Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
The letter X hasn’t fared too well in the dot-com era. Once the mark of secret pirate treasures and “sign here if you would please” contracts, it has been relegated to second-class status ever since Microsoft introduced Windows95 as the letter you looked for when you want to make things go away.
Facebook also selected the X as the “go away” letter. If you are using Facebook for business, this X can be really, really bad.
If you have never seen the X on Facebook, it hides in the upper right corner of every post made by your friends (and the pages you like). You don’t see it unless you hover over the post – it is pretty stealthy.
When you click the X on any Facebook post the system automatically presents you with a few different options:
Hide this post
Hide all from [USER]
Hide all from [APPLICATION] *if it was posted from a third party site like YouTube
I can tell you from personal experience that making the decision between the first two is very hard sometimes. I can think of a few occasions where I clicked the X thinking I was going to just hide a post – and then made a split-second decision to just hide the user instead. If this happens to you, the best social media strategy in the world won’t get you very far.
So why do I hide users? Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
An agent in my office recently had a deal where the clients on the other side of the transaction carelessly posted information online and it ended up costing them, BIG TIME.
When selling a house, it’s very important that the seller provide full disclosure about its condition.
When purchasing a house, it’s very important that the buyer provide full disclosure about their ability to qualify for financing.
Posting more personal or emotional details online for the world to see, however, is a different story.
My agent was representing the seller and received an offer from Mr. & Mrs. Buyer. My agent then caught wind of the fact that Mr. & Mrs. Buyer were posting the step-by-step details of the deal on their online social networking account, which severely compromised their negotiating position. Among other things, they gushed about how often they drove by the house, how badly they pined for it, and how worried they were that they weren’t going to get it, or that another buyer would swoop in. The biggest mistake they made, however, was posting the actual amount they were willing to pay (which was A LOT MORE than the amount they originally offered).
OOPS! My agent’s sellers counteroffered for said amount, and were able to benefit from Mr. & Mrs. Buyers’ carelessness.
This is just one of the many ways that people can get into trouble by misusing social media. Think twice before you hit the “post” button!
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and branch managing broker at RE/MAX Preference on Mercer Island. Connect with Cory at www.CoryBrewer.com.
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