like to share – the science and stats appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Facebook profile

Facebook began and still is a social network. So when you jump on to the largest social media platform, you will first get a personal profile. You can connect with friends, share pictures and videos and drop likes on friend’s posts. A profile also has a detailed “About” page with lots of bits and pieces of information. If privacy is a concern, there are detailed settings. Facebook works hard to make a safe environment for everyone who has a personal profile.

Facebook page

A Facebook page is a space where any individual or organization or business can post content. But to create and manage a Facebook page, you need to create a personal profile first. More than one account can manage Facebook page. If anyone follows or likes a page, updates from the page will be visible to that person as a news feed.

Facebook group

A group is for a community or a group of people who want things to be updated between themselves. Group has privacy settings and ways to admit new members. Group updates are shown to members in their feed.

Evolution of a Facebook Page and Group

Facebook began services in 2004. In 2007, they launched Facebook Pages for Business. At that time, it gave a tool in the hands of brand owners to run advertising campaigns aimed at reaching larger audience and connecting with existing ones. Over the years, Facebook pages have grown into a tool which is used to reach customers both organically and by paid ads.

Before that Facebook had groups. The main intent of a group is keeping information within the group members. Groups have been around since 2006, which is why now they seem obsolete in comparison to say a WhatsApp group which today seems to be the preferential choice. Facebook groups are still very potent. Anyone with a common interest can come together and create a powerful community. They have rules of engagement and provide a powerful platform to members for exchanging ideas and resources.

Another advantage that Facebook page provides is analytics. It provides information on each and every visitor who reached the page and did what. In comparison, a group only shows how many members have seen it. Analytics also help admins see the success and results of an ad campaign.

Page scores with several advantages

A Facebook Group is for interaction and provides no tools whatsoever. A page on the other hand has all the resources for engagement. It provides brands with a lot of advantages.

• Follow and like option for customers and fans
• Check-in feature which allows visitors to show that they are onsite
• Maps and directions for exact location
• Community tab for followers
• Reviews and recommendations
• Analytics tools
• Ad campaigns for boosting posts

What should each category choose

Big business and corporate

In a corporate setup there will be a page for the brand or product. This will help to connect with customers about latest updates. The company can have a group for the teams to coordinate their work. They can also have a group for distributors to post them with updates about products and offers. Similarly a tech support group for coordinating product support with engineers and service centers. Large corporate use custom communication tools and there is a likely hood that most will not use Facebook Group for business coordination.

Small Business or individual entrepreneurs

The prime aim of such a category is increasing business and engaging with customers. These entities should not look beyond a Facebook Page. These days there are so many social media app at a point of saturation. So best option is to go for the minimum.

Bloggers

For the advantages a page provides, bloggers will get lot of benefits on creating an engaging blogging page. Collaboration with fellow bloggers and keeping things interesting for readers. Instead of creating a new group, bloggers should focus on joining an existing group. Bloggers and influencers groups give ideas and tips for new members and provide good engaging conversations. Many groups provide a way to post links and ask for engagement.

Restaurants, Movie halls, Malls, Supermarkets and so on

All of these category need location, check-ins, reviews and recommendations. They focus all their might in building a heavy duty Facebook page. Posting offers, latest updates, future events and nifty things like menu card. On the other hand, there is just no need to maintain a Facebook group for any of these categories.

Loosely tied social groups

People of common interest are best using a Facebook Group. Bringing people together under a single roof is easiest done with a Facebook group. It can accommodate thousands of members, something which a phone messenger cannot do. Rules can be set in groups and offenders punished. Every interest field now has hundreds of groups on Facebook.

The post What is the difference between Facebook page and group appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Blogging re-defined

Both Facebook and WordPress began roughly in the same year. In the year 2003, Google acquired Blogger platform from Pyra Labs. While Blogger and WordPress are true blue blogging platforms, Facebook started off as a social network. If we go back to the aim of blogging, all the three of them provide the ability to allow the user to post articles, photos, audio and videos. Which brings us to the question, is YouTube a complete blogging platform.

Different ways to blog

The two distinct approaches to blogging is via website article way and social media platforms way.

