T4L Redux: Managing Your Privacy on Facebook

Privacy is an important concern when it comes to any online service, especially social media, but I think it's even more so on Facebook.

T4L Redux: Getting LinkedIn

If one of your new year's resolutions for 2010 is to find a new job—whether by choice or necessity—you'll improve your chances by creating a professional profile on LinkedIn and then building your network to help you get it seen by the right people.

T4L Redux: Unhiding Friends on Facebook

I really should send the folks at Facebook a gift basket to thank them for all the traffic they've driven my way this year by virtue of their never-ending interface changes, confusing privacy settings, random bugs, and completely unwillingness to fix common user problems. Case in point: the nightmare that is trying to add a friends' posts back to your timeline after you've hidden them, whether accidentally or on purpose.

The Good Part of Facebook's New Privacy Settings

In yesterday's post, I talked about the new way Facebook is managing privacy controls and pointed out a couple of issues I have with their new approach. However, there's also one major improvement to the system.

Facebook's Latest Privacy Changes: The Good, The Bad, and The Oh-So-Ugly

If you've logged into Facebook over the last few days, you were likely welcomed with this pop-up window alerting you to new changes to the site's privacy control settings. (And if you haven't been, you will be shortly.)

QuickTip: Change the Title and Blurb for Links You Post on Facebook

I share a lot of links with my friends on Facebook, and I'm always frustrated when the site I'm sharing from is coded in such a way that there's no useful or interesting info in the link text.

Twitter Lists: What Are They and How Do You Use Them?

Twitter Lists were implemented a little while back, so I figured it's about time I try my hand at explaining them!

It's Cyber Monday! Do You Know Where Your E-Coupons Are?

Today is the day when Americans head back to the office after a restful and foodful Thanksgiving long weekend, fire up their computers, and get back to the serious business of... shopping.

Thank You!

Tomorrow will be the first Thanksgiving since I launched Tech for Luddites a little less than a year ago. I'd like to take this occasion to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who have visited since then, left comments, asked questions, and shared your own tips.

Update Your Facebook Fan Page Status with TweetDeck

This morning, a reader contacted me because every time he updated his business page status line, the status line on his personal profile was also being updated.

Connect Your LinkedIn Status Updates with Twitter

In previous posts, I wrote about how you could have Twitter automatically update your Facebook status line directly from Twitter or with TweetDeck. Now you can also connect your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts so your tweets update your LinkedIn status line. And, unlike with Facebook, it works in the other direction as well--you can post an update on LinkedIn and tweet it at the same time.

Vote for T4L in the Mashable Open Web Awards

Woo-hoo! Tech for Luddites has made it into the top 5 finalists for a Mashable Open Web Award in the Most Educational To Follow category. Thanks to everyone who nominated me!

Share External Links on Facebook More Easily

One of the most common uses of Facebook is to share content that you find interesting with your friends, which is probably why there are so many different ways to do it.

QuickTip: An ICE Feature for Your Cell Phone

This is my first post about cell phones because, well, I generally hate them. However, I do still have one, mainly in case there's an emergency where I need to get help fast. But what about emergencies where you can't call for help? Well, it turns out that many cell phones now have a feature that can help first responders help you.

QuickTip: Zooming In and Out of Web Pages

I'm not exactly sure in what version of Firefox and Internet Explorer this feature first appeared--I only stumbled on it recently. But it's definitely a nice addition.

QuickTip: Find Jobs by City or State on LinkedIn

Anybody who follows this blog regularly knows that one of biggest pet peeves is Bad Interface Design, and social media sites are masters when it comes to this. One of the worst has to be the way LinkedIn lets people search for jobs based on geographic location.

QuickTip: Improve Your Digital Photos with One Click

There's no question that the advent of digital photography has made me a better photographer.

QuickTip: Make Quick Links to Your Favorite Commands in Office 2007

Even though I've been working in Office 2007 for two years now, I'm still not sold on the ribbon model Microsoft created for it.

