An Easy Fix To The Facebook Account Delete Issue

Over the past few weeks, the tech blogospehere has been up all night writing posts about how Facebook makes it nearly impossible to delete an account. And this weekend saw a bunch of posts with regards to a specific user and why his account was reinstated. I’ve been thinking about a way for Facebook to fix the user deletion issue and the fix is actually quite simple. It appears the process is so complicated and/or different than other online services that there’s a Facebook group setup just to help you delete your Facebook account.

From what I understand, the current process to delete/cancel a Facebook account is as follows:

• user visits the account deletion page
• user goes through all of the steps to delete their account — confirmations, captchas, etc.
• once user makes it past all of the security clearances then clicks the final deletion button
• account is still “live” but is now placed into a 14-day hold period. If during the 14-day period, user has logged into Facebook, their delete request is removed.

The 14-day delete window appears to be the issue – this is not a typical behavior of a Web app. The Facebook delete group notes, “You must NOT log in to, or interact in any other way with Facebook for at least two weeks, as it will cancel the deletion request. That includes NOT logging in to Facebook using any client (like the iPhone app or IM:s like Pidgin), NOT clicking embedded Like-buttons on other websites, NOT logging in to other services using Facebook Connect (like Digg) etc etc.”

Here’s how I would fix the delete issue which would provide a much improved user experience for the user and for any visitors that visit the user’s profile or page.

• user visits the account deletion page (same)
• user goes through all of the steps to delete their account — confirmations, captchas, etc. (same)
• once user makes it past all of the security clearances then clicks the final deletion button (same)
• account is now deleted – meaning it is no longer visible by anyone – when a person visits the user’s profile or page, a message that the account has been deleted is displayed
• user has 14 days to cancel the delete request – the only way to cancel the request is to login to their Facebook account and click the reactivate button. Any other usage (social plugins, like buttons, Facebook connect) will not work – the user will receive a “your account has been deleted” message.

The change I am proposing is to delete the account from view immediately and require the user to login and un-delete the account within 14 days. This is different than the above procedure that leaves the user’s page in limbo for an extra 14 days. My suggested change will finish the process immediately and as long as the user doesn’t login they have nothing to worry about and the page will be perm-deleted. In the current model, the user is left wondering if the page will ever be deleted or if they need to tip-toe for the next two weeks to make sure not to accidentally re-activate their page.

I look forward to feedback from Facebook personnel on my delete account suggestion.

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Win A Gold Pass To Affiliate Summit East 2010

The Affiliate Summit East 2010 happens August 15 to 17 in New York city and I have TEN Gold Passes, worth $549 each, to give away to ten lucky John Chow dot Com readers. The Gold Pass gives you admission to Affiliate Meet Market, Exhibit Hall, Keynotes, Sunday educational sessions; access to all recorded session videos; PowerPoint presentations; and Affiliate Summit Social Network.

To enter, all you have to do is explain in the comments why you should be awarded a Gold Pass to the Affiliate Summit East. The better your comment, the higher your chances of being a winner. Please only enter if you actually plan on going. If you are selected, you must attend. The pass is not transferable and cannot be resold because it will have your name on it. I am only giving away the passes. I am not paying for your travel or hotel. I might be doing some kind of Dot Com Pho event which all winners can attend.

IMPORTANT – please note the following:
You must notify the recipients that they cannot be transferred, and the pass codes become invalid in the event the conference sells out.
Also, anybody registering for a complimentary pass who neither checks in at the conference or cancels will be ineligible for future complimentary passes.

The winners will be announce this Saturday, June 19 during Dot Com Pho. This should give you enough time to book your air and hotel if you need it. I know I have lots of readers in the big apple that want to go to the Affiliate Summit but can’t afford the cost of the pass. This is your chance to go! Good luck and enter now!

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Social Media: The Wedgie of the Internet

Everyone is getting their panties in a bunch about Facebook and Twitter these days. Everybody has an opinion on what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, if they should make a profit, how they should make a profit, and on and on.

I admit, when it comes to the privacy issue, I’m not an advocate for some of the things Facebook has been doing. The amount of information I share with people who I know even in the real world is carefully monitored, so proclaiming to the planet my whereabouts, age and interests seems like a perfect opportunity for some sicko or thief to commit a crime.

