The Ellen DeGeneres Show is sure figuring out how to incorporate new social trends into her shows. Too fun to pass up – and a reminder to check your photos before you visit her in the studio audience!

What can I do?

If you find that you have friends on Facebook who show up in your newsfeed often – maybe even more often than you’d like (especially if you have a smaller group of friends on FB), you can decide how many of their posts you’d like to see and whether you’d like your wall filled up with their posts everyday, or if you’d like to be more selective.

To make the changes and specify your settings, click on the friends name, next hover over the top right box marked subscribed. Then choose your setting: all updates, most updates, only important, and then the types of posts you would like to see. This should help to clean up your wall, and allow you to see your grandkids more often.

You can use unsubscribe as a last resort. That way you are still friends and have all those communication and connection perks, but you can choose when to visit their wall to see what’s new.

I post often – and know that people enjoy what I share. Though if I have 2000 friends, and you have 50 – yes, I’ll occupy much of your wall. So make the choices and enjoy setting your own preferences – social media is a verb, it can grow and change with you!

Businesses have been using pages – both effectively and some very in-effectively since Facebook made them possible. There are some benefits to having a FB page for business – stats on your audience, ability to interact inside a website where people already spend their time, photo sharing, and more. It only works if you are actively using your page – and this does take time.

Stay tuned to the InSights blog for even more tips on how to engage your audience on Facebook. In the meantime, enjoy this article on what Facebook Page Likes actually mean.

…and his words of wisdom are empowering and a bit of a kick into action mode, wouldn’t you agree?

It’s one of the easiest things to do on Facebook – hitting the like button and then the share button on content that we find interesting…it’s also got us passing around bunches and bunches of photos. From fun to funny, serious and profound, it’s a simple way to share a sentiment, be social, and significant all at the same time.

If you visit the Managing Thought Facebook Page from now into the new year, you’ll see even more photos to share. Mary J. Lore is the author of the book Managing Thought which is a wonderful book (InSights recommended). So many of Mary’s thoughts that are little gems of wisdom and gentle reminders of what we already know. She’ll be releasing these in combination with photos on her page to add a little bit of insight into your day and a chance to practice managing your thoughts.

Since I’m on Facebook so much, I’ll tell you I’m pretty excited to have a place to go when the newsfeed seems a bit slow and I’m looking for the perfect quote or sentiment of the day to share.

Hmmm, perhaps you have a message to share in a similar way on your pages?

I have this crazy feeling that with all the FB timeline changes and new things in store for 2012 some people might benefit from a “Whoa – what happens now with Facebook timeline and how can I be sure to put my best foot forward for my personal and business use”…class/seminar/webinar. InSights will do a few free seminars in Jan/Feb. If you are interested let’s chat – you find a space and we’ll come in to share..no purchase necessary. Just paying it forward in a very abundant universe!

Email: smaki@Insights-group.com

Think multiple person skype chats, stumbleupon, facebook and youtube – in one. Hangout virtually with friends or collegues, (or hold a conference with people out of town), search and read things that you or your company are interested in, connect with people and share your videos and photos effortlessly. Although Google+ isn’t open to the public yet, it seems like it might be something to watch out for. If you like social media and believe it’s here to stay, keep your eyes open and your google search bar open!

If you have the opportunity to build yourself a fantastic social media sphere, from time to time your contacts will come looking for your connection to someone. This happens in the case of referrals between friends for contractors, home improvement, lawn care and more. It also happens, even more effectively in the business world. Here’s a quick tip that I use when I get the request to make connections. I use Facebook to write a short post person 1 meet person 2. Here’s why I am connecting you…
It’s quick, it’s easy, and it saves an email.

Just another way that social media really is such a time saver!

Watch this edition of Social Media Examiner TV with host Mari Smith.

Read a great article here about how to check in at events via your iPhone and Facebook:

Facebook For iPhone Gets Event Check-Ins, Maps, And Unfriending