QuickTip: Override Migraine-Inducing Website Colors

I will never understand why anybody thinks that white text on a black background is a good idea.

QuickTip: Finding an E-mail Needle in an Outlook Haystack

If you're one of those people who reads an e-mail, promptly acts on it, and then immediately deletes it, this post won't help you at all. But if, like me, you have dozens of folders full of thousands of messages, this post's for you.

QuickTip: Open Web Links in a New Tab

This came up last week as my friends and I were complaining about Facebook's latest changes. However, this isn't specifically a Facebook issue--it can happen on other websites as well, depending on how they're coded.

Is Facebook Lite the Answer to the Feed Fiasco?

If you think the new Facebook News Feed is too little and the Live Feed is too much, then Facebook Lite may be juuuusssst right.

Bug Alert: Friends Are Missing from the New Facebook Live Feed

In my post from a few days ago, Facebook Changes: News Feed vs. Live Feed, I explained how the News Feed view provides a subset of posts from the last day and the Live Feed view is supposed to a list of everything all your friends are doing in real time. However, when some people choose the Live Feed view, some of their friends' posts are not appearing. If this is happening to you, here are some possible fixes to try.

Naming Your Blog

You may not think that picking a name for your blog is that big a deal.

Facebook Changes: News Feed vs. Live Feed

You may have logged into Facebook recently, scanned your home page, and thought, "I saw all these yesterday... Where are the more recent posts?" Or, you may have asked yourself, "What's all this new crap showing up on here that I don't care about? Yes. Facebook has changed their News Feed yet again.

WordPress.com Odds and Sods

Yesterday, I provided info about how to write and publish blog posts. Today I'm going to discuss additional WordPress.com features that you might want to try out as you continue working on your blog.

Setting Up Your Blog on WordPress.com

Yesterday I gave some thoughts the different blogging platforms and explained why I think WordPress is the best choice for most new bloggers. Today I'm going to show you how set up your blog and make some basic customizations to the look and feel.

QuickTip: Find Your Favorite Facebook Pages Faster

I'm a fan of 42 Pages on Facebook and I suspect I'm not alone in being really interested in only a subset of those.

Introducing Twacebook! (Fitter?)

Okay, so it's really called Facebook Lite--Facebook's latest attempt to Twitterize itself. It's just arrived today, so this is my first look at it, and my first thoughts about it. If I say anything here that turns out to be incorrect, please let me know and I'll set the record straight.

Reader Answers: Facebook Fixes

Two readers recently sent me tips on how to solve a couple of the Facebook problems I've written about in the past.

QuickTip: When You (Or Your Hash Tags) Don't Show Up in a Twitter Search

In an earlier post, Bug Alert: Some Twitter Hash Tags Don't Show Up in Searches, I noted that one reader was having this problem, but I wasn't able to find other examples.

Reader Question: Shortening Your Links on Twitter

Reader Laura asked: I have sent url links to a friend a couple of times & they have not automatically shortened to tiny URLs so my tweet itself is next to nothing! Is there a setting I need to click or something?

Reader Question: When Your Facebook Posts Don't Show Up on Friends' Home Pages

Reader Mari wrote to say that some of the things she was posting on Facebook weren't appearing on her friends' home pages. She had checked her privacy settings and all her friends had permission to see them. She also knew they hadn't hidden her, so that wasn't the problem either.

Reader Questions: More About Facebook Pages

Since I posted my series on Facebook Pages a couple of weeks ago, I've received several additional questions through comments and e-mails. I'm going to respond to a number of them here so everyone can benefit from the answers.

Reader Question: Sending Messages to Facebook Friend Lists with More Than 20 Members

Reader Diane recently sent in this question regarding friend lists on Facebook: I found that the message section doesn't allow you to send to a list that has more than 20 people on the list. Is there a way around this issue?

Reader Question: When Someone Else Has the Twitter Name You Want

Reader Cheryl publishes a blog--let's call it A Cool Blog--and she wanted to create a Twitter account of the same name. Unfortunately, when she signed up for the service, the name was already taken.