But when it comes to the topic of businesses making profit, I’m a fan. Just because our social media networks let us use them for free, doesn’t mean we should treat them as anything other than what they really are: businesses. And let me remind you that we all choose to be a part of those businesses.

CC BY SA 2.0

For example, when we agree to Facebook’s terms and conditions, we’re in their territory. What I do think Facebook is doing wrong is not being transparent enough about updates. Not allowing people to control their privacy outright by sweeping changes under the rug is not a good way to make friends. Yes, it irks me – but not enough to delete my account. Nowadays, I just stay on top of what they’re up to so I am in control of my account.

If you don’t like what Facebook and Twitter are doing, go somewhere else. Make a statement by not participating in their business. When you’re in a bad relationship, you break up — and then, magically, you don’t have to deal with that person’s baggage anymore. On the other hand, if you’re more of a let’s-work-things-out kind of person, then you can fight and complain and badger until finally the other party gives in due to sheer exhaustion. I guess democracy is a part of capitalism and relationships, no matter how you slice it.

And speaking of democracy and social media, on a side note, did you see this promo courtesy of Chris Kelly, democratic candidate for California attorney general? My favorite part is they actually push Kelly’s credentials as the “top legal counsel at Facebook” — and this is why he’s qualified to “protect consumers from rip-offs”? (Insert chuckle here.)

Gary Vaynerchuck had a recent video post with an interesting point about Facebook’s privacy issue. We’re so focused on it that some potentially huge news slipped through the cracks. He points out that a company of Facebook’s size will often adjust to taste (which it did) — but while that’s happening, we’re ignoring the fact that Facebook recently signed a five-year deal with Zynga, the company that brings you all those popular and sometimes-annoying (Farmville, anyone?) apps you like to use. The deal will result in Facebook retaining 30 percent of the game company’s profit, and Gary’s forecast is that it will center around “credits” in the future.

The reality is that our social media outlets do sometimes need to work on things, but look on the bright side, they’re also trying to make our experiences richer. In the NYT blog post, Will Twitter Twist the Timeline?, it says Twitter hinted at the fact that it might be delivering information in new ways, not just in the static, chronological timeline we’ve been accustomed to. The post reports Twitter’s co-founder Biz Stone said Twitter should be able to deliver the news you need, when you need it, like real-time commuting information. Companies that already identified this type of need such as TweetUp and Cadmus are allowing users to manipulate the way they receive their info on Twitter.

Another potential useful update includes the addition of metadata into Twitter posts. In the Twitter Makes Itself More Useful post at NYTimes.com, it reports on how this functionality could allow someone to search for restaurants nearby based on specific criteria via an app that works in partnership with Yelp, for example.

But even though companies like Facebook and Twitter are adding new features and preserving the apps people like to use, the wedgie is still imposing itself upon the opposition. News like Twitter’s ban of third-party advertisements has people pulling bunched panties out of cracks everywhere. The news comes on the heels of the new Promoted Tweets initiative, where companies buy ad space to be displayed at the top of a feed. One benefit to advertisers is that their promotions won’t get lost amongst potentially thousands of tweets at any given time — and that can be good for consumers, too.

An April 13 Twitter blog post promises that ads will be carefully implemented and shown based on resonance to the user. These ads will be placed into feeds of followers to the brand (Starbucks and Virgin America are among the first to use this new feature), and can be retweeted and replied to but will be distinctly marked as “promoted.”

In the Tech Crunch article, Twitter to Prohibit Any Third Party to Advertise In-Stream, it features direct quotes from Twitter on its reasons for the ban, citing that third-party networks aren’t “necessarily looking to preserve unique user experience Twitter has created” and that these third parties “may optimize for either market share or short-term revenue at the expense of the long-term health of the Twitter platform.” So basically, Twitter is looking to make profit, stay competitive and ensure the experience is branded and relevant to the user. That’s not so bad, is it?

So here are my points: 1) We live in America where businesses have the right to make profit; 2) Our capitalistic society allows businesses to do what they must to stay competitive; and 3) If we choose to be a part of that business’ services, we may have to give a little in order to get. If we have to see an ad here and there so we can enjoy the many benefits that the social media communities offer, then so be it. The fact is, we’re inundated with ads in every other aspect of our lives, so what’s one more place?

