What Would Your Name Be If You Were Born Today?

So, these Facebook quizzes.

a) they're dumb.
b) they're time-consuming.
c) they're not at all true.
d) they're also addicting.

This morning I saw one and thought, "Hm. That seems like fun." So I tried it out: Find Out What Your Name Would Be If You Were Born Today.

Turns out that "Sarah" in 1978 translates to "Abigail" in 2015. Which is hella WEIRD because the nickname I gave MYSELF back when I was a tween was ...

... Abigail.

After the movie Young Frankenstein, of course. Abby Normal? Yeah. That was me.

Twould seem sometimes these quizzes are somewhat accurate.

Instagram: For Phone Images Only?

First of all, I'm gonna assume that even if you're not on Instagram, you have a rudimentary knowledge of what it is. I bit the bullet and jumped on IG sometime in 2013 – probably about the time I got my first iPhone.

Of course, as the proud owner of an iPhone, I was able to enter the world of Instagram – see, when it first rolled out the app was ONLY for Mac mobile devices (iPhones, iPads & iPod Touch). Psh. So snooty. The app is obviously now available across all tablets & smartphones and is QUITE the popular social media venue.

As with many social media sites these days, there's definitely cross-pollination availability: right from the Instagram app you can choose to upload to not only Instagram, but also Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and even Flickr. Similar to Twitter, the use of hashtags makes photos findable and is a way to get in front of a wider audience (and hopefully garner more likes/comments and – best of all – followers).

Instagram was mobile-only accessible until the beginning of 2013, when it rolled out web profiles. While an Instagram user can't post to their account from the web, anyone can see their pictures and it's a nice link to send people who don't have the app on their phone/tablet (um. who ARE you people?) – like my grandma, for instance (oh. okay.).

People who visit the web-version of Instagram are able to not only view pictures, but also like and/or comment on them, as well. So, blah blah and yadda yadda, what's the big dealio with Instagram, anyway?

Well, since users are only able to post photos from a mobile-only app*, my question is this: is it "cheating" if you take pictures with a dSLR, edit them in Photoshop, upload them to your phone, and then post THOSE images on Instagram?

In my mind I say, "Yes, that's absolutely cheating!" since it's a MOBILE app. It's on your phone. You snap pictures with your phone, post to Instagram. Done. It's simple, visceral, and there's no "editing" (other than the filters in the program you can choose to apply or not at your discretion).

If we could post photos from the online version, then it'd be a different story (to me). But the entire premise of this social venue is "instant."

And, per the company itself:

"Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever."

I'm by no means the only one debating this issue...it's been an ongoing back-and-forth (for several years) with many different opinions, spanning from those completely angered by Instagrammers who upload their edited dSLR images to those more lenient people who say, "Photos are photos and it's a photo-share site. Unwad your panties and move on."

So why are MY panties in a wad about this? Well, because I not only love taking photos with my iPhone (I always have it on me so it's super-easy to snap a quick shot if I see something I've gotta document) but I'm also an avid hobby photographer. I love my Canon 60D and can spend hours shooting and then editing all my photos.

When I first got started on Instagram, I followed a few people (and fewer followed me :). As I gained a wider "friend" base on the app, it struck me that some of these people...in fact, quite a few...weren't using iPhone photos.

I was shocked to see SO many fellow photogs posting their dSLR images on this mobile-only app. CHEATERS! my mind hissed.

I myself – at that time – had never posted anything but iPhone photos. I also had a scant handful of followers, and those only loyal friends.

So I was kind of at an impasse: did I continue on posting just photos I'd taken with my phone, or did I venture into the world of "cheating" and upload photos I'd not only taken with a dSLR but – gasp! – edited in Photoshop?

Well, long story longer: I now upload both actual Instagram photos (i.e., images taken with my phone) and cheating Instagram photos (i.e., images I've taken with either my dSLR or my point-and-shoot, uploaded to my desktop, edited in Photoshop, then loaded onto my phone and from THERE onto Instagram).

And guess what? Some of my most popular photos – the ones with the most likes and comments – are ones from my dSLR.

*sigh*

While it sort of disappoints me – the part of me that wants to use the app as it was originally intended – there's also part of me that's okay with "cheating." Especially since I'd come up with a way to feel better about myself while posting dSLR photos.

