Recent posts in my Facebook Category

January 24, 2013

How Facebook comments do/don’t increase/decrease* trolling for news websites [*Delete as applicable]

Whether news sites should or shouldn’t use the Facebook comment plug-in or Facebook identity seems to have been a recurring theme in the last few days.

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December 14, 2012

The rise and #fail of the Guardian Facebook app

This week the Guardian has announced they are changing the way that they integrate with Facebook, by closing the app that I helped design and launch. It is the perfect moment to reflect on why the app was designed as it was, and what did and didn’t work.

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October 17, 2012

“Engaging Facebook through EdgeRank” - Kelvin Newman, Jeremy Waite and Martin Belam at a4uexpo

Today I was part of a panel session at a4uexpo in London talking about “Engaging Facebook through EDGErank, Content Optimisation and Killer Apps” alongside Kelvin Newman and Jeremy Waite.

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July 18, 2012

“Sweat the 1%” - what newspapers could learn from Facebook Marketing London

On Wednesday I was talking at Facebook Marketing London 2012 about the Guardian’s Facebook app, and I’ve put together a collection of things I’ve previously written about the app. Here are some of my notes from what I saw on the rest of the day.

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July 9, 2012

I “Agree/Disagree” with reaction buttons in Facebook apps

A few weeks ago I spotted a tweet by Gary Ellis of Razorfish criticising “naff, lazy functionality” in the Guardian Facebook app, namely the “Agree/Disagree” buttons that appear on comment pieces. “Bit like the ‘Right/Wrong’ dial from Brass Eye” he said. So why do it?

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May 8, 2012

The ups and down of Facebook Social Reader traffic

There has been quite some hoo-ha on the web suggesting that Facebook “Social Reader” apps are dying, based on a piece written by BuzzFeed’s John Herrman - “Facebook social readers are all collapsing”. I worked on the Guardian’s app - here’s my take on it.

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May 2, 2012

If even Google and Facebook are struggling with the pace of change - what chance media companies?

Reading pieces by Eric Jackson and Peter Kirwan yesterday leaves an awkward question hanging in the air. If Google and Facebook are really struggling with the impact of disruption to their business models from changes in trends on the internet, where does that leave media companies, many of whom haven’t really got to grips with web 1.0 yet?

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March 22, 2012

“A seismic shift in our referral traffic” - how the Guardian’s Facebook app eclipsed Google

Since we launched it back in September I’ve been constantly monitoring Twitter for feedback and reaction to the Guardian’s Facebook app. One of my favourite tweets asked this question: “I wonder how much referral traffic The Guardian has lost from Facebook since they implemented their 'Social Reader' agreement..” Yesterday we answered that question in a talk by our director of digital development Tanya Cordrey.

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February 21, 2012

Interviews about Facebook and UX recruitment

I’ve featured in a couple of interviews published over the last few days about the Guardian’s Facebook app and my ideas on UX recruitment.

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February 17, 2012

“Social media optimisation” - Q&A at news:rewired

A couple of weeks ago I was part of a panel session talking about social media optimisation at news:rewired. I was talking about the Guardian’s Facebook app, and the rest of the panel consisted of Darren Waters from MSN, the BBC’s Chris Hamilton, and Nate Lanxon of Wired. Here are some points that came out of the Q&A that followed the talks.

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February 16, 2012

“Me and my big photo of Mark Zuckerberg” - Wired’s Nate Lanxon at news:rewired

At news:rewired, Nate Lanxon of Wired explained how their Facebook presence has become a sort of “members club” for fans of the brand - and how a picture of Mark Zuckerberg looming over him reminds him to post to Facebook.

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February 8, 2012

Three things adults need to know about teens, Facebook and privacy

Last week at news:rewired I was talking about the Guardian’s Facebook app. During the Q&A after my talk, the topic of privacy cropped up several times, especially with regard to younger people using the Facebook platform. Here are three important things that I think adults should know about when they are discussing privacy amongst teenagers.

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February 3, 2012

“The Guardian’s Facebook app” - Martin Belam at news:rewired

At news:rewired today I was part of a panel discussing optimising news sites for social media. I talked about the Guardian’s Facebook app. Here is an essay version of the talks.

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January 30, 2012

Frictionless or not, on Facebook or not, people love to share on the web

The release of 60 new apps that employ Facebook’s “frictionless sharing” has sparked another round of internet debate about the value of the functionality. Here’s my take.

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January 4, 2012

Editing the Guardian’s Facebook ebook

Over the holidays the Guardian published the second ebook collection that I have edited them. Following on from “Who’s Who: The Resurrection of the Doctor”, I’ve tackled “Facebook: The rise and rise of a social media giant”. Here are some notes on the editing process of the book.

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December 14, 2011

UXmas at the Guardian

Last night we threw open the Guardian’s door for “UXmas” - a chance to meet people from the UX and design teams, hear a couple of talks, and eat some mince pies before retiring to the pub.

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November 30, 2011

Guardian Facebook app - usage figures and a chance to go “behind the scenes”

Today the Guardian announced some amazing usage figures for our Facebook app, and you can come and visit our offices to see a talk about how it was made.

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October 12, 2011

Reaction to the Guardian’s Facebook app

It is just over twenty days since we released the Guardian Facebook app. I’ve been engaged with a lot of conversations with people about it on Twitter over the last couple of weeks, and I thought I might put down a few thoughts on the app, and some of the reaction to it.

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April 5, 2011

Verifying social media in the middle of Egypt's revolution

Guardian Readers’ Editor Chris Elliott recently gave a lunchtime talk to assorted staff about a trip to Egypt, where he was talking to local journalists about journalistic ethics and press regulation. As well as The Guardian’s reporting having an effect in Cairo via Twitter, we were reporting what was being posted from there - and there was a good debate after Chris spoke about the verification standards that you could put to information collected this way, and how it should then presented to our audience via live blogging and other means.

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April 4, 2011

Guardian Readers' Editor on the role of social media in the Egyptian revolution

Guardian Readers’ Editor Chris Elliott recently gave a lunchtime talk to assorted staff about his recent trip to Egypt, where he was talking to local journalists about journalistic ethics and press regulation. It turned out to be a timely visit, as Chris arrived shortly after the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, with the press in the country facing an uncertain, but presumably freer future. During it, he discussed how Egyptians themselves see the role played by social media in the events.

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