Website articles method

The free options available for bloggers are as follows

• Blogger by Google – The most beginner friendly option for bloggers with many of them staying on. You get a subdomain by Google and simple blogging interface. Blogger or Blogspot has been around since 2003 without many changes in design. Integration with Google Adsense is added advantage. Simple design means you can focus on blogging and creating content.
• WordPress – Rich in design and functions with themes and plugins. Launched the same year as Blogger, WordPress has grown from a blogging platform to a content management system. The core functionality as a blog tools will not change. You get a sub domain from WordPress and many features far better than Blogger. The WordPress smartphone app helps you to get more followers in a focused manner.
• Others – There is Wix, Weebly, Jimdo, Shopify, SquareSpace, the list goes on. Everybody is vying for the site builder space. They all want to take the complexity out of design by providing templates and giving all functions like payment gateway, shopping cart, etc in the form of simple drag and drop modules. All of them give a subdomain and website for free.

Paid options are as follows.

• Self Hosted WordPress – If you are in for the long haul, self hosted WordPress is the way forward. You have complete control over design and SEO is a breeze. Looking for sponsors or joining an ad network, this options works best. besides giving a professional look. Choose your hosting provider with care since it is going to be a three to five year commitment. Go for the longest duration pack since you will get a straight 50% discount on your first transaction. Check for free addons like SSL cert and business mail.
• Paid plans by WordPress.com – Plans include custom domain, ads by WordPress, spam protection, CDN and much more. It is like a single platform giving cutting edge features of WordPress. But comparatively, plans are expensive.
• Other options – Google Domains provide an option to buy a domain and link it with blogger website. It also give business mail options under G-suite. Except for the basic integration, the setup remain buggy and customer care is non existent.

Blogging by Social Media method

Popularity of social media networks has tempted the masses to change the definition of blogging. People now assume (wrongly!) that posting updates is a form of blogging too. Here are a few pointers suggesting otherwise.

• Blogging is necessarily writing an article of between 300 to 600 words. How will you post a 300 word update on Facebook timeline.
• Every social network keeps insisting that they are only for updates from friends and family.
• Google does not show search results within the social networks.
• Social media posting is for entertainment purpose, at-least that is what your followers will believe.
• Brands are given promotional tools for business purpose which are misused by influencers to boost follows and likes.
• This confusion will remain because blog articles are also called posts and social media updates are called posts too!

Here are a few social media networks and what they can be used for.

• Facebook – To check-in public places of interest like restaurants, shopping malls, picnic spots, museums, gardens, etc. Post pictures and videos of travel experiences. Use a Facebook page to post short stories, poems or funny one liners.
• Instagram – If you are photographer or travel blogger or posting restaurant reviews, this app can work with short updates.
• Tumblr – Can be used to write posts sometimes detailed ones too.
• YouTube – Integrated with Adsense, this has become the big daddy of money spinning vloggers.

If you are an aspiring blogger, you need to take a long and hard look towards social media before taking a call. Businesses and brand have a presence on social media without need for a website. But for a blogger, a website is the only sign of true identity.

The post Ways to blog – Is social media posting a form of blogging appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Pre-requisites and preparations

• Get the post and caption ready. Description if needed and hash tags.
• Connect Instagram with Facebook page for automatic posting.
• Choose the suitable time for posting as per the composition of your audience.

Step 1 – Post on Instagram

Create a post on Instagram. Linking with FB page should auto post on Facebook too. Create a link of the post on story. Make it catchy and attractive for people to click on it. Story on Instagram is replicated on FB stories also. But you can create a different Facebook story. You can share a story between close friends too.

Step 2 – Create a Facebook Story

Facebook is the largest social media network and build your social circle and client circle around Facebook. Stories are the best way to reach to your audience. It is the fastest way to take your followers to new content on your page. Post can be featured in profile story as well as page story.

Step 3 – Share you post in Groups

Facebook groups are active and they help you meet people with similar interests. Some groups are area based and include general members from all categories and background. Small locality groups are very useful to promote your services in the form of a post. Keep searching for groups which your posts will fit and engage your audience.

Step 4 – Share to Google My Business

Google My Business should be on the top of your to do list. Even if you do not want to mark a location publicly on Google Maps, you should have a presence. Offers and Services especially can be posted on Google My Business so that any customer coming for the first time is able to see your portfolio.

