Getting the Most out of Facebook Like and Share

People long have loved to find new and innovative uses for the most innocuous technologies and advances. In the late 19th century, "moving pictures" were a nickel-arcade novelty. Today films such as Avatar are made on budgets comparable to military-grade hardware investments. Alexander Graham Bell's telephone could barely call from one room to another; now the average iPhone has more uses and computing power than all the computers used in World War II combined.

This trend is repeating itself with the rise of social media network marketing practices. What started as socialization programs only slightly more complex than the average e-mail client has grown into one of the newest and most promising marketing niches in the entire world. Taking advantage of this means familiarizing oneself with a few surprisingly simple concepts that have unusually far-reaching implications. In particular, marketers are finding that the "Like" and "Share" features on Facebook have become the newest and best tool in the marketing online arsenal.

We "Like" It

The "Like" function is a pretty simple one - people click "Like" for things that interest them. On the surface, this seems almost irrelevant, but thinking so ignores the way Facebook operates. Taking advantage of the "Like" function is actually the key to getting good marketing opportunities out of Facebook.

When a user clicks "Like," whether on Facebook itself or through a site's Facebook plug-in, Facebook records the data and uses it in a number of ways. First, a notification is put up on the user's wall confirming the "Like." This informs other users who are familiar with the wall about the product, news item or event, giving them an opportunity to examine and potentially "Like" it as well.

Therefore, if a user has even 200 friends, which is not that great a number given the increasing inter-connectedness of online communities, that's 200 people who will see what their friend "Liked," and who will have the chance to "Like" it themselves. This is the very foundation of viral content, or content with the ability to move rapidly along through intermediate connections of hundreds of people.

Additionally, Facebook makes recommendations to users based on things they have "Liked." Thus if friend A has friend B, and friend A puts a "Like" on business C, friend B will not only get an announcement about the "Like," but may have the business recommended to them since they "Like" friend A. This is still another route of communication and an indirect marketing opportunity that requires no more effort than a simple click. Thus it is to any business' advantage to put a plug-in allowing people to "Like" them on Facebook via the business' site.

"Share" a Little, Gain a Lot

"Sharing" is another process which allows users to spread information about themselves and the products, news items or events they enjoy across multiple networks. This level of extra-connectedness in essence performs the same function as "Like," but with more data given which people can use to evaluate contacts and make connections.

"Like" simply gets a basic fact out there. "Share" will tell users more about each other, allowing for the kind of networking that drives modern business. It also expands the audience beyond the immediate momentary location of Facebook to other sources such as LinkedIn or Twitter. This further creates the potential for any post to go viral, allowing it to spread quickly among related yet distinct audiences.

Two-way Street

The communicative rather than broadcast model will serve marketers well in the area of "Liking" and "Sharing." Yes, it is good when users "Like" a business - it drives referral traffic to the business and allows for more information to get out there. However, equally good is when a business provides "Likes" to others and for their material.

In the first, most mercenary example it will increase the business' own traffic automatically. Consider friends A and B from before. If friend A puts up a post that Business C likes for whatever reason, friend B will see the "Like." This creates another indirect marketing opportunity and referral traffic automatically. So it's clearly to a business' benefit to be active in the community and to consistently "Like" things that are interesting to the business.

Indirectly, it creates goodwill in the community. The model of the Internet is a place where people exchange ideas and information, so people respond well to good comments. If business C "Likes" friend A's post, then friend A may "Like" them in return, for reciprocity if nothing else. This can be amplified by providing well-thought-out, insightful and proper comments on various walls throughout a given Facebook community.

At its roots, Facebook "Likes" and social networking "Shares" create opportunities to be more involved, and they reward increased and thoughtful involvement more than automatic, disinterested participation. Actively read through communities touching on a brand's interests and look for the "Likes" and referrals others are following. Provide commentary for your brand, as well as for the interests of others, and people will respond out of courtesy. The brand that behaves like a human will receive human consideration, while the brand that acts like a robot will be blocked out automatically.

