Facebook Friday - To Tag or Not to Tag - That is the Question

Zoinks - It sure can be Confusing!

Facebook Friday is here, yeah!  It's been a bit of a crazy week, and with Memorial Day weekend upon us, the weather looks beautiful, so I can finally get in the garden and get my veggies planted.

But before I head out to play in the dirt, I wanted to share with you a few helpful tips and suggestions for using Facebook, especially now since both business and personal pages have completed the changeover to the new design.

To Tag or Not to Tag.... that is the question!

Here's the background:  Over the last week-ish I've been helping a friend get her business page and blog feed set up on Facebook.  See, when Facebook did a changey.something.or.other for those of us using blogger as a blog platform, it caused the app to go kittywompus (honestly, it's a word) and no longer feed to the desired Facebook page or wall.

I noticed it on mine, and it was a really quick fix, so when my dear friend asked for help, I said no problem!  It'll take 5 minutes... she said okay, I'll e-mail you my log in stuff with a temporary password and you'll be set.

Ha, ha, ha... little did we know then what we know now... when I tried to log in as her, Facebook locked her account saying "we don't recognize this location, you need to confirm your identity."  The fiasco that ensued was nothing short of... well nothing short of anything round.rabbit.ridiculous that I've ever embarked upon.

In order to indentify yourself in facebook, you have to identify you friends.  How Facebook does this is:  they show you a series of 3 pictures, all are supposed to be of the same person.  Below that there are 4 options as to whom this might be... you have to pick the right one.  You have to do this for 5 total people.

Now keep in mind, some of your "friends" are really acquaintences that you really don't know that well... would you recognize a photo of their new puppy?

Also, sometimes we make custom orders of our craft (jewelry or beads or bags) and we tag the person that ordered it... would you be able to identify a "friend" by the picture of a bag that someone now owns?

How about when there's a photo of a great summer gathering and there's 20 people in the photo... so people randomly tag the sky... the only thing that shows up in the "Identify.Yourself.Game.From.Hell" is what it actually tagged in the little square box. YIKES!

So even when my friend logged back in as herself and told Facebook that the activity from WI was totally fine and to allow it, would you believe that we tried again and Facebook again locked her account.  She again had to play the "I.Y.G.F.H." and it literally took a day and a half... YES, you read that right 36 HOURS to get 5 people identified correctly.  Because if you guess wrong, you have to start all over at the beginning and you don't know until you've tried all 5 to submit your answers.

In facebook, we're all about posting photos - pictures of family, of jewelry designs, of beads, of dogs, of new "toys" or kids toys or tattoos... you know who you are! ;)  And so many of us have "friends" that are actually acquaintances.  Would you actually recognize a photo of that person if you didn't see it on their wall with their name?

Which bring me to the lesson of the day.  Helpful Facebook Tips for Yourself and Others!

1.  When you are tagging photos of people, please remember that someone else just might have to identify themselves by that photo.  So tag a face of a person that actually is that person.  Also, for photos of finished objects or custom orders, if you want it to be seen on their wall, then post the photo on their wall.  Don't tag them in it on your album.  That will become an official picture of them that nobody will be able to identify.

2.  Choose to accept "friends" carefully.  The more friends/acquaintances you have, the more of a lottery you are playing if you ever get locked out of your account for any reason.  So are they really a friend... someone you would share your personal updates with, or are they a business associate that would be more suited to reciprocal fanning of each other's business pages?

3.  Use a Facebook page for your business - Period.  In this day and age, with how far Facebook has come for setting up business pages and keeping personal pages simple, if you want to market yourself, you need a business page.  Personal Pages no longer allow apps like Etsy or Artfire or Reviews or Contact or Twitter Feeds.  ONLY business pages do.  So take the weekend and get yourself set up with your business page.  It's a little time now, but in the long run you will look more professional and will have more fans because they don't have to send you a "Friend Request" they can just "Like" you!

Had I not been helping my dear friend, I would have had no idea that this was how people have to identify themselves.  It's not just a "please reset my password."  Oh no... this is a crazy game of juggling flaming bowling pins and I for one never want to have to play again!

Think about it... if I'm traveling on vacation with my laptop and I visit St. Thomas... when I try to log in, FB will automatically lock my account because it's not my "usual" activity.  Then when I try to log in even once I'm home, my account is already locked.  I'm stuck and I'd have to play the Identify.Yourself.Game.From.H... well you know the rest of the story!

Hope you find this helpful... save yourself some time and help others too by simply tagging photos correctly.

I want to take a moment to thank all of those men & women who are and have served our country.  What a sacrifice you and your family has made.  And to those that have lost someone as a result of serving... our hearts go out to you!  

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  Sending love, prayers and gratitude to the men & women who are innocently serving our country!

{Hugs!}