Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

You can’t change a Facebook Page name

I bet a lot of you didn’t know you couldn’t change the name of a Facebook Page once it reaches 100 Likes. I do, and I am willing to help people, but it seems so few value the knowledge that I have.

Constantly I would hear or get the impression that most folks don’t want to pay someone to tell them how to use Facebook, it is a free service after all. Sure it is and for the record, I wouldn’t tell someone what to do, I would help. What these folks don’t realize is, at the end of the day, a Facebook Page is a marketing tool. You are there to promote something, bring awareness about something, keep people informed, so it is important to fully think out what you are doing.

'Facebook at Mozcon - Alex' photo (c) 2011, Thos Ballantyne - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Besides determining if Facebook really is for the client I’m working with, the first thing we would do is find a good page name. Like I mentioned above, once you hit 100 likes, there is no turning back to change it. A Facebook Page name is like the domain name for your website. You can’t change it and expect people to know that you did or where your new place on the Internet is.

When choosing a Facebook Page name some best practises are to find a name that clearly says who/what/where/how and one that has longevity. Those are the two factors that I think are most important. The wwwh so users knows exactly who they are dealing with and longevity because you want a name that covers all your bases, for whatever you do.

I hope name you have some insight into naming a Facebook Page and how important it is with Social Networking to talk to someone who works with it on a daily basis. If you have a question or need help, please email me, or leave a comment below.

I could be College-Approved Social Media Certified!

But I’m not going to! It seems that the Algonquin College over there in Ottawa is try to capitalize off the boom that is social media. In their description of a new program they claim there is a high demand for professionals with Social Media experience. Maybe so, but I certainly don’t think it is worth $1750.00 to become certified in something I already know in and out.

Lately I haven’t been talking a lot about Social Media and admittedly I have lost some klout in the area, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still following it and practicing it. So when I looked at this course – that caused some heated discussion on twitter – that Algonquin College has started offering I was a little annoyed.

When I looked at their course outline I was a little surprised to realize it is exactly the same as what I use for clients and at workshops.

  • Introduction to Social Media – What is Social Media, how is it in our lives today.
  • Developing a Social Media Strategy – Best way to implement it into your business, goals, time mgmt, etc.
  • Monitoring and Measuring – Basic ROR, following the stats, etc.
  • Digital Communications – Etiquette and best practices, it isn’t traditional marketing
  • Applied Social Media in Business – What works best for your Business or Organization.

All of these topics are things that I, myself, have learned over time and things that anyone can learn. I have listened to several Audiobook on Social Media and its Marketing abilities. I also follow many of the big names in the industry, Chris Brogan, Jay Baer, Gary Vee, Amber Mac, Etc. They all offer this information, general free. You aren’t of course going to learn everything from these people, you also have to do it for yourself. See how it works. Use it for your needs, get out there, build relationships, measure what you are doing and learn how to do it better.

Now I’m not claiming I know it all, because I don’t, but I’m constantly learning more. What annoys me about this program and others like it, is that I have worked really hard to gain the knowledge I have in the industry and I work really hard to help others understand it and use it properly, but I don’t have a piece of paper that says that. So I’m put on edge as to how this may affect me in the future. I’m certainly not going to pay $1750 and go through a course that may only teach me a couple little things just so I can say I’m certified. When it comes to Social Media I believe a persons accreditation should be based on their network, those they have worked with and what people say about them.

I’ll be honest, I’m a little threatened about something like this, but I don’t think it will affect me. I am curious about what others who don’t necessarily work directly with Social Media think about programs like this?

Social Media and a Yellowknife Tragedy

I can honestly say I feel sick and I’m in shock once again that this has happened to the community I so deeply love. A Twin Otter belonging to a local charter company crashed onto a street (the main street) in Old Town, Yellowknife around 1pm MST this afternoon. I sat down at my computer after lunch and just got engulfed into it. My thoughts go out to everyone affected and this point where we don’t know who might have been on the plane is the worst.

Social Media once again played a huge roll in spreading news (and rumours unfortunately) of this event. It was how I was able to keep up with everything happen, without being there. I want to talk more about how Social Media has impacted this event, but first I want to share with you two charts, then in another post I may go deeper into it.

The first chart we have below is of the Twitter activity of the hashtag #yzf, which is the local Yellowknife tag, from 1pm – 4pm. As you can see the first climb is all the local chatter happening about the event. Then at 2pm (where the orange line is) it was picked up by National news as the word spread.

YZF Hashtag

We then have the keyword or hashtag of Yellowknife. Many people don’t know that #yzf is used as the local tag just use Yellowknife and it being the name of the community it is used in headlines and such. As you can see chatter started happen when the event happened, but no official news was out quite yet, but then at 2pm it his National at which point CBC North already had their story up.

Yellowknife Hashtag

If you’d like to read the story just search “Yellowknife Float Place Crash.”  It is another sad day.

City of Yellowknife should embrace Facebook

I have not yet actually read the article that the Yellowknifer has written about the City of Yellowknife having a study done about whether they should get into social media or not. I don’t even know if that’s actually what it’s about. I’m assuming this study says something like they should look into finally getting on Facebook and creating the City an official Page. I could be wrong though.

I am very thrilled to hear this news, if that is the case, it is a very positive thing. I feel the City of Yellowknife needs to do more two-way conversations with its residence, other than just public meetings. Facebook is now one of the best ways to connect with people.

That being said we have to remember that social media can be a double-edged sword for those who are prepared. As great as it is to reach out to the community; to get their feedback and keep them informed, there’ll also be complainers. I know this first hand having spoken to some of the people taking care of the City of Fort St. John’s page. A lot of residents use it as an outlet to complain. That is why I run around saying a good strategy–social media strategy–is an absolute must.

But creating this strategy is not just a walk in the park. Ask any person who actually works as a social media marketer how difficult it is; it has to be taken seriously. I don’t say this because I am a person who helps organizations and businesses create these strategies, but I say this as someone who wants to see these organizations and businesses succeed.

Someone who’s familiar with this type of work should be used to help create one of these documents.  Goals, weaknesses, benefits, best practices and so on should all be pointed out in one of these documents. It should not only outline what wants to be achieved, but also protect whoever is creating the document for everyone’s sake.

I’m not sure how far along the City of Yellowknife is in getting on Facebook, but I look forward to seeing them there. I’m also curious to know what other people think. What do you want to see from them if they did join Facebook?

City of Yellowknife Website