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This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Last week we talked about malicious compliance — times when someone purposely exposed the absurdity of a rule by doing exactly what they were told to do. Here are 14 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The requisitions I worked for a fairly large, regional bank that covered about three states with nearly 9,000 employees. The CFO decided that everyone was wasting money on frivolous things like office supplies. He mandated that ALL requisitions for any supplies must come through him. ALL OF THEM. This of course held up the process so even getting a needed pen could take over a month. Some of the managers got together and quietly decided to do just that — send him a requisition/ request for every single box of pens, box of paper, box of toilet paper, single toners, etc. One box/item at a time. It lasted two weeks. 2. The jacket It’s not nearly as maliciously compliant as the teal polo guy, but I had something similar at an office where I worked where we had to wear these (ugly) button-down jacket things so we would all look neat and presentable for clients. It was in the employee handbook that you had to wear the jacket, closed, at all times. At one point I was pregnant and I knew it wouldn’t fit me much longer, so I emailed HR explaining the issue and asking if I could get another one in a bigger size or if I could stop wearing it. I was told no and no. Ummm. So I kept wearing it, even as it started stretching at the buttons (I wore a t-shirt underneath). Eventually there were certain buttons in the middle I couldn’t button (it was a long jacket), so I left those middle buttons open. I looked absolutely ridiculous. This lasted until one day in my eighth month, when HR came marching over to my desk to tell me I shouldn’t wear the jacket anymore. 3. The insulin pump I’m a type 1 diabetic, and I have an insulin pump. It beeps to alert me to issues, but different beeps mean different levels of urgency. After the first beep, I tend to pull my pump out of my pocket and silence it and/or immediately address the issue, depending on the level of urgency. My point is, it’s both lifesaving and as unobtrusive as possible. My ex-boss Dan knew about my insulin pump, but would often publicly chastise me for “checking my phone” with a weird smirk. Maybe he thought being diabetic was embarrassing? Not sure. His remarks often drew more attention than me just trying to fix my pump, which is obviously not what I was going for. Urgh. We had an internal meeting once where Dan was extremely strict about no phones in the room, to show our grandboss how focused and productive we were, or something. Because it apparently understands comedic timing, my insulin pump starts beeping halfway through this meeting. Adhering to the no phones rule, I shrug and keep talking through my slides. Beep-beep-beep-beep. My coworkers are starting to get anxious, because they all know (thanks, Dan!) that I should probably be fixing that. BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. I finish my presentation. Any questions? Two different coworkers ask me to sit down or if they can get me anything to drink. Someone asks if I need an ambulance. I’m totally fine – I know my urgent beeps from the non-urgent ones! – but I’m enjoying watching Dan squirm when his boss freaks out that he has coached me to ignore medical emergencies in favor of arbitrarily phone-free meetings. 4. The “accommodation” My last boss maybe broke the law by telling me I couldn’t work remotely for a few days while recovering from a complication of my disability. It’s an invisible disability and she was a jerk. She told HR that due to the nature of my job I couldn’t be out for consecutive days, which was patently untrue. When they denied my request and instead offered me one additional WFH day per month, I explained that this would be like telling someone who had a mobility issue that sure, they could work remotely for the next month — but only for half of each day. It needed to be consecutive days home for recovery, but I was still able to work. They said to just use up all my sick leave. When I accepted another job offer, I didn’t immediately put in my notice. I had that sick leave available and, as luck (?) would have it, the fussy nerve in my foot was ever so slightly acting up. So, what did I do? Explained to them that I was experiencing a mobility issue and wouldn’t be able to come into the office until it was better. And darn, I guess I won’t be able to work from home even though it’s crunch time due to their policy. I enjoyed a week off, came back on a Tuesday, put in my notice, and left that Friday. 5. The travel reimbursements This was many years ago. When traveling for work, I discovered that I couldn’t get reimbursed for customary tips on transportation (taxis, group airport shuttles). When I complained, it was just “too bad.” Only a few dollars here and there, but I was peeved. Why should I be out money while on work travel? I read the travel policies closely after this and realized I could get reimbursed for car rental and parking. Flying in for a client meeting less than two miles from the airport? Car rental. Spending a week downtown in an expensive city for which I didn’t particularly need a car? Car rental plus over $50/day in parking fees so the car could just sit there until I needed to drive back to the airport. Did this for all work travel for the remainder of my time there. 6. The write-up When I worked in a now-bankrupt bridal store as a supervisor, the assistant manager and district manager pulled me into a meeting about receipts that had gone missing from a Sunday in March I worked. They alleged that the whole day’s worth of receipts had gone missing, they checked the schedule and knew I worked / closed that day, and were writing me up. I was appalled, and asked for the date. When they gave it, I said, “Oh, I know what happened!” They didn’t want to hear it. I tried several times, until the DM told me they didn’t want my excuses, but if I had any kind of rebuttal I could fill out a paper to submit with the write-up. I just said OK and filled it out. They made me fax it to corporate myself from the front desk, admonishing me the entire time for my carelessness. Before I pressed send, I asked ONE LAST TIME if they wanted to hear my side. No. OK, off it goes! About an hour later I was talking to another associate at the counter, the assistant manager standing right next to us. My friend asked what the meeting was about, and I told her. She asked what date that was, I told her that too. She frowned, checked the calendar, then said, “But that was Easter! The store wasn’t even opened!” “I know,” I said, “but ASM and DM didn’t want to hear it. I put it on my rebuttal sheet, though.” Big smile at ASM as I said it, who looked horrified. Less than a week later, I was issued an apology from both of them. In writing. 7. The hours I had an employee get sick and need to go to the ER. I took her, stayed with her, waited until she got checked in, swung by drive through for lunch, and came back to the office. My manager blasted me for taking so much time off of work (about two hours). So I kept to my 9-5 schedule and cut the extra 20-30 hours a week I had been working. But I sure was in the office 40 hours a week just like he asked. And then I left and he got fired for not being able to do his job. His career has sunk over the years, with him taking lower and lower positions at each company. 8. The sandwich with “everything” I used to work at a small mom and pop sandwich shop. We had a lot of options for condiments and toppings. Every single day I’d take multiple phone orders along the lines of “I want a turkey sandwich with EVERYTHING on it.” When I tried to clarify, the customers would often get snippy and rude – even when I politely explained that we had four kinds of mustard, three kinds of mayo, three different hot peppers, two types of pickle, avocados, carrots, olives, and various other things that most people don’t want on a turkey sandwich. Inevitably it would turn out they meant something like turkey with regular mustard, mayo, lettuce, maybe some cheese or tomato. Not even close to “everything.” On my very last day, one of these rude customers called in yet again and demanded a turkey sandwich with EVERYTHING on it. So I said “Yes ma’am,” and made one. Alas, I clocked out before she picked up her turkey sandwich with EVERYTHING on it. 9. The Spanish speaker Year ago, I worked for a university that ran a busy healthcare clinic. I was the only Spanish-speaking person in our department. There happened to be a position open and my boss quickly hired the daughter of someone who worked at the university’s main campus. We had begged and begged beforehand that another Spanish-speaker be hired because we served a huge population of Spanish-speakers. If I was out sick or something, the clinic was screwed. So this gal gets hired and my boss says that she speaks Spanish! Great! It’s on her resume and everything. I introduced myself in Spanish and tried talking to her a couple of times. She responded with kind of a non-committal “si” or mumbled something and pretended to be busy. My spider-sense went off. I asked my boss and she assured me that the new person speaks Spanish. “Are you sure? Because she doesn’t…” “I’m sure!” So … I started forwarding about half my Spanish-speaker calls to her phone and started calling her to the front desk to help with interpreting. It only took about a week for her to angrily admit that she doesn’t actually speak the language. 10. The overshare At the Big Bookstore, our (nitpicky) district manager one day decided that the Information kiosk should never be left unattended. Not for one single second. On my first day back after a super-fun bout of food poisoning, I was assigned to the kiosk. I had to make a break for the restroom at one point, and returned to find the district manager, the day manager, and a line of about three people. Rather than helping the line, the district manager demanded to know — at the top of his lungs — why I was “abandoning my post and ignoring the needs of our valued customers.” Not quite at the top of my lungs but still very audibly, I said, “In the future, I will remember it’s preferable to vomit in the kiosk rather than leave it unattended. Can I help the next customer?” Surprisingly, none of those customers needed my help after all, and I got to go home early that day after the red-faced district manager left. 11. The flights I used to work for a major multi-national company in a division which did engineering work for ships. Headquarters came out with a rule that we always had to book the cheapest possible flights if we had to travel for a job. Most of us booked sensible flights, ticked the “out of policy – business needs” box and carried on as normal. One of the service technicals was booking flights for a job and found the cheapest option offered on the travel booking system was some crazy combination of five flights, via places like Istanbul and Amsterdam. He promptly booked the flights, spent three days in transit, and by the time he got to the dockyard the ship had sailed. He was very smug about it. 12. The physical My job involves some pretty physical field work, so we have to go through annual physicals for insurance purposes. Kind of a hassle, but whatever. Except for a few years ago, when a new staff doctor took over administrating the physicals and approvals, and anyone with any kind of psychiatric prescription got phone calls asking extremely detailed, frankly invasive questions about their medication, medication history, symptoms, how well each medication treated your symptoms, your side effects, the list went on – and if you’ve ever been prescribed anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications, you know that you usually have to try out quite a few to find the right fit. It became quite apparent that this person did not want to approve anyone on any of these medications for field work, which was about 70% of our job description. I got my call on a Friday afternoon, about 10 minutes before the end of a shift that started at 3:45 am. I was beyond over it. I was over EVERYTHING. I was so far over it I had broken through the atmosphere into a peaceful void of zen and mild heat exhaustion. The new doctor started out asking questions about my experience with Zoloft, which I had taken for six weeks over 20 years ago. I asked why that was relevant. She said it was important information to assess my fitness for field work, tell me about the side effects you experienced with Zoloft. I said, “Oh, well if it’s important information–” And then I became an unskippable cutscene. I experienced a lot of side effects with Zoloft. They were … gastrointestinal in nature, and I spent 40 minutes describing them in excruciating detail. I invoked all five senses and every colorful metaphor my sleep-deprived brain could come up with. Every time she tried to break in, I just said, “No, no, I want you to have all the information you need! It’s important!” When I finally ran out of steam, she decided we didn’t need to discuss the rest of my medication history. I went home, slept for something like 11 hours, sent an email to HR asking for clarification on why the staff doctor was asking about my full medication history, which wasn’t in my employment physical paperwork, since I hadn’t signed any releases for the rest of my medical records, and went back to bed. On Monday, I was informed I was cleared for field work. It was a different doctor administering physicals the next year. 13. The $20 My company uses a travel agency’s booking platform that invoices departments directly for costs. However, it doesn’t allow conference-rate bookings, which require going directly to the hotel’s website with a special code. So, employees can book outside the platform—but only if they’re willing to float the cost. On my first work trip, I booked a conference-rate hotel using my own card to save the company hundreds. My flight home wasn’t until evening, so I paid a $20 late check-out fee to work from my room instead of squatting in the loud hotel coffee shop. A month after submitting a reimbursement request for the travel charges, my entire request was denied because late check-out was “not a required business need.” Cue frustration: I’m now floating over a grand on my card for hotel charges because of a $20 fee. Determined, I enlisted ChatGPT to draft a multi-page thesis proving that $20 was, in fact, a legitimate business expense—complete with productivity analyses, co-working space cost comparisons, and detailed documentation of the work I was able to complete from the hotel room. Must have been compelling; Finance approved the reimbursement. But I didn’t feel great about eating the credit card interest incurred while waiting for reimbursement, which Finance didn’t want to cover. Out came ChatGPT to draft another exhaustive (exhausting?) argument, including opportunity cost analyses. 2 for 2, I got the interest charges reimbursed too. Now? I book everything through the travel agency’s platform, no matter how absurdly overpriced it is. All because they refused my entire reimbursement request over the $20 late check-out fee. 14. The twist In my first role ever managing people, I was a student “account executive” at the on-campus design shop that made posters for the on-campus clubs and activities. One of the designers I managed worked a completely different schedule than I did, due to class hours. He was consistently late on his projects and deliverables. So I asked him to start giving me a rundown of the projects he worked on during his shifts. I explained it just as a “I worked on projects X, Y, and Z. I’m almost done with X and Y, Z will be a little longer because of Reason. I will connect with client for project K on Tuesday.” Really brief and standard status updates. He responded with malicious compliance and gave me essentially a minute by minute reporting of what he did during his shift. Obviously trying to overwhelm me with detail so I’d stop asking. I responded – yes perfect. More of that. And just made him give me that level of detail for a week. I did finally catch him and tell him to knock it off and give me the correct level of detail. But I let him make himself miserable with his own “malicious compliance” for a week first. View the full article

