The warning to users is that facebook will soon start to charge you to use their service. Of course it is bogus. Users are warning each other on their profiles that the social network giant will soon beginning to charge users.

Here is a copy of the hoax:

IT IS OFFICIAL. IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING. DUE TO THE PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON, IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY .

Another version I saw today:

FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO…IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY

There have been many scams and bogus posts on facebook about the company charging users. It simply isn’t true. Facebook has no intention of charging users now or anytime in the future. Their money is made by people paying for and clicking the ads. The company even tries to remind its users on the website’s main login page (if you’re logged in, you’ll have to log out to see it): “It’s free and always will be.” Facebook makes a lot of money from the ads viewed and clicked by its 800 million active users. In fact, the social networking giant is expected to make $4.27 billion in revenue this year, 89 percent of which will come from advertising. As a general word of caution, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. Also, don’t blindly copy and paste warnings just because your Facebook friend’s status tells you to do so. Although you probably mean well, you could be helping a hoax become more popular on the social network.

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Facebook (Facebook) is known for its uniformity. You can post all sorts of content, but the actual design and layout of your profile is the same as everyone else’s.

But with Facebook Fan Pages and the array of apps you can plug into them, there are a few ways you can customize what people see when they land on your Page.

You’ve probably seen custom Fan Pages like those of Best Buy and Victoria’s Secret. When you land there, you start on what is essentially a mini website within Facebook, instead of the Page’s wall or feed.

These are often used to promote deals, call attention to new products, or simply welcome visitors with an attractive branded splash page. Anyone with a Fan Page can create one, but it takes a little effort. Here’s how.
1. Add the Static FBML App

The tabs at the top of your Facebook Fan Page are apps. Some, like your wall and photos are built into Facebook. Others are essentially plug-ins where fans can view external content, like YouTube (YouTube) videos, Flickr (Flickr) photos, etc.

The app you need for your custom page is called “Static FBML,” located here. If you’re logged into Facebook, you can add it to your Page. It is essentially a blank canvas where you can add whatever content you want, including custom graphics and links via standard HTML.

Facebook Fan Page Image

2. Set Up Your Tab

Once you’ve added the Static FBML app, click “Edit Page” below your company’s profile image. This will bring up all your settings and apps. Look for the FBML app and click the “Application Settings” link.

Facebook Fan Page Image

The app can function in two ways: As a set of boxes, or as one dedicated profile tab. If you’re building a splash page, you’ll probably want to use it as a tab, so go ahead and make sure that the “Box” setting is removed, and the “Tab” setting is added. You can always experiment with boxes later if you find them more useful.

Facebook Fan Page Image

3. Add Your Content

Once you’re in tab mode, go back to your settings and click the “Edit” link under the Static FBML app. This opens a standard text field where you can add your content.

Facebook Fan Page Image

“Box Title” will be the name of your tab, so you’ll want to change it to something appropriate, like “This Week’s Deals,” “Special Offers,” or simply “Welcome,” depending on how you plan to use your Page.

Facebook Fan Page Image

The main text field is where your content goes, and you can add standard HTML to the page as you would any website, including images, text, links, and other formatting. No need for HTML, BODY, or HEAD tags.

Note that your images must be hosted elsewhere (on your company’s website, for example) and only referenced in your HTML code.
4. Make It the Default Landing Page

If you want this new tab to be the “face” of your business Fan Page, head back over to your page settings and edit your “Wall Settings.” There is an option for “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else.” From that menu, select your new tab.

Facebook Fan Page Image

From now on, it will be the first thing visitors see when they arrive.

Facebook Fan Page Image

5. Engage Further With FBML

FBML stands for Facebook Markup Language, and it is the code used in Facebook applications to reference items on the social network, like user profiles, groups, feeds, and other data. If you’re really looking to integrate your landing page and get interactive with visitors, it might be worthwhile to learn this language.

A great primer on FBML and a resource for optimizing your Facebook landing page in general can be found in my colleague Tamar Weinberg’s Techipedia article on the subject.

1. Who Can See The Things You Share (Status Updates, Photo, Videos,
etc.)

Probably the most critical of the “privacy” changes (yes, we mean
those quotes sarcastically) was the change made to status updates.
Although there’s now a button beneath the status update field that lets
you select who can view any particular update, the new Facebook default
for this setting is “Everyone.” And by everyone, they mean everyone.