I'm a fan of hashtags anyway, but for every non-mobile photo I posted on Instagram, I used the hashtag #notaniphonephoto.

Notice it's in the past tense – I don't do it anymore. a) I kept forgetting to add it and b) no one else seems to care whether images are mobile or not mobile. So I've absorbed the (overall) community feel of Instagram and have not stayed pure.


What I want to know is: what do YOU think about how other people use Instagram? Do you care that they're posting photos not taken with a mobile device?


*To be clear: Instagram itself is mobile-only...but due to the clamor of people like me (and myriads of others who upload their non-mobile photos) there are third-party sites that evidently allow one to upload photos right from their desktop to Instagram. I don't have any experience with these, and am curious how well they work. They've got to be quicker than the process I go through (outlined above)...

PS: Let's not assume I have delusions of grandeur that I have more/enough/substantial followers. Although just today I got my 100th follower! I'm proud. And humble...because every single person I follow has more than that. Okay, some of them don't, but they've been on Instagram for maybe a month. I obviously have quite a bit to learn about this community :) 

How Do We Feel About Google Carousel Results?

A couple days ago The Google moved its local search "carousel" to desktop computers (previously it was only showing up on tablets). While I think the overall concept is neat – when performing searches for local bars & restaurants, you get a carousel of images at the top of your SERP – it's also something that'll need to be fine-tuned and honed before people jump on board.

For example, in reading about a test of people trying it out for the first time (study done by Nifty Marketing), the term "Chicago restaurants" was chosen. If you watch even just the first video of the person seeing the carousel for the first time, she's confused as to what certain aspects of it mean – most notably the "number" system ("what does 27 mean?").

Also, I must say that the carousel "results" for Chicago restaurants look pretty good: nice, tidy, good-looking photos, etc.

Now, on the other hand...what if we do a search a tad closer to home? For example, "restaurants in Brooklyn Center MN" (it's on the brain since I have a family dinner up there tonight). Results in the Google carousel are...well, somewhat lacking:

Okay. So let's be more fair...I then did a search for bars in Minneapolis:

Hang on, wait. Why is there a photo of a SHOOTER in a list of restaurants???

What is going on here, Google? Why have you included this in your carousel for my restaurant search?

Well, because Nye's is a very popular Minneapolis bar. But, why is there a wretched, scary picture that makes me NOT want to go to Nye's....why?

Well, because that's the only picture on Nye's Polonaise Room's Google+ Page:

So, evidently we know two things: 

1. The photos within Google's local carousel results are pulled from Google+ pages. 
2. Nye's Polonaise Room either doesn't know it has a Google+ page, or would like to be known as a gangster bar.

I mean, you'd expect this type of thing to show up in some sort of search for New York City restaurants, but not Minneapolis :)

As to the question of what the numbers mean within the carousel listings: they're Zagat scores. The reviews are coming from Google reviews. We still don't know how The Google is choosing which restaurants to show in the carousel. I'm sure if this carousel bandwagon takes off we'll learn more about how Google's "ranking" the carousel results...but right now it doesn't seem to be by number of reviews or even Zagat score...and it's definitely not by judging the quality of the Google+ photos :)

Self Promotion in Social Media: To Do or Not To Do?

I'm not a social media expert. Although, in this day and age, who IS? Has social media even been around long enough for a chosen few to have distanced themselves from the peloton and humbly declare themselves "experts"?

I think not.

The point is, EVERYONE these days is using at least some form of social media (except my sister, who contents herself with having virtually no online footprint), be it Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google+, Tumblr, Blogger, YouTube, Wordpress, LinkedIn, Pinterest...the list goes on and on.

Most individuals use these platforms to keep in touch with friends, post pictures, write journal entries (ahem...guilty), learn about what's new, build new relationships or any combination of those. No biggie...but then businesses started getting involved in the online conversation.

Are Businesses Using Social Media Correctly?

Okay, so with social media venues your business can reach out to your potential customers, current clients, industry experts, etc. I've interacted with several businesses via Twitter – whether to inquire about a product, offer up a thanks-for-a-job-well-done or to ask advice – and have been extremely pleased that these businesses had a quick response time, were very helpful and I even got a free product from one of them.