In this guide, you’ll learn how to connect Asana projects to ServiceNow, allowing you to automatically sync data between the two tools. This no-code Unito flow will automatically create new ServiceNow records and Asana tasks, keeping fields up to date in both tools. This can allow support teams to seamlessly escalate relevant tickets, project managers to report on customer support data, and more. By the end of this ServiceNow-Asana integration guide, you’ll be able to: Create new Asana tasks automatically based on specific ServiceNow records. Create new ServiceNow records synced to Asana tasks. Update fields in real-time with 2-way sync whenever manual changes are made. In this article: Setup in ServiceNow Step 1: Connect ServiceNow and Asana to Unito Step 2: Choose a flow direction for new records and tasks Step 3: Set rules to sync specific Asana tasks and ServiceNow records Step 4: Set field mappings between ServiceNow and Asana Launch your ServiceNow-Asana integration Setup in ServiceNow In order to sync ServiceNow records, you must connect to Unito with a ServiceNow account that has CRUD rights (create, read, update and delete) for the records and tables you plan on syncing. For example, if this is an ITSM use case, you’ll need an account with the ITIL role in ServiceNow. If you’re not an admin, you can ask your IT department’s ServiceNow admin to create a service account for you with the right permissions. Connecting ServiceNow to Unito for the first time A ServiceNow admin needs to connect your account to Unito. From there, you have two options: connecting using OAuth 2.0 or using a username and password. Here’s how to connect Unito with OAuth2.0. Make sure you have this information on hand: ServiceNow Domain URL: https://INSTANCENAME.service-now.com OAuth 2.0: An OAuth Client ID and Secret Username: Your ServiceNow username and password Step 1. Connect ServiceNow and Asana to Unito Sign up for Unito. Click +Create Flow in the Unito App. Click Start Here to connect ServiceNow and Asana. Click +Choose account for each tool and complete the authorization process. Choose a specific type of ServiceNow record to include in your flow. Click Confirm. Once your tools are connected, click Confirm. First time connecting tools to Unito? Check out our in-depth guide. Step 2. Choose a flow direction for new records and tasks When you create new ServiceNow records or Asana tasks, Unito can automatically create synced versions of these work items in the other connected tool. Flow direction determines where new work items are automatically created by Unito. Here are your options: 2-way: ServiceNow records and Asana tasks are automatically created to match what you create manually in each tool. 1-way from ServiceNow to Asana: Asana tasks will be automatically created by Unito to match ServiceNow records you manually create. Unito won’t automatically create new ServiceNow records. 1-way from Asana to ServiceNow: ServiceNow records will be automatically created by Unito to match Asana tasks you manually create. Unito won’t automatically create new Asana tasks. Here’s a full guide to how flow direction works in Unito. Step 3. Set rules to sync specific Asana tasks and ServiceNow records Rules allow you to set the conditions your Unito flow will look for before syncing Asana tasks and ServiceNow records. This allows you to control which work items your flow will sync, as well as automating a few other types of actions. Here are just a few examples of what rules can do: Only sync ServiceNow records with a Date field after a specific date. Only sync Asana tasks with certain Assignees. Automatically create Asana tasks in a specific section to match ServiceNow records. To create your rule, click Add a new rule. Then you can set the conditions for that rule, such as which sections Unito will look in for work items to sync and what to do with them. In this example, only records in the Application Development assignment group will sync to Asana. You can learn more about setting up rules here. Step 4. Set field mappings between ServiceNow and Asana Field mappings pair fields in ServiceNow records and Asana tasks so data always ends up in the right place. You can also tailor flow direction on a field-by-field basis, so that even a two-way flow, automatically creating new work items in both ServiceNow and Asana might only sync data from specific fields in one direction. You can choose to let Unito map your fields automatically or map them manually from scratch. How to map a field manually Here’s how you can add a new field mapping to your flow: Click +Add mapping to add new pairs of fields. Choose a field from the dropdown under each tool. Since virtually every field in ServiceNow can be customized, you’ll most likely need to set up the majority of your field mappings yourself. Most fields are automatically mapped for two-way updates, but you can change this as needed. How to configure field mappings Some fields, like status or dropdown fields, have gear icons next to them. These fields can be customized further after being mapped, allowing you to map individual inputs for those fields. NOTE: If you’re syncing statuses, be sure to add every relevant status option for your Asana tasks and ServiceNow records. Here’s an overview of status syncing in Unito. You can learn more about field mappings here. Launch your ServiceNow-Asana integration That’s it! You’ve just built your flow! If you’ve followed the steps above, your flow will now: Create a ServiceNow record automatically for every Asana task in your specified project. Create an Asana task for every ServiceNow incident or record. Allow teams to work across tools without any copying-and-pasting, extra meetings, or data requests needed. Still have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out! Our support team is ready to jump in and help you get your flows working exactly as needed. See if this integration is right for your team Book a demo Ready to sync the rest of your tool stack? Check out some of our other walkthroughs to sync ServiceNow and Asana to every other tool your teams depend on. Smartsheet to Asana Asana to Airtable Asana to Jira Asana to Azure DevOps ServiceNow to Jira Service Management ServiceNow to Azure DevOps ServiceNow and monday.com ServiceNow with Google Sheets ServiceNow and Salesforce View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: The small company where I work offers good pay, generous PTO and other benefits, a fun and friendly environment, and good work-life balance. It also has an excellent product with a lot of growth potential. Generally, it’s considered by employees to be a great place to work. The problem for me is that apart from the good pay and friendly coworkers, I mostly miss out on the perks that others enjoy. To be clear, there is a spectrum within the company: some of my coworkers are more overworked and stressed than others. But I’m an outlier: I’ve been assigned responsibility for a lot of the most mission-critical and inflexible work that requires my attention every day without fail, so I cannot take any of my PTO. On top of that, I’m relied on for a lot of precise design and problem-solving that requires intersections of expertise no one else has, and it’s difficult to find interruption-free time for that kind of deep work, so that work gets pushed into my weekends. Meanwhile, everyone else gets to take vacations and have some time to chat and take breaks during the workday, while I have to maintain 10 to 12 hours of being on-task, and even that is not enough to keep up. A pattern has emerged over the years: when I call attention to my workload and how it’s creating key-person risk for the company as well as unsustainable conditions for myself, I get promises of relief and sometimes actual improvements, but my circumstances backslide before long. I might get approval to hire additional staff and things start functioning better, but then something else goes awry: upper management overpromises to a client, a key employee quits, a supplier falters and we have to plug that gap in-house, etc. Because I have a broad skill set and am seen as reliable, I’m usually the person assigned as the rescuer of whatever situation comes up, so it’s only a matter of time. Thus far, I’ve stuck around for the job security, pay, and potential for early retirement if our stock options pan out. But I’m also being required to bear a much heavier cost than my coworkers for the same upside, and I’m always teetering on the edge of burnout. Furthermore, the company is so heavily depending on me for crucial functions, much of that growth potential could evaporate if I quit or even just reduced my productivity to an average level. Upper management seems to have convinced themselves (despite what I’ve said) that I am so emotionally invested in their mission that I will endlessly sacrifice the rest of my life to keep their gears turning. That’s the story they tell other people, while also telling me that I should take my PTO, while also telling me, “We know you’re super busy but we really need X and Y and Z done ASAP!” Is there a plausible strategy for breaking this cycle of the company occasionally listening and improving, but then quickly forgetting and singling me out as the fixer for the next crisis? Or does this sound like a lost cause? You can read my answer to this letter at New York Magazine today. Head over there to read it. View the full article

