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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

SharePoint Social - What to Like and Follow, and what not to like and follow

What to like and what not to like in SharePoint 2013?

In SharePoint 2013, you can "like" and "follow".
In the following, I explore what can be liked in SharePoint 2013, and what's even more important, the sole purpose and outcome of your "like":
 - where is your "like" displayed,
 - who can see it,
 - does it stop there with a "like" - do you get notified about content updates,

I also explore the "follow" feature and how/if it is connected to the "like":
 - what can we "follow",
 - who can see it,
 - do you get notified about content updates,
 - should we "follow" content, we don't "like".


What is to "like" in SharePoint 2013?
1. You can "like" a post (conversation) in discussion list on the Community site
2. You can "like" a post (conversation) in Newsfeed on the Project site
3. You can "like" a post (conversation) in Newsfeed on MySite
4. You can "like" documents
5. You can "like" list items
6. You can "like" pages

"Like" a post in discussion list on the Community site:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 
"Like" a post in Newsfeed on the Project site:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 

"Like" a post in Newsfeed on MySite:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

"Like" a document (You can enable likes or star rating for documents in "Rating settings" (Library settings):

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

"Like" a list item (You can enable likes or star rating for items in "Rating settings" (List settings):

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 
"Like" a page (You can enable likes or star rating for documents in "Rating settings" (Pages Library settings):

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

What is to "follow" in SharePoint 2013?
1. You can "follow" sites
2. You can "follow" people
3. You can "follow" documents
4. You can "follow" tags
5. You can "follow" post (conversation) in Newsfeed on the Project site

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

You can't follow list items and pages. You can't follow posts in Discussion list on Community site (there is only old fashion Alert me):

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed
"Follow" sites:  click on "FOLLOW" in upper right corner of the page

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 

"Follow" people: search for people on MySite or click on "follow" on someone's MySite:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

"Follow" documents:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

"Follow" tags: define what tags, you want to follow on your MySite:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed




"Follow" post (conversation) in Newsfeed on the Project site:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed
Is "Follow" the same as "Like"? Do we "Follow" when we like? Should we "Follow" what we don't like?

"Follow" is not the same as "Like". With "Like" you can rate the content, while with "Follow" you subscribe to get notifications about the changes. So, the answer on the question: " Should we "Follow" what we don't like?" is "Yes" ;-) The answer on the question: " Does it stop there with a like?" is "Yes". You don't get notified about the changes when you "like".

In SharePoint, when we "Like", we don't subscribe to get updates on changes or replies to the content. Number of "likes" is displayed next to the post or a document, or a list item that is liked. You get to "unlike", if you've already liked it. Here is Pages library and its likes:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 

You can choose between "star rating" and "likes". You can sort and filter content by rating:
SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 
Your "likes" are not entirely invisible though. People that follow you get a notification on their MySite that you "liked" a page or a document. Here I'm logged in like someone that follows Alex:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 
You also can see the updates on your MySite about documents and pages, you liked. Here I'm logged in as Alex:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed





What about "Follow"? How can we get the updates on people and content, we "follow"?
What about "I'm following" web part on MySite? "I'm following" web part doesn't keep track of updates and changes. "I'm following" web part shows number of documents, sites, people, and tags that you follow and links to pages with a list of documents, sites, people, and tags. Here is "I'm following" web part:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 
"Newsfeed" web part shows the updates.
In the Newsfeed on MySite, you can see what people, you follow were up to lately:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed 
You can also get email about changes and updates. You can decide when you want to get an update:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed

When you are setting up "Email Notifications", keep in mind the following:
- When you write a post on Community site, it doesn't get displayed on MySite.
- You can't post to Community site directly from your MySite newsfeed either.
- You can follow a Community site, but you can't see the updates on MySite - only if people, you follow are posting on the Community site.

You can get updates on document, you follow. Here I'm logged in as Alex. Alex is following a document about MySite Newsfeed. First, I was logged on as Administrator and changed the document properties, and then I was logged on Daniel and changed the document in Word. The pictures shows the update on MySite for Alex:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed



Newsfeed on Project site is another story. You can post directly to your project's newsfeed from MySite, and you can on MySite see the updates on changes on project newsfeed:

SharePoint Social - Like, Follow, MySite Newsfeed
SharePoint out-of-box MySite newsfeed web part is a web part you can move from MySite to your intranet front page. I wrote about it in SharePoint Home Page with personal MySite Newsfeed

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