Is Facebook Really Giving Your Pics to Third-Party Advertisers?

Yesterday a reader sent me a question about a note that's been making the rounds of the Internet re. Facebook, advertising, and users' photos.

QuickTip: Finding the Pages You Administer on Facebook

In last week's series on Facebook Pages, I provided information on how to set up a Page, adding Applications to it, and various other tips to help you administer one for yourself or for a company or an organization you're involved with. One thing I didn't include that would be helpful is how to get to your Pages quickly.

Facebook Pages: Odds and Sods

This final installment in series of Facebook Pages will provide some additional info and tips that should help you as you continue to work with your Page.

Adding Applications to Your Facebook Page

In yesterday's post, I've Got a Facebook Page! (Now What?), I mentioned that one way to add more compelling content to your Page is by installing additional applications. Today I'm going to talk about how to do that and describe one app in particular that I've found extremely useful.

I've Got a Facebook Page! (Now What?)

In yesterday's post, Setting Up Your Facebook Page, I explained that you have the option of creating a Page that is tied to your personal profile or one that is independent of anyone's profile. Once you've made your decision and created your Page, there are a number of things you'll want to do before making your Page live. That's what this post will discuss.

Setting Up Your Facebook Page

Yesterday, I explained some of the basic concepts of Facebook Pages, so you're probably all just itching to set one up yourselves! :) But before you do that, there's an important choice you need to make about HOW you're going to set up your Page. If you don't give this some consideration in advance, it could cause you problems down the line.

Getting Started with Facebook Pages

In an earlier post, Reader Question: The Benefits of Facebook Pages, I mentioned that I would soon be posting a series about creating and using Pages. Well, ignoring the "soon" part of that statement, this is what I'm going to be writing about every day this week. Today's post is simply going to discuss some of the general concepts regarding Pages for those readers who are unfamiliar with them.

More Info About Facebook Privacy Controls Pt. 1

This post and my next one will clarify some points from some of my earlier posts about Facebook privacy controls as well as add some new things I've since discovered.

Four Tips for Keeping Your Outlook Inbox Under Control

If you're one of those people who follows the organizational mantra of "touch each piece of paper only once, then act on it," you may not be the type of person who will need these tips.

QuickTip: Post Links to Facebook Via Facebook, Not Twitter

In my earlier posts, Read, Send, and Share Tweets on Facebook and Send Tweets to Facebook Using TweetDeck, I gave instructions on different ways to have your Twitter tweets automatically post to your Facebook profile as your status line.

Facebook Is Getting Usernames! (Should You Care?)

Over the last week, you've probably seen this notice about Facebook usernames at the top of your Facebook home page.

Reader Question: Sending Tweets to a Select Group Only

Yesterday I received this question from reader Ariola: "Is there any way to tweet only to a defined group and not to all of the friends?"

Reader Question: Keeping on top of Twitter

Reader (and new Twitterer) Debbie recently sent me this question: How in the world do people stay current on twitter? I'm following some people who are also following 6,000-60,000 others. Huh? Do they only twitter all day? i don't understand how one can even spend an hour a day staying current on all that. Any advice?

Send Tweets to Facebook Using TweetDeck

In my earlier post, I explained how you can import your Twitter timelien to Facebook as well as send tweets from there by installing the Twitter application. When you do that, you also have the option of having your own tweets appear as a Facebook status update. If you're only interested in the latter feature, you can use the TweetDeck client to send tweets to both Twitter and Facebook at the same time.

Facebook Moved Their Applications Links Again

In several previous posts, I've referenced the Applications link at the bottom left of the Facebook page.

More Changes to Facebook

Since the launch of the new Facebook home page a couple of months ago, they seem to be making at least a little effort to respond to some of the complaints they've received.