Hours worked aren't a badge of honor. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

Hours worked aren't a badge of honor. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

Don’t let them dictate your workflow. By Frank Stitely The Relentless CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Frank Stitely. View the full article

Don’t let them dictate your workflow. By Frank Stitely The Relentless CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Frank Stitely. View the full article

But still “far from perfect.” By CPA Trendlines Research Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

But still “far from perfect.” By CPA Trendlines Research Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I went on a work trip and thought it went well. On the last day, I woke up to hear my senior teammate bashing me. We shared a wall, and it was paper-thin. I snore, and it’s something I’m embarrassed by, but there’s nothing I can do to control it. My teammate said he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep for the whole trip and accused me of doing it on purpose so I could transfer off the team. I don’t know where that came from — I’ve never indicated I wanted to leave. He also called me weird and nasty. I was shocked. Up until that point, he had been pleasant, engaging, and polite. My concern isn’t with him; it’s with his influence on the team and senior leaders. I love my job. It’s complex, fast-paced, and I’m always learning something new. It feels like my sweet spot. But he has a lot of influence and more time in the company than I do, and I’m worried I’ll be blackballed or not invited on any more work trips. This incident feels like the culmination of some insecurities I’ve been feeling. My personality doesn’t seem to be landing with the group. I’ve tried to make headway socially, but it feels like I’m hitting a wall. I also worry that certain things are being viewed in a bad light. For instance, I have a sensitive stomach that’s affected by stress and changes in schedule, so I didn’t hang out with the team every night — only two out of the four. This is new territory for me because, at my other jobs, it wasn’t expected. Everyone just did their own thing. But given my teammate’s strong reaction, I’m starting to think this may have added fuel to the fire. I’m bummed. I love the job and the team, but I don’t see a way forward. I strongly believe I’ll be forced out or iced out. Do you have any advice on how to interact with my teammate? We work together on a lot of programs, so I can’t avoid him. Usually, I don’t sit at tables where I’m the next topic when I get up, but in this case, it feels unavoidable. FYI, I am not having any performance issues, which may be the only thing that saves me. Well, wait — you’re giving way too much power to someone who sounds like an awful person. The idea that a colleague would intentionally snore loudly as some sort of plot to be able to transfer off the team is Incredibly Weird. It’s really unlikely that other people would hear what he said and think, “Wow, Snorer is a real jerk to do that.” They’re far more likely to think, “WTF? No one snores as a strategy to bother someone in a neighboring room; what a bizarre thing to say.” Truly, any sane person who heard your coworker accuse you of that is thinking there’s something wrong with him, not with you. Or, in the most generous reading, that he was just cranky after not sleeping well and was lashing out unreasonably. No one is going to think you were strategically snoring as an act of anti-social aggression. I suspect you’re giving this so much weight because of the rest of the situation — that you feel you’re having trouble meshing with the group. But even there, it’s worth questioning what you’re basing that on. Did anyone actually respond poorly to you for only hanging out two nights out of the four (which was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, by the way)? Or are you feeling anxious about the situation in general and assuming that may have been one more way you aren’t fitting in with them? It’s definitely possible that you’re not clicking well with the group. That’s really common! But it doesn’t usually mean the person who’s not fitting in gets pushed off the team. It just means things aren’t as socially comfortable — which isn’t ideal, but is a world away from being iced out or losing your job. It’s possible there’s more going on that didn’t make it into your letter — concrete signs that things aren’t going well in a way that could jeopardize your job. But it’s also possible that this is all an anxiety reaction — that your brain is catastrophizing in a way that doesn’t reflect anything that’s likely to happen. Would you feel comfortable talking to your boss about how things are going overall? That will give you more data to put all of this in context — and you might hear that as far as your boss is concerned, everything is fine. As part of that conversation, you could also say that you’re not sure you’re meshing well with the group and ask if she has advice on that — but whether that’s useful to do will depend on your relationship with her and your sense of how skilled she is on picking up on things like that. I’d also seriously consider talking to the coworker whose unkind remark you overheard. There’s no reason you can’t say to him, “I overheard you say my snoring kept you up, and I’m horrified — I had no idea that would be an issue, and I feel awful that you didn’t sleep well. For future work trips I’ll plan to ask for a room further away from the rest of the group so that doesn’t happen again.” Maybe that will jog him into realizing he was being a jerk, but if nothing else it’ll at least get you on the record as Not Snoring At Him … and also as someone who handles issues professionally and maturely, unlike what he’s chosen to do. View the full article

This article is posted with permission from our partner MacPaw. MacPaw makes Mac + iOS apps that have been installed on over 30 million devices worldwide. Freelancers Union members receive 30 days of free unlimited access to CleanMyMacX and Setapp: https://freelancersunion.org/resources/perks/macpaw/ You've probably heard whispers about Venmo scams. Despite being a convenient and generally secure way to send and receive money, it’s a favorite playground for scammers who devise clever ways to trick people out of their cash. At Moonlock, MacPaw’s cybersecurity division, we’ve dug into the world of Venmo scams to help you stay one step ahead of scammers. Below, you’ll find the most common schemes, how they work, and ways to protect yourself. Venmo scams and how they workVenmo scams come in all shapes and sizes, but the goal is always the same: trick you into parting with your money. Scammers use phishing emails, fake texts, spoofed calls, or even paper checks to create believable ruses. Here’s a rundown of the most common scams and how they catch people off guard. Venmo upgrade account scamIn this scam, you get an email claiming your Venmo activity becomes limited until you pay a one-time fee to “upgrade.” It might look and sound official, but it’s pure fiction. The scammer will happily take your $250, or however much they think they can squeeze out of you, and disappear. Venmo x Facebook Marketplace scamFacebook Marketplace is a treasure trove for secondhand finds, but scammers are lurking there, too. They’ll post fake listings and insist you pay upfront via Venmo. Once the money’s sent, the item you’re expecting will never arrive, and neither will the refund. Venmo support scamIf someone claiming to be from Venmo calls or texts you, proceed with caution. Scammers spoof phone numbers to make them look legit and then ask for your login credentials or account details. Once they have that information, they’ll drain your account in no time. Accidental transfer fraudA scammer uses a stolen credit card to send you money, then claims it was an accident, and asks you to refund it. You oblige, thinking it’s harmless, but when the stolen card is flagged, the original payment gets reversed. At the end, you end up without the money you “refunded.” Phishing scamsThese scams arrive as urgent emails claiming your Venmo account has an issue that needs immediate fixing. The email includes a link to a fake website designed to steal your credentials or infect your device with malware. Fake prizesYou’ve won something amazing! All you have to do is pay a small fee via Venmo for shipping. Spoiler alert: there’s no prize, and your shipping fee goes straight into the pocket of scammers. Overpayment scamYou won’t believe it, but scammers can even send you a paper check for this one. They pay you in exchange for a purchase or a service, but the amount is more than you requested. Then scammers demand that you refund the difference via Venmo. Once you do, the original payment is reversed and scammers keep your refund for good. Does Venmo have built-in protection?Unfortunately, Venmo doesn’t offer much recourse if you’ve been scammed. Once the money is sent, it’s out of your hands unless the recipient willingly refunds it. You can report scams through Venmo’s Help Center, but the chances of getting your money back are slim. To be on the safe side, it’s better to enable security features like Face ID and PIN codes to lock strangers out of the app. You can also turn on two-factor authentication on your account to ensure that no one uses your account other than you. Another option is to turn on private mode, so only your friends and connections will see your account. This way, scammers will have less personal information about you to use in social engineering tactics. Signs of Venmo fraudScammers are crafty, but they often follow predictable patterns. Here’s how to spot the red flags. A stranger contacts youIf someone you don’t know emails, calls, or messages you claiming to be from Venmo, be cautious. Venmo rarely initiates contact and never asks for personal information. A sense of urgencyScammers thrive on panic. Their messages are designed to make you act fast and without thinking by emphasizing urgency or danger. Spelling and grammar mistakes Professional companies rarely send messages with typos or awkward phrasing. Sloppy writing is often a giveaway of a scam. Requests for personal information or moneyEvery scam has a purpose, and it usually comes down to one of two things: stealing your personal information or taking your money. If someone asks for anything along these lines, consider it a glaring red flag. Final thoughtsScams can be unsettling, but a little caution goes a long way. Keep an eye out for suspicious messages, links, and calls, and always double-check before sending money or sharing personal information. The best way to protect yourself is to stay vigilant and take proactive measures: Turn on two-factor authentication for an extra layer of security. Features like Face ID, Touch ID, or PIN codes can also help keep your account locked down.Never send money to strangers. If someone you don’t know requests money, think twice before sending it. Scammers rely on impulsive decisions.Maximize your privacy and security settings to limit who can see your activity and account information.View the full article