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About The Author

Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the "voice" of our client's brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to www.BrandSplat.com or visit our blog at www.iBrandCasting.com

Sources; SiteProNews, Wed 9/7/2011

Dampak Positif (dan Negatif) Penggunaan Facebook

Apakah Anda termasuk orang yang gemar meng-update status Twitter dan membuka akun Facebook tiap saat? Jika ya, berhati-hatilah karena menurut penelitian, kebiasaan tersebut bisa mempengaruhi kesehatan Anda. Misalnya saja seperti, kecanduan akan obat-obatan terlarang dan alkohol, hingga depresi dan melambatnya keterampilan kognitif seseorang.

Namun peneliti juga mengatakan bahwa situs jejaring sosial juga memberikan efek positif. Berikut beberapa dampak positif serta negatif Facebook dan Twitter, seperti yang dikutip dari healthmeup.

TIPS: 10 Top SEO Facebook Strategies

Facebook is more and more becoming a "second home page" for organizations on the web and has recently developed a number of innovative options for Pages to get increased traffic through the tried and true techniques of search engine optimization. Making use of important web optimization tactics on your Facebook Page can help you to progressively acquire more Facebook devotees. Search engine optimization reveals your Facebook Page to Facebook's total user base. 

In fact, Facebook has taken big steps to improve its own web optimization in recent weeks and months, increasing its own worth and creating opportunities for Page managers to benefit immediately.

Listed below are TEN SEO techniques and tactics every Facebook Page user will need to understand:

1. Decide on the Best Title for Your Facebook Page - and Don't Ever Change It

Choosing the right identity on your Facebook Page is crucial. For instance, if your name appears too spammy, people will probably be less likely to talk about it with their associates on their own page and more likely to conceal your updates from their Facebook feed. Secondly, don't give into the temptation to choose a completely common page title. Facebook's intention for Pages is that they legitimately characterize businesses and brand names, as well as stars. Recently, Facebook has been disabling updates for common Pages.

The bottom line: Work with your corporation's true title as the name of the page and when you choose your Page's name, don't alter it. Facebook makes use of your Page name in the title of the Page, and considering that Google dings webpages when their particular titles change, changing your Facebook Page's name can cost you SEO points.

2. Select the Very Best URL for Your Facebook Page

Facebook recently provided the flexibility to choose a title for your Facebook Page, just about the most important SEO option on Facebook to date. Facebook wants Pages to legitimately stand for the identities of businesses. Brand names with commonly used titles have had their rights suspended previously.

The soundest solution would be to decide on a username which authentically presents your online business or company. As soon as you select a Facebook username/URL for your Page, it cannot be altered. So, look for a username you are going to be at ease, and satisfied, with for the future. If you have a company that specializes in replica watches, make the URL something to do with replica watches.

3. Use the "About" box to Place Key Phrase-Thick Content at the Top of the Page

One critical SEO approach that needs to be utilized in your Facebook Page whenever achievable is inserting key phrase-thick content as close to the top of the Page as it can be. Since Facebook restricts exactly where Page managers can place substantial sections of textual content on the Wall of Facebook Pages, the "About" box basically is the best location in the CSS structure of the page to incorporate custom content. You will find there's 250 character restriction, so choose your words and phrases sensibly.

4. Use the "Info" Tab to Add Extra Critical Key Phrases, Content, and High Precedence Backlinks on Your Page

Facebook creates an "Info" tab for each Facebook Page which has fields made up of important illustrative data about the Page. It's imperative that you complete all these fields, for the reason that they provide the option to add keyword phrases, content, and hyperlinks that may improve the content material rating within your Facebook Page for many kinds of Google queries. The specific fields existing could differ based on the type you choose for your Page whenever you create it, so pick out the class which most effectively meets your business needs.

5. Develop "Static FBML" Boxes and Tabs to Place Lengthy Content Material Plus More Static Backlinks on Your Page

While chances to place substantial blocks of textual content on the default tab of the Facebook Page tend to be quite restricted, Facebook enables Page managers to set-up supplemental boxes or tabs which could carry any type of subject matter, including text, images, and hyperlinks. Adding content boxes or tabs to your Page could be a terrific way to supercharge the score of your Page.

6. Publish Direct Backlinks Aimed at Your Website Inside Your Page's Stream

Status updates provide a highly effective solution to place direct backlinks at the top of your respective Page. Since Google boosts ranking for webpages which link to relevant internet sites - and penalizes pages which link to irrelevant web pages or that add a great number of inbound links too suddenly - posting hyperlinks in status updates can be quite an effective and reliable approach to better rank your Facebook Page.

