Since Facebook now allows you to tag other users in posts INSIDE Facebook - (I’m too tired to explain it here, - here’s a great Mashable post about Facebook status tagging) - many Facebook users are treating Facebook status updates much like they would Twitter tweets.

TAG! You're it.

So what are we, as Facebook users to do, if we want to repost and/or share Facebook status update we like? I’m calling it now. Or at least I hope I am – I haven’t heard anyone else call this yet. I’m trying to get on the ball right away.

Instead of a RETWEET (RT: a reposting of a tweet on Twitter) from here on out, a post of another user’s Facebook status will be called the RFB – a REFACEBOOK.

Here’s how it works:

• Step ONE: You see a Facebook status you like. Identify said Facebook status
• Step TWO: Highlight Facebook status. COPY Facebook status by either using the “Copy” feature in Edit or by hitting Apple C or CNTL C on a PC
• Step THREE: Paste copied Facebook status in YOUR OWN PERSONAL status bar
• Step FOUR: Tag the originator of the post by tying the “@” symbol and identifying the individual (see aforementioned post about Facebook tagging above)
• Step FIVE: Say RFB to indicate that this is a REFACEBOOK. Example: RFB: John Smith said a really cool thing that I support and/or think is funny so I want to RFB it, yo.
• Step SIX: Be awesome.

It’s genius. I love it. Who doesn’t?

So, spread the word. See a Facebook status update you like? Copy and paste it, @ tag the person who first said it, and RFB it! YAY REFACEBOOKING.

It’s the little pleasures in life.

All for now.

I thought you might enjoy a little Social Media chuckle on this Thuper Thursday. Many of you may have already seen this, considering the last time I checked it had almost 3.5 million views on YouTube. It’s a hilarious take on Facebook – of course it was done in 2007, but still rings true today.

The other awesome part about it is that it is a song by Rhett & Link. Rhett & Link are a NORTH CAROLINA based comedy-duo that have taken the internet by storm. Oh, and they also did a HILARIOUS furniture commercial that actually aired on TV. I’m just going to link to it here and let you see for yourself. But yeah, they’re awesome. And who doesn’t love a good parody?

I’m a comedian. I love parody!

All for now. Have a Thuper Thursday!

Disagree. Yes. I said it. Disagree.

Now, this is, of course, coming from yours truly who is, by nature, a people pleaser and I hate disagreeing. What? Molly hates something? Yes, and that’s negativity and disagreement. I come from an uber-supportive family and I’m an improviser. In improv, we are told that disagreement on stage is nothing but wasted time. Our philosophy, “Yes, and…” tells us as improvisers that we support and we agree with our scene partner 100% AND to add new and interesting information. If you and I were on stage and you handed me an imaginary cat and I responded by saying, “NO! That’s a dog!” – then that would be disagreement and the audience would immediately check out and loathe what was happening on stage. So, what does this point have to do with Social Media? And why on earth would I tell you to do something I, myself, am not even good at. Because I can, that’s why.

Now, I don’t want you to go out there and disagree just to be a jerk or piss people off. My point is that I want you to form your OWN opinion and that you don’t ALWAYS have to agree with people. Discussion and dialogue are at the crux of building relationships and, ultimately, a strong community. If we all agreed 100% of the time, life would be pretty one-sided and a whole lotta tunnel vision would be going on.

It’s important to listen to other’s opinions and take in each other’s perspectives. I learned this lesson very early on. My mother was a very liberal democrat and my father was a very conservative republican – they might not have always seen eye-to-eye, but they always appreciated each other’s opinions and took their perspectives into account – this almost made their relationship stronger. But this isn’t a relationship blog.

So here is your challenge: the next time you read a tweet, a Facebook status update, a blog post, or check out an article – find a way to, politely of course, disagree. Challenge an argument. Start a healthy discussion and see what comes out of it. See what you can learn.

Now, don’t be a jerk and don’t fight with people. There is a point where you can go too far. But I believe you can always learn from people who see things differently than you. But, you don’t have to agree with me, of course.

Social Media TIP OF THE WEEK: Disagree from Molly Buckley on Vimeo.

All for now.

One of the most famous television hosts, Soupy Sales, passed away last week – October 22, 2009 – at the age of 83. I remember my dad telling me when I was a kid about Soupy Sales and how he used to watch Lunch with Soupy Sales everyday. Although I, personally never had the opportunity to watch Soupy, I still know what he did for television and what he did for comedy. I wanted to share this video on my comedy blog because I think it really is a testament to his charm, his wit, and of course, his hilarious New Year’s Day stunt in 1965. Enjoy!

