Samara Parker

So, what do you think of when I say the word 'tribe'? Personally, my mind goes to a very dark place. First to hasty tattoos, then to Survivor, then to cast members of Survivor, covered in tribal tattoos, trying desperately to get more screen-time — by exposing their tattoos. A very dark place indeed. Hopefully you are far more mature than I am, and your first thoughts were, "Oh, tribes! Like communities, right?" Right! More specifically, we're going to discuss tribes in regards to online communities. Waaaay back in March, a bunch of research came out about the emergence of "Twitter Tribes". Basically, they're tightly-knit communities, forming on the social network, who shared specific interests and language. Language being the main identifier because, well, it's Twitter, not Instagram. But, why should we care about online tribes?

Other than the obvious reasons, like finding others who shared our obsession with Justin Bieber, we should care about tribes because of what they can teach us about creating, growing, and managing our own online communities. Brand visibility on social networks like Facebook  is dictated by the ability to engage one's online community. When we talk about increasing Page Likes, gaining Twitter followers, and making job posts go viral, we are talking about online communities. That's where the Likes, Follows and Shares are coming from. Tribes are communities on steroids! Okay, not really. They are actually smaller than regular communities and would be more likely to spend time on bodybuilding.com forums, than actually pumping iron. Yet, they are very socially active communities. Tribes share, Like, and retweet stuff like crazy, which is what you want people to do with your content, and more specifically, with your job posts. So what can we learn from tribes? Words Matter

Online tribes use specific language. Sometimes it is very silly, like 'chillin', and sometimes it's not even recognizable as language, like '<33' (see Beiber Twitter Tribes for more examples). But no matter the specifics, what's important is that the language is shared, and that it is consistent. The takeaway: Use specific, consistent language when posting content and interacting with your online community. Choose words that represent your employer brand and fit with your company culture. This will encourage your online community to do the same, ensuring consistency, and helping define your online brand. Don't Have an Identity Crisis

Part of what makes using specific language so important to online tribes is that it acts as an identifier. Identifying as part of a group is important to people at a very base level. It's why we seek out community to begin with. Tribes use language, repeated themes, and naming to craft strong group identity. The takeaway: Create an identity for your online community. Name your community. For example: Bronies. These are adult male fans of the animated series My Little Pony. They are an extremely active online community, so instead of judging, we should learn from them. And then judge. Identification via naming is also important for content and events. Use the language you've created to help determine what to name your community events and use consistent naming for types of content. We've named our Wednesday blog posts "Link Love", so they are instantly recognizable to our community. Get Cultured

Tribes have their very own culture. The way tribe members interact with each other and conduct themselves is dictated by that culture. Shared values, behaviors and interests, as well as language, make up a tribe's cultural identity. And, as mentioned above, it is that identity that binds a tribe together, thus distinguishing them from regular online communities. The takeaway: Understand what your online community's culture is and let that understanding help shape your content and interactions. By keeping tabs on how your community members interact, what they share, and what they Like, you can determine their values and interests. Which allows you to tailor your own content to stay in sync with your community's culture. Encourage and celebrate that culture with your content, your comments, and even the occasional reward (like a promotion or contest). Tribes form naturally amongst humans. You really can't force your Fans and Followers to become a tribe, but you can interact with them in ways that promote more tribe-like behaviors. Just remember, language, identity, and culture. And Bronies, remember to Google Bronies.

It’s time for another edition of Link Love Facebook Style.

Not to be confused with Link Love Gangnam Style. Which sadly, I will never actually get to write, as it would make me look very behind the times, which is basically a death sentence in the land of social media. Missed the boat on that meme big time.

Thankfully for my blog-writing, Facebook is a never-ending source of updates, policy changes and (Sponsored) stories to report on. It also doesn’t hurt that, at Jobcast, Facebook is our bread and butter. So, sorry developers, your frustration is this girl’s literary gold!

And heavens to Betsy (yes, I’ve been watching Mad Men), this past couple of weeks, the Facebook related news has been extra juicy. What better way to celebrate than by linking to other peoples’ blog posts? Maybe with pizza and cake, but Link Love is far more artery-friendly. So there.