If you accepted the new recommended settings then you voluntarily
gave Facebook the right to share the information about the items you
post with any user or application on the site. Depending on your search
settings, you may have also given Facebook the right to share that
information with search engines, too.

To change this setting back to something of a more private nature, do
the following:

1. From your Profile page, hover your mouse over the Settings menu at
   the top right and click “Privacy Settings” from the list that appears.
2. Click “Profile Information” from the list of choices on the next
   page.
3. Scroll down to the setting “Posts by Me.” This encompasses
   anything you post, including status updates, links, notes, photos, and
   videos.
4. Change this setting using the drop-down box on the right. We
   recommend the “Only Friends” setting to ensure that only those people
   you’ve specifically added as a friend on the network can see the things
   you post.

2. Who Can See Your Personal Info

Facebook has a section of your profile called “personal info,” but it
only includes your interests, activities, and favorites. Other arguably
more personal information is not encompassed by the “personal
info” setting on Facebook’s Privacy Settings page. That other
information includes things like your birthday, your religious and
political views, and your relationship status.

After last month’s privacy changes, Facebook set the new defaults for
this other information to viewable by either “Everyone” (for family and
relationships, aka relationship status) or to “Friends of Friends”
(birthday, religious and political views). Depending on your own
preferences, you can update each of these fields as you see fit.
However, we would bet that many will want to set these to “Only Friends”
as well. To do so:

1. From your Profile page, hover your mouse over the Settings menu at
   the top right and click “Privacy Settings” from the list that appears.
2. Click “Profile Information” from the list of choices on the next
   page.
3. The third, fourth, and fifth item listed on this page are as
   follows: “birthday,” “religious and political views,” and “family and
   relationship.” Locking down birthday to “Only Friends” is wise here,
   especially considering information such as this is often used in
   identity theft.
4. Depending on your own personal preferences, you may or may not
   feel comfortable sharing your relationship status and religious and
   political views with complete strangers. And keep in mind, any setting
   besides “Only Friends” is just that – a stranger. While “Friends of
   Friends” sounds innocuous enough, it refers to everyone your
   friends have added as friends, a large group containing hundreds if not
   thousands of people you don’t know. All it takes is one
   less-than-selective friend in your network to give an unsavory person
   access to this information.

3. What Google Can See – Keep Your Data Off the Search Engines

When you visit Facebook’s Search Settings page, a warning message
pops up. Apparently, Facebook wants to clear the air about what info is
being indexed by Google. The message reads:

There have been misleading rumors recently about Facebook
indexing all your information on Google. This is not true. Facebook
created public search listings in 2007 to enable people to search for
your name and see a link to your Facebook profile. They will still only
see a basic set of information.

While that may be true to a point, the second setting listed on this
Search Settings page refers to exactly what you’re allowing Google to
index. If the box next to “Allow” is checked, you’re giving search
engines the ability to access and index any information you’ve marked as
visible by “Everyone.” As you can see from the settings discussed
above, if you had not made some changes to certain fields, you would be
sharing quite a bit with the search engines…probably more information
than you were comfortable with. To keep your data private and out of the
search engines, do the following:

1. From your Profile page, hover your mouse over the Settings menu at
   the top right and click “Privacy Settings” from the list that appears.
2. Click “Search” from the list of choices on the next page.
3. Click “Close” on the pop-up message that appears.
4. On this page, uncheck the box labeled “Allow” next to the second
   setting “Public Search Results.” That keeps all your publicly shared
   information (items set to viewable by “Everyone”) out of the search
   engines. If you want to see what the end result looks like, click the
   “see preview” link in blue underneath this setting. 

Take 5 Minutes to Protect Your Privacy

While these three settings are, in our opinion, the most critical,
they’re by no means the only privacy settings worth a look. In a
previous article (written prior to December’s changes, so now
out-of-date), we also looked at things like who can find you via
Facebook’s own search, application security, and more.

While you may think these sorts of items aren’t worth your time now,
the next time you lose out on a job because the HR
manager viewed your questionable Facebook photos or saw something
inappropriate a friend posted on your wall, you may have second
thoughts. But why wait until something bad happens before you address
the issue?

Considering that Facebook itself is no longer looking out for you,
it’s time to be proactive about things and look out for yourself
instead. Taking a few minutes to run through all the available
privacy settings and educating yourself on what they mean could mean the
world of difference to you at some later point…That is, unless you
agree with Facebook in thinking that the world is becoming more
open and therefore you should too.