This article is posted with permission from our partner MacPaw. MacPaw makes Mac + iOS apps that have been installed on over 30 million devices worldwide. Freelancers Union members receive 30 days of free unlimited access to CleanMyMacX and Setapp: https://freelancersunion.org/resources/perks/macpaw/ You've probably heard whispers about Venmo scams. Despite being a convenient and generally secure way to send and receive money, it’s a favorite playground for scammers who devise clever ways to trick people out of their cash. At Moonlock, MacPaw’s cybersecurity division, we’ve dug into the world of Venmo scams to help you stay one step ahead of scammers. Below, you’ll find the most common schemes, how they work, and ways to protect yourself. Venmo scams and how they workVenmo scams come in all shapes and sizes, but the goal is always the same: trick you into parting with your money. Scammers use phishing emails, fake texts, spoofed calls, or even paper checks to create believable ruses. Here’s a rundown of the most common scams and how they catch people off guard. Venmo upgrade account scamIn this scam, you get an email claiming your Venmo activity becomes limited until you pay a one-time fee to “upgrade.” It might look and sound official, but it’s pure fiction. The scammer will happily take your $250, or however much they think they can squeeze out of you, and disappear. Venmo x Facebook Marketplace scamFacebook Marketplace is a treasure trove for secondhand finds, but scammers are lurking there, too. They’ll post fake listings and insist you pay upfront via Venmo. Once the money’s sent, the item you’re expecting will never arrive, and neither will the refund. Venmo support scamIf someone claiming to be from Venmo calls or texts you, proceed with caution. Scammers spoof phone numbers to make them look legit and then ask for your login credentials or account details. Once they have that information, they’ll drain your account in no time. Accidental transfer fraudA scammer uses a stolen credit card to send you money, then claims it was an accident, and asks you to refund it. You oblige, thinking it’s harmless, but when the stolen card is flagged, the original payment gets reversed. At the end, you end up without the money you “refunded.” Phishing scamsThese scams arrive as urgent emails claiming your Venmo account has an issue that needs immediate fixing. The email includes a link to a fake website designed to steal your credentials or infect your device with malware. Fake prizesYou’ve won something amazing! All you have to do is pay a small fee via Venmo for shipping. Spoiler alert: there’s no prize, and your shipping fee goes straight into the pocket of scammers. Overpayment scamYou won’t believe it, but scammers can even send you a paper check for this one. They pay you in exchange for a purchase or a service, but the amount is more than you requested. Then scammers demand that you refund the difference via Venmo. Once you do, the original payment is reversed and scammers keep your refund for good. Does Venmo have built-in protection?Unfortunately, Venmo doesn’t offer much recourse if you’ve been scammed. Once the money is sent, it’s out of your hands unless the recipient willingly refunds it. You can report scams through Venmo’s Help Center, but the chances of getting your money back are slim. To be on the safe side, it’s better to enable security features like Face ID and PIN codes to lock strangers out of the app. You can also turn on two-factor authentication on your account to ensure that no one uses your account other than you. Another option is to turn on private mode, so only your friends and connections will see your account. This way, scammers will have less personal information about you to use in social engineering tactics. Signs of Venmo fraudScammers are crafty, but they often follow predictable patterns. Here’s how to spot the red flags. A stranger contacts youIf someone you don’t know emails, calls, or messages you claiming to be from Venmo, be cautious. Venmo rarely initiates contact and never asks for personal information. A sense of urgencyScammers thrive on panic. Their messages are designed to make you act fast and without thinking by emphasizing urgency or danger. Spelling and grammar mistakes Professional companies rarely send messages with typos or awkward phrasing. Sloppy writing is often a giveaway of a scam. Requests for personal information or moneyEvery scam has a purpose, and it usually comes down to one of two things: stealing your personal information or taking your money. If someone asks for anything along these lines, consider it a glaring red flag. Final thoughtsScams can be unsettling, but a little caution goes a long way. Keep an eye out for suspicious messages, links, and calls, and always double-check before sending money or sharing personal information. The best way to protect yourself is to stay vigilant and take proactive measures: Turn on two-factor authentication for an extra layer of security. Features like Face ID, Touch ID, or PIN codes can also help keep your account locked down.Never send money to strangers. If someone you don’t know requests money, think twice before sending it. Scammers rely on impulsive decisions.Maximize your privacy and security settings to limit who can see your activity and account information.View the full article

This article is posted with permission from our partner MacPaw. MacPaw makes Mac + iOS apps that have been installed on over 30 million devices worldwide. Freelancers Union members receive 30 days of free unlimited access to CleanMyMacX and Setapp: https://freelancersunion.org/resources/perks/macpaw/ Freelancing often occurs in the digital realm, where safeguarding personal information is essential. National Data Privacy Week, celebrated from January 27 – 31, serves as a timely reminder to take control of our data. Online activities leave a significant digital footprint, so understanding how to manage and secure this data is more important than ever. MacPaw is dedicated to empowering individuals with the tools and knowledge to take control of personal and professional data. What Data Privacy Week is about?Data Privacy Week, initiated in 2022 by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, is an annual campaign highlighting the importance of data protection and privacy in our increasingly digital world. The week reminds us how much personal information is collected by websites, apps, and services, often driven by advertising goals. This data usually goes beyond browsing habits; it might include highly sensitive details like Social Security numbers, health records, or addresses. In charge of the dataThe easiest way is to stop using technology – but let's take a trickier solution where we don't have to give up on the internet. Even though it's almost impossible to control all the bits of data collected, we can choose what to disclose. It's not rocket science; repeatable, simple steps can make a difference in protecting our personal information. We must understand the trade-offs between convenience and privacy, make informed decisions on what data to share, and use the right tools. Data Privacy in PracticeHere are some tips to safeguard your data privacy: Accept or decline?Before accepting all the data processing a website or app asks for, make a quick check. Be mindful when granting permissions and understand why certain data might be necessary. After this practice, you might want to alternate some apps that require a lot of unnecessary information. Settings update tooRemember to check the privacy settings of your apps and devices. Make sure that apps only access essential data. If they ask for too much, you have all the power to align permissions. Browse safeVPN is an effective way to enhance online privacy, and ClearVPN is an excellent choice. It ensures your connection is secure and private with top-tier encryption and concealed IP and upholds a strict no-logs policy. It allows your online activity and personal information to be safe. Getting rid of unused appsCheck your app list. If you haven’t used an app in a while, it is likely time to delete it. CleanMyMac will be handy for this case. Regularly reviewing the apps both prevents unnecessary apps from collecting data and allows you to free up memory on your device. Protecting Your Digital WorldData Privacy Week is an ideal time to reflect on how we manage our digital footprint and take steps toward stronger data protection. By adopting mindful online practices and utilizing trustworthy tools, we can make meaningful progress safeguarding our personal information. Your data is valuable—take charge and protect it. View the full article