Huge Correction re. Facebook Wall Privacy

I'm really annoyed about having to write this post because I believe the wrong info I posted is mainly the fault of Facebook's Bad Interface Design. And the worst part is that, because it's related to protecting your privacy, it could have serious consequences for some people.

Recent Changes to Twitter Home Page

Over the last week or so, Twitter has rolled out a new home page design.

Twitter Basics (and More)

I've written a number of posts about Twitter previously. Here's a compilation of the ones that address some of the more common questions and problems.

The Latest on How To Unhide Friends on Facebook

When I look at my web stats to see what's driving people to this blog, BY FAR the number one source is a Google search asking how to unhide friends on Facebook.

F4: The Magic MS-Office Key No One Knows About

Okay, so I imagine there are some people who know about this key (say, a few developers at Microsoft), but anyone I've ever shown it to had no idea about its function. And it's not a key I use often but, when I do use it, I love it!

Where Did Facebook Groups and Pages Go?

One of my writing buddies and frequent visitor to this blog, Charmian, recently commented on the Facebook topic, What do you think of the new Facebook layout? One of the things she mentioned was how difficult it is to find Groups and Pages now.

Bug Alert: Some Twitter Hash Tags Don't Show Up in Searches

Recently a reader wrote to me and told me that a hash tag that she and some friends were using wasn't showing up in searches.

Reader Question: Keeping Track of Twitter Hash Tags

Reader Christy recently asked me how to get tweets marked with a specific hash tag to appear on her Twitter page.

Updates to the New Facebook Home Page

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote two posts about using the new Facebook home page, since a lot of functionality had changed from the previous version. Since the launch, Facebook has responded to some of their users' comments (aka complaints) with some minor changes, so I'm going to point out the ones that have changed from what I had written earlier.

Bug Alert: Missing Boxes Tab on Facebook

In yesterday's post, Read, Send, and Share Tweets on Facebook, I explained how to add the Twitter application to your FB profile. One of the steps referred to going to the Boxes tab on your Profile page.

Read, Send, and Share Tweets on Facebook

When I was doing my series on Facebook last week, I mentioned that I had wanted to do a post about synching different social media sites. Well, I've been doing some research into the various options and have discovered that there's so much out there that it would be impossible to write a single entry about it all. So instead I'm going to write individual posts about the different options available.

Bug Alert: Hiding/Unhiding Friends in Facebook Using Internet Explorer

Update 04/22/09: This unhiding bug seems to be a bit of a moving target, so I've written a post that consolidates all the possible fixes I've found to date (as well as how it's supposed to work in the first place): http://www.techforluddites.com/2009/04/the-latest-on-how-to-unhide-friends-on-facebook.html.

Reader Question: Restricting Access to Wall Posts on Facebook

Reader Lorna recently sent me this question: "Do you know if there is a way to direct your news/status updates to only a select group of Facebook friends, as you can with other Facebook apps? My daughter has lots of very casual Facebook friends but a core of 'real' friends. She would prefer that the things she writes on her wall go only to the 'real' friends. Any way to do this?"

Privacy Controls in Facebook Pt. 2

Yesterday, I introduced you to some of the privacy settings that you can use to control who sees your profile info in Facebook. Today I'm going to look at the Privacy Settings that govern other aspects of the site.

Privacy Controls in Facebook Pt. 1

One of the concerns a lot of people express when they've decided to join Facebook is about protecting their privacy. Kids don't want their parents to see their party pictures; employees don't want their bosses to read their not-always-flattering comments about their companies; teachers don't want their students to know about their personal lives.

Create Friend Lists on Facebook

I didn't even know about this feature until recently, but it's a really useful one that's become even more valuable with the addition of filters to the home page.

Using the New Facebook Home Page Pt. 2

In my introduction to the new News Feed, I mentioned that it could be a bit overwhelming and showed how you can hide the posts from specific friends. Today, I'm going to talk about another helpful way to manage the stream.