Note: Other resources on Facebook’s latest changes worth reading
include MakeUseOf’s
8 Steps Toward Regaining your Privacy, 17
steps to protect your privacy from Inside Facebook, the
ACLU’s article examining the changes, and DotRights.org’s
comprehensive analysis of the new settings. If you’re unhappy
enough to protest Facebook’s privacy update, you can sign
ACLU’s petition. The FTC
is also looking into the matter thanks to a complaint filed by a
coalition of privacy groups, led by the Electronic Privacy Information
Center. You can add your voice to the list of complaints here.

About Sarah Perez

Sarah
Perez is from sunny Tampa, Florida where she had worked as an
I.T. Professional for many years. A technology enthusiast, Sarah’s
passion and enthusiasm for technology was channeled into blogging,
starting with her personal site, sarahintampa.com,
which launched in 2004. In addition to her contributions at
ReadWriteWeb, she also writes for Microsoft’s
Channel 10. Please read her disclosure.

*Alison Driscoll is an interactive copywriter and social media consultant who specializes in Facebook. She authors a blog at alisondriscoll.com.

Not even a year ago, Facebook was still being dismissed as a silly site intended to help college kids slack off. Indeed, that is what helped the social network take hold with a large number of users, but it has proven its worth in business and by now, nearly everyone is on board. Companies of all sizes are scrambling to get on the site and reach both new and current customers with a Facebook (Facebook) Page, the Facebook preferred method for user interaction with a brand, company or public figure.

An effective Facebook Page not only attracts fans, but is sticky so that fans keep coming back and may even share the content on the Page. To do that, you need a well thought out Page that has some great applications supported by good, relevant content. Here are eight essential apps for your brand’s Facebook page:

Applications

1. Facebook Notes

This app was originally a Facebook feature that they then converted into an application; as such, it is sponsored and maintained by Facebook and less likely to break or be abandoned. Set this application up to pull in the RSS feed from your blog or other content source and it will automatically bring everything into Facebook and show all of your friends that you’ve posted a new Note.

This notification system is important for staying on their radar and is more visible than an RSS Reader, or mini-blog as I like to call it, but lacks many formatting capabilities; it’s best to think of Notes and an RSS Reader as working hand in hand. Start here to get content coming into your Page, then move on to the RSS Reader.

2. Blog RSS Feed Reader

I may have jumped ahead a bit with the Notes recommendation, but I am assuming that most companies have, or could have, a blog. If you don’t, work on that before Facebook, for many more reasons than I could get into here. But if you already have a blog, good news: there are tons of blog and RSS apps out there, but I’ve done the leg work and I found this one offered more functionality, better customization (you can pick an image to make your Facebook mini-blog look more like your actual blog) and a greater sense of control. It can be a bit buggy, but it’s worth persisting for the level of customization, and therefore attention grabbing potential.

3. Twitter App

Again, this assumes that you have a Twitter (Twitter) account, but if you’re reading this and working on a Facebook Page, my guess is you do. Or you at least know you should have one. If not, set one up before adding this application to your new Facebook Page. This will automatically pull your tweets into your Facebook status, and it puts a cute little Twitter-themed box on your profile, so everyone knows you’re cool enough to be on Twitter. It also saves you time in updating AND ensures profile activity to keep you relevant.

4. Static FBML application

Neither Facebook Pages nor Profiles allow any type of HTML in the main content section, but you can add FBML and HTML applications to add more stylized elements to a Page, like clickable images, anchor text and interactive content. The Static FBML app allows you to add advanced functionality to a page by placing a customizable box in which you can render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language), giving you free reign over the space to add images, video, stylized text and almost whatever else you want. This app was developed by Facebook, so it’s fully supported and not prone to the problems of some third party applications.

5. Extended Info applicaton

In the Extended Info box you can use HTML to customize any kind of content and create numerous fields beyond the standard Information categories; you can also name the box anything you want so it matches your page perfectly. This app works much like the Static FBML application but is slightly easier to use. Although not developed by Facebook, it is highly ranked and provides a nice alternative or second customizable box option on a page.

6. Flash Player application

This Flash application, also developed by Facebook, will add a box to your Page in which you can upload your own Flash files to achieve advanced customization and play any kind of Flash video, widget or game. It can be renamed to maintain the integrity of the page and keep the look and feel consistent with your brand.