This article is posted with permission from our partner MacPaw. MacPaw makes Mac + iOS apps that have been installed on over 30 million devices worldwide. Freelancers Union members receive 30 days of free unlimited access to CleanMyMacX and Setapp: https://freelancersunion.org/resources/perks/macpaw/ Freelancing often occurs in the digital realm, where safeguarding personal information is essential. National Data Privacy Week, celebrated from January 27 – 31, serves as a timely reminder to take control of our data. Online activities leave a significant digital footprint, so understanding how to manage and secure this data is more important than ever. MacPaw is dedicated to empowering individuals with the tools and knowledge to take control of personal and professional data. What Data Privacy Week is about?Data Privacy Week, initiated in 2022 by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, is an annual campaign highlighting the importance of data protection and privacy in our increasingly digital world. The week reminds us how much personal information is collected by websites, apps, and services, often driven by advertising goals. This data usually goes beyond browsing habits; it might include highly sensitive details like Social Security numbers, health records, or addresses. In charge of the dataThe easiest way is to stop using technology – but let's take a trickier solution where we don't have to give up on the internet. Even though it's almost impossible to control all the bits of data collected, we can choose what to disclose. It's not rocket science; repeatable, simple steps can make a difference in protecting our personal information. We must understand the trade-offs between convenience and privacy, make informed decisions on what data to share, and use the right tools. Data Privacy in PracticeHere are some tips to safeguard your data privacy: Accept or decline?Before accepting all the data processing a website or app asks for, make a quick check. Be mindful when granting permissions and understand why certain data might be necessary. After this practice, you might want to alternate some apps that require a lot of unnecessary information. Settings update tooRemember to check the privacy settings of your apps and devices. Make sure that apps only access essential data. If they ask for too much, you have all the power to align permissions. Browse safeVPN is an effective way to enhance online privacy, and ClearVPN is an excellent choice. It ensures your connection is secure and private with top-tier encryption and concealed IP and upholds a strict no-logs policy. It allows your online activity and personal information to be safe. Getting rid of unused appsCheck your app list. If you haven’t used an app in a while, it is likely time to delete it. CleanMyMac will be handy for this case. Regularly reviewing the apps both prevents unnecessary apps from collecting data and allows you to free up memory on your device. Protecting Your Digital WorldData Privacy Week is an ideal time to reflect on how we manage our digital footprint and take steps toward stronger data protection. By adopting mindful online practices and utilizing trustworthy tools, we can make meaningful progress safeguarding our personal information. Your data is valuable—take charge and protect it. View the full article

At Ahrefs, we have a team of extremely skilled (and very human) designers, but not everyone has that luxury. I wanted to know: are AI image generators useful for spinning up quick social media posts, creating blog post graphics, or…Read more ›View the full article

Uncertainty is an understatement when it comes to TikTok's future in the United States. After users in the U.S. were unable to log in to TikTok the day the TikTok ban took effect, TikTok restored its service the following day. After which, the White House issued an executive order on January 20th, 2025, granting a 75-day extension to delay enforcement of the TikTok ban and pursue a deal involving a U.S. ownership stake in ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. The 75-day extension will give ByteDance until April 4th, 2025 – when the extension is set to expire – to divest ownership of the company. The legal situation between TikTok and the U.S. is still unfolding. As it stands, TikTok is available in the U.S., and Buffer users with TikTok connected to their accounts should be able to post as usual. If that is not the case, please reach out to our team. Several legal factors are in play, so we expect this situation to evolve over the coming weeks. We will continue to update this blog post and inform Buffer users of any changes that may impact their Buffer accounts. The TikTok ban and your social media strategyIf you work in social media, it’s nothing new to adapt and change your strategy based on the ever-changing algorithms and the rise and fall of social networks. (Who else was on Vine? 🙋🏻‍♀️) But, of course, we wish you didn’t have to. TikTok has become one of the most widely used social media platforms, with over 170 million users in the U.S. alone, and is credited with impacting trends and cultural shifts. Though the TikTok ban is expected to be temporary, it's a great time to consider expanding and diversifying your social media strategy. The good news is that you've already done most of the work if you've been consistently creating video content for TikTok — our data shows that video is far and away the best type of content on all social media platforms for reach and engagement. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are the most similar to TikTok, and Facebook Reels is also a promising channel to explore. LinkedIn, too, is expanding its video features, so you may want to look there as well if it makes sense for your target audience. TikTok being unavailable in the U.S is also an unfriendly reminder of the importance of growing an audience on the platforms and services you have more control over. It’s a good time to keep your website up to date, get set up with a link-in-bio tool, and ensure you’re leveraging your newsletter to its fullest potential. This situation is still in flux, and we don't know what the outcome will be. For now, the best thing to do is stay informed. We’ll keep this blog post updated as we learn more. View the full article