So what's the big deal with businesses using social media? Well, in those instances, the experience was positive and I felt even stronger about the company/product than I did before our behind-the-screen exchanges.

And then I see businesses misusing social media – namely, Twitter – to shamelessly self-plug their products and services.

Over...and over...and over...and over.

When did it become "okay" to blab ceaselessly on about oneself? Isn't the social media-verse all about relationships – finding like-minded souls, connecting with them, building relationships, sharing information, and LISTENING as much as (or less than) you talk?

Evidently some businesses – and, let's be honest, some individuals – think it's a perfectly acceptable practice to yak on and on about themselves without a care in the world for anyone else. Instead of an online conversation, they're rolling out their own red carpet with a long-winded diatribe.

That, my friends, isn't the way to use social media to advance your business. Trust me, no one wants to listen to a braggart. At best, no one will engage with your content and all you'll hear on the other side of your Tweet/post/share is silence; at worst, you'll be un-followed, de-friended, deleted and utterly ignored.

This Isn't My Opinion; It's What Others are Saying

But why listen to me? I'm no expert, as I alluded to at the beginning of this blog post...but I would like to share what other people on the Internet are saying about the very same topic:

• Read what Mashable has to say about businesses using social media
• Bizreport says "self promotion is a Twitter turn-off"
• Some deadly sins of self-promotion
• And here are some Twitter etiquette tips, including "don't just talk about yourself"
• Who wouldn't listen when CNNMoney says to resist social media self-promotion?

There are a myriad of "do this; don't do that" opinions out there when it comes to using social media, but it seems the general consensus regarding business self-promotion is "that's not the point of social media!" I.e., don't do it. 

Should you not do it at all? No, that's not what we're – sorry, THEY'RE – saying. The point is: engage with other users; build relationships; share OTHERS' content; join in conversations (don't launch into manifestos); and then, when/where appropriate, offer up your expertise/content. But, like any other relationships you have, it's give-and-take...you need to listen to others as much – or more – than you talk.

Again, no one likes someone who ceaselessly self-promotes. I was reading an article that came through my Twitfeed just this morning about senseless SEO mistakes, and there it was again – the admonition NOT to build a self-centered social media strategy:

I think my favorite quote is "Only sleazy salesmen promote their own stuff without considering others."

Naymz Account Reinstated

"Welcome Sarah."

Such a simple greeting, yet sweeter words were ne'er seen (this morning, anyway). For those of you not in the know, the other day I found myself mysteriously sans Naymz Account. Without warning.

One minute I was neck-deep in keyword research at work, the next instant my husband was asking me why I didn't want to be part of his reputation network on Naymz anymore. (Jokingly he asked, "are you trying to divorce me or something?") That's right. Through no fault of my own (I later found out), I found myself instantly and completely Naymz-less. 

What is Naymz, anyway?, you might ask. Well, you might ask that if you a) know nothing about what's going on online; b) don't know anything about online networking; c) don't work in the SEM/web industry or d) all of the above. (Or e) you're my sister. Which technically would also be d.)

Anyway. Naymz is an online networking and reputation management service. Much like LinkedIn, it's of a professional nature (not air-your-dirty-laundry-everywhere like Facebook) and has become quite the authority with search engines. I.e., for a proper name search, someone's Naymz profile is much more likely to come up first (or at least at the top) in SERPs over any other social media profile. (Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule; my own Naymz account has historically been the first result for my own name search.)

The point is, Naymz.com is a free service (with an upgrade to Premium if one so chooses) wherein a person can list previous and current jobs, resume, qualities/talents, links to related sites (i.e., blogs, managed sites, etc.) and even even endorsements from colleagues.

Of course, upon figuring out my lovely account – complete with endorsements/references, lots of contacts, and complete professional information – was, indeed, AWOL, I panicked and filled out a frantic plea to the Naymz customer support to please reinstate my account (and also what I could do in the future to avoid this very problem.)