Using the New Facebook Home Page Pt. 1

Well. It looks like Mark Zuckerberg and his band of wacky Facebook developers have done it again. A mere 8 months after the last redesign of the site--one which launched a level of wrath not seen since the introduction of New Coke--they decided it would be a good idea to force their users to learn an entirely new system of navigating their home page.

Reader Question re. Twitter: How To Retweet

Reader Melanie recently sent me this question:"I'm wondering whether there are etiquette rules around retweeting. I often see tweets I think my tweeps might enjoy but don't want to offend by doing it incorrectly."

Resize Images with Office's Built-In Graphics Editor

Not all that long ago, the only people who had to know how to manipulate photos and other digital images were graphic designers.

Four Formatting Tips for Excel

Although Microsoft Excel is designed primarily as a spreadsheet application for number-crunchers, I use it a lot to create various kinds of lists. I find it more convenient than creating tables in Word for certain purposes.

TinyURL: What Is It and How Do You Make One?

I discussed TinyURLs in my earlier post, Four Ways To Engage Your Tweeps, but it has many more uses than just Twitter so it's worth its own post.

The Etiquette of LinkedIn Invitations

In my earlier post, The INs of LinkedIn, I explained what a LinkedIn Invitation is and showed you how to send them. However, those were just the mechanics of it. This post will discuss some of the etiquette questions regarding sending and receiving invitations, such as who it is okay/not okay to invite and what do you do if you don't want to accept someone else's request.

The Twitter Hash Tag: What Is It and How Do You Use It?

Once you've started using Twitter, it won't take long before you come across what's known as a hash tag. That's when you see something in the middle of a tweet that has a # prefix.

Use a Feed Reader To Keep Up to Date with Your Favourite Blogs

If you follow any blogs, you may occasionally see terms like subscribe, RSS, Atom, and feed reader, but aren't really sure what they mean.

Stop Word from Changing Your Formatting

Microsoft Word is one of those programs that people REALLY love to hate.

Keep Track of Twitter Topics in Outlook 2007

Recently, I've heard a couple of people ask how you can keep track of topics that are being Tweeted about, wondering if there's something like Google Alerts for it.

Create Different Headers in Word

One question I get asked a lot is how to create unique headers for different sections in an MS-Word document. For example, you might want to have different headers with each chapter name to help readers find the section they're looking for more quickly.

Facebook: Where Was That Page Again?

A recurring theme for this blog is my extreme annoyance with Bad Interface Design.

Updates 02/02/09

Check out these updates to previous posts that came in over the last week.

Manage Your Tweets with TweetDeck

Now that you've been spending some time on Twitter, figuring out how it all works, you're probably gathering more followers minute by minute. But even if you only have a few, if they're power-Twitterers, you may already be feeling a little overwhelmed trying to keep up with it all.

Four Ways To Engage Your Tweeps

You've signed up for Twitter. You've created your profile and tweeted your first tweet. But unless you only want to use Twitter to tell the world what YOU're doing (which is highly frowned upon, by the way), it's time to start really interacting with your Tweeps (Twitter Peeps).

I'm on Twitter! (Now What?)

Yesterday, I provided the basic steps for joining Twitter. Now it's time to start using it!

Getting Started on Twitter

If you've decided to take the Twitter plunge, you may find the sign-up process a bit confusing in places. This post will walk you through it step-by-step so you can be up and tweeting in no time.

Saving Office 2007 Docs as Earlier Versions

If you've upgraded to Office 2007, or are planning to, you may run into a situation where you send someone a file he can't open because he has an earlier version of the program.

The INs of LinkedIn

Whether you're looking for a new job, business opportunities, or industry insight, having a network of trusted personal connections has become more important than ever.

Updates 01/19/09

In my first week of posts, I received comments from two readers that provided additional tips to what I'd written.

Enhanced Google Search Options

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I assume most people who go online regularly know how to use "the Google."

Save Ink When Printing Web Pages

Most websites are not optimized for printing.

Password Control in 3 Easy Steps

One of the greatest frustrations I have with the digital world is trying to manage all my passwords for the many online sites I use.