All for now.

With the new re-vamp and new look of Facebook groups, I’m getting this question… a lot: “What’s the difference between a Facebook Group and a Facebook Fan page and why should I use one or the other?” (Many groups have been around for a long time and can no longer be changed into a Fan page… making this a royal pain in the butt for some users. Especially those users in the Guinness Book-1,000,000,000-users-or-something-like-that-group on Facebook). I, personally, prefer Fan pages.

I'm on Facebook, too!

Here’s the lowdown/breakdown/411:

FAN PAGES:

• ALLOW for custom usernames above 25 fans
• Are BETTER for building a long-term relationship with users and allow for an easier connection
• CAN send updates to an unlimited amount of users/fans (no set number)
• CAN create, manage, and publish events
• CAN send updates to Twitter
• CAN import blog posts and write notes
• CAN create an advertisement on Facebook for Fan page
• All updates, likes, photos, videos, etc. ARE published on Fan’s news and mini feed
• Easier to put in search
• You CAN customize/code tabs on Fan pages to better suit your needs

GROUPS:

• Have ugly URL’s – they don’t allow for a custom URL
• CAN create, manage, and publish events
• CAN’T advertise group through Facebook
• Are BETTER suited for fostering a quick, active discussion, or a cause (they’re not set-up for a really active long-term connection with users)
• DON’T have note/blog capability
• CAN’T send updates to Twitter
• Updates DON’T appear on the news and mini feed of users
• CAN bulk-invite users (which is harder for pages to do… pages can only “suggest” to users)
• DOESN’T show up in search engines

Ultimately, in my honest opinion, it’s a matter of comparing red apples with green apples. They’re similar, yet they are still very different. I believe a Fan page really helps to foster a positive connection with users and a particular brand, idea, person, or campaign. Groups don’t foster this type of interaction and atmosphere. I advise you to look at some groups you are a part of and then look at some pages you are a Fan of, what is the difference that you see? Do you see more interaction on the Fan pages or within the group? Let me know what you think.

BTW: Here are some great Facebook Fan Pages (both large and small) that I think are really doing what works and engaging their audience (and I am definitely part of that audience, but regardless, what they are doing is still totally awesome):

1. Livestrong
2. Chipotle
3. Lilly Pulitzer
4. The Onion
5. Richmond.com

I hope that helps. At least for now, until Facebook decides to change their layout again…

All for now.

I promised this post was coming, so here it is. I can NOT talk about social media for a day.

I have been hearing some sad and somewhat disturbing buzz lately. In today’s technological society and with all this encouraged entrepreneurship, YES, many adults are throwing out the argument, “Today’s youth doesn’t need to go to college. A college degree doesn’t mean much anymore. It’s as common as a high school diploma. So just start your business, make millions, and forget about school.” Okay, that last part is an exaggeration, but definitely is not far from the truth of what many are arguing.

Right after I got my diploma. I was excited.

And many young entreprenuers themselves are starting to doubt whether or not they should go to college. The 16-year-old tech genius Daniel Brusilovsky wrote in a recent post that he was debating whether or not to apply for college. Brusilovsky was trying to decide whether or not college is the best four years of your life, or simply four years of wasted time. Especially considering how smart this kid is, it honestly bothered me that he would even THINK about not going to college. (Thankfully, he has closed the debate and he IS, in fact, going to go to college. PHEW!) Why would it bother me so much that a kid, one whom I have never met, is talking about not going to school? A lot of kids choose to forego college and pursue their dreams. Professional athletes (minus football players) are guilty of this all the time – especially in basketball and even young golfers.

So what do I really think? Now, I’m speaking from a place of being currently unemployed (except for doing freelance work and consulting when I can and my part-time retail job – which both combined don’t exactly pay my bills). I’ll be honest to say that it has been frustrating lately applying for jobs and either having “too much” education or “not enough” education. I feel like I don’t fall into the desired category. I’m in a category with the majority of Americans – I have a high school diploma and a college degree, nothing more, nothing less – therefore according to corporate America, I’m average.

Now, not to toot my own horn, but I don’t consider myself to be average. I worked really hard. I got really good grades in college. And instead of going to a party on Friday night, I stayed up late working in the Student Government (SGA) office trying to make a difference on campus (at Christopher Newport) and throughout the state of Virginia. I volunteered more than 10 hours a week and I even created an endowed scholarship in honor of my mother when I graduated. Immediately after graduation, I had the honor of being selected as a Governor’s Fellow and worked beside the Governor of Virginia for two months experiencing state government first-hand. After serving as a Fellow, I went on to teach high school English for two years. It may have been the most challenging experience of my life, but I learned some of the most valuable information I will ever need to know. Now I’m unemployed and I can’t find a job. But I am no where near complaining. Honestly. I wouldn’t change any of my experiences.