You can find 2 methods to submit hyperlinks:

a. Including the URL within the text of the status update itself.

b. Using the "attach link" function.

7. Add Pictures with Captions, Activities with Descriptions, and a Conversation Discussion Board

This almost goes without saying, yet it's crucial that you regularly spread useful subject matter on the Facebook Page, along with always making use of all offered illustrative fields on every single kind of content shared. When posting images apply lengthy and key phrase-thick explanations. Use the resources Facebook provides for your entire gain.

8. Create Inbound Links to Your Facebook Page from the Internet by Posting Backlinks to Your Page on All Your Websites

Just as a good number of inbound links from high-authority web pages can help improve PageRank for regular internet websites, acquiring inbound links for your Facebook Page may improve its PR as well. You can accomplish this with text backlinks, but Facebook has also developed a badge which it encourages Page managers to utilize.

9. Get Intra-Facebook Inbound Links by Simply Acquiring More Facebook Supporters

The more fans you get, the more backlinks you will have to your own Page inside of Facebook. For Pages with thousands of supporters, the volume of backlinks mounts up.

10. Reinforce Intra-Facebook Linking by Getting Followers to Review and Like Content in Your Stream

Whenever supporters comment or like content in your Facebook Page's stream, Facebook links their name back to their own Facebook profile page. Subsequently, once the profile stubs of those supporters who've put up feedback and likes on your Page are listed, Google will discover more reciprocal links between your Page and your Page's followers, which it will see to be a much better relationship. This results in a cycle of enhanced link weight from the listed profile page stubs to your Page.

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About The Author:

Nina Hirasawa, is a shopping and consumer service expert. She is an established writer for two shopping guide magazines, and specializes in both on-site and off-site SEO, yoga, Internet marketing, replica watch websites and Facebook marketing.

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sources: SEO News, Vol. Thu, May/5/2011

Top 7: Facebook and Twitter Strategies That Are Working Right Now

One of the great things about the work I do is that I have a bird's eye view of what's working and what's not when it comes to social media. Every so often I like to give sort of a "state of the union" on Facebook and Twitter best practices, because as I am sure you know, social media is constantly growing, changing and evolving.

As you'll see, some of the strategies I am recommending are tried and true-they have been working since day one and will probably continue to for the considerable future.

However, there may be a few here that you've never considered-or may even be surprised by. But they are what I see as being the biggest keys to success and results for business owners on the two hottest social networks on the planet: Facebook and Twitter.

1. Find your peeps

What this means is that you want to become part of the community you are looking to serve. The first step of course is to be clear on whom it is you want to serve and what problem you are solving for them. Once you know that, the goal is to go where they are hanging out.

There are specific tools you can use to easily find and interact with your target market. Two of my favorites for Twitter are wefollow.com and search.twitter.com.

2. Concentrate on conversing and building relationships, instead of broadcasting and selling

One of the most common yet biggest mistakes that people make when they are first introduced to social media is to focus on pushing their product or service in a spammy way. That approach fails miserably in social media because most people are there to build relationships and interact.

There's nothing wrong with letting others know what's going on with you or your business sometimes--just be sure to intersperse your tweets or Facebook updates with some two-way conversation.

3. Use a Facebook personal profile AND a Facebook business page TOGETHER

This might be a little "controversial" - and don't get me wrong, your business SHOULD have a Page -- but when you have a personal profile, you are able to interact with other people much more easily.

As a business Page, a Page can't go comment on another person's Wall or profile or in their Group or on THEIR Page AS that Page. You are really contained inside the space of your own Page. This might be something to consider because a lot of the magic of Facebook and the relationship-building and rapport-building comes from that ability to interact.

4. Cross-post and cross promote

Once you've decided to make social media a part of your marketing strategy, you don't want to keep it to yourself.

There are lots of ways to spread the word, for example: you'll want to advertise your social presence on your blog, add links to your email signature and use one social media platform to post to another.

5. Use a social media dashboard like Hootsuite and other productivity tools to accomplish more in less time

Hootsuite.com is my hands-down favorite, free social media tool, and the reason why is because it does so many different things. For example, you can use it to update many social networks at once, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; you can use it to pre-schedule tweets and status updates and more.

