6 Things Which You Shouldn't Do On Facebook

I dont need to explain why i am writing this post. Finally i thought, its time i write a post :-) Here are the top 10 things one shouldn't do on Facebook :-

1. Adding people you don't even know

It's one thing to add an old friend and then never speak to them. It's another to add anyone whose name you kind of vaguely sort of recognize. It's like that old man in the pub who slaps everyone on the back as if they were old pals, when in actual fact he has no friends, largely because of this habit.

2. Accepting friend invitations from people you don't know

It's one thing to complain about irritating people adding you on Facebook, but if you accept those invites, you've only got yourself to blame. If you scan through your Facebook friends list, you'll doubtless find a handful of people in there you barely know. It's a horrible realisation - like when you suddenly realize your hand is resting on a knob of someone else's chewing gum underneath a desk.

3 Inviting people for joining Game or polls
If people don't want to play game, why to force him/her? Allow some time to share only when the recipient agrees to play the game or sends out message to sent invitations.

4. Use Facebook mail instead of proper email

Are you silly? Why would one use FB mail rather than other mail clients?


5. Write on a wall instead of communicating privately
The driving force behind the success of Facebook is 'Unwanted Status'. Come on, for god sake, Facebook is not for writing smileys, greeting people on their wall, its much beyond that. Does it make sense when others are watching what people are doing? Status messages like "i am confused.." "I am delighted.." " i need peace"...certainly, Facebook is not for this type of status messages.Saying hello,hi..come on, this is not SMS pathway :-)

6. Update Facebook profile when you're supposedly ill

How many times have we seen it? Someone calls in sick in the morning and then updates their Facebook profile minute-by-minute throughout the day, documenting a day of ice cream, chips, video games and jumping on the bed.Seems like some storyline of illness movie.

Review : Sprout Social

Sprout Social was created for small business owners to be able to use their time more efficiently. Started in October 2009, this Social media management application takes care of most difficult social media tasks for any business. Lets hunt down its features:


Installation :

Sprout Social has different membership levels and offers a 30-day free trial.  If you’re currently using HootSuite or Tweetdeck, it’s worth taking a look at Sprout Social. Try Either the business plan or the basic plan for 30 days trial and i am sure you may like it. You can just start using this application by using your Twitter,Facebook or Linked in account.Don't worry, it really doesn't draw much time, Sprout social authorizes the app and provides you with access to its free trial within few seconds.

The Dashboard :

I am sure by now you will feel this has one of the systematically placed dashboard. Amazing color and varied features to catch hold of your time spending over this dashboard.There are a number of cool features with Sprout Social.  I’m not going to take time to cover them all. Ones you've connected with all the social media, you will have the dashboard as shown as above .The quick links are very well aligned for quick access. Along with the dashboard widget, there is also a provision for static sidebar quick icons. I really liked this cool look. The two most important terminologies followed by sprout social are Engagement and Influence.By now you must have guessed what it might be. Engagement is an indicator of how well you are communicating with your audience. The higher your engagement, the more valuable your audience will become to your business. And Influence  is an indicator of your growth and the interest level among your audience. These numbers are commonly low, but increasing them over time will result in greater brand awareness and enthusiasm for your business.

The Inbox :

If you sync FB, LinkedIn and Twitter , and all you have to do is , just click inbox and you have all mega sync at this individual place.Sprout Social stands out because of the way it brings together many different tools to cover just about every possible aspect of social networking. This section also allows you to DM, Follow and also Archive the feeds fetched from social sites.


Social Discovery:

Equipped with Twitter Search,Business search,people Search and Twitter Suggestions, the social discovery is made very simple. Save every record of search and track results as per your time.Thus bringing in more detailed information, it encourages the user to enjoy sucess over few simple smart clicks :-)


Report Generation:


So far i am sure you must have found this web application quite simple to understand and easy to use, but the word "Organized" is more relevent to this section. You can have complete overwhelming results of mentions,clicks,Retweets and replies, and not to forget, all in Graphical mode, including line and pie charts. 