Step 5 – Share to other social media

Finally you can share to the rest of the social media accounts like Twitter or Pinterest and so on. Remember, there are far too many social media networks these days to even keep a track of, leave alone getting meaningful traffic from it. Besides you do not want to keep posting content throughout the day.

The post Why the 12 hour gap between posts – work flow for social media appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Steps to connect Instagram app with Facebook

To begin with go to Options in your Instagram App. You can access options by clicking on the three black dots on the top right on profile page.

Under Options scroll down to go to settings. Here you will find Linked Accounts under Settings.

The account linking options to various social media is listed. If your social option is not in the list, then it cannot be connected. Facebook option is right on top.

On clicking Facebook, you will be asked to login to your Facebook account. A further prompt will ask confirmation for posting on Facebook. This is basically a request from Facebook.

Once the linkup is complete, Facebook options in Instagram app will show the following.

Sharing options for Facebook

Facebook is a sharing your activities on a timeline with friends and followers. If you have just a Facebook account, then your Instagram pictures or videos go straight to your timeline. They can be read by your friends and followers or everybody as per your privacy settings.

But in case of bloggers, most of us have a Facebook page too. In my case, I have two Facebook pages which are shown in the options below timeline. All the pages where you are the owner or admin will be shown under timeline. You can now change the place where the Instagram post will be displayed.

Note that Instagram post can only be shown either on the timeline or page, but not both.

The final check

Once connecting Instagram with Facebook Page is completed, we can check how it posts on Facebook. As per our setting it should post on the Facebook page and not on the Timeline.

Facebook provides a simple set of instructions to follow while linking the Facebook account with Instagram

https://www.facebook.com/help/instagram/356902681064399?helpref=uf_permalink

The post How to connect Instagram with Facebook Page appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Date of review : Mid 2016

What is Pinterest

Pinterest is your personal collection of pinup boards. To use Pinterest, a user has to login.  If you dont want to use Email and Password for login, they provide Facebook login. Joining Pinterest is free and as on 2016, all services of Pinterest are free. Only time will tell whether the services remain free or business priorities take over.  After joining Pinterest, you can start with your first board and populate it with pins.

Difference between a board and a pin

A board is similar to a notice board or a pinup board where you can place pictures or printouts or any printed matter. Boards display information for a finite duration. As a Pinterest user, your virtual board can have permanent material or you may refresh it to server fresh content to your followers.

A pin is the material which you place on a board. In case of Pinterest, it is a photograph, an info graphic or a video clip. So in short, number of pins can be placed on a board. A Pinterest user can have any number of boards.

Adding a pin to a board

Pinterest allows a user to upload an image to a board or to pick up an image from a webpage by entering a URL. Once you enter the URL and click next, Pinterest displays all images from that webpage and allows you to pick the image to pin up.

This feature is specially useful to photo bloggers who can first publish a post of images or gallery and then use Save from Website button to add all or selected images to the board.

There are three clickable area as highlighted above.

• First the entire image links to the web page or blog post from where it was picked up by Pinterest using the ‘Save from a website’ option.
• Second is the Visit button which links to the web page again from where the image was picked up from.
• Third is the description which was entered for the pin, and now has published in a clickable link.

Pinterest however advocates the use of the browser button for the best experience. This button is available for major browsers and adds the image in a similar manner.

Pinterest Setting and Profile

Settings and Profile is the editable part of Pinterest. Settings is the all encompassing place to control the following options.

• Business Account Basic. Contains info like email address, contact name and the all important Delete Account button.
• Profile. Here user can have a username, business name, profile photo and link to your website.
• Notifications. To keep you updated with happening on your boards.
• Home Feed. To show recommended boards.
• Social Networks. Used to link up with social network. Bloggers be careful of not to overdo it.
• Apps. To manage any linked apps.

Bloggers should take care to linkup their blog.

Pinterest Analytics

Analytics feature is free at this time. It gives you minute details on how many hits a user had on a particular board and the details of the visit. Analytics are in detail and hence useful to a blogger to track pins.

Widgets

Developers section provides tools to prepare widgets for your website. Save Button, Follow Button, Pin, Board or Profile can be created to display on your blog/website.

Pinterest is a World Catalogue rather than a Social Network website. All similar web applications are marching towards a social network design. Pinterest has decided to stand apart by showing off their USP, a Pin Up.