Within 24 hours, those handy Naymz folks had indeed brought back my account – albeit missing a lot of information – and offered up an explanation as to what happened. It seemed some OTHER Sarah Bernier (they said it was "someone with a similar name as you") wanted a Naymz account deleted, and proper steps weren't taken to ensure WHICH account was actually being terminated. Of course, they apologized profusely and said with "over 2 million profiles, this is the first time something like this has happened in our 4 years of business..."

They also were gracious enough to offer me some comps for the mistake, which I gladly took. While it wasn't a big deal to have to fill in my employment history again, it IS a bummer to have to start all over with my network. I also had to bite the bullet and ask my references if they'd be willing to re-reference me! But, all's well that ends well and at least I've got my Naymz account back.

A heartfelt 'thanks' to the Naymz tech team for helping me out so quickly and fingers crossed it doesn't happen again...though I highly doubt it will. Live and learn!

Oh What's In A Naymz Profile

My husband thought I divorced him today. Via social media.

Okay, not really, but he DID ask me earlier if I deleted my Naymz account. Of course I responded with an emphatic "NO" and then replied, "but why do you ask?"

Says he, "well, I got an email notifying me you're no longer one of my contacts."

WTH? Surprised but not concerned, I quickly Googled my name – sure as shootin', there's my Naymz profile, #1 in results per usual.

To further pacify my inner flutterings, I decided to click through to see my profile. Imagine my utter consternation when, instead of my profile, I received this page:

Starting to panic, I hastily attempt to login, only to find out this sad little (big) fact:

 (And yes, I have the correct login information.)

 I ask of you, Naymz: WHAT. THE. HELL. I receive profile views all the time, and while I don't necessarily log in all the time (no information has changed recently) I'm very aware of how my profile performs and am (was?) quite fond of you, Naymz. What'm I now, Naymz-less? I'm hoping your support team responds extremely quickly to my hastily-composed, dripping-with-emotion email about how on earth to get my Naymz account back up and running.

The bigger mystery is how did this even happen? It seems the only way to delete an account is to log in, select "My Account," then "Edit," then choose to delete the entire account. Since I never had any wish to do this (and haven't been logged in for a while) I know it wasn't me.

Which begs the question – am I being punished for not having logged in within a certain time frame??? Or, more likely – did some OTHER Sarah Bernier attempt to login and inadvertently deleted MY account? Which seems odd, since the accounts are attached to emails. Either way. I'm NOT happy.

Oh, Naymz, I'm begging you. Please reinstate my lovely profile.

ASAP.

***Addendum***

Never underestimate the power of a blog. Especially when said blog happens to be run by Google. Obsessed by the loss of one of my social media limbs, and still trying to find out WHY my Naymz profile would get deleted without my consent, in my researching I ran across this SERP:

HOWEVER, it more than likely won't remain there. Just ONE MORE REASON not to worry about rankings, people. It's (somewhat) out of your hands. The sooner you learn that, the quicker we all can get along with our lives.

I still want Naymz to reinstate my profile, however.

A Very Web 2.0 Day

It all started with Google Analytics being down this morning. When what you do for a living revolves around Google, any time there's a 'glitch' the world just...stops spinning. Thankfully, whatever was going down behind-the-scenes at GA was fixed so the Earth is again rotating.

That being said, I had all intentions of working hard today – setting up goals for a new client, checking a new Adwords campaign's traffic, not leaving 'til 7pm*, etc. – until I was locked out of the entire GA dashboard. With no other billable client work to do, I waded into the Web 2.0 world.

With my sights originally set on blogging, I of course kept veering off-track and heading to Twitter – the ultimate resource in up-to-date info when something's amiss – and somehow remembered a video I needed to upload to YouTube for my mom. Had a few issues with the format and this and that, but finally was able to open it in Picasa to edit the length and upload it. From there, I of course had to write a blog post about said clip – a video demonstrating an exercise to get a horse to use its hind end correctly – and then tell Mom it was finally posted (we shot it last summer).

Still keeping a wary eye on my Twitter feed and the latest results on Google regarding the Analytics problem, I moseyed to Facebook to see if any of those friends were saying anything about it. Of course they weren't (different crowd) so I played around with my mom's blog some more – cleaning up labels and whatnot – and then my phone rang.

