📢 PSA: You do not have to 'keep up' // Should you enable Professional Mode on Facebook? // 12+ Meta & Facebook changes

Mari has the scoop for you... Greetings {NAME}! I have a special and timely message for you: You do not have to ‘keep up.’ Tech will keep moving at warp speed. Stay focused on your own priorities and vision. Do your deep work. I was inspired to [write this](=) after seeing some comments in my Social Scoop Facebook Group where members were feeling overwhelmed just reading a list of one week's worth of social media and tech updates. [Do not try to keep up!](=) Every minute of every day it seems there’s a new announcement about a new AI app. Or big changes in the world of generative AI. Or some new tool that’s going to revolutionize the way you work. Or some social media (micro) update that you just have to know… You could literally spend all day every day just consuming these updates, learning new tools, and never getting your real work done. It can be intensely overwhelming if you really feel that you have to ‘keep up’ and that you will be left ‘behind’ if you don’t. FOMO is a real thing for a lot of people. And, we live in the most distracted times, ever. Instead, do yourself a favor and pick up one or more of these four incredibly impactful books! Let me know if you‘ve read any of them?! - [Deep Work]() by Cal Newport - [The ONE Thing]( by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan - [Indistractable]() by Nir Eyal - [Let Your Life Speak](=) by Parker J. Palmer And, by all means, keep up with your respective industry news and advancements to the best of your ability… But please do not feel like you have to keep up with everything. It is not humanly possible. [Pro Mode on FB?]() Should you enable Professional Mode on your Facebook personal profile? If you're on the fence about enabling Professional Mode on your Facebook personal profile, here's Mari's take... it's reeeeeeally going to depend. There are pros and cons. And we have to understand Meta's agenda here (which is to get more and more creator types publishing volumes of content especially Reels). Take a peek at my latest video on the subject for the full scoop: - [Watch on YouTube](=) - [Watch and join the conversation on Facebook]() My prediction is that sooner or later Pro Mode profiles will not only have the Boost Button but also full access to Ads Manager and full integration with Meta Business Suite. Basically, Pro Mode profiles are functioning almost identically to business Pages. But Pro Mode is specifically aimed at creator types who may not have a business Page and who especially want to 'monetize their content' via Meta payouts. That's just not my thang because I'm here to monetize through my own offerings, not via a third party. (Of course, those are not mutually exclusive, I know!) Pro Mode is working for a small percentage of hard working content creator folks out there! Aha, and so you know, you can totally still use your personal Facebook profile in Pro Mode for friends and family, choosing to post only to that audience. There's really NO difference at all in posting/publishing between Classic & Pro Mode. (The one feature that I feel would be handy is to publish content to public and not family/certain friend lists just so we don't overload this more personal audience with business-related updates!) FYI, I did enable Pro Mode early last year for about six months when I first got access to the feature. I saw an immediate spike in reach and a lift in followers. Then slowly, over time, the reach tapered off. I switched back to Classic. Frankly, I don't miss Pro Mode. It was 'all the rage' at Social Media Marketing World the other week. (Except in my session, hahaa! ) Let me know your thoughts whether you've enabled Pro Mode or not. You're welcome to reply to this email. [FB / Meta Updates](=) 12+ Facebook and Meta Updates I recently went through all the latest Facebook / Meta changes in plain English! Starting with Meta Verified rolling out in the US as of last week. - [Watch on YouTube]() and/or skim the full list of updates in the description. - Or see the [original Facebook Live broadcast]( with great discussion and resources in the comments. A couple more updates of note: - Meta has now [shut down Creator Studio](=), switching all business users over to Meta Business Suite. (If you can still access Creator Studio, just know that it'll be gone very soon). - If you're in the US and you do decide to sign up for the new [Meta Verified]( subscription service on your Facebook personal profile and/or Instagram personal account, it's important to know that Meta [removed the increased reach and visibility]() as a feature. Got questions? Just lmk. :) Tech leaders sign petition to halt further AI developments Well, the latest 'big buzz' in the world of AI this week is the launch of a [new](=)[petition](=) which has garnered over 1,700 signatures (at time of writing), including by numerous renowned tech leaders such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The petition seeks to halt the massive AI developments: "...we call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. This pause should be public and verifiable, and include all key actors. If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium." I have mixed feelings about all this. Yes, it's frightening how rapidly artificial intelligence is moving and how intensely powerful it's quickly becoming. Although, AI has been around since the 1950's, it's use as 'generative AI' has gained massive traction since ChatGPT blasted onto the scenes in November 2022. I stumbled across Princeton computer science professor and author of AI Snake Oil Arvind Narayanan who [tweeted this](): "This open letter — ironically but unsurprisingly — further fuels AI hype and makes it harder to tackle real, already occurring AI harms. I suspect that it will benefit the companies that it is supposed to regulate, and not society." The pausing of developments to regroup and get it 'right' might be a good idea. But not all countries and organizations will be on board with this. If some companies and countries were to pause, this would surely only give others a chance to race ahead. Hmm. By the way, no surprise that Meta's Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun did not sign the open letter/petition, [tweeting]() "I disagree with its premise." It's complicated! What are your thoughts? Would you / have you signed the [petition](=)? Annnd that's a wrap for this issue! You're welcome to reach out anytime. And come connect with your fellow marketers in my active and super supportive [Social Scoop Facebook Community]() - celebrating 22k+ amazing members. Cheers 'til the next time, Best, Mari Smith CEO, Mari Smith International, Inc. Premier Facebook Marketing Expert Top Social Media Thought Leader Author, The New Relationship Marketing Coauthor, Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day If you wish to unsubscribe or CHANGE or UPDATE your information, please click this link: [Unsubscribe]( Mari Smith International 11956 Bernardo Plaza Dr., #201 San Diego, California 92128 United States