The start of the year is always a good moment to start or update your SEO roadmap. This is a structured collection of tasks you plan to do to enhance your site’s performance. If you already have one, great! If not, read this article to find out what you can do and why you need an SEO strategy. Table of contents What is an SEO roadmap? Why do you need an SEO roadmap for that? How to create an SEO roadmap Define your goals and priorities Audit your website Estimate time and resources Review and adjust A roadmap is the groundwork for SEO success What is an SEO roadmap? An SEO roadmap is a strategic outline for enhancing a website’s visibility in search engines. It consists of all the SEO tasks you wish to perform in a given period of time. These tasks encompass keyword research, content strategy, and technical SEO. We need a plan showing how people find our product or business. Once we know that, we’ll need to write content strategically targeting these people. At the same time, we’ll find a way to improve our website’s technical aspects to ensure it performs flawlessly. The goal is to connect your SEO plan to the broader business goals. This will help you focus on the right things for the desired results. Of course, this isn’t just about performing better and properly managing your resources. It helps allocate time and budget effectively to areas with the most impact. Setting up and managing an SEO strategy has many benefits. It provides a solid framework for tracking performance and fine-tuning it where necessary, helping you target the right people and stay ahead of the competition. Why do you need an SEO roadmap for that? While it’s easy to jump right into the SEO work you need to do, it’s better to have a roadmap. An SEO roadmap helps your decision-making process. It helps you prioritize the activities that drive the most value. And it gives you a sense of direction. Setting up such an SEO roadmap will help you increase your website’s visibility in search. It will also help you target the right audiences and reduce costs by focusing on high-impact areas. Your new strategy should support the overarching business goals. Often, that’s increasing sales. By increasing organic traffic, you can boost sales and revenue. It could also support brand awareness. Enhancing your brand’s presence in search engines makes it more recognizable. Plus, you’ll want to engage customers. Building a solid, holistic SEO strategy also keeps you agile. You’re much more on top of things and able to respond to changes in search history trends or market conditions. This is another thing that gives you a leg up over a slightly less well-prepared competitor. How to create an SEO roadmap Before creating an SEO plan, you need to collect some insights. Clearly define what you want to achieve, and audit your site to get a feel for the issues you must fix. Then, the budget and availability of resources must be figured out to get the updates done. When you have everything, you can build out your SEO roadmap. Define your goals and priorities Creating a successful SEO roadmap begins with setting clear goals and establishing priorities. This step helps focus all efforts and align them with broader business objectives. Set SMART goals The most important thing is to work in a structured manner. You need a framework to verify if the work you’re planning is feasible and measurable. Here’s how to effectively define your goals and priorities using SMART criteria. Set SMART goals: Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This framework ensures clarity and direction. Specific: Clearly describe what you want to achieve. For instance, instead of saying “increase traffic,” specify “increase organic traffic by 20%.” Measurable: Use metrics to track progress and evaluate success. Example: “Reach 50,000 monthly page views by the end of Q2.” Achievable: Make sure the goals are realistic. Think about your resources and constraints. Consider current performance as a baseline. Relevant: Align goals with business objectives. If brand awareness is your number one goal, focus on increasing visibility in search engine results. Time-bound: Set a deadline to create urgency. Example: “Achieve a top 3 ranking for targeted keywords within six months.” Of course, there are many other options. Consider frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. This method helps you prioritize tasks by urgency and importance, sorting them into four categories: do first, schedule, delegate, and don’t do. Use this matrix to categorize SEO tasks, focusing first on urgent and important ones, like fixing critical site errors. Align with business objectives Your SEO goals should fall in line with your overall business strategy. This way, SEO efforts will help your company achieve its goals. For example, if your company wants to grow its market share in a particular area, you should focus on local SEO. This means targeting local keywords and directories. Not all tasks are created equal, so determine which ones will have the biggest impact and put them on your SEO roadmap first. Look for tasks that are easy to do and give you quick results, like fixing high-traffic pages. Also, focus on projects that match your main business goals, even if they take more time and resources. Remember to meet with all the important people to ensure that your SEO goals are what they want and that they fit with the whole company’s goals. Talk to the marketing, sales, and product teams to understand what they want and how SEO can help them achieve it. Audit your website Conducting a thorough website audit is critical in creating an effective SEO roadmap. This process helps identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. You can add the audit findings as improvement tasks to your roadmap. Do a content audit Most of the time, people find your website through your content. As such, it’s an essential part of your SEO strategy. But your content might have become a tangled mess if you’ve been at it for a while. A content audit can help inform your SEO roadmap and help you untangle that mess. Review your existing content and see if it (still) meets user needs and aligns with your goals. Then, look for content gaps to determine whether your audience is interested in a topic you haven’t discussed on your site yet. If you find these or other opportunities, add them as tasks on your roadmap. Don’t forget to check the on-page SEO of your key pages. You can do a proper content audit by hand, but tools like Semrush and Ahrefs make this process much more manageable. Do a technical SEO audit A technical audit will help uncover performance issues with the site. These issues might prevent search engines or users from properly accessing your site. First, crawl your website using tools like Screaming Frog to see if it can be accessed properly. Uncover crawl errors and find out what’s happening on pages that are not available — accidental or not. Check for broken links or 404 errors and add these to your task list. Evaluate and improve page load times, as speed affects user experience and rankings. Don’t forget Google’s core web vitals. Also, check that your site is responsive and functions well on mobile devices. You should add those tasks to the roadmap if you find technical issues on your site that you want or need to fix. Check the user experience Every year, user experience is getting more important if you want to perform well in search engines. Make sure that your site is easy to navigate. It should have a logical structure that helps users find information quickly. Analyze site bounce rates and time to identify pages needing improvement. Again, if you find improvements to be made, add them to your SEO roadmap as tasks so you can work on them in a structured way. Analyze the backlink profile The web is built around links, and while links have become slightly less important over the years, they’re still an important topic for search engines. In your audit, please look at your backlinks and see if you can acquire high-quality, relevant backlinks. Unless you have a manual action for spam from Google, it probably isn’t worth your time to disavow all the toxic links pointing to your site. Estimate time and resources Before you fill out your SEO roadmap, you need to estimate accurately the time and resources you have available to you. Doing so helps set realistic timelines to achieve your SEO goals. Evaluate team strengths and capabilities When working with a team, assess the skills available to determine who can handle specific SEO tasks. Also, understand the workload your team can handle alongside other responsibilities. Budget planning While you need enough people for your project, you also need a budget. Find the tools and technologies you need for SEO and budget accordingly. Also, decide if you need additional expertise, such as hiring freelancers or an SEO agency. Set realistic timelines It’s important to set realistic goals and timelines for the project. Give each task in your SEO roadmap a deadline. If you’ve looked at your tasks in detail, you know how long it would take. Do consider delays, as things will likely have a different duration than you thought before — even if you thought it through. Don’t forget to plan work for different teams in advance so they know when to come in. Prioritize tasks based on resources Look ahead and see if you can mix quick wins with long-term projects. It’s good to have successful moments during the project, not only at the end. Focus on optimizing existing high-traffic pages first while planning a longer-term content strategy. Make sure that the most critical tasks receive proper attention and resources. Review and adjust Your SEO roadmap is never set and done — there are always things to adjust for whatever reason. It’s important to review and adjust your strategy regularly. This helps you refine your plans and jump on new opportunities. Or, you can finally fix that pesky new thing that keeps popping up. Schedule regular reviews Don’t just wait for reviews to happen — plan them in advance. Conduct in-depth reviews every quarter to evaluate the overall effectiveness of your SEO strategy. In addition, you should hold monthly meetings to discuss ongoing tasks, recent results, and anything that needs priority. Analyze performance data Analyze all data thoroughly before making decisions. Examine all relevant data, including traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates, to get a complete picture of performance. From that data, identify your successes and failures. Determine which strategies are working well and which need reevaluation. Get feedback from stakeholders Ask your teammates for their views on what’s working and what’s not. If possible, hold feedback sessions to develop new solutions for issues. When necessary, ask customers or executives for insights on how you can make sure that the SEO plan supports overarching goals. Refine goals and strategy For all your research, refine your goals to reflect the necessary changes. If you performed better than you thought, why not take those goals up a notch? If not, see what you can do to improve. Also, don’t forget to place manhours in areas that need the most help. Implement changes and track impact When you’ve collected all your insights and know what you need to do, you should develop a plan to implement them. For example, you could update your content strategy or invest in different platforms to compete. Of course, you need to monitor the effect of the changes you made to your SEO strategy — and adjust if necessary! A roadmap is the groundwork for SEO success This guide provides the steps needed to develop an effective SEO plan. It helps you find long-term success for your roadmap while aligning it with broader business objectives. Be sure to work diligently on the tasks in your strategy and analyze and adjust if needed. Do you need help keeping up with SEO? Be sure to sign up for one of our SEO webinars! The post How to create an effective SEO roadmap appeared first on Yoast. View the full article

Redirects are important for your site‘s user experience and SEO. Learn how to redirect URLs on WordPress. View the full article

Meta has announced a new mobile video editing app called Edits, which will be available in app stores in February 2025. The announcement comes hot on the heels of ByteDance's CapCut temporary removal from major app stores as part of the TikTok ban, leaving creators scrambling for alternatives. The timing is no coincidence, of course. Meta has a history of making strategic moves to fill market gaps. Remember when they launched Instagram Reels right after TikTok's ban in India? Or how Threads emerged as X (formerly Twitter) was going through changes? Still, the news will be a welcome surprise to Instagram Reels creators — particularly since it looks like it’s going to be a pretty powerful app! Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared some interesting details about the app on Instagram and Threads — along with a video he actually filmed in Edits. I’ll be honest: even though I’m a bit of a CapCut fan, I’m pretty excited about everything Mosseri has teased so far. Here’s a look at everything we know about the new video editing app (watch this space — I’ll update this article as soon as I’ve had some hands-on time with Instagram’s Edits!). It’s going to be a 'full creative suite'Source: Apple App StoreMosseri made it clear in his announcement that Edits isn't just another video editing app — it's positioning itself as a comprehensive creative toolkit for mobile video creators. "It's more than a video editing app, it's a full suite of creative tools," Mosseri explained on Threads. Here's what creators can expect: Standard video editing features, of courseA higher-quality camera (which Mosseri himself used for the announcement)A dedicated inspiration tab, featuring trending audio and ideas to spark your ownA space to save your own ideas and draftsDraft sharing capabilities for collaborationDetailed insights for videos shared on Instagram It’s for ‘serious mobile creators’Edits is for creators who are serious about mobile video production. As Mosseri put it, "It's more for creators than casual video makers." He specifically called out that there would be no templates on the app. That said, it’s definitely not going to work for those creating full YouTube videos or similar. For one thing, there will be no desktop version of the app. An ‘incomplete’ version will drop in FebruaryMosseri revealed that the Edits team has been working with a group of creators to improve the app for a few months, and they’re looking to expand this group in the coming weeks. iOS users can preorder the app now, which they’ll be able to download next month. Mosseri mentioned that the Android app is coming “soon,” which implies Android users might have to wait slightly longer to get their hands on Edits. If you're eager to dive in, Mosseri has one request: patience. "The first version is going to be incomplete," he admits, suggesting this is just the beginning of what could be a significant evolution in mobile video creation tools. The real question now is: Will Edits fill the CapCut-shaped hole in creators' toolkits — even now that U.S. creators might not have to say goodbye to CapCut at all? I'll be keeping a close eye on this one and updating as more details emerge. Are you planning to give Edits a try when it launches? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop them in the comments below! View the full article