Automatic Scheduler :

Like many other social media tools, Sprout Social also provides the ability to schedule messages to go out in as per planned time, including automatically sending out posts from any rss feeds. You can also manage your own RSS feeds.

Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Settings - Making Control Simple

Today while browsing facebook randomly,i came across the new feature of Facebook with an upgrade of inline privacy control and asked me if I want to have its tour. The message said:

I quickly read through the details and found it quite interesting. Followed with some features, i too updated few status ( but deleted them as they were crazy test status's)

In the first step Facebook asked me to tell them who i’m with and it allows to add my location in it too if i wan’t you to know the place I am at.

 Upon selecting the further option to take the tour, the beautiful tour of the new feature begins clearly explaining the overall feature of the new upgrade.

Use this to manage who can see and comment on posts you share, including ones with location, if you add it. When you change this setting, it will stay how you set it for future posts until you change it again. Posts (including check-ins) from old mobile Facebook apps will use your new default privacy setting.

Also, Notice that Facebook has changed the label for “Everyone” to “Public,” but your posts will still reach the same people.

Linking FB to Google + - Made Simple

After such a hype with Google+, people hardly manage to switch to Google+ from Facebook. But this feature which allows you to see your Facebook stream inside Google+ is amazing. Simply Connect to Facebook, and get all the updates on your Google+ Facebook tab.

Currently compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla and IE.
Step 1 : Install the 
Step 2 : Grant permission ( Needs FB Login Credentials)
Step 3 : Click on "FACEBOOK" on G+ section and you will see your FB wall on Google +




For Chrome Users, extension can be downloaded here

Facebook Special - Protecting Facebook Spammers

I am sure everyone would be aware of this Facebook Spam attack and i too found near about 23 videos in less than 7 hours on my walls. Finally i decided to have a small case study over this spam attack and found some workaround to tackle this spam attack. 

The video has a very smartly coded hidden JavaScript that activates moment its clicked. I actually clicked the video [ certainly using some dummy account] but using some safe surfing techniques and found some malwares were getting downloaded on to the local system. The caption is really termed nicely so that it inspires one to click on the link as soon as its been posted on the wall and then it ensure embarrassment too.

Some Tricks That i list to tackle this issue :

• Well this is certainly not an idea but 99.9% gurentee that spammers wont attack. Disable the Wall posts from friends. I am sure most of you wont like this idea as wall being one of the major productive section of Facebook. But certainly, it leaks too many voids for attack and as said "Security is better than Being Attacked". To disable the wall posts, follow the figure discriptions as given below. Goto Account --> Privacy settings --> Customize Settings --> In the "Things others share" options, Uncheck "Friends can post on my Wall" check box.

• Another issue that can lead to spam attack is , apps activation. Some Java Scripts are triggered in such a way that, they have access to your whole profile details and their settings reside in APPS Settings in Facebook Settings. Without knowing, they have their work at par and thus leading to spamming structure. It is essential that users be able to identify links that might smell spamming.However, if the user is not able to identify a possible spam link,best way is not to check it at all. I will now show how to disable Facebook unwanted apps and needs a regular check at this section to know things are fine.Goto Account --> Privacy settings --> Apps and Websites--> Click Remove --> Select "Edit Settings" corresponding to that app that needs to be removed (in my case Twitter) --> and finally click "Remove App"  Uncheck "Friends can post on my Wall" check box.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

• I use Bit Defender for my laptop ( My Previous XP Laptop) and Bitdefender has a facebook app called as "Facebook Safego".Posting unlimited links,inbox messages and many more, we sometimes are not sure whether that link is safe or is not.Using in-the-cloud scanning, BitDefender safego keeps your social networking account safe so that you and your PC don't get into e-trouble. An efficient BitDefender spam repellent also helps keep your message flow free from this kind of Spams and many more.And that's not all. With BitDefender safego you get a privacy rating that tells you whether you're an easy prey on the personal data theft front as well.

Sync "Bitdefender Safego" With your Facebook by clicking this link

Some Other Minor Tricks To Be Safe Facebook user:

• Don't accept unwanted friend request.
• Have a secure connection ( HTTPS instead of HTTP ).
• Do not post unwanted images,videos on friends walls.
• Don't use apps that mean spamming motto or any unwanted app shouldn't be synced to FB account
• Don't click any unwanted links etc.

