Add a Facebook background and share to your Timeline

We’ve just added the option to connect your about.me page to your Facebook Timeline. With this, instantly share important updates to your page seamlessly to your friends and fans on Facebook.

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You have completely control over what gets added to your timeline. Show off when you update your background, get added to a directory, or compliment another person’s page! It’s a great way to provide updates to the people you are connected to.

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We also now offer your Facebook images as background options on your about.me page. Head to your Background tab for this additional option. Be sure to connect to Facebook on your page to take advantage of these features.

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What better time to freshen up your background? Then share it to your friends and fans!

 :  Product, Tips  :  2 Comments

Ireland

Highlighting pages of users from Ireland means focusing on the creative. Take a look at some of our favorites we found in our searching:
Screen shot 2013-02-24 at 7.01.40 PM Screen shot 2013-02-24 at 7.02.42 PM From artists to entrepreneurs, these people are thinking outside of the box, about everything from the future of banking to graphic design.
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 :  Featured Profiles, World tour  :  3 Comments

Get Featured!

We regularly get asked how to get added to the featured directory, or shared to our Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr feeds. Below is generally what we are looking for as well as a few tips!

Have a complete page.
First, we want to see all about you, not about our default options. A custom background, biography and apps are the basics here. Consider tags, links, work, education and location to round it out. You don’t have to have every single option maxed out, but we are looking for pages taking advantage of the features we offer.

On backgrounds: show your face or get creative!
We love seeing great background photos. If you have a headshot, use it. Not happy with the photos you have? Have quick photo shoot with a photographic friend.
As an alternative, use a scenic shot, one in action, a still life, interesting pattern or graphic design. There are lots of options here! The goal is to have it fill the space available and reflect who you are or what you are passionate about.

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Show it off.
Regularly we hear requests for getting featured, without any reference to a page URL. If you write in, have it in your email signature. If you mention us on Twitter, make sure it’s in your bio there. We’re happy to take requests, just be sure you are doing your part putting your page out there.

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Look good big and small.
Featured pages are similar in size to thumbnails, so ensure that your page looks good in search results. Make sure your name is readable, and the text isn’t covering your face. Use varieties of colors and fonts sparingly.
Of course pages are clicked through to when shared, so also be sure the page looks great at full size. Same tips as above, and check that there’s no pixelation in your background.

Got it? Great! If you think you have these covered, share your page here in the comments and let us know what makes it unique, to be considered for featuring. Or, if you are looking for feedback, we’re happy to offer it.

 :  Featured Profiles, Tips  :  81 Comments

Climb on

While I may be a bit biased, I think climbers have some of the most amazing pages, with jaw-dropping backgrounds and fascinating locations.

Two of my favorites are climbers using their passion to raise awareness for causes, check them out and get inspired!
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Here are a few with some straight up fun route backgrounds.
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Then, there are the climbing companies or organizations with about.me pages.
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It’s good to know I’ll always be able to find a local climbing partner on about.me, wherever I may be.

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Hail to the presidents

Yesterday was Presidents’ Day here in the US so we’re taking today to highlight presidents of various kinds using about.me.

We’ll start with some young presidents, like student president Chelsea Boccardo above and the scholastic leaders below.

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Then, there are the president/founders, leading companies around the world.

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Last but certainly not least, are the non-profit and organizational presidents, helping to make a change.

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Cheers to all presidents out there, even if it’s just of your home. We hope you enjoyed the day!

 :  Featured Profiles  :  Comments Off

Uncovering Ostomy with about.me

Guest writer Jessica Grossman is the founder of Uncover Ostomy, an online campaign focused on raising awareness towards the ostomy and defeating the negative stigma surrounding the surgery.

What do you think of when you hear the word “ostomy”?
Yeah, “ostomy.”
Have you ever even heard that word before?
Don’t worry, neither have they.

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An ostomy is a surgically created opening from an internal organ such as the intestines or ureters to an external point in the abdomen where waste exits the body into a special bag is worn on top.