Obviously, the biggest headline is the release of Facebook Home for Android (sorry iPhone users, self included). And leave it to GigaOm to write a hilariously sarcastic yet super informative article all about it. This article outlines the pros and cons of Facebook home and provides lots of screenshots/animated gifs.

Best line:

“Should I Buy It? If by buy you mean buy the HTC First, which is pre-loaded with Home, no, because Home is a free download and the HTC First is a junker.”

Sooooo sassy!

Next up, Jill Duffy warns about the possibility of unwanted Facebook (Home) invasion. And she set me up for that killer pun! Love her.

Facebook Threaded Comments are another recent release from the social network. The new API is a much less sexy topic than FB Home, but more relevant to Facebook recruiting and branded Pages. Here the social network itself outlines how the new Facebook Threaded Comments are going to work.

Even more recently, Facebook announced that it has opened its Graph API to allow developers to create tools that manage Threaded Comments.

Companies like Conversocial are moving fast to capitalize.

Last, but not least… well kind of least, actually. Facebook is testing out new language to try and get more users to buy Promoted Posts. They’re hoping that using terms like “Boost” and “Advertise” will be more enticing. Personally, I think the updates to Facebook’s News Feed will be a huge push for Page owners to pay for advertising, but that’s just me.

Oh, and it might also have something to do with just how slowly Facebook is rolling out the changes to News Feed.

Well, there you have it! Two more links than usual, I’m on fiiiiire.

Happy Linking!

Last Monday we covered what Big Data is. No, it is not Starfleet Lieutenant Commander Data’s rapping name. Almost as cool, it is an abundance of information that can be leveraged by employers to improve their social recruiting. We also delved into how Big Data can be used to find candidates. How it can be a boon for talent-mining and help recruiters to separate the cream of the crop from a myriad of less creamy resumes. That sounds a bit gross, let’s move on.

The hiring process involves more than just getting candidates interested in your jobs. It is also about finding candidates who fit with your company culture, who will be a positive addition to your team, and who will be productive in their roles.

Finding the right candidates.

HR can leverage Big Data to find the best possible hires. Collecting and analyzing existing data about top performing employees and comparing it with information about prospective employees makes candidate selection a more scientific and successful process.

You might be surprised by the type of data that you should focus on. Yes, it’s a good idea to look at employment history and education, but things like hobbies, health, location and personality traits are as important, if not more so. Employees that sleep more, tend to take fewer sick days and, interestingly enough, employees that are active on multiple social networks tend to be more productive in general.

Comparing this kind of data from prospective candidates with your current top performers is a smart way to hire. A small warning though, it is important that you use a consistent template for each candidate you interview and pay close attention to any legal issues on discrimination when hiring based on personality traits vs experience.

Retention

Gathering and analyzing diverse data sets is also useful in making informed estimates about candidate retention. For example, employees who live closer to their place of work, stay in their positions longer. So when hiring it makes sense to consider a candidates location. As such gathering data of this kind is very helpful to the hiring process especially if attrition is an issue.

Big Data can also be used to understand why employees vacate positions and to come up with solutions to keep them. Google recently used Big Data to explain their unusually high attrition rate for female employees and then implement an effective solution to the problem.

As we all know, employee morale is an important influence on retention. Using apps like Morale.me is a great way to keep tabs on morale levels, so that adjustments to company culture can be made if needed.

Metrics!

Back to social recruiting for this one. Metrics are so important when it comes to recruiting strategy, and without detailed insights about how previous recruiting campaigns were conducted, there’s no way to measure success. Understanding how, where, and why previous social recruiting campaigns were successful (or not) is fundamental for effectively planning future campaigns.

That’s why Jobcast always provides metrics with our recruiting app, even for users on the free plan. Gathering and analyzing data about your previous campaigns will show you how applicants found your job posts, which social networks attract what kind of candidates, and how often you need to post jobs and content in order to get the best recruiting results.

These are just a few practical ways to use Big Data for better social recruiting practices and hiring in general. There are so many more! If you are interested in a more complex break down of Big Data, here are a serious of articles you can read. But be warned, they require a substantially greater time investment! Hopefully these ideas are helpful for your recruiting efforts.