Okay, ultimately, what is my point?

Life is unpredictable. Your situation can change at any moment. And although things may be more difficult now, I know they won’t be like this forever. But if I ever decide to pursue further education, advance in my career, or even run for political office, I am going to be proud to know that I have my degree from Christopher Newport University (Go Captains!) to back me up.

The four (sometimes five, six, or sadly, even seven) years you spend in college are vital. Look, I’m not trying to sound like a Vitamin-C song, but truly, college is not just about the classes, or the number of hours spent in the library. I learned more information (that I’m going to retain) outside of the classroom than I ever did taking notes on John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The connections that I forged, the meetings I attended, the clubs I was a part of, and even the mistakes I made, all helped to shape who I am now. And that DOES set me apart from the masses.

So even if you’re 17 and you have a brilliant idea that is going to make you billions, go to college and hash it out there. Don’t gamble with your future, in that if you ever do fall on your face in your 30′s, you’ll still have that degree to prove you’re worthy.

I swear, if I hear one more man, woman, or teenager say college isn’t worth it, I’m going to have some serious words. (I’m not a fighter, so I’ll probably just give them a stern talking to. But at least they’ll be intimidated).

All for now.

READ: The FIRST EVER Deep Fried #TriangleTweetup at the NC State Fair (@NCStateFair) was awesome. I was excited that @colettewh came with me! Even though it took us almost an hour to find the unassuming white tent on the opposite side of the fairgrounds, we had such a blast. I met some awesome new people and I even saw some familiar faces (Hey, @1918, we Buckley’s gotta stick together!)

There were Twitter-themed swag bags, free state fair food (READ: chocolate covered bacon = NOT okay), prizes, free L’OREAL Paris makeovers, and even Twitter-themed FACE PAINTING. Mimi the Clown was awesome and did a great job decking everyone out in sweet Fail Whales, Twitter birds, and even RSS Feeds (@WayneSutton “gotta sport the RSS feed”). I took a picture of some of the awesome face paintings that Mimi the Clown did! (I particularly love the little girl’s AWESOME @ symbol on her forehead). Check out some of them here:

Tweeple Pictured:

• @WayneSutton
• @GwenSutton
• @1918
• @mollybuckley (that’s ME!)
• @colettewh
• @ashevilleallie
• @JoyNatalie
• @EllenLynch
• @JennaFleur

…and more! (Sorry kids! I don’t remember everyone’s Twitter handle, if you’re pictured and I didn’t list you, leave a comment with your name!)

All I can say is, I can’t WAIT for next year.

All for now.

I’ve been hiding this from the world. Not many know this about me. For a long time, my parents didn’t even know. Well, my mom didn’t know, but my dad, deep down, he knew. My sister knew, because I’m close with her. My best friends knew, because they confronted me when I wasn’t cheering for their team. The more I’ve thought about it, the more it has eaten me up inside. And it’s time that I told EVERYONE.

I ALWAYS banked on Bernie.

That’s right, people. I’m… a CLEVELAND BROWNS FAN. Phew! I feel so much better now. Man, does it feel GOOD to get that off my chest! I’ve been afraid for a very long time to admit to the entire WORLD that I’m a Browns fan. Those closest to me always knew that I LOVE me some Bernie Kosar. (By the way, we need him back. I don’t care if he is like 50 something now. He was the best thing to ever happen. to us. ever.). I love me some Brown and Orange. I love me some Dog Pound. I hate me some Ravens.

You know, people have asked me, “Molly, when did you know?” And I say, “I’ve always known.” I’ve been a Browns fan since the day I was born. It’s not in my control. There have been Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, where I have sat home crying by myself wishing I loved another team. But I don’t, I can’t. No matter how much I beg God to change me, he won’t. I love a horrible football team. It’s in my blood.

We weren’t always horrible. In fact, before the damn Super Bowl existed, we were good. REALLY good. How good? This is how good:

We were DIVISION Champions:

• AAFC Western Division: 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
• NFL Century Division: 1967, 1968, 1969

(and when we had the BERNIE, we were good!):

• AFC Central Division Champs: 1971, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989

We were even CONFERENCE Champions:

• NFL Eastern Conference: 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969
• NFL American Conference: 1950, 1951, 1952

And then, there were the NFL Championships (this was the equivalent of the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl existed):

• AAFC Champions: 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
• NFL Champions: 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964

We’ve, of course, been to the playoffs. But that’s neither here, nor there.