If you’re not an experienced content creator, it might be difficult to determine the best length for Instagram Reels to get the best results. And knowing the ideal number isn’t everything – your metrics might tell you something entirely different. In this article, we explore everything you need to know about the ideal length of Instagram Reels and other Instagram content – according to the team themselves. How long can Instagram Reels be?Instagram Reels can be anywhere from 15 seconds to 3 minutes in length. Previously, Reels were capped at 90 seconds, until Instagram increased the length of video uploads in January 2025. "We’ve heard a lot of feedback from a lot of you creators out there that 90 seconds is just too short," Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video, "So we’re hoping that upping that limit up to three minutes will help you tell the stories that you really want to tell.” Technically speaking, you can upload videos as long as 15 minutes on Instagram. However, Instagram sets very clear boundaries for how long a reel should be to perform well (this is an important caveat). When filming a video within the Instagram app, users can choose from various specific durations —15 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, and 90 seconds. Everything from the reel templates to the ideas you’re shown all cap at the 90-second mark, and you won’t be able to film additional clips. (At the time, of writing, the 3-minute update had not yet rolled out to all users.) But while you can’t make reels longer than 90 seconds within the app, you can upload longer videos than the available time limits in the content uploading section of your app. The video will just be cut off after the allowed time elapses. 💡Plan, organize, and schedule your Instagram Reels with Buffer. Here’s how →Once you’re done editing your video, add eye-catching graphics, a call-to-action (CTA), and hashtags to increase your content’s discoverability in the Instagram feed. Can you upload longer Instagram Reels?Yes, you can upload any video up to 15 minutes, and it will automatically be turned into a reel. When you upload a video filmed or edited outside the Instagram camera, there’s no need to choose a specific video length. You’ll have access to most of the same editing tools and functionality of the reels process (no music or extra clips, so make sure to add that before you upload). Make sure your video fits the expected Instagram Reels dimensions of 1080 x 1920 pixels so it fits neatly into the feed and gives the full-screen experience. If you want to upload a longer reel, simply go to your camera roll and select the video or videos you’d like to upload and they’ll pop up in the editing area. ⚠️Note that these videos are not prioritized by the Instagram algorithm and will not be recommended in the reels tab, but they can be viewed on the Feed and on your profile.How long should an Instagram Reel be?Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, has previously shared that uploading reels longer than 90 seconds could hurt distribution (though we expect this to extend to up to 3 minutes once the update is fully rolled out). However, length is not the only factor you have to consider – things like high-quality visuals and effective messaging are also vital when it comes to social content and holding user attention. Many creators work around the suggested limit for video lengths by directing their followers to "read more" in the captions. They create very short videos that are pleasing to watch in a loop while their audience reads through the captions or engages in the comments. How long can an Instagram Story be?An Instagram Story can be up to 60 seconds long and will disappear after 24 hours. You can add multiple 60-second videos if you want. Previously, longer videos were broken down into 15-second clips as they were uploaded to Stories, but now the maximum length is 60 seconds, and it remains as a single video. They also won’t appear in your main feed, other users' For You Pages, or following feeds. Your Stories will only be visible when followers tap on your profile photo, either while viewing your profile or within the DMs or messages tab. Here’s a quick tutorial to film or upload content to your Story on Instagram: Tap the Create button – the + icon at the bottom center of the screen when you open the appSwipe to the Story option, which is the second option in the bottom centerRecord your Story or upload your content by tapping the bottom left of your screenAdd your stickers, music, or text.Hit the → button to upload!How long can Instagram carousels be?Instagram carousels can have up to 10 photos or videos. Users on mobile can view carousel posts by swiping left, while desktop users can click through using the arrow button on the right-hand side of a post. To create an Instagram carousel post, choose Post in the creation area and hit the overlapping squares in the middle right of the screen to select multiple images and videos. You can add trending sounds or music to your Instagram carousel by clicking on the music symbol in the top right corner of your screen. Make sure your track of choice doesn’t run out before the user has finished swiping through the carousel. The length of Instagram Reels vs. TikToks vs. YouTube ShortsTikTok videos can be up to 30 minutes long, depending on your region. The maximum video length for YouTube Shorts is 3 minutes (any new videos longer than that will be published as regular YouTube videos but keeping the portrait aspect ratio). And of course, the ideal time limit for Instagram Reels is also 3 minutes seconds, but you can upload videos of up to 15-minutes in length. Reels was Instagram’s response to the rise of TikTok’s short-form content, although TikTok seems to be leaving the short-form space behind to compete with longer-form YouTube videos. The platforms don’t feel all that different. In fact, it’s common for creators to use Instagram Reels on TikTok and YouTube Shorts — we even recommend doing so for more visibility on your posts. 💡It’s important to remember that the Instagram algorithm penalizes content with a watermark from other platforms, which is something to consider when cross-posting video content.Refine your social media strategy for short-form videoWhile crossposting your content is the smart choice, especially to ease the content creation process, it’s wise to pick a primary social media platform for your videos and create your content with your target audience’s needs and preferences in mind. If you’re stuck on which short-form video platform is best for you, you might want to create a social media marketing strategy. Everyone from influencers to social media managers finds this process helpful. This social strategy guide will get you started and guide you through some questions to help you make the best choice for your social media goals. Finally, instead of focusing solely on the length of your videos, remember you have to produce quality content on Instagram, too. Your videos should perform well as long as you’re making reels that users find interesting and useful. View the full article

Learn the four types of keywords in SEO and how to optimize your content to rank for each type of keyword. View the full article