Also, hopefully there really is a rapper called Big Data. If not… I may consider a change of careers. I wonder if there’s any good big data on the success rates of Star Trek-themed hip-hop groups who rap without emotion and like cats. Check.

Big Data is powerful stuff. And, as all good employers and recruiters know, with access to such great power, comes great responsibility. Jobcast believes in using our blog for the forces of good, not evil. Which is why we try our very best to help employers find great talent through helpful tips and guides to social recruiting. Okay, so not quite as impressive as GI Joe protecting the world from the clutches of Cobra Command. But, pretty close, right? In the spirit of GI Joe, today's Link Love is all about using Big Data for good! Big good! For the good of employers, for the good of employees, for the good of the world: This app is so cool!  Morale.me is a new app that aims to increase productivity by improving employee morale. Talk about a win-win situation! The iPhone app allows employers to connect via LinkedIn accounts, submit monthly feedback, access Foursquare-style engagement and anonymous assessments, utilize month-by-month, on-the-go tracking. It's also really pretty. So so cool. Evolv recently gathered up a bunch of data about the effect of using social networks on productivity. They determined that "hourly employees who use social networks are more productive in general, but it seems the more social networks you use, the more productive you are." Sharing is caring!

Skillshare is a new company looking to fill the skills gap by sharing knowledge through inexpensive (only $20) online courses. Professionals share practical knowledge of their field that they have gained hands-on. What could be more noble than creating exciting infographics to spread knowledge and joy to the public?!? Absolutely nothing of course. Here's how to source Big Data through social media to inform your next infographic. And for the sake of all that is good in the world, if you do end up making your own infographic, let us know! Our last link is for the Complaint-Free April Challenge. It has nothing to do with information or recruiting, but I would argue that it could lead to a far more positive work environment. Which could lead to more attractive company culture and better retention, which is very appealing to top talent. So there! I'm giving it a shot and thought it might make for a fun company team-building challenge too. Happy Linking! If you have any complaints about the articles we've chosen to link to, please save them for May ;)

Just in case you were wondering, we are living in the future. And by “The future” I mean a sci-fi movie. Specifically, Minority Report starring Tom Cruise.

Google can predict flu outbreaks in real time, Target knows if your teen is pregnant  and most importantly, The Cheesecake Factory can look into a Big Data crystal ball and predict exactly how crispy the pickles on your cheeseburger ought to be. Now that is “Absolute Customer Satisfaction”. It’s also just a little bit creepy, but probably worth it, for a seriously perfect pickle.

There’s been quite a bit of buzz lately about the implications of Big Data for Recruiting and Employer branding. A lot of it is super-complex and detailed, like this post on HRExaminer.com. But most of us just need to understand the basics of what Big Data is and how it’s changing the candidate attraction and hiring process. Unless you are a massive fast-food chain willing to invest millions into understanding the complex nature of the diner/pickle relationship, the following should be more than enough info.

Firstly, What is Big Data?

It’s pretty impressive sounding, that’s for sure! And, honestly, it is impressive.

Big Data can be described in terms of a problem it presents. Wikipedia says : “Big Data is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications.”

It can also refer simply to a large amount of complex data that requires advanced programs to be captured and processed. Big Data can even be used to refer to the ways in which that data is processed, stored, and applied.

Basically, thanks to computers, we now have the ability to gather, store and utilize crazy amounts of information about people.

I know Wiki’s definition is sexier, but mine takes way less time to say, and Big Data tells me that time is money, so you are welcome.

Secondly, How does Big Data affect you?

Always the most important of questions.

Big Data impacts recruiting and employer branding in several key ways. I’m going to present five of them, because in my expert opinion, they are the most important. Also, my “expert opinion” is backed by Big Data (me Googling) that’s so compelling, Tom Cruise should star in a movie about it.

1 – The talent search

There is a lot of talent on the internet. We now have Facebook, job boards, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Vine and even Instagram in our recruiting tool belt. That’s some seriously Big Data at your finger tips and mining that data is a great way to discover passive candidates. Monitor social sites for keywords (the more specific and technical the better) related to your recruitment effort. Apps like HootSuite make search monitoring easy, while Gild is another app that gathers Big Data to help with (specifically tech) recruiting.

