My First Rule of GChat
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT GCHAT? My “Answers to Common Questions About Gchat” post may be helpful to you.
Let me start by saying this. If you are still using Hotmail or Yahoo or any other type of web-based (or even worse: non-web based!) program that is not Gmail, finish reading this post and then go SIGN UP!
Google is one of those companies of which I am truly in awe. (Facebook, Twitter, Apple, AIM, are others that come to mind). Google’s products have COMPLETELY revolutionized our lives. Gmail, Google’s web-based mail application, simply BROKE THE MOLD and shifted the way we think about e-mail communications.
The first example of Gmail’s uniqueness I can think of at the moment is the threaded conversation feature, which has made it easier to follow the life of an e-mail. And the second is its chat feature within the mail client.
In fact, GChat is to this second era of the internet what American Online and American Instant Messenger were to the first. (And, as I wrote in October, it has helped bring about the convergence of our offline and online identities.) People you e-mail a certain number of times get added to the list of people you can chat with. And there are different ways to alert those people to your availability: you can be available to talk, idle if you’re away from the computer, ask people not to message you if you are busy and, lastly, you can “go invisible”. This last status allows you to view and message your contacts without allowing them to do the same.
In the past few weeks I’ve had several experiences which have led me to the creation of my first rule for GChat: I do not talk to those who have made themselves invisible. Why, you ask?
To begin, I consider myself to be a compassionate and loyal friend who stands by and supports the people she cares about. And, truly, I expect nothing less from the people that I allow to be a part of my life. Yes, those words were chosen carefully – being a part of my life and commanding my friendship are privileges.
When someone is “invisible” it means that they can contact me if they need me, but I can’t contact them to do the same. It ruins any chance at a reciprocal relationship which makes it inherently selfish. And that’s the sort of thing that I just can’t tolerate from those around me.
Listen, folks, I know it seems like such a trivial thing to get caught up in, but I think it’s a small thing that reflects a person’s general personality and that’s why it bothers me.
But, let me turn it over to you. How do you feel about “invisible” people on GChat? Do you yourself have rules for GChat?
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT GCHAT? My “Answers to Common Questions About Gchat” post may be helpful to you.
Subscribe to Friends’ Facebook Status Updates via SMS
Common questions about Facebook’s new “subscribe via SMS” feature. Scroll down to see all the answers or click on a specific question:
- What is “subscribe via SMS” on Facebook?
- How can I “subscribe via SMS”?
- How do I add “subscribe via SMS” to my Facebook account?
- Why can’t don’t I see “subscribe via SMS” on a friend’s Facebook account?
- Can I change my settings so that Facebook friends can’t “subscribe via SMS” to my updates?
- Can someone tell whether I’ve “subscribed via SMS” to someone’s updates?
- Can I tell who has “subscribed via SMS” to my status updates?
- When I reply to a status by text, why does it go to that person’s inbox? Is there a way to change it?
- What is the cost of subscribing to receive a Facebook friend’s statuses by SMS?
- Is there a way to subscribe to all my friends’ status updates?
- I have other questions about “subscribe via SMS” that you haven’t answered. Where can I learn more?
What is “subscribe via SMS” on Facebook?
“Subscribe via SMS” is the ability to recieve a friend’s status notifications on your mobile phone through text messages.
How can I “subscribe via SMS”?
Go to the profile page of the person whose status updates you’d like to receive by text message on your mobile phone. Under their profile picture, you will see a list of options. “Subscribe via SMS” should be one of the options. Click on “subscribe via SMS”. It’s that easy!
How do I add “subscribe via SMS” to my Facebook account?
From what I can tell there is no way to add the “subscribe via SMS” to one’s profile. This option is “turned on” by Facebook and should simply appear. Note that you will not see this option if you’re looking at your own profile. I would recommend asking a friend to log-in and go to your profile in order to see if the “Subscribe via SMS” option is present.
Why can’t don’t I see “subscribe via SMS” on a friend’s Facebook account?
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but mostly your friend has restricted your access (or perhaps everyone’s access) to their status updates.
Can I change my settings so that Facebook friends can’t “subscribe via SMS” to my updates?
At this point, anyone who is able to see your status updates can choose to subscribe to them. To change who sees your Facebook status updates, go to Facebook’s Profile Privacy page and change the “Status and Links” settings accordingly.
