Facebook Applications can be very useful. NetworkedBlogs, for example, automatically re-publishes my blog posts on my Facebook Wall. But there are dozens of applications which are.. shall we say… less useful.

If you’re using Facebook for business, you might feel that having your friends’ Farmville, Mafia Wars and Happy Pets plastered all over your News Feed and Wall doesn’t enhance your professional image.

Facebook doesn’t provide a button to eliminate all of these ‘fun’ Apps at once, but it’s quick and easy to make them disappear one by one.

At the bottom of the unwanted Application post, you’ll see the Application name. Click on it.

You’ll be taken to the Application Page:

Under the picture, you’ll see a “Block Application” menu item. Click it.

A dialog box pops up, asking if you want to block the application. Click the appropriate button.

There, wasn’t that satisfying?

Unblocking an Application

In the unlikely event that you want to unblock an application, you’ll need to click on the ‘Account’ menu option at the top right of the screen.

Select “Privacy Settings” from the drop-down menu.

Select “Applications and Websites”

Click on “Edit Blocked Applications”

Find the Application you want to unblock, and click “Remove.”

How To Block Facebook Applications is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za

When you create a Facebook Page, Facebook asks you to choose a category. The page category shows up in Facebook’s search results, so it’s important to get it right.

Many people have had a nasty surprise when they discover that Facebook doesn’t (currently) allow you to change the category once the page has been created. The only way to change categories is by deleting your Page and starting a new one – and if your Page already has fans, that could be a big problem.

It’s also very important to know that the fields on the Info sub-page are different for each category. The “Local” top-level category only offers a very limited set of fields, which may make it difficult to describe your business the way you want to.

You can send visitors who are not yet Fans to a sub-page of your choice, so the first thing they see could be a Note which describes your company, or a custom sub-page created with FBML, Facebook’s markup language. So all is not lost if you choose the wrong category. But careful selection of the category in the first place is a good idea.

There are three top-level categories:

 

• Local
• Brand, Product or Organization
• Artist, Band or Public Figure

Within each main category are a number of sub-categories.

Local

• Other Business
• Automotive
• Automotive Dealer/Vehicle Service
• Banking and Financial Service
• Bar
• Cafe
• Club
• Convention Center and Sports Complex
• Education
• Event Planning Service
• Grocery
• Health and Beauty
• Home Service
• Hotel/Lodging
• Library/Public Building
• Medical Service
• Museum/Attraction
• Park
• Pets
• Professional Service
• Real Estate
• Religious Center
• Restaurant
• Store
• Technology and Telecommunications Service
• Travel Service

Info Fields

Basic Info:

• Address
• City/Town
• Zip
• Phone
• Hours

Detailed Info:

• Website
• Parking
• Public Transit

Brand, Product, or Organization

• Products
• Airline/Ship/Train Station
• Communications
• Consumer Product
• Fashion
• Film
• Financial Service
• Food and Beverage
• Game
• Government
• Home Living
• Hotel/Lodging
• Non-Profit
• Online Store
• Pharmaceutical
• Professional Service
• Religious Organization
• Rental Cars
• Retail
• Sports/Athletics
• TV Show
• Technology Product/Service
• Travel
• Website

Info Fields

Basic Info:

• Founded

Detailed Info:

• Website
• Company Overview
• Mission
• Products

Artist, Band, or Public Figure

• Other Public Figure
• Actor
• Athlete
• Band
• Comedian
• Critic
• Government Official
• Model
• Musician
• Politician
• Sports Team
• Visual Artist
• Writer

Info Fields

Basic Info:

• Affiliation
• Address
• City/Town
• Zip
• Phone
• Birthday

Detailed Info:

• Website
• Personal Information
• Personal Interests

Contact Info:

• Email

It’s obviously best if your business fits neatly into a sub-category. As I mentioned, the fields available in the “Local” top-level category are very limited, with no text field available to describe your business properly.

The Product category offers a useful “Company Overview” field as well as a “Mission Statement” field. Why Facebook thinks that local businesses don’t need fields like this is a mystery. Of course, things do change and I’m sure that at some time in the future it’ll be possible to change the category for your Page on a whim!

Update:

As part of the major Page update scheduled for 11th March 2011, Facebook has added more categories, added more fields to some categories and most importantly, made it possible to change the category and page name (at least until you have more than 100 fans.)

Choosing The Right Category For Your Facebook Page is a post from: IdealMedia.co.za