6. Get them on the list

In most cases, people aren't going to buy from you right off of sites like Facebook and Twitter. You need to shift your thinking from "how can I get this person to buy from me or hire me now?" to "how can I bring this person into my community and strengthen the relationship with them on an ongoing basis?"

One of the best ways to do this is to offer people a way to provide their email address via your blog or website so that you have permission to keep in touch and build an ongoing relationship with them.

7. Measure and track your social media results

Measuring the ROI of social media isn't exactly cut and dry. I am often asked how you can tell whether the time you've spent on social media activities is really making a difference.

Some of the best metrics? Blog comments, blog subscribers, newsletter subscribers, social media profile engagement, number of friends and followers and website traffic to name a few.

No matter who your target market is, you can be sure that at least some segment of them is using social media. The important thing is to understand that social media is a great way to get in front of that target audience.

And remember, you may not be able to equate your interactions to dollars now, but what you are doing is planting seeds which can have big payoffs later on.

Most of the strategies I've mentioned here aren't really "strategies" unless you keep applying them over time-so stick with it to reap those results you've been searching for.

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About the Author: Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS, founder of CommunicateValue.com, teaches small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits.

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sources: Entireweb Newsletter, September 15, 2010

Menjaga Password (Tetap) Aman, Ada Kiatnya Juga Lho

Dalam 3 bulan terakhir, setidaknya ada 4 teman yang mengeluh ke aku masalah “pembobolan” password, dengan beragam kasus. Baik karena kelalaian sendiri (berbagi password dengan teman), maupun tiba-tiba email tidak bisa terbuka (karena isian password dianggap salah melulu). Seperti biasa, aku hanya menyarankan lebih hati-hati menyimpan password dan bikin password serumit mungkin, tetapi gampang dihapal.

Ironisnya, setelah account facebook-ku gagal di hack, sekitar 2 minggu silam giliran salah satu emailku di gmail sukses dibobol salah seorang (jaringan?) bisnis online dari luar Indonesia. Aku baru ngeh setelah banyak email (balasan) masuk, yang rata-rata dari alamat email relasi dan teman di address-book, yang sebenarnya sudah lama – sekitar 4-5 tahun lebih –tidak berkomunikasi denganku. Untung password bisa aku ambil lagi dan (segera) aku ganti dengan yang lebih rumit.

Agar tidak banyak lagi yang mengalami hal serupa, berikut aku posting hal penting yang berhubungan dengan password, yang aku dapat dari detiknet, ditulis oleh IGN Mantra. Setidaknya, karena password merupakan kode-kode rahasia yang harus dijaga keamanannya, maka akan banyak hal negatif yang dapat terjadi ketika password Anda bocor ke tangan orang lain.

Berikut, 7 kiat singkat untuk menjaga Password :

1. Tidak Menggunakan Default Password

Default password adalah password yang kita dapat pertama kali. Password standar ini sebaiknya memang harus cepat diganti lantaran sangat rentan. Pasalnya, default password dapat dicari dengan mudah di google search, bahkan di situ tercantum nama mesin, type dan default password terpampang dengan megah di beberapa situs vendor pembuatnya.

Terkadang administrator takut lupa dengan mengubah-ubah default password yang ada, sehingga seorang penyusup dapat mengambil alih sistem dengan default password.

2.Tidak Memakai Password Hint

Terkadang kita takut lupa dengan password yang sudah kita entry ke dalam sistem/account, sehingga kita perlu membuat sebuah pengingat bila kita lupa dengan password tersebut. Nah pengingat ini disebut password Hint, bila kita membuat pertanyaan dengan password hint ini maka dengan cepat kita dapat mengingat kembali password yang lupa tersebut.

Begitu juga dengan para hacker, mereka akan mencoba-coba dengan menebak password kita dengan berbagai pertanyaan di password hint, lama kelamaan password tersebut akan tertebak, bila pertanyaan yang tertera di password hint dapat dijawab oleh si penebak password.

3. Tidak Menuliskan Password

Pemilik password sering kali takut lupa dengan password yang telah dimasukkan, sehingga pemilik password akan menuliskan berbagai user id dan passwordnya ke dalam media lain seperti notebook, notepad, stickies (mac), password folder, buku, handphone dan lainnya.