Big Data can also help solve one of the biggest obstacles in talent acquisition : resume spray.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s awesome that social sites, like Facebook, increase the amount of visibility and applicants that a job post gets. Having more candidates to choose from is definitely not a thing to complain about! Except, perhaps, when you get overwhelmed by resumes… But thanks to tools for Big Data processing, employers can efficiently sift through those resumes and leverage the data they provide to weed out the most qualified candidates.

That processing can also be done via the Cloud, instead of on local servers, which cuts down on both time and costs, quite significantly. This doesn’t mean you won’t need to interview, but it should help narrow it down to a better caliber of candidates who make it through to the interview stage. For more detailed information, check out this post on making the candidate search faster and more exact with Big Data. If you’re looking for a free tool for large scale data processing, check out Hadoop, more specifically Hadoop MapReduce, which is explained nicely in this article.

And that’s a lot of words! This article may be about a seemingly endless stream of data, but I think blog posts are better kept short and sweet.

Next week: 4 more ways you can use Big Data for recruiting and employer branding, and I will attempt to predict the next Mrs Tom Cruise using information I’ve gathered from Google! Stay tuned.

March has been a seriously busy month as far as social media goes. There is so much happening on the internet! I don’t know where to start …

Okay, I take that back. I started by writing about Facebook’s soon to be released News Feed updates. I think that was a pretty smart move, considering we are a Facebook recruiting app, but there’s still so much to talk about like :

Pinterest got a makeover, I’m really digging the “people who pinned this also pinned” feature. It helped me waste a whole bunch of time that could have been spent outside, in the sun, with my loved ones. Okay, maybe I don’t like it so much anymore.

Google released Google Keep, their version of Evernote. From watching their promo video, I’m pretty sure Keep would make my life better, as I would never run out of pickles again, oh, and never be late for meetings, or forget an amazing article idea which is also important. Too bad it’s only for Android. No pickles for me.

Facebook has changed their cover photo policy yet again! I think most brands will be pretty darn happy about Facebook getting rid of their rules against including calls-to-action, pricing, and contact info in cover images.

Google Plus has introduced a filter that allows user to search for images only. This is a great example of Google Plus adapting to the increasingly image-based nature of social media and yet another reason to use G+ for recruiting.

Tumblr hit a major milestone, the company recently announced that it now hosts over 100 million blogs. Most of them are dedicated to six-pack abs, kittens snuggling with puppies, and teens who post pictures of their funny hair and tattoos. There are also some awesome blogs about social media and digital culture like the one run by Social Media in Organisations.

Hopefully I covered all of the most important stuff, but I know I’m forgetting something…

…

…

Pickles!

Last week we laid out the major ways in which Facebook's News Feed is going to change in the upcoming year. Today we're going to examine what those changes mean for employers and brands in general and how Facebook recruiting, branding and marketing will need to adapt in order to stay effective. I'll try not to get too heavy on you, but these changes are serious for anyone using Facebook for business. Of particular importance will be a major new emphasis on image-based stories and an increase in a user's control over what they see in their feed. Currently users have a rather limited ability to curate the content they view in their News Feed. They can hide specific posts, but not much more. With Facebook's recently announced updates, users will be able to filter content much more selectively. They will have the option to view updates from specific groups, such as "Friends" or "Close Friends". Users will also be able to view content from their "Following" feed (brands whose Pages they have Liked), but some marketers are worried that users won't choose this option.

Facebook has pitched these changes as a way to please users and that makes sense. The updates are in response to concerns that many users are finding their News Feed increasing cluttered. They complain that they are missing personalized content, such as a friend's important status update, due to this clutter. But I would also suggest that another reason for the updates to Facebook's News Feed is that it will make investing in Sponsored Stories, and paying for Facebook ads, a necessary step in increasing brand reach. The other major change is the increased focus on image-based posts. With over 50% of the updated News Feed devoted to image-based content, brands would be wise to shift away from using text updates. Brands will also have to curtail how much text is embedded in images that are used for marketing (no more than 20% is allowed). What this means for you:

• Investing in Sponsored Stories and Facebook Ads will no longer be optional. Yes, I know, not having options isn't fun. But really, even without these changes, I've always advocated investing in both of these tools. It's inexpensive and a great way to learn more about your customer base.Silver Lining: Sponsored Stories and Facebook Ads will have a much larger visual presence, making them more impactful and engaging. Considering how easily users can tune out the small-scale content appearing on the right-hand side of their screens, having the News Feed center-stage is a pretty great thing.

