social media Archives - Rocking Rose Pty Ltd

The LinkedIn Comment Unsubscribe Option (yay!)

I realised a couple of days ago that I have reached LinkedIn Comment Fatigue.

I will go to comment or like a post, or an image, or a share by someone in my network, and , wait for it ... I hold back for a moment rethinking if I should indeed participate or not.

Not because I don't want to comment - and not because I'm rethinking the engagement of others in a thoughtful debate. I hesitate sometimes, on particularly popular or viral posts and shares.

For the sole reason, that I know, for the remainder of my time on earth, I will be pinged to death by notifications as the whole rest of the world negotiates and comments and likes and shares their own thoughts on the post. At some point it all gets a bit annoying.

Whats the Answer then ?

Today when I discovered that LinkedIn has the exact same Unsubscribe Option as Facebook Posts ( ie , you can no longer receive notifications when someone so much as breathes in the direction of the post ) - Oh Glorious Days was I happy!

And it's as simple as clicking on the little x . X Marks the Spot indeed.

If anyone needs me, I will be unsubscribing from the posts that I commented on last month that are still kicking ....

by Stephanie

Facebook spam - the reporting and blocking tools

So while we wait for the hung parliament to be announced, here's a random HOW TO for Facebook.

Seriously , I cannot believe we voted for lying union thugs in equal measure to lying smarmy snake-oil salesmen . Bleugh! Almost as bad as spammy fake profiles on Facebook.

We all see them , the spammers with fake profiles , commenting into popular discussions and feeds, inserting backlinks to pages that (at best) sell fake followers, or worse, well, let's just say I've seen some doozys popping up in my feed lately .

So, generally what happens is people start commenting to the admin of the group to do something about the fake profile or person ... And that's ok, but if you are not directly naming the admin , then time is wasted because trust me. In a group of 10k , it's going to take them a while to find the random comment addressed to the The Admin.

Here's how you can a mange your own feed, and help keep your feed, and Facebook in general as clear as possible of spammers

These instructions are for the Facebook iPad app - but similar steps apply across most devices and the browser interface. And yes - I do use this very very often for blocking trolls and fake profiles as well as spam.

First up - here's the offending comment - I checked out 'Shane' - totally suss when you profile photo is a stock shot ... #justsaying.

Tap the comment and you'll get a short menu -- with some options

Pick the Report option , now it gets interesting, because Facebook wants to know why you're blocking this person , so I picked spam, because frankly that's what it is.

Picking the SPAM option on facebook reporting tools

You'll then be presented with some actions you can take further -- now this is where people get all angry with Facebook , and I just don't understand why ...just pick the block option. Simple.

You will be asked to confirm the block, by tapping the button that pops up.

And then the spammer is blocked - you won't see them, or any of their comments or posts, and they won't be able to contact you or see you.

Why does this matter in Groups with Admins , surely the admin can kick them out ?

Yes, they can, in groups larger than 1 few thousand members though, it's a far stronger, and more swift result if members of the group block en masse , as it lets Facebook know that this is a profile they need to take a look at. As in a real person who is moderating the whole of Facebook goes to assess if 'Shane' is real, and if the profile should be cancelled entirely.

Happy Sunday ....

You can also read my previous posts about Facebook features

Mothers Day Reaction snuck into Facebook

Facebook Save Feature on the iPad /iPhone app

by Stephanie

Facebook Hack : turning off notifications

If you're anything like me , your Facebook feed is cluttered , and you comment on posts left right and centre.

Which is fine , and dandy , except when you're just over something that happened like 5 days ago, and you still keep getting notified every time a new person comments , or like the post, and well, that wasn't really what you wanted, was it ?

You just wanted to add in a thought maybe a hahahaha, perhaps a like to show support, and now, well, you don't really need to know about every additional reaction to the post .

Here's how you can clean up your notifications :

On the post tap/ the small arrow at the top right to get the menu where you can save posts : the last option on the list ( and you may need to select the More' option to see it ) is Turn off notifications for this post'

Screen Grab from iPad for the post privacy options in facebook

You're welcome :-)

by Stephanie

New reaction snuck into Facebook overnight

Check it out ... Facebook snuck in a new reaction overnight

Screenshot from iPad of the Facebook reactions buttons with focus on the Gratitude button ( purple flowers )

Love this addition - especially since it blasts little purple flowers all up the screen on my iPad when picked ...