Hal ini juga cukup rentan bocor. Mengapa rentan? Karena bila berbagai peralatan tersebut hilang, maka semua informasi tentang user id dan password tersebut cepat atau lambat akan diketahui oleh si pencuri peralatan/gadget yang hilang.

4. Menggunakan Password yang Kuat

Pemilik password seringkali menggunakan password yang pendek saja, kalau saja bisa lebih pendek dari 3 character maka user tersebut akan memberikan password yang pendek. Untung saja saat ini sistem memberikan panjang password minimal 6 karakter dan maksimal 254 karakter. Semakin panjang sebuah password maka akan semakin kuat keamanan password tersebut.

Password yang kuat dapat dibuat dengan kombinasi angka dan huruf bahkan berbagai karakter yang lain. Beberapa admin saat ini menggunakan password yang cukup panjang, ditambah dengan enkripsi seperti PGP key dan lainnya, sehingga cukup sulit untuk dapat menebak password tersebut.

5. Sering Mengubah Password

Pemilik password sebaiknya secara berkala mengubah password untuk autentikasi tersebut, semakin sering password berubah semakin baik, karena semakin sulit si penebak password menjebol account/system kita. Perubahan terhadap password tergantung si pemilik, bisa seminggu, sebulan, tiga bulan sekali dan lainnya. Asal si pemilik tidak lupa dengan password yang sudah diubah tadi.

6. Tidak Memakai Password Sama pada Beberapa Account

Pemilik password kadang sering lupa dan sering membuat account yang cukup banyak, sehingga mereka setiap membuat account baru menggunakan user id yang sama dan password yang sama, ini sangat rentan dan bahaya. Karena satu account tembus password ini, maka semua account akan dapat diambil oleh hacker tersebut.

7. Menggunakan Manajemen Password

Untuk membantu mengingatkan kembali berbagai password dan berbagai account, seringkali kita sangat kesulitan, tapi tidak perlu khawatir karena sudah banyak saat ini aplikasi untuk membantu menata password kita. Aplikasi ini dapat didownload secara gratis dari internet maupun berbayar, sehingga berapapun account kita dan berapapun password kita dapat dengan mudah untuk diingat dan dibuka kembali, tentu saja untuk membukanya dengan metode enkripsi juga.

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sumber: detiknet

PPC Marketing vs FB Advertising

Google is the Bad Egg of Internet Marketing & M-L-M. With so many accounts slapped and closed down for good, Top Gurus are turning to Facebook Advertising as a far superior option for cheap targeted traffíc.

Don't Put your Eggs in One Marketing Basket

Savvy Pro marketers like our members aren't panicking - we've always had a back up plan on the go. Our advice has been simple - don't put all your eggs in one basket - especially Google's! If you're using Pay Per Click  (PPC) Advertising, then make sure you also have some SEO going on - to generate organic traffic.

It takes a lot of hard work to get your site ranked through organic traffic - writing articles, forum posts, blogs, squidoo lenses, hub pages, video marketing - to build up your online presence and expertise for your chosen niche keywords.

Organic takes time. So if you don't have the patience and want to generate lots of traffic fast, PPC is a good to have as part of your marketing model.

But internet marketers and PPC experts are absolutely fed up with the arrogance of Google. So if we're not doing Google Adwords for our marketing, where do we get the masses of traffic we are still able to generate on a daily basis?

Adding Content Rich Social Marketing into the Mix

If you want free traffic, you usually have to spend masses of your time with manually writing copy and creating podcasts and video marketing. So really it's not free at all - time is money and all that. Hiring a copy writing group to create niche content can become quite expensive.

So all this organic SEO friendly traffic takes time to build up and requires consistent daily effort. This is good to add to your marketing mix but won't give you fast traffic.

What's super important too is that organic SEO content is ultimately still controlled by the search engines, so Google still has power over how you get seen by your prospects.

How hard is it these days to do enough clever keyword research to get your unique niche and rank on page one of Google. Almost impossible - especially if you're one newbie trying to compete with the big gurus in internet marketing or M-L-M network marketing arena.

What Marketing Strategies to Use that Beat Google Adwords Fair and Square?