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OnlineProfits Marketing Course Is Now Free

In January Daniel Scocco opened the doors back up of his popular OnlineProfits marketing course to a limited number of people.

The course covers everything you need to know about making money online in it’s 24 training modules. Modules range from the basics such as registering domain names and setting up your hosting account right through to link building, social media and traffic generation. Advanced topics such as Pay Per Click marketing, landing pages and selling products are also covered.

When I spoke about the course a few months ago it cost $392. Therefore I was both shocked and pleased to read last week that OnlineProfits is now free. All you need to do is sign up for a hosting account through one of the sites partners such as HostGator or HostNine. Hosting packages start from around $4.95 a month, making this the cheapest marketing course on the net.

OnlineProfits Marketing and Business Training

In the program you will get much needed help from several mentors such as Yaro Starak, ProBlogger book author Chris Garrett and our very own Zac Johnson.

Online Profits owner Daniel Scocco is also available to help too and over the next few months he will be doing a live case study where members can see how to turn a brand new website into a profitable website worth thousands of dollars.

Here’s a recap of the 24 subjects which are covered in the course:

1. Business Principles
2. Domain Names
3. Website Setup
4. Markets & Niches
5. Business Models
6. WordPress
7. Web Design
8. Blogging
9. Keyword Research
10. Online Forums
11. Online Stories
12. Web Content
13. Basic SEO
14. Advanced SEO
15. Link Building
16. Traffic Generation
17. Web Metrics
18. Social Media
19. Selling Advertising
20. Email Marketing
21. Affiliate Marketing
22. Pay Per Click
23. Landing Pages
24. Selling Your Products

If you are looking to increase your knowledge of blogging, marketing and making money on the web, then I encourage you to check OnlineProfits out. Not only will you get access to a wealth of information, you will also get access to some of the most experienced marketers and bloggers on the web. The live case studies will also show you exactly what you need to do to make money from a website.

Have any BloggingTips members joined up already? If so, please leave a comment and let fellow readers know what they can expect.

Thanks for reading

Kevin

Link: OnlineProfits

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It’s the Simplicity, Stupid

I’m a cartoonist. This is my tenth year blogging. My work has been mentioned in big media including Wall St. Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, and The Guardian. It’s been mentioned in bestselling books like Groundswell and Tribes. And it’s been mentioned on thousands of blogs, including many of the big, A-Lister ones.

That’s all well and good, I suppose. We artist types can use all the PR we can get.

But looking back, it occurs to me that none of that “hot PR media action” has moved my business forward nearly as quickly or effectively as this one simple thing:

My newsletter subscribers telling their friends about my newsletter, and suggesting that they sign up.

No, really, that’s it. That is the money shot. When that happens, my business grows, end of story.

More traditional media PR … well, that can work, sometimes.

You never know. The results are always foggy at best, and it’s always a lot of voraciously time-consuming, pain-in-the-ass work to make something happen. And even then, it may not actually increase sales.

I know getting mentioned in huge media outlets is sexy and all, but seriously, hear me out. I’ve been at this for a while.

Traditional PR works, when it works. Most of the time though, it doesn’t. Same with traditional advertising.

But my list telling their friends — that never fails.

Ever.

Make it easy

Another thing I’ve learned the hard way is: I cannot make my subscriber list tell their friends about the newsletter, no matter how hard I try to apply my Jedi mind tricks.

All I can do is make it easy for them to share. All I can do is make it as friction-free as possible.

So this is what I did to achieve that: I created a simple link on the bottom of the newsletter.

Hello from Hugh: Please share this link with your friends.

If their friends get the link and click on it, the page has a personal message from me.

Hello!

One of your friends sent you the link to this page, and so here you are. Welcome!

My name is Hugh. I’m a cartoonist. I have a newsletter, “Hugh’s Daily Cartoon,” which I send out five mornings a week. A wee chuckle in your inbox, to start your day off on the right foot (so to speak). I hope you will subscribe.

That’s it.

Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just a short and sincere message from me. I also threw in a few cartoons, just to give them something fun to read, other than my sales pitch.

A recommendation from a friend carries more weight than a hundred media recommendations.