Let's hope it's not a temporary thing just for Mothers Day ...because I think it's fantastic.

And of course it doesn't hurt that it happens to be my favourite colour ... Purple !

by Stephanie

Facebook's Save feature : on the iPad app.

Yes, we all know in a perfect world, when you're checking Facebook, you would be able to savour every movement, and reply with great thought and care. You'd have the time to go to each interesting article or link and take your time reading and digesting.

That doesn't happen though, particularly if you are super busy growing your entrepreneurial empire.

Facebook has a save feature, as in save and digest later. Kinda like wrapping up that muffin from morning tea to have at your desk later.

Here's how it works in the iPad app :

First up, tap the little arrow on the right of the post you're interested in, and then tap the Save option on the menu that pops up .

screenshot of Facebook save option from an iPad app screen

This is the same menu you would use to block or report a post , or hide a post

To find your saved posts and content later, tap the More menu on the bottom menu bar and swipe down until you see Saved :

Screenshot of the Menu showing where the saved items in facebook can be accessed on an iPad

Tap on the Saved to view and select what you want to read, watch or reshare, Facebook shows you how many saved items are not viewed yet ( in my case it's 3 out of a total 4)

Tapping the item opens the link , video or other shared content. The ellipse to the right gives 4 more optional actions :Archive, share as a new post, send as a message, or view the Facebook post.

I love, love, love this feature, it's made it so much easier for me to digest the incredible content that flies by in my Facebook feed later on when I nave more time and some quiet space around me.

Happy content management ladies and gents !

by Stephanie

Uber me baby, Uber me

Uber

Nemesis of taxi Drivers everywhere.

The Ultimate Disruptor in transport.

*except for Self driving electric vehicles of course. ;-)

We recently began using Uber in earnest. Mostly for business related trips, up to the airport, the train station or to see a client where I don't have my car for the day. For those times when it's just not useful to drive and park your car at the airport for a gajillion dollars.

I loathe taxi's. Mostly I have had some really sh^&*y experiences, here in Melbourne, in Singapore and in the good old US of A. I cannot say that I remember anything that is pleasant, even in the most uneventful of taxi rides. And it's not the drivers necessarily that are the problem (although I have met some real special ones along the way).

I hate the fact that I have to have local currency on me, just in case the taxi can't process credit cards. Or, as happened to me in Singapore, they didn't take Visa cards, and my Master Card (from South Africa) is a Debit Card, which is blocked for international use anyway ( because the Saffer Government is hell-bent on not joining the global economy, and thinks that my money is their money... but that's another post)

Oh yes, back to my story about loathing taxi's and my Singapore experience.

In Singapore, the taxi stops, I ask them if they take credit cards, they say yes. I double check, "It's a VISA card ? "

Yes, yes says the driver impatiently. I climb in.

Upon arrival at Fuji Building, and lo and behold, the card won't process. His machine doesn't take VISA cards. And now I am stuck, because well you know, in between the international long-haul flight, landing, showering and coming down to the meeting, I haven't actually had any time to draw actual cash at an actual ATM.

*note to self - make a habit of drawing cash at the airport before exiting*

So, there I was stuck on the side of the road with an irate driver in Singapore, and rapidly approaching the point of being late for my meeting. I was saved, but again, that's a story for another post.

That has never happened to me with Uber. Never. This app payment story is priceless.I don't need cash or special open for banking cards. And the driver knows he's going to get paid, because Uber handles all of that already. No risk to me, and no risk to them.

Also - as a side benefit, I have met the most interesting people using UberX to go to and from my various networking events and meetings.

Here are some highlights ;

- The Civil Engineer who works flexible hours for his main employer, and drives for Uber for a couple of hours in the evening.
- The Brickie who drives for UberX on rainy days and any other day when inclement weather won't allow him to ply his trade.
- The semi-retired Writer, who also has a room he rents out with AirBnB, and does 2 toastmasters meetings a week to boot. Talk about embracing the digital age!
- The IT Student, who quite frankly drives better than any taxi driver I have come across and told me all about his plans to uplift his coountry once he goes back and starts his offshore IT development business in Pakistan. Ambitious youth, aah I remember it so fondly !

So I say, Uber me baby, Uber me.

At least until something freaky happens, and then I'm out.

Then I'll be saying : Bring on those self-driving cars.

by Stephanie