What company is fair and sane, loves affiliates and direct marketers? What company attracts nearly 40 billion views a month and the traffic is uber quality and dirt cheap? Who is this company? Well, it's your friendly neighbourhood.... Facebook!

Facebook is the only company that Google actually acknowledges is a real competitor to them. Facebook is currently showing up as having four hundred million active members - that makes it 5 times the size of Google!!!

Yet Facebook ads represent just 5% of the advertising done on Google.

Now don't be thinking Facebook is just for youngsters! Insidefacebook.com published its statistics and show that only 11% of users are aged 13-17. While 33% are 18-25s, a whopping 18% are aged between 35 and 44. That's 100 million people! And a further 9% are aged 45-54 and 4% 55-65.

Don't spend another cent with Google till you've checked out Facebook Advertising.

Why Facebook is the New Face of Paid Advertising

Facebook is pretty much untapped compared to PPC advertising on Google, Yahoo or Bing.

It's truly a "sleeping giant", an ingenious source of traffic that is...

• much bigger than PPC

• less competitive than PPC

• more targeted than PPC

• less expensive than PPC

And what's more, Facebook's integrated personal profiles mean you can hone in on exactly the demographic you are trying to target - not just on keyword phrases, you can also target only Facebook members who are in particular age groups, regions and/or have specifically stated certain interest areas - it's simply awesome how deep you can get into Facebook - giving you massive choice and combinations.

Because of this, Facebook allows you to use the same ad in many different ways so you can really hit the hot spots of your users and their interests. Imagine being able to target by age, gender, film interests, AND keywords... you can really hit your message home.

So what this means in practice is that the clicks you get on your Facebook ad are immensely more targeted and convert far better and cost far less than what you'd achieve on Google Adwords.

If all that targeting isn't enough to convince you, here are some more benefits of using Facebook advertising:

• Facebook is also great for newbies. It's really easy to use and to set up your campaigns. If you can send an email, you can do Facebook ads.

• Facebook ads work in any market and will give a far better ROI than PPC, even for affiliate marketing.

• Facebook advertiser competition is minimal right now, so now is the time to tap into this massive source of traffic.

• Your ad in Facebook can include not only titles and descriptions but also images, which you can't do with PPC ads.

• Facebook ads leave little wastage because you can seek out ultra targeted members who are likely to respond to your offer.

Following the Facebook Rules

There is a downside.

Facebook is hugely protective of its users. So you have to really study and follow their rules. And this will take you some time.

The general rule of thumb stems from what is called "permission marketing". So make sure you check this out so you don't get your account cancelled.

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About The Author: Jay Allyson, is an accomplished online marketer and entrepreneur. If you found these marketing tips helpful, find out more how you can join our exclusive marketing group and tap into top expert internet marketing training and systems, available at GetRichLifestyle.com

sources: SEO News, Volume February 25, 2010

Melogikakan Tradisi Selamatan (Membangun) Rumah

“Coba dicari hari baiknya dulu…” begitu kira-kira yang aku tulis di status facebook, beberapa waktu lalu. Kalimat itu aku tulis karena terinspirasi ucapan tukang bangunan yang sedang merenovasi rumah, ketika membicarakan apakah perlu dilakukan ritual (tradisi) syukuran saat akan memasang kuda-kuda rumah (naik atap) nanti.

Lucunya, berbagai komentar langsung bermunculan, atas sepotong kalimat di FB-ku tersebut. Mulai dari yang serius, asal-asalan, sampai (terkesan) ngawur memenuhi topik tersebut. Dan jujur saja, aku sendiri tidak percaya sepenuhnya akan hari baik yang dihubungkan dengan hari (weton) kelahiran dan sebangsanya itu. Semua hari itu baik, tergantung kita memanfaatkan untuk apa hari-hari yang kita lewati tersebut bukan?

Kalau toh aku akhirnya mengadakan syukuran, itu sebatas ungkapan terima kasih bahwa “hajat” yang aku laksanakan sudah berjalan lancar. dan semoga Allah SWT meridhoi rencana-rencana ke depan selanjutnya. Dan secara kebetulan pula aku menemukan sebuah tulisan yang berhubungan dengan tradisi selamatan rumah – yang sejalan dengan pikiranku – di rubrik konsultasi Arsitektur situs EraMuslim, yang diasuh Ir. Aria Heryantha.