My sister doesn't usually call me at work – she prefers Google Talk – and when she said, "I have a really random question to ask," I settled in for a weird conversation. To my utter shock she says, "so, Twitter...how does it work?" I about had a heart attack (she's very anti-Twitter/Facebook/blogging and anything "social media") until she clarified, "don't worry, I'm not on it." Whew.

Turns out I was the phone support for her boss, who was trying to learn about tweeting. Pretty sure I inundated my sister's brain with some very odd-sounding jargon for a non-Web-2.0-savvy person. Still laughing to myself about the conversation, I zipped to my co-worker's office to relay the story and she floors me with her own news: she started her first blog.

What's the world coming to? Everyone's jumping on the social media bandwagon, which is great. I suppose I shouldn't think it's a big deal – even my AUNTS and mother-in-law are on Facebook!

Anyway, so my friend's blog is going to be about gardening – she gave it the cutest name, Gardening Plots – and it was evidently fathered...sorry, Ma Nature...MOTHERED by none other than our short-but-fun trip to Puerto Vallarta last month. Of course, spending almost a week in a tropical, sunny environment where the bougainvillea is blooming in the middle of winter would get any gardener hankering to get her hands soiled. In this case, it also spawned the birth of an online presence. Welcome to the blogosphere!

As I sit here finishing this up (and sipping whole-heartedly on my Bells 2-Hearted IPA) I can't help but think...what a very Web 2.0 day!



*Yes, I WAS at work until almost 7pm. Central time, that is. 

Tweetdeck & Twitter Lists & Transmuted Google News, Oh My!

When I first began using Twitter, I'd read tweets and answer "what are you doing?" right from the site. I soon realized that wasn't the "cool" way to go about it, so I got set up with Tweetdeck (the simple and fast way to experience Twitter). I soon had my favorites set up (for both Twitter and Facebook, a nice touch) and while I still head to Twitter to scroll through the 'general' tweets coming in, I now update both sites' status from Tweetdeck.


From the dashboard, I can see at a glance what my favorite people are talking about, as well as get direct messages and see any mentions I've received. Pretty neat.

Now enter Twitter Lists. A couple weeks ago, Twitter rolled out their new function which allows users to create their own lists, add people to it, and other people can even follow your lists (and vice versa). So now not only can you choose who you follow, you can lump them into specific groups so you don't have to scroll through all your "Twitter favorites" on Tweetdeck or - gasp, live on the site - you can just click on a list and voilà, you can read what you want to read.


It's even easy to find any lists you've been added to - and you can choose whether or not to follow those lists.

This is just one of the many ways it's getting easier and easier to pick and choose the content you want to see online. Yesterday, Google stepped up to the plate and offered the creation of custom news. While not a true function of social media, it is a way to customize content - similar to Tweetdeck's favorites and the relatively new Twitter lists.


I played around with this function this morning and created a couple 'newsreels' - reel-time news, perhaps? - even though I don't think I've ever visited Google News.

So why am I trying it? Well...I do subscribe to multiple RSS feeds, and the first thing I do in the morning - coffee in hand - is check out Google Reader. Thing is, I get a lot of articles in there that I don't want to read. Even though I've decided to pull articles from TechCrunch, Mashable, All in One SEO Pipe, etc., the articles contained within those sites aren't always something I want to read.


Now, maybe with a customized Google News section, I can get more relevant articles because I've "made" the news topics relevant to me. So, the big question is: are functions like Twitter Lists and customized Google News going to make RSS feeds obsolete?

Social Search is a FAIL

In high school, I got grounded. A LOT. Every Friday my friends would say, "hey, Bernier...you grounded this weekend?" To which my reply was, more often than not, yes. So I was used to getting punished by my mom - God love her - but now that I'm a (mostly) grown-up woman, I find it hard to believe I'm being grounded yet again. By Google, evidently.

Four days ago I learned about, opted into and wrote a review of the new Google Social Search ability. Since I'm a typical egotist, I was chagrined to see I wasn't showing up in my own social circle. While most things "Internet" get better with age - as software, search engines and social media roll out, refine and listen to their audiences - I'm more than a bit disappointed that things are even worse for my social searches now than they were earlier in the week.