• Creating or purchasing eye-catching images will be a must. Again, this is something brands should already be doing. It is a bit of an investment, but social media is becoming more and more image-based and brands need to adapt, News Feed updates or not! Silver lining: It's a kick in the pants to make you take your branding's visual appeal more seriously! The updated images you use for Facebook campaigns can also be used to spruce up your company site.

• Having varied media content is more important than ever, which is yet another argument for using video to boost employer brand! Sharing links that are accompanied by images will also be more important, so choose content to share from sites that include images with their posts. Silver lining: You have another awesome excuse to make an employer video! And hopefully blogs and online newspapers will make a greater point of including large, beautiful images with their articles.

All in all, the updates to Facebook's News Feed are definitely going to affect how employers and brands reach Facebook users. Hopefully, the overall effect will be only a slight cost increase in exchange for greater impact and visibility.

Sign up here to check out what Facebook will look like when all is said and done. We'd love to know your thoughts, advice and concerns in the comments! Happy Monday.

Showcasing awesome social recruiting is our jam. We've been having a blast featuring employers and recruiters who are using Facebook and social media to recruit. We're also pretty excited about March Madness. So it makes perfect sense to do a Link Love about social recruiting slam dunks! There're so many cool ways to get social with recruiting and employer branding, that it's hard to pick just a few examples. But it's nowhere near as hard as it would be to restart my career from scratch and try to become a basketball super star — especially considering my diminutive stature and complete lack of agility. So, I'll woman up and get to it!

Let the Link Love Madness begin: First, check out this amazing recruiting video that isn't actually a recruiting video. Cleveland Clinic made a video showcasing what it means to be a part of their organization in such an amazing way that any candidate would be honored to work for them. Warning, you will probably cry. How should you reach out to amazing talent? With sports references, obviously.

"I LOVE THE WAY YOU BALL: How to Write a Crazy, Sports Influenced Recruiting Note To The Best Candidates" by Ken Dunn is a must read. Mostly because he is hilarious, but also because he knows what he's talking about. Killer combination! If you want to win with social recruiting you've got to build relationships! Here's how to get connected with social media MVPs to take your game to the next level.

Papal talent management. Oh wow. Talk about recruiting for the major leagues. And last, but definitely not least, I'm going to toot my own horn a little and link to our fantastic interview with Reg Hamilton of Phoenix Group. This case study examines how Phoenix Group achieved amazing results using Facebook for both branding and recruiting.

March Madness is upon us! Unfortunately for me, no one here cares. Basketball is not that big in Holland, which is shocking, considering how ridiculously tall the Dutch are. Back home in Canada, this is an exciting time for my family. My parents are searching Google for tips on filling out their bracket choices, hitting up Costco for snacks, and mostly likely sporting Duke University hats. Ahhhh home.

But, luckily for me, I have another kind of madness to keep me entertained. Facebook Madness 2013!

The release of Facebook Graph Search kicked things off early in the year. It’s been exciting employers and recruiters everywhere with Facebook Graph Search’s promise of a much more selective way to search for talent and greater access to passive candidates. Also, over the past few months, Facebook timeline has been shifting and changing. Okay, so that hasn’t been super exciting — hiding maps under a “More” tab isn’t exactly madness… but I digress!

Now Zuckerburg has revealed FB’s plans for a completely re-vamped Facebook News Feed. Madness!

Whenever Facebook rolls out new changes, we get a little freaked out. Which is pretty frustrating considering FB shakes up their UI as often as Dennis Rodman dies his hair (yes, all of my basketball knowledge comes from the movie Space Jam). And, as with Rodman’s ever-changing coif, those changes can be awesome, but they can also be just plain scary for Facebook recruiting and branding. Before we go into the pros and cons of the News Feed’s new look, let’s go over just what those changes are going to be.