It’s the simplicity, stupid

If my subscribers aren’t telling their friends, I’m doing something wrong, end of story.

If I’m not making it as easy and friction-free as possible to get my list to tell their friends, I’m doing something wrong.

You read Copyblogger, you’re a member of The Third Tribe, and you probably read a bunch of other savvy marketing folks. Great! They have a lot of killer stuff worth knowing about. Tons of it.

But just for a minute, forget all that and let me ask you two simple questions:

1. Is your list telling their friends about you? I mean, really telling them?
2. Have you made it as easy and friction-free as humanly possible for your list to tell their friends?

Until you can honestly say “Yes” to both questions, you have a severe marketing problem that no cutting-edge marketing theory — Copyblogger’s or anyone else’s — will ever solve.

About the Author: Hugh MacLeod is a cartoonist who blogs over at gapingvoid.com. He makes his living by selling fine art prints, doing Cube Grenade commissioned art work and sending out daily cartoons on Hugh’s Daily Frickin’ Newsletter.

Study: Young Adults Better Managing Online Reputations, Only 4% Suffered Attacks

Some fascinating stats (from Pew) about social networking privacy and reputation management among online adults–especially 18-29 year olds.

In fact, there are so many, your head might spin–so I’ll try and breakdown the most important ones.

It appears that young adults have become a lot smarter about who sees their online updates.

• 71% of young social networking users  have changed the privacy settings on their profile to limit what they share with others online. By comparison, just 55% of users ages 50-64 have changed the default settings.

In addition to being more protective of their online identities, social networking users are better policing negative information published by others.

• 57% of users now use search engines such as Google, to see what information is posted about themselves online.

If users aged 18-29 find something that might hurt their online reputation, they take action!

• 47% have deleted comments that others have left on their profiles
• 41% have removed their name from photos they were tagged in
• When requesting that others remove photos and videos of themselves, 82% report they are successful in getting that content taken down.

These efforts seem to be working. It appears that the likes of Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, and other celebrity reputation scandals are ensuring the average social network user doesn’t suffer the same experience:

• Just 4% of  online adults say they have personally suffered from an online reputation faux pas.

So, as widely predicted. Younger adults are getting wise to the importance of managing their online reputation. Unfortunately, as the study shows, those over the age of 50 are the least likely to change their privacy settings, monitor their reputation, or show any concern for what can be find in Google.

Maybe the next time their (grand)kids come over to program the DVR, they can also give them a quick lesson in social media management.

(via, hat-tip)

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Trackur Launches White-Labeled Social Media Tracking for just $297!

I’m delighted to share with you the brand new Trackur web site AND announce the launch of the industry’s most affordable white-labeled social media monitoring dashboard.

We’ve revamped the Trackur.com site and also made some usability improvements to the Trackur dashboard–which, by the way, has moved to its new location at track.trackur.com.

Along with the new look, we’ve renamed all of the Trackur plans, and have added some ground-breaking features to the Trackur Ultimate plan. Here’s what’s new:

• Use your own domain name: You asked for it, and we’re delivering. You can now point any domain name to your Trackur Ultimate dashboard and that’s what you–and your clients/users–will see. Your domain name will be used for everything, while we take care of everything else.
• Use your own logo: We’ve made it easier for you to upload your own logo and replace the Trackur logo. This further allows you to place your brand front and center with those that login to your Trackur dashboard.
• Pick your color scheme: We know, we know. Green doesn’t match with every company’s color-scheme. So, we’re delighted to announce that our Ultimate plan now allows you to pick from a wide range of color-schemes.

So, to recap, Trackur Ultimate let’s you provide you own branded social media tracking dashboard without you having build, update, maintain, or lift a finger! We do all the heavy lifting! Building your own reputation monitoring dashboard would cost you tens of thousands of dollars in time and resources. Trackur Ultimate is just $377 a month–and we take care of everything! Better yet, sign-up before June 30th and you’ll get the Trackur Ultimate plan for just $297 a month! And that’s a rate that you will keep each month–so long as you renew your plan!

This is just the start. What’s going on behind the scenes is just as important as what we’re announcing today. We’re building a new platform that will allow us to announce some cool features over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Oh, and don’t forget, everyone can enjoy Trackur without charge, thanks to our Trackur Free plan!

 

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