Google, did Matt Cutts tattle on me, say I was dissatisfied with your shiny new service and now you're punishing me? No...that's not the way the universe works. Still, I find maybe I should've kept my pie-hole corked and not mentioned my disappointment, since now my social circle is eerily absent from my SERPs in social searches. As far as I know and can see, I'm still opted into the experiment, because it does work a little bit. Sometimes.

But let's take a look at how things have changed since Monday.

Monday's search for "SEO" revealed my social circle as my husband and Portland friend in the main SERP; when I delved into the 'Social' tab of my 'Options' I got a few more results from my fellow Twitterers, blog buddies, etc.

Yesterday and today? The results are MUCH different:

Obviously this result is right from my Google Reader subscription. Odd, because that result was absent on Monday. Let's look a bit further - utilizing the 'More Options' screen, I choose 'Social'...the results are scarce, to say the least.

Ok. So maybe "SEO" is too...I don't know, competitive. (Competitive between my social buddies?) So I'll try something I KNOW multiple friends on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are mentioning: Halloween. After all, we're only 1 day shy of All Hallows' Eve.

It seems none of my online acquaintances are talking about Halloween. Or costumes. But wait, they ARE - I've read several Tweets about those very topics today. So where's my circle, Google? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Now, not only am I not showing up, my friends aren't, either. Boooooooooooooooo. And not in the Halloween, fun, scared-you type of way.

Since this has all changed so drastically for me, I decided to read more on social search - ended up at the Matt Cutts video explaining it within the Googleblog post. In it, he (Matt) states there are a few ways Google taps into a person's social circle: Google profile, Friendfeed and Google Reader.

Well, I do have a Reader account - browse through that every morning. I also have a Google profile. While I don't use Friendfeed, two out of three should garner me SOME results I can live with in regards to social search. But, alas, no. Get thee to thy room, O naughty negative reviewer of Google services.

Why Don't I Show Up in Social Search?

Today Google officially rolled out its social search function, a way to customize your SERPs to include results from people within your very own network. Pretty neat, considering the vast amount of people we can be linked to and the amount of content to wade through out there in search engine land.

Danny Sullivan has a great post about this, in which I was surprised to learn that a person can show up in their own searches (with the 'social' option). It struck me as odd until I read his explanation of it,

"...my own blog is listed. That makes sense, in a way. I know myself, and I write about Newport Beach a lot."

Intrigued, I instantly opted into the Google Experiment and started searching. I tried an easy test first - "SEO" - since a good number of my friends on Twitter are SEOs. Bingo:



At the bottom of the SERP, my very own results. The dude in the 'stache is a friend...and the second result is my very own husband. Now, why wouldn't Clint's 'result' show up before Chris's, since we share the same last name (therefore, Clint would be more relevant to my search)? Well, that's not the way this social search works - even within "my" social results, they're still ranked based on the traditional Google algorithm, meaning in Google's mind webranking.com is more important than thinksem.com. For now anyway :)

Ever the narcissist, I tried another search, something for which I figured I'd show up for. Something I blog/talk about a lot: my dog. So I chose "german shepherd" and scrolled to the bottom of the page - nada. What? Where am I? Shouldn't I show up in my own social network for something I blog, micro-blog, and talk about often? Hmf. Evidently not.

Okay, different search - "music" - SOMEONE I know must be mentioning something about music. Lo and behold, when I click on my 'Show Options' view and then narrow it down to 'Social,' here's what I see:


Wait, Cities 97? I don't follow Cities 97 on Twitter...oh, wait, but one of my co-workers does. While I certainly respect her choice to support easy listening, I'm personally not interested in that station. Even though it's very relevant to music, I personally have no connection to it so don't think it's a relevant result here.

So, for my last search (in this 'test') I tried something else. I'm connected to several of my co-workers via Facebook and Twitter, so I performed a search for my company's name, expecting to find at least a few co-workers who've mentioned where they work. The only result came from a co-worker who follows ME on Twitter, but I do not follow this person.

Thus far, Google, I don't vote it a total FAIL, but I do have some grievances with how this works. Why am I not showing up for my own "relevant social searches" but people/entities I don't even follow do show up?

Looks like there could be a couple bugs yet to work out with this.

*PS: Yes, I have a Google Profile and had it long before this post.