Tulisan di situs yang bermoto “media islam rujukan” itu berjudul Tradisi Pada Saat Bangun Rumah. Harapanku, tentu bisa menjadi pencerahan bagi mereka yang mempunyai pertanyaan dan “problem” yang sama tentang tradisi turun-temurun ini. Berikut selengkapnya:

Kebiasaan memilih hari baik, mengadakan selamatan dengan perletakan batu pertama atau menanam kepala kerbau, memasang sesaji pada saat pasang kuda-kuda dan berbagai mitos lain yang dianggap menjadi syarat wajib pada saat membangun rumah sebenarnya sudah sejak lama dilakukan oleh orang-orang primitif dan kebiasaan tersebut tidak jelas kapan dimulai dan siapa yang memulainya.

Keyakinan ini bahkan hingga kini masih dianut oleh orang-orang modern dan terpelajar bahkan bangunan yang dibangun dengan teknologi canggih pun masih menjalankan ritual ini karena dianggap dapat menjadi ‘tolak bala’ dan akan memperkuat bangunan. Jika ada bangunan yang roboh pasti komentar pertama adalah “Itulah akibatnya jika tidak bikin selamatan”, atau “tidak ada tebusan kepala kerbaunya sih” dan sebagainya yang jelas-jelas sudah tidak masuk akal.

Pendapat mereka pun beragam dalam menghadapi ritual-ritual tersebut, ada yang mengatakan “ya kita ikuti aja tradisi yang sudah turun temurun daripada nanti disalahkan”, ada juga yang jelas-jelas mengatakan bahwa“supaya jin-jin penunggunya tidak marah dan mengganggu” ada juga yang mengatakan “inikan sarana kita untuk mendekatkan diri dan memohon pertolongan Allah” dan sebagainya.

Sikap kita sebagai seorang muslim menghadapi fenomena ini adalah :

• Bertanya pada ulama sehingga kita tahu dasar hukumnya melakukan ritual tersebut sehingga kita tidak terjebak pada perbuatan syirik.

• Meyakini hanya Allah yang wajib di ibadahi karena Allah yang telah menciptakan jin dan manusia, sehingga tidak ada dasarnya kita mengabdi atau meminta pertolongan pada jin dan makhluk-makhluk lain karena akan menambah kita pada kesyirikan.

• Allah tidak butuh media perantara dan simbol-simbol karena Allah Maha Mengetahui dan Maha Mendengar bahkan segala keburukan dan kebaikan sebesar atom pun tidak luput dari hisab Allah SWT. Kesyirikan-kesyirikan di masa jahiliyah juga disebabkan mengikuti tradisi-tradisi turun temurun yang menggunakan perantara-perantara dalam mendekatkan diri pada Allah yang tidak ada dasar perintah Nya.

• Meyakini asma Allah AL MAANI'U “Yang menolak bahaya”, serta asma-asma Allah yang lainnya sehingga tidak patut kita memohon pertolongan pada selain Allah SWT.

• Menggunakan logika kita bahwa tidak ada kaitannya kekuatan bangunan dengan kepala kerbau atau sesaji yang lain karena kekuatan bangunan tergantung dari konstruksinya. Perencanaan yang benar serta pelaksanaan yang sesuai dengan desain yang akan menentukan kokoh atau tidaknya suatu bangunan.

• Menjelaskan dengan bahasa yang halus pada orang-orang tua kita sehingga tidak terjadi salah persepsi dan menganggap kita ‘sok tahu’ dan tidak mau mengikuti tradisi, ajaklah mereka bersilahturahim dengan para ulama agar bisa dijelaskan hukum syariahnya, dosa serta balasannya di dunia dan di akhirat kelak.

• Membuat selamatan sebagai ganti ritual tersebut dengan niat sebagai bentuk syukur kita pada Allah SWT karena telah diberikan rizki dan kemudahan serta memanjatkan doa memohon ampunan dan pertolongan Allah agar dimudahkan dalam segala hal. Anda bisa membaca doa-doa yang terhimpun dalam Al Ma’tsurat atau yang lainnya karena setiap doa yang diniatkan dengan penuh keikhlasan dan hanya ditujukan untuk Allah semata, Insya Allah akan didengar dan diijabah oleh Allah SWT.