7. Posted Items Pro FaceBook application

With Posted Items Pro you can embed multiple YouTube (YouTube), Yahoo, and Google Videos, music mp3s, sites, files, and more onto your profile and Facebook pages. You can add any variety of these elements, making it great for a media center or press section.

8. Something Unique (Victoria’s Secret Pink)

If you have the resources, add some personality to your profile with a fun, irreverent application that you create just for your Page. This could be tied into your brand in multiple ways; try to think of something that people outside of Facebook would appreciate or enjoy that will remind them of who created it and keep them coming back, like a game or contest.

Brands that get it right

In order to stay relevant on Facebook, you need to continually update your Page and use the site. The more actions you take, the more you appear in a fan’s News Feed. This keeps you in their mind, and in their friend’s Feeds when they interact with you. But updating content will do more than keep you on the News Feed; it will also help make your Facebook Page sticky by offering fans an incentive to remain a supporter and come back more than once; one of the best way to do that is to provide some unique benefit to fans: exclusive content, secret contests or insider access to information before non-fans.

If you have a good brand, product or service with a strong website behind it, building a Facebook Page should be fairly easy. But if you need a few examples or inspiration, check out these Pages (pages) that definitely get it right:
VS Pink Victoria’s Secret
PINK collection is aimed at college girls, so Facebook is a natural fit, and this Page nails it. They are my most frequent example when explaining effective use of Facebook. This Page makes good use of HTML and FBML apps and provides lots of contests and exclusive stuff for Facebook fans.

Britney Spears
A childhood favorite of many avid Facebook users, Britney is taking Twitter by storm and her Facebook Page is not far behind. Britney sends out tons of Updates to fans and posts plenty of sneak peeks on Facebook.

Zappos
Lots of videos means plenty of opportunity for laughing and sharing. Zappos is almost always mentioned as a social media success story, and they’re working on making their Facebook Page meet the brand image.

Target
Target has managed to break free of the Wal-Mart stigma and position itself as a hip and budget conscious alternative to mall stores. They’ve chose to direct visitors to their “Vote” tab, where not only is Target donating to a good cause, it’s encouraging fans to participate and spread the word to their friends with interactive voting.

I am a B.Tech(ECE) from IIT Guwahati trying to be a problogger. Thank you for keeping up with me.

I am no expert on this topic but few things I do to get my blog Google indexed when I start one and I am almost always successful.

1. Preferably use your own domain to start a blog. Write 5-6 original articles. Carefully choose keywords or tags. If you are using WordPress, some of the good seo plugins are all in one seo plugin, headspace, platinum seo, greg’s high performance seo etc.

2. Use pretty permalinks. If you are using WordPress, go to admin->settings->permalinks->select custom structure- put /%category%/%postname%/ in the blank field. You need unrestricted.htaccess file for this. So your web host must support this.

3. Now go to admin ->settings->privacy->blog visibility and make sure you have selected “I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Bing, Technorati) and archivers”.

4. Use pinging services like pingoat.com or feedping.com or feedburner pingshot. You can also go to admin->settings ->writing->update services and copy and paste the urls of pinging services and save changes.

Pinging services alert other blogs and blog search sites that you have posted a new article. You will find web spiders swarming at your site after posting a new article.

5. Now go to some other blogs which have articles on the similar topics and comment there. Leave your website address there. Don’t make your comment look like spam and always put your name in the name field and not something else which can make your comment look like spam. This is the most important part as Google spiders will eventually come to your site following the links.

6.Now go to Google webmasters site. Login with your Google account. Add your site. Do the verification as explained there and add your sitemap location. If you haven’t already created a sitemap, use Google xml sitemap generator plugin. To add sitemap go to Google webmaster tools->select your website address from the domains list->site configuration->sitemaps->click on submit a sitemap.

7. You can also increase googlebot traffic on your site so that your site gets indexed quickly. Simply go to Google webmaster tools->select your website address from the domains list->site configuration->settings->crawl rate->set custom crawl rate.

It generally takes up to six weeks to get your site indexed but if you follow above steps, Google will index your site lot sooner and if you are lucky like me it’ll be only few days.

WordPress Google SEO can make your blog rock.

Hi! This is Sharma Amit. I am a B.Tech(Electronics & Communication Engg) from IIT Guwahati.

I write about WordPress blogging tips.

First Love.

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