The five main changes :

1. Mobile – We all know that compatibility with mobile is no longer optional. More and more of Facebook’s active users are accessing the network through smart phones and tablets and Facebook is finally starting to make mobile a priority. Yay! The updates to News Feed put “mobile-first”, taking user interface cues from Facebook apps and emphasizing consistency between mobile and desktop interface.

2. Bigger Images – Another mobile-inspired change is the shift towards making images the main focus. Photos will dominate the latest version of Facebook News Feed, as they are now much larger and make up 50% of News Feed Stories. This is most likely inspired by the rising popularity of image-driven apps like Instagram, Pinterest and even Google+.

3. Less Text – More emphasis on images means less emphasis on text, which means text updates will become much less effective, if not obsolete. Facebook is also getting much more strict with it’s 20% text in images rule. This means a severe limit to “call to actions” and an end to “price and purchase info” embedded in images. It is another attempt by Facebook to have a cleaner, more elegant overall look and feel.

4. Multiple Feeds – Users will now have the option to choose certain “sub-feeds” that they would like to view more often. For example, users can choose to view more posts by “close Friends” than other friends (Google+ circles anyone?!). This will reduce clutter and make it easier for users to keep up to date with the content that matters most to them. These changes address increasing complaints by Facebook users that they are missing interesting updates due to an over-saturation with irrelevant content.

5. Chronology – Another way in which the changes to News Feed aim to quell user complaints is by displaying more content chronologically, with less reliance on edge-rank algorithm (a fancy term for Facebook guessing at what you want to see!)

Obviously these changes will make a huge impact on how employers will use Facebook to recruit and promote their brands. But the degree to which your strategy will have to change depends on what your current strategy is. If you are already running ad and sponsored story campaigns, and focusing on quality images, then big kudos! If not, then these changes may be a hassle, but they’re also a reason to revamp and improve how you use Facebook. This is always a good idea if you want to stay ahead of the competition.

Next week we’ll go over some pros and cons of the revamped Facebook News Feed, how to tweak your Facebook recruiting to make it work for you, and why Steve Nash is awesome and you should Like him on Facebook. Wait… he’s not in Spacejam! Disney really should release a new edition with him CG’d in.

Enjoy March Madness!

Yesterday, we released an in-depth interview with interactive media specialist, Reg Hamilton. In the interview, Reg shared some key strategies for social media branding and Facebook recruiting. We love posting articles like these, as real-life examples of businesses utilizing Facebook and social recruiting are more useful to our client and reader-base than any other type of content.

Our previous post about Gordon Food Service, and their use of Facebook for branding and recruiting, was one of our most successful articles. In that interview, Dave Wiltjer outlined real-world strategies that GFS has used to great success. Most of our readership is employers and recruiters looking to hire for small to medium-sized businesses, and as such, advice from Forbes, based on the best practices of Fortune 500 companies, is far less applicable than the straightforward, down-to-earth strategies laid out by Dave and Reg.

And strategy matters.

In a recent piece for Inc., Eric Schurenburg wrote:

“Strategy is not complicated, or impractical, or disconnected from reality. And it’s certainly not optional.”

I think our recent articles, on both Gordon Food Services and Phoenix Group’s Think Saskatchewan Jobs campaign, show just how true those words are.

Today’s links are all about strategy. From why every business must make strategy a top-priority, to simple strategies for everyday business problems. Oh, and don’t worry, there’s an Infographic!

Link Love:

The 4 key things strategic thinkers do. This is the Inc. article I quoted above, it also has a super informative case-study, so definitely check this one out.

Strategy is never static, it must shift and grow with your business. This article explains how and why companies are shifting their strategies to promote innovation over

What about effective strategy for everyday office situations? The HR Bartender explains the importance of using problem solving strategy to find real solutions instead of just bandaids.

Optimize your Facebook engagement strategy with this simple plan.

Infographic time! How and why you waste time and strategies to become a time management pro.

What’s your best bit of social media strategy advice?