For years, now, I’ve always wanted a wall of plasma TVs to monitor social media activity through the day. You know, one plasma for each platform. Plus one plasma behind me to see what’s coming. Social media changes so quickly and there’s so much to track all day, every day. Multiple monitors, at least, can help. The imagined one behind is definitely necessary. It’s good to know what’s coming so you’re prepared as much as possible. There are always some surprises that will suddenly surface (Facebook is notorious for that). However, some you can see if you only regularly review different sources to learn what’s coming up. Here are some examples.

WordPress.org Self-Hosted Sites

There’s a major design change coming for the editor. It’s called Gutenberg. You need to keep an eye on this. Some information has been released and there are even some videos that people have made that show current functionality. I’ve seen some and can tell you that it’s going to be a very different editing window in WordPress. Start following and watching now so you’re ready.

Search

Google is always rolling out new requirements for webmasters. If you don’t follow their rules, they’ll penalize you in search results. A recent example was Mobilegeddon a few years back. Websites had to be mobile-ready. That required major overhauls of websites for many people. Now responsive sites are the norm, but it wasn’t as much back at Mobilegeddon time.  Last year Google had requirements regarding popups on mobile. There’s always something happening with search engines, so make a point to keep up with planned changes.

Image Sizes

One of the most frustrating aspects of online work is the ever-changing dimensions for photos and graphics in all of the social media platforms. Cover image sizes, newsfeed or Twitter feeds, Pinterest boards, and everything else. There have been logo image changes from square to circular and then a switch back. It’s always changing. Always watch for this. Assume your photos will need to changed at some point.

Social Media Platforms

Keep your ear to the ground to try and keep up with planned updates and changes. Sometimes there are rumblings about changes. You might hear something in groups, in company plans at developer events, on blogs – just about everywhere. Do the best you can to see what’s coming and when it’s expected to roll out.

The Only Constant is Change

Keep this truism in mind as you travel on your ever-changing journey online. It’s an adventure! What’s around the next bend? Do some scouting, find out, and proceed accordingly.

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For other tips in this series, see the following post.

Tips for Managing Your Online Presence (#2moroDocsTips)