Battambang is on the Northern Line that operates between Poipet and Phnom Penh. Here is what to expect on the train from Battambang to Phnom Penh. Battambang – Phnom Penh train details The Northern Line is the train line from Phnom Penh to Poipet (on the Cambodia-Thailand border). There is usually one train per day in each direction between Phnom Penh and Poipet, but at the time of my visit the Battambang-Poipet section wasn’t operating. Depart Battambang: 3:00 pm Arrive Phnom Penh: 9:30 pm The official booking site is at https://royalrailway.easybook.com. I use Baolau to buy Cambodia train tickets. If you are overlanding from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, there is a train from Bangkok to Ban Klong Luk Border. From this station you can walk across the border to Poipet. From Poipet to Battambang you will need to get a van or taxi as there is currently no train service. Battambang Station Battambang Station is in the city centre, 450 metres from the riverfront. There are no shops inside the station, which is fair enough considering there is only one train per day in each direction. Some food vendors show up before the train, but you would be better off to have lunch first and bring your own snacks. There wasn’t anyone at the ticket office when I arrived, and the only travel information was this timetable written on a whiteboard. Onboard Battambang – Phnom Penh service This service featured two carriages with padded bench seats. The train is a diesel multiple unit (DMU), which means the engine is inside the carriage and not a separate locomotive. The carriage with the engine was noisier, so I sat in the last carriage. The carriages have fans and the windows can be opened. The combination of fan and open air made for a comfortable journey. There were only 10 people onboard when the train departed, so there was no worry about not getting a ticket. I still prefer to book in advance, especially if this is a preplanned travel event that I don’t want to miss. I enjoy these trains with open windows. The combination of fresh air and feeling closer to the landscape makes for an enjoyable journey. I also know that these trains will soon be a thing of the past. It should go without saying that you shouldn’t stick your arm or head out of the window. The train has a toilet onboard. The line is a single track, so if there is a train coming in the other direction then one of the trains has to wait at a passing loop. The train made some stops along the way to drop off passengers and parcels. We also had to stop for some cows that were on the track. The train toots its horn frequently as there are many unmanned level crossings. It’s a slow trip but it’s more scenic than by going by road. The train goes through rice fields, and seeing the occasional temple in the distance is a special sight. Pursat Station The main stop in between Battambang and Phnom Penh is at Pursat. The train stops for 30 minutes here, so it’s the only chance to buy food or drinks on the trip. There are food vendors next to the station. This is a popular stop with more people getting on here to go to Phnom Penh. [A Pursat cat wondering if it should go to Phnom Penh.] Phnom Penh Railway Station The train is scheduled to arrive in Phnom Penh at 9.30, and on my trip it arrived at 9.35pm. [Battambang train at Phnom Penh.] On the platform to the left is the Kiha train that operates from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, which was my next trip. The Kiha train will eventually operate on the Phnom Penh to Poipet service, so this trip report will become a historical archive of what the the train used to look like. There are tuktuks waiting outside the station, but I used Grab app to book a taxi from the station. This train travel review is part of the Southeast Asia railways guide. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Job candidate’s name is a slur I recently reviewed a job application from a candidate whose given name is a slur. It’s not unheard of for people to be named this and there are still plenty of folks who don’t realize it is a slur. It’s not obscure knowledge by any means, but it’s definitely not as commonly understood to be harmful as more well-known slurs. The thing is, I know that it’s a slur and I don’t think I can address someone by a word that I know is harmful even though it’s their name and what they prefer to be called. The position is still open so I may get so many better qualified candidates that it doesn’t matter, but if I do end up needing to interview them … what am I supposed to do? Ours is a very informal work environment and everyone around me knows that I make a point of addressing everyone without titles or honorifics, including elected officials we work with. I don’t know their gender but if I find it out and end up using Mr. or Ms. Last Name, that would really stand out. Most people don’t choose their own names and I know what a pain it is to have your name legally changed, having done that myself, so I don’t want to exclude a good candidate because of this thing they probably didn’t choose. And yet, I don’t think I have it in me to say “Hey Racial Slur, can you finish up that TPS report for Bobby by end of day?” What is the right thing to do here? People should be called by their names, even if you’re uncomfortable with it. There are names in other languages that sound identical to obscene words in English, and those people should be called by their names too; this is no different. The important distinction is that in this usage, it’s their name, not a slur. In fairness, I do think there are some limits to this. If someone legally changed their name to King Of Turd Mountain and wanted to be called that, I think it would be reasonable to decline to play along (particularly when it comes to listing that name on your company website and so forth) … but someone going out of their way to try to be provocative/make people uncomfortable is a very different situation than someone just going by their given name. 2. Exec is marketing a job as a “roommate opportunity” I work for a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities. This week, a senior vice president sent an all-staff email advertising a roommate opportunity. He said his daughter, who lives with disabilities, is looking for a roommate and it’s a great deal — free rent! You get a stipend! You just have to split utilities! Oh, and be available every night on call if she needs help using the bathroom or with any other emergencies. A home health aide works with her during the day. Once again, he’s sharing this as a “roommate opportunity.” It’s … an overnight home health aide opportunity. And for the stipend, it is well below minimum wage (plus, a home health aide wouldn’t be expected to pay utilities!). It sounds like there’s no contract so there’s also no agreement upon things like time off, coverage, etc. You’d be on call every single night. In addition to serving people with disabilities, our organization also tries to hire people with disabilities. In addition, given the nature of the field, many of the people in the entry-level tier, doing things like helping people use the toilet, tend to be low socioeconomic status themselves and are often from immigrant communities that are more vulnerable to exploitation and/or less savvy about American workplace expectations. This “generous offer” feels really exploitative and inappropriate. It seems unethical in general for an SVP to try to recruit an under-the-table home aide for his daughter from his own staff. The nature of our work makes it even weirder; I would expect someone in our field to understand why this is unethical. What are your thoughts? Is this completely insane? You are correct: it’s exploitative, and it would be inappropriate anywhere but is particularly misplaced at your organization. I’m sure he’s thinking “here’s an audience that’s particularly sensitized to the needs of the disabled and who might appreciate this ‘great deal’” … but, as you point out, it’s very much not a great deal to work every night for less than minimum wage, and he’s misusing his position by marketing it to people he has power over. Someone high-up in your organization should have flagged it. (Well, really, he himself should have realized before sending it that it wasn’t okay, but since that didn’t happen, someone else should have flagged it.) 3. Can I book an earlier flight to a conference than everyone else? In a few weeks, I am being sent on a big work trip to a four-day convention, my first one, although I have been with the company for many years in various roles. For a variety of reasons, such as plantar fasciitis, difficulty flying, autism/ADHD, and already being in a state of burnout, this is going to be an extremely hard trip for me. I’ve been told to expect 12+ hours on my feet and an additional 3-4 hours of dinner meetings each night. I cannot get out of it. I have a good reputation and am in a mid-level role with a lot of responsibility, but not compared to the other attendees from my company who are all 5+ levels above me on the org chart. Their assistants have booked them all on a flight that leaves at 6 pm after work the night before the conference starts, meaning we would not even be getting to our hotel rooms until 1 am the night before the convention. How bad would the optics be if I booked a flight earlier in the afternoon so I could be in bed at a reasonable hour? I am in charge of my own flight arrangements. I will also need some additional accommodation on the airplane that will be embarrassing to ask for openly in front of everybody. Knowing the company culture, I actually think flying out a day early to ostensibly see a friend or relative before the convention would go over way better than implying I can’t run on four hours of sleep like they all can, but I don’t want to lie. You know your company culture better than I do, but for the record: in most companies, it would be absolutely fine to say, “I don’t want to be exhausted for the first day of the conference, so I booked an earlier flight.” And that’s if you even needed to say anything at all; in a lot of cases you could just quietly book a reasonable flight and then, if asked if you were driving to the airport with the others, could just matter-of-factly say, “Oh, my flight leaves a couple of hours earlier.” But if you don’t think that will go over well, it’s perfectly fine to use a cover story. “I’m flying out a little earlier to meet a family member who lives there” may be a lie but it’s a lie that doesn’t harm anyone, doesn’t affect anyone but you, and is reasonable if it’s in service of avoiding company dysfunction (and preserving your privacy around on-flight accommodations). 4. What does a career coach do? I am unhappy in my current job and have been trying unsuccessfully to find something new for years now. I have multiple arts degrees and a job history that should translate into a good fill for most generic office jobs. However, I am totally overwhelmed about how to find these sorts of jobs and what they might be called in various industries so that I can apply. So I found a career coach, hoping that she could take a look at my skill set and help me track down jobs I would qualify for or translate my skill set for a particular industry. I honestly don’t care where I work or what I do — I just want to be paid fairly and not work with total jerks. However, that wasn’t what she seemed capable of doing. She was more like a high school guidance counsellor, making me take a number of personality and aptitude tests and asking a lot of questions about my “dream job.” One, I do not dream of labor, and two, I had my “dream job” and was chased out due to rampant sexual harassment and other bad behavior. I stayed way too long and developed anxiety issues because it was my “dream.” “Dream jobs” are a trap. I could not get her to move on to actually applying for jobs because she was so hung up on me finding passion for a career, and that’s just never going to happen. I’ve reached out to a few other “career coaches” and they all seemed to be in the same zone: helping me find my passion. I have passion, it’s just not for work. Did I just find a bunch of really bad coaches? Or is this what coaches do, and what I really need is another “assistance in finding work” person that’s called something else? This is indeed what a lot of career coaches, maybe even the majority, do. They’re often the live version of that old What Color is Your Parachute? book. You could try screening them by being very, very explicit before hiring someone that what you need is help figuring out what you’d be qualified for, not what you would be motivated by, but even then, unless you find someone unusually good, I’d worry that they’ll fall back on the “passion” framework. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find, but it does mean you’re going to have to do a lot of pre-screening before engaging someone. Part of the problem is that there aren’t any particular qualifications required to be a career coach, so just because someone is calling themselves that doesn’t mean they’ll have any expertise at understanding the range of jobs out there and what would make someone a good match for an employer hiring for that job (versus the “let’s explore your inner world” bent that you’ve been encountering). You’d probably have an easier time if you can identify a handful of industries you’re interested in and then seek out recruiters who work in those fields; they’re better equipped to help you position yourself as a candidate than many coaches are. (To be clear, recruiters work for employers, not candidates — but if you have skills they’re looking for, good ones can help match you to those jobs.) But that’s a little different than what you’re looking for. 5. Should I pay $600 for a certification I need for a job I’d like? I’m trying to decide if I should study for and spend the money to take a board certification test. I’ve been working at my company for five years and have been a working, licensed professional for 14. I have an interest in moving more into a corporate role, and have a big interest into moving into a computer-based role. However those jobs are very rare to open up and are highly competitive when they do. There is a different, more regulatory role in the health system that has opened up recently. It requires a specific, niche board certification. I emailed the hiring manager asking if they would consider hiring someone with a “certification within 6 months of hire” clause and was told no. The cost of signing up for the test is $600. I think I could do well in the role and would enjoy it, and it also works closely with the department I want to move into. But it’s hard to fathom spending that much money for the sake of a job I may not even get an interview for. Would the certification also make you a stronger candidate for other jobs that you’d want to apply for — and would you be a compelling candidate for those jobs once you had the certification? If so, it could be a worthwhile investment. But if not, I don’t recommend spending $600 just for a chance to be considered for a single job. View the full article

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This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. I’m off for the holiday, so here’s an older post from the archives. This was originally published in 2018. A reader writes: I have a problem with a coworker and have been hesitant to send this to you as it seems petty but it has been bugging me for awhile. It started as a pet peeve but has moved into something bigger the more she does it. This coworker, I’ll call her Eleanor, demands you say “please” whenever someone asks her to do anything work related. Some examples would be as follows: “Eleanor, can you email me those forecasts for next quarter so I can get this project to our boss?” “Only if you say please.” “Eleanor, can I call you about this crisis so we can work out a plan of action?” “Only if you say please.” Generally I do say please, but on those occasions I forget I don’t want to be talked to like a three-year-old. This feels like a silly power play and it is a game I don’t want to play. She even does this to her boss! Another concern is that she is doing this to our customers and I feel like this does damage to our reputation and makes us seem difficult to work with. How do I respond when Eleanor says this to me without being rude (and without playing her game)? Is it that big of a deal that she is doing this to our customers as well? Should I just let that go? That’s incredibly obnoxious. “Only if you say please” is a statement that’s really only okay for a parent to say to a child, in the process of teaching said child manners. It’s not okay to chastise other adults with it, and it’s definitely not okay to say it repeatedly in a work context. (Once or twice as a joke is a different thing.) If Eleanor feels she’s not spoken to with sufficient courtesy, that’s something she can address with people — but this isn’t the way to do it. And I doubt that’s what this is about anyway. This sounds more like she seized on this as a cutesy response or is, as you suggest, a power play. Or maybe it’s become a tic and she barely realizes how often she does it. But regardless, it’s inappropriate and annoying. Your options: 1. Just make a point of saying “please” whenever you ask her for anything so that you short-circuit the annoyance. This feels like giving in, but it might be the most direct route to not having to deal with it … although it doesn’t solve the problem of her doing it to customers. 2. Tell her to cut it out: “Eleanor, we’re all adults here, and constantly responding that way is slowing things down and frankly coming across differently than you probably intend for it to. Could you stop?” (But if she responds to that with “only if you say please,” you have my blessing to make a voodoo doll of her and ritually destroy it.) 3. Tell her to cut it out, option 2: “If you feel I’m not treating you with sufficient respect, I’d certainly want to know about it, but I’d like respect back from you as well — so I’m asking you not to chastise me this way every time I need something from you.” 4. Ask your boss to tell her to cut it out: “Could you ask Eleanor to cut out the ‘only if you say please’ stuff? It was irritating enough when it was her constant refrain with just us, but she’s now saying it to customers, and I’ve got to think it’s putting them off.” (This is the kind of thing that some bosses would gladly handle and others would want you to handle yourself, so you’ve got to know your boss for this one.) Also, I guarantee you that Eleanor is annoying the crap out of everyone in her family. View the full article