Can someone tell whether I’ve “subscribed via SMS” to someone’s updates?
Currently, there is no way for someone to check whether you have subscribed to their status messages.
Can I tell who has “subscribed via SMS” to my status updates?
Currently, there is no way for you to see who has subscribed to your status messages.
When I reply to a status by SMS, why does it go to that person’s inbox? Is there a way to change it?
Yes, the current functionality of replying by SMS means that the person will get your reply in their Facebook inbox. There is no way to change this setting at the present time.
What is the cost of subscribing to receive a Facebook friend’s statuses by SMS?
There is not additional cost to receive status updates by phone… You will be charged the same as receiving a regular SMS. (This is dictated by your wireless plan provider.)
Is there a way to subscribe to all my friends’ status updates?
At this time, I do not believe that there is a way to subscribe to all your friends at once — and with good reason. I would expect that this could be dangerous depending on the number of Facebook connections one has.
I have other questions about “subscribe via SMS” that you haven’t answered. Where can I learn more?
Simply leave your question in the form of a comment below and I will do my best to help you.
Struggling with Facebook Statuses
I have recently been receiving quite a bit of traffic to this website from those who have specific questions about Facebook functionalities. If YOU are one of those people, I am more than happy to do my best to answer your question. To do so, simply submit it here.
If you’ve talked to me lately, you’ve probably heard about my frustration with Facebook status updates.
When the updates were first added as a Facebook feature during the Spring of 2006, the site was still only open to those with .edu addresses.
In fact, I distinctively remember first discovering status updates. I accidently put “Julie is Jeff’s” rather than “Julie is at Jeff’s” as one of my first statuses. They were that new that it was before I instinctively translated my thoughts into third-person snippets and formatted them to fit the “Julie is…” standard. I didn’t catch the error until Jeff pointed it out to me. And I remember being hugely embarrased by my Freudian slip. But I digress…
In the Spring of 2006, Facebook was still unknown to the general public and only used by college students. Status updates were to social networks what away messages had been to Instant Messaging services… And users weren’t afraid to push boundaries and include “not-for-adult-eyes” content since, well, there weren’t any adult eyes to see it.
But, here we are, three years later, and the landscape of social networks has obviously changed. Our safe playground is no more.
Currently, my status updates can only be seen by my “wide inner circle”… I’m still defining what that means, and I promise it’s the subject of a half-written blog post on Facebook privacy, but let’s just say that these are the people who are my “friends” and/or my high school and college classmates. Family members, colleagues and professional contacts compromise the majority of those excluded. Now, let’s be honest, as someone whose profession is the mastery of social media, I understand the consequences associated with anything created online – whether it has been restricted to certain users or not. As a result, my updates have evolved to be, for the most part, pretty benign. But I still don’t think my colleauges need to know when I’ve had a late night out and am struggling to keep up in the morning. (Not that I do that… frequently.)
But, by restricting these updates, I’m effectively limiting the power of Facebook since the focus of the site has shifted to exactly this feature in the latest redesign. And the whole thing is compounded by the fact that Status and Shared Link privacy is a single control (also the subject of an upcoming blog post). Everyone who can’t see my statuses also can’t see my shared links. Let’s take a step back and think about this – a lot of the content I’m sharing on Facebook is local, since that’s what affects my daily life. Now, guess which of my Facebook contacts would benefit most from this content? Would it be the high school and college classmates who have now scattered all over the country, or would it be my colleagues and professional contacts who are DC-based? You see what I’m getting at?
So why not just give in, realize that Facebook has evolved, and open up my status to everyone? Well, because, that’s not how I’ve chosen to use Facebook. Instead, that’s how I leverage the power of my Twitter account. I use Twitter primarily in a professional capacity, sharing useful links and remembering that I must be well-behaved and well-spoken at all times. My Facebook friends DON’T CARE about developments in my industry. They want to know what’s happening in my personal life – presicely the information that my professional contacts don’t need to see…
What it comes down to is that I’m struggling, as is everyone else, to find a balance between managing my personal and business contacts. And when things are so interwoven (since you can bet that everyone in the Social Media space is on Facebook), things aren’t so easy.