Save

The post The Blogger and Pinterest (dis)connect appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Date of review : Mid 2016

Difference between a Facebook account and Facebook page

Simply put in, the Facebook Account is for people who are your friends, while the Facebook Page is for people who are your customers. While as a blogger, you can choose to use only the account to link up with friends and post links to your blog articles. But eventually you will the saturation point of either adding more friends who may or may not be interested in friendship and/or reading your blog.

Facebook Page on the other hand is designed keeping business interests in mind. It has a large number of tools to showcase your business to your customers. Facebook is constantly upgrading and adding more features to the page for business. For bloggers using a Facebook Page the following things are essential.

• A brief about your blog
• A brief about yourself
• A gallery of your images
• A link to your blog
• Profile picture and Cover Page
• Name and Username
• Phone Number and Email Address

Difference between a Name and Username

A Username will be displayed in the format as a URL.

A username is searchable by appending the character @. It will also be displayed under the name. So in the above example, soonev is the username while the name for the page has been given as soonev.com.

A username has to be available to be claimed. Once claimed, it can be changed, but it will take some time so that it is available for others.

Selecting a name will be governed by the policy guidelines of for names.

Insights

Insights as the name suggests, gives you analysis on each activity that your page has encountered with the audience. It shows the organic and paid hits clearly. Insight also covers page activity like which info was accessed by visitors.

Publishing Tools

Publishing tools allow user to schedule the publish of a post. It also gives a snapshot of details of each post. There are a lot of tools available for business users. Explore and tune each setting so that it can help your blog the best.

Save

Save

Save

The post The Blogger and Facebook (dis)connect appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

What is Instagram

Instagram is primarily a smart phone app. It has been designed to be used only on a smart phone. Photos can either be clicked though the phone camera or can be selected from the gallery. The front camera is the primary instrument of choice for selfies which are quite popular on Instagram.

Copyright and privacy concerns have been given the highest importance and hence you cannot download images from Instagram, not even your own images.

How to use Instagram

Primarily two steps involved over here

• Uploading of images
• Following friends or people with similar interests

Instagram has Five primary buttons at the bottom to help you navigate through the app.

• Home button where the images and videos of people you follow appear as they keep posting.
• Search button to find everything from People, Tags and Places. It also displays search history.
• Camera button. This one is aptly placed in the center for easier access. It allows you to click photos, videos or choose from the gallery.
• Like button shows you history of likes of your followers and you.
• Profile button where you can see images uploaded by you as a gallery and also profile settings.

The design is clutter free and easy to use. When you see images or clips posted by the people whom you follow you can either like them or comment on them. The like button is in the shape of a heart and once you click on it the heart shape turns red. You can also send a direct message to your follower or friend. You can also selectively turn on notifications for specific people.

How can bloggers use Instagram

In case of Bloggers it is all about connecting and links. Both are dealt with in a subtle manner in Instagram. Check out the following options available to Bloggers

In the profile, Instagram allows a link to your website. The link is clickable and opens the website in the mobile browser of the user.

It also allows you to display your user name and a brief about yourself and your profile picture. All this can give instant recognition to a Blogger. You can connect with social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook and your photos or clips are posted there too. You need to link your accounts and give necessary permissions first.

First you choose a photo from the gallery, next key in the key information like location, description and tag people and you can also choose which social account it can be posted as an Instagram upload.

After the image is uploaded, it is visible in your feed and also to the social account where it was linked.

# and @ on Instagram

@ tag is for people and # tag is for posts, to put it simply. In case of hash tag or # tag, Instagram will allot a page to the tag so that all the posts which mention that tag will come on the same page. Tags are another powerful weapon in the arsenal when bloggers use Instagram.

In case of the above image, I have inserted the hash tag thetimelock. It can be inserted in the image info or comment. Here is how the results are visible in Instagram.

To understand hash tag in detail here is a FAQ from the official Instagram help.

https://help.instagram.com/351460621611097

The @ tag is linked with people using Instagram. So when you use @ and start typing in the name of a person, it will be visible in the search results. Same like # tag you can use the @ tag in a comment or in the image info.

Conclusion and Summing Up

Many bloggers use Instagram to showcase their post. A blogger can use Instagram to connect with people and with its clutter free design, it is sure to attract more attention to your picture.

The post How bloggers use Instagram appeared first on Start Blog Writing.