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Pengaruh (Negatif) Facebook adalah Tanggung Jawab Kita Bersama

Agak gerah juga mendengar – dan membaca serta memperhatikan – berita tentang jejaring sosial Facebook (yang biasa disingkat FB) dengan segala problematika penggunanya, Setelah dua minggu lalu gadis ABG di Bogor terkena tuntutan 5 bulan penjara karena “pencemaran nama baik” temannya melalui status Facebook, kemudian seorang mahasiswi di Gorontalo juga berurusan dengan pihak kepolisian karena “mencaci” institusi polisi via FB. Dan kini, dihebohkan “penculikan” gadis dibawah umur oleh sesama pengguna FB.

Memang, apa yang dilakukan Marietta Nova Triani, gadis 14 tahun asal Sidoarjo, yang melarikan diri dari rumah tantenya di Tangerang bersama teman laki-lakinya – Ari Power, 18 tahun – yang baru dia kenal di Facebook, sudah diluar batas-batas kewajaran. Nova dan Ari yang selama ini hanya berkomunikasi via FB baru sekali ini bertemu, tentu berlebihan kalau begitu ketemu sudah berani lari dari keluarga, apalagi sampai (mengaku) melakukan hubungan suami istri sebanyak 3 kali dalam pelariannya.

Belum lagi kasus Nova tuntas, kini muncul lagi gadis ABG, Stefani Abelina Tiur Napitupulu, yang baru duduk di kelas 1 SMAN 22 Surabaya menghilang dari rumahnya – yang diduga – bersama teman laki-laki yang dikenalnya melalui Facebook. Dan kabar terakhir, Abel berada di Jakarta, kota tempat teman FB-nya tinggal.

Memang, beberapa komentar yang muncul – terutama yang ditulis para pengguna FB saat berdiskusi masalah ini – rata-rata “membela” jejaring sosial ini tidaklah dapat disalahkan. Tetapi, justeru para pemakai FB-lah yang kurang bisa memanfaatkan sarana tehnologi komunikasi via internet ini. Mestinya, kalau dipergunakan untuk kepentingan yang tepat, FB akan banyak manfaatnya, begitu beberapa kesimpulan yang aku baca di salah satu forum komunitas.

Yup.., untuk beberapa hal, aku setuju dengan pendapat tersebut. Tetapi, dengan syarat, para pemakai FB adalah orang-orang yang memahami fungsi dan tujuan jejaring sosial ini diciptakan. Pertanyaannya, berapa orang sih dari pengguna FB yang bisa memanfaatkan dengan benar? Karena, mayoritas pengguna FB di Indonesia rasanya masih didominasi anak-anak ABG, yang kemampuan dan pemahaman teknologi informasi macam internet ini tidak begitu banyak.

Sehingga, ketika mendapat “mainan” baru, terjadi sebuah gegar-budaya pada para ABG tersebut, seolah-olah inilah wahana yang membuat mereka seperti bebas berkomunikasi dengan siapa saja, tanpa pernah memikirkan dampak negatifnya. Tidak salah, karena yang lebih paham pun sangat jarang memberikan “pengertian” kepada mereka, baik itu para guru, orang tua, lingkungan (termasuk para penjaga warnet dan pemiliknya).

Jujur saja, dari sekitar 1.600 teman account FB-ku, hampir 850-an masuk kategori ABG – seusia SMA dan mahasiswa baru – yang tak segan-segan aku tegur ketika mereka keterlaluan dalam memanfaatkan FB-nya, melalui fasilitas chat. Seperti menulis ‘status hubungan’ yang lebay, berantem dengan pacarnya di wall, atau juga melayani ”keluhan” mereka dengan sabar (dan memberikan solusi jika memungkinkan).

Intinya, ya kita – yang merasa sudah mampu mengendalikan diri dalam menggunakan FB – inilah yang harus memberikan pemahaman pada mereka, dengan berbagai macam cara yang bisa kita lakukan. Meski tidak bisa menjangkau semuanya, setidaknya orang di sekitar kita sudah bisa kita “selamatkan” dari ancaman negatif yang ditimbulkan Facebook. Indah bukan ?

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sumber foto: Harian Warta Kota