You know, there was even a time when I couldn’t love any team. I call those the DARK AGES. From 1996-1999 when the evil, EVIL, Art Moddell SOLD my beloved Browns to Baltimore to make an even more evil thing, THE BALTIMORE RAVENS. This is why I hate the Ravens, Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, seafood, piers, and Baltimore at large. They stole my team. My players. And then they even won the Super Bowl with them. Have the Browns won a Super Bowl? No.

I don’t want to talk about that.

[*SIDE NOTE: By the way, I put up with the Ravens now because a good friend and sorority sister of mine from college is now a Ravenette. Yes, I know an actual Ravenette. So I deal. ]

But now, we’re back. We (the BROWNS) came back in 1999. And we came back not strong. In the 10 years we’ve been back, we’ve had 6 coaches, like 18 offensive coordinators, and a gazillion quarterbacks. We’ve been to the playoffs ONCE since we’ve been back, and that was a lucky shot. I think the Steelers had jaundice that day or something – so that was like beating a kitten in a poker game.

And that leaves me to where I am today. Loving a team that nobody loves. Well, my dad loves them, and this random guy I knew in college loves them. But it’s hard. It’s like being married to a crack addict. You know that they need to get off the crack, and it tears you up inside, but you can’t leave them. … Man, that is a horrible analogy.

You know what I mean. We are heading into Week 7 and the Browns are 1-5. Great.

But I don’t care. I’m going to sport my vintage KOSAR jersey and be proud of who I am and who I love.

Nothing can stop me.

Not even you, Chris Cooley. You sexy Redskin.

All for now.

I got to really thinking a lot this week. I have a post coming soon about education in general, but I wanted to really drive home this idea of educating YOURSELF. Especially with regards to social media (but honestly, this TIP can be applied to any topic or trade). Social media, as we all know, is changing every day. Three, even two years ago, people didn’t know what to think of social media, let alone understand it, implement it, and become an expert at it. That’s why I want to really emphasize how important it is to EDUCATE YOURSELF.

No matter how long you have been in your field, 10 minutes, 10 years, 10 centuries, you will never know everything. So take the time to go out and expand your horizons. Read a new blog this week, go to coffee with someone and learn more about what they do, attend a conference (Social Media Business Forum, anyone? I’ll be there!), go to a #Tweetup (DEEP FRIED #TriangleTweetup, anyone? I’ll be there!), or simply ask a question that you don’t know the answer to. It’s okay to ask questions. Trust me, as a former high school English teacher, I know that there ARE no dumb questions. It’s dumb to not ask if you don’t know. Ah, You get my point. Learn from someone else. Know that you don’t know.

So go out there, learn something new, and then share what you learned! Come back and comment on my blog and tell me what you learned - because I want to learn from You!  Watch the video. Learn something. Then teach me!

All for now.

BOOM! This week’s TIP OF THE WEEK features me talking about FAVORITING. That’s right. A made up word and I like it. Favoriting (verb): to favorite something, more specifically on Twitter. You know, that star thing next to each individual tweet.

Don't be a FAIL WHALE.

You can favorite tweets on Twitter’s site, HootSuite, Tweetie, TweetDeck, anywhere! Now why on earth would you want to do this? (Some of you may already be favoriting posts, but some of you may not be. That’s okay. It’s never too late!) Here are my THREE reasons for favoriting a post on Twitter:

1. Makes revisiting information that much easier. Sometimes tweets can get lost in the mix of real-time updates. By favoriting a tweet that you like, you are able to go back and revisit it a lot easier.
2. Learn what works and what doesn’t. I like to favorite tweets that provide interesting, valuable, and worthwhile content and information. (I also like to favorite tweets that literally make me laugh out loud). I am able to take information that I gather from productive tweets and implement those tools myself. I get a lot of joy in learning from others. This is a very easy and simple way to do that!
3. Giving props where props is due. By favoriting someone else’s tweet, you’re ultimately giving them twitter props. That says that you like what they have to say, that you’re paying attention to their content, and that you appreciate them. Everyone wants to be appreciated. Don’t you?

My personal goal is that when I go through tweets, reading “the stream,” and catching up with people I follow, I try to make a conscious effort to favorite tweets I like. And it’s totally okay to go back and “un-favorite” (SO many new words today) old content. Once you’ve revisited something a few times, it’s fine to bump it out – you’re not going to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Just my two cents. Enjoy this week’s TIP video!

All for now.