Social Media and mature workers in an Economic downturn.

There are a lot of talks about upbeat market, growth opportunities and booming market, especially in Asia. However, I still meet a lot of people who are under employed. And there is no wonder why many of the underemployed and unemployed people are the more matured workers who are aged above 45 years old.

Technology has advanced and many things have changed. Globalization created a lot of opportunities and challenges. The old mindset of getting a degree and climb up the corporate ladder does not work in most cases right now. Today, a degree is nothing special, and it is highly unlikely to stay in the job for a long period of time.

With the instability of the financial system, mergers and acquisitions, it is very common to get retrenched and lose your job. When the economy is good, people move up or move to another company for better prospects.

However, for people who are not as savvy with new channels of communications, they can be at a severe disadvantage. There is a high co-relation between unemployed, underemployed and the older workers. Almost overnight, many later-in-life employees were forced into the job market without the know-how to find and compete for scarce opportunities while decimated portfolios changed their retirement expectations. They want to work but countless numbers struggle to find and keep a job.

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It is not too late however as there is no law stating that older people should not get on social media and network. According to the study, "just 13% of older job seekers had used online social networking sites compared to 28% of younger job seekers." Together with the stigma of older workers, it makes it harder to find a job.

I've talked to many older people who are out of a job, and many of them seemed to have impressive credentials. At the University Alumni Club, I met people who are in their 50's and some of them has PhDs and masters degree, yet they have lost their jobs and unable find one for more than 6 months.

There was much disappointment in the room, that with their vast experience, they could not contribute back to society. After meeting them and having some thoughts later, I decided that if they have participated more in social media and personal branding, they can share their experience and perhaps possibly expand their networks and find jobs.

There are a lot these experienced could learn about engaging with others in LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Writing blogs and contributing in articles could also help others and at the same time create more visibility and in turn get more opportunities.

-- Robin Low

Facebook to reach the region.

Facebook and social media is definitely a great way to reach out regionally if you are in Asia.

Indonesia Facebook Users Exceed UK and Indonesia is now the #2 country with more than 28 million Facebook users.

Recently, Philippines surpasses 18 million Facebook users
Pinoy Facebook users 6th most in the world The Philippines only trails the US, Indonesia, the UK, Turkey, and France.

With these 2 countries with tremendous growth in Facebook and social media usage, it is no wonder many companies who are in Singapore want to get on Social Media.

Using social media, companies can reach out across borders with much less costs. The statement, "My market is not on Facebook" is less and less true as more people across different demographics are beginning to join in social media.

With the increasing popularity of 3G devices, iPads, Windows 7 Phones and other Android devices, users are no longer tied down to their notebooks and desktops. The can access their social network on the go, and you can see more people now updating on Gowalla or Foursquares, thanks to new technologies.

It is imperative to engage with your customers, know what they like, and have products they care about.

If there is any time to get on social media, the time is NOW.

-- Robin Low

Allow Photo-Tagging by Fans on Your Facebook Page

If you ever wanted to allow fans to tag themselves without asking for permissions or be your friends, here is how you can do it.

Go straightly to the app settings. Just replace ‘xxxxxxxx’ with your own Page ID inside the link below will do (2305272732 is the application ID for Photo app):

http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/app_settings.php?id=xxxxxxxx&aid=2305272732

How to Locate Your Facebook Page ID?

If you have not created a vanity URL for your page, you can easily obtain the page ID from the default link – the number at the back as indicated:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SocialHub/367955087041

Once you have claimed your business page username, the page ID is no where in sight. What you can do is hover over ‘Edit Page’ then look for your page ID underneath your browser. Copy that and insert the numbers into the link above.

To find your Page ID, click on EDIT PAGE (See Red arrow on above pic)

The string of numbers in the top URL is the page ID (See red arrow in picture above)



Next: Replace your page ID to xxxxxxxxx and enter the link.
e.g. http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/app_settings.php?id=367955087041&aid=2305272732

When you get into the URL, you get to see the option to allow fans to edit your photo.

This is a little complex, but it works.

-- Robin Low