Ok – so an ostomy has never been the most glamorous of things. In fact, it is often stigmatized in the media and by the public. Those is need of ostomy surgery often refuse to have it, fearing how others may think of them knowing that the stigma exists. As someone who was facing death head-on at only 13 years-old due to severe Crohn’s disease, however, I have quite the different opinion. My ostomy saved my life and I couldn’t be happier.

I created the online awareness campaign called Uncover Ostomy to show how grateful I am to be alive after ostomy surgery. I’ve used different social channels to bring up discussions on the topic and use my about.me page as a hub to bring them all together. The campaign features a blog where I write about living life like everyone else; trying to build a career, having crazy romances, and even losing loved ones. It also highlights some pretty racy pictures that show that the ostomy can still be sexy.

Uncover Ostomy also wants to show that the idea of ostomy surgery doesn’t have to be so serious. We actually launched a pretty funny new video where you can see first hand how few people actually understand the surgery and it’s necessity. And, there’s an iguana. Watch, laugh, enjoy, and please share it with everyone you know.

I’ve met some amazing people and have had some incredible experiences related to ostomy surgery all because of my about.me page. I was even flown to Italy to be a keynote speaker at a conference from an organization who found me through it! Check out a few more pages raising Ostomy awareness.

 :  Giving Back  :  4 Comments

Pattern Design

Recently I’ve had the chance to talk with and learn more about pattern makers. I started perusing about.me to find out whether we had any in the community. And the community did not disappoint!

Surface pattern designers like Julie, above, design patterns that show up on products throughout your home and office.

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They can get very creative! Some specialize, for example in textiles or embroidery.

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Of course, not all designers add their work as backgrounds.

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Have you tried the patterns we offer yet?

 :  Featured Profiles  :  Comments Off

Save your date with about.me

We’ve seen lots of engagement announcements on about.me this past year.

Screen shot 2013-02-01 at 8.21.30 PMIt’s a great way to get a quick page up to tell all your friends and family, and link them to relevant websites.

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Congratulations to all of the couples here – we hope you enjoy your first Valentine’s Day as married pairs!

And here’s to those coming in 2013…

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 :  Featured Profiles, Tips  :  Comments Off

about.me goes independent

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The new year is a great time for fresh beginnings, something the about.me team learned early in our history. Just a few short days after our public launch in December 2010, we shared the exciting news that we’d been acquired by AOL. We committed ourselves then to building the best product to make it easy for people to learn about you and to find your content on the web.

Twenty-four months and several million about.me pages later, we continue our commitment to building the best personal identity service on the web. During the past two years, we’ve been thankful for the tremendous resources and support of our friends and partners at AOL.

Today, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be spinning about.me back out, returning to life as an independent company that is financially backed by our management team and a truly amazing group of investors who have backed companies such as WordPress and Google. Our team will remain the same for the most part, and we’ll continue our roles as co-founders.

Our commitment is to make about.me the web’s starting point for identity – we believe everyone will eventually have an about.me page they integrate into their email signature, add to their Twitter Bio or embed in one of their blogs. Very few products have a legitimate shot at becoming ubiquitous and we think building about.me as an independent company is the best way to get us there.

For those who ask, “what comes next?” we can only promise that many things our users have been asking for (in our forums, on Twitter, and when we meet them face to face) are on our roadmap. To allay any anxiety about what we’ve got planned, we’ve updated our original TOS and Privacy Policy, updated for 2013. You can update your account settings here.

Thanks to everyone for helping make this happen. We are really excited about this change, and hope you are as well. More good news to come…stay tuned!

Ryan Freitas & Tony Conrad

ryanandtony

 :  About.me, Product  :  14 Comments

Taking your online business card offline

It’s 2013. Have you ordered your about.me cards for the year? If so, let us know! Tweet them out or share them to flickr.

If you haven’t snagged some complimentary cards yet, head to your MOO offer page.

 :  Tips  :  1 Comment