Finally, i will show up the demo run of Bitdefender Safego on my profile.Its got very cool UI and checks inbox,comments,wall and many more. It looks like a stabilizer to me..ROFL.I am sure you will enjoy using this app :

by : Prajyot Mainkar

Facebook @ No Internet

Bharti Airtel has launched a USSD-based service that ensure users to access Facebook without using the Internet or activating GPRS capabilities. Singapore-based software applications developer U2opia Mobile has developed this new application for mobile phones.

"We are using USSD technology, which will enable users to access Facebook without having a GPRS connection on their phones" said Sumesh Menon, the co-founder and CEO of U2Opia Mobile.

Unstructured Supplementary Data (USSD) is the technology used by telecom players to send alerts to their users that inform them about their balance at the end of call or for sending miss call alerts.

Even the Fb load is high at peak hours, Menon mentioned that though the technology will not provide access to graphics, it will help users send and view updates on their friends'' Facebook walls.the service is like a sms and an user can receive alerts on activity happening on his wall as well post an update.

While Airtel customers can update their Facebook status through this USSD service free of cost, Rs 1 per day will be applicable for accessing the full-feature application, which enables viewing news feeds, commenting on or liking news feed stories, posting on friends'' walls, confirming friend requests, viewing notifications and finding as well as adding friends.

Airtel users can dial *325# and *fbk# for non-qwerty mobile handsets to access Facebook without subscribing to data plans..

by : Prajyot Mainkar

fbquick - Facebook Notifier For All FB Fans

fbquick makes it easy to:

• Receive instant profile notifications on your desktop
• Stay connected with your friends, groups, and events
• Monitor your Facebook profile without a web browser
• Enjoy all the fun facebook has to offer plus more!

fbquick -Message : Lost to track new messages? No time to actually login to Facebook Portal and check? Don't worry, check fbquick.fbquick will be there to notify you as soon as you get a new facebook message.

fbquick-Poke : fbquick will show a pop-up notification as soon you get poked. This way you can poke right back within seconds. 

fbquick-Wall : With fbquick you can get a pop-up notification instantly when someone writes that one thing they promised not to tell anyone.

fbquick-Group Invite : Remember those days before facebook when you weren't accepted by social groups, let alone invited? fbquick will help connect you to new social groups as soon as you get invited from your friends. Tell your imaginary friends that they're not needed anymore!

fbquick-event invite : It's important to know about an event right away. To save you time, fbquick will notify you as soon as you get invited to your next event.

fbquick -Friend Request : Internet friend: A friend with no strings attached  fbquick will notify you each time you get a new friend request.

fbquick-Tagged Photo : Not aware of friends publishing your tagged photo on FB and you not aware of it?No need to fear,fbquick will save you from that surprise by notifying you right away!

fbquick-Share : If one of your friends shares something through Facebook, fbquick will instantly send you a notification on your desktop.

Download : http://www.fbquick.com/downloads/current/fbquick-installer.exe

Skype @ Facebook - Call FB Friends Via Skype

Facebook and Skype have joined hands to benefit their users. Skype 5.0, Skype's latest Windows desktop software, now supports calling your Facebook friends.The latest version of its internet telephony tool has new features including the Facebook integration and video conference calling for up to 10 people.The Facebook integration of Skype voice-and-video chatting utility makes Skype 5.0 even more social than before.

Skype users have spent an average of 520 million minutes every day talking to people on Skype, whether doing a Skype-to-Skype call for free or calling any phone for very little cost. Specially designed to emphasize many of Skype's less-known features such as file-sharing, screen-sharing and SMS, which are now linked to on a new "Skype Home" tab. Skype 5.0 now allows calling your Facebook friends right from your desktop. 

Now you Skype 5.0 allows you to update your Facebook status, comment on your friends' Facebook updates, even like articles -all with a ease from your windows of desktop.Skype 5.0 lets you import your Facebook phone book so dialing your Facebook friends and sms them,is with ease.