Since Facebook is where Americans spend more time than anywhere else on the Internet, our needs as social media marketers as well as professionals to stay on top of the latest trends in 2010 regarding the social media gorilla are as important as ever.  While I limited my similar top blog posts on Twitter and LinkedIn to 20, so many people had so much resourceful information to provide on FB that I felt the need to expand this blog post to include the top 30 most useful articles this year.  Because Facebook gives anyone the ability to create a mini-web site on their platform as a Page, I included many blog posts that talk about everything from how to create one, customize it, and then use it as your base for social media engagement.

You may wonder why I go through the trouble of compiling and writing these posts, but the answer is simple: Our industry is changing so fast and there are so many blog posts and tweets out there that I want to make sure to provide a guideline to my readers, and myself, of those must-read articles that will help everybody keep pace or get up-to-speed in learning about the latest thinking surrounding any given social media platform.  The end-of-the-year is the perfect time to do this.

My algorithm for determining these blog posts is the same as previous ones, and once again I have tried my best to organize them into categories for you.  Although I didn???t write as many posts about this site as I did about Twitter and LinkedIn, where appropriate I will introduce my own writings as well in case you missed them.

Personal Profile Tips and Tricks

10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks by Amy-Mae Elliott [4,225]

Jazz up your profile through a few nifty tricks.  Read about how to tag people in updates, pre-schedule posts with Later Bro, turn your status updates into a tag cloud, and more.

20 Facebook Tips/Tricks You Might Not Know from Hongkiat [3,302]

Some great tips here on getting more out of Facebook from outside of the social platform from creating friend collages to removing Facebook advertisements from your profile view.

How To Mass Export All Of Your Facebook Friends??? Private Email Addresses by Michael Arrington [1,466]

If you???ve ever wanted to get the contact details of your FB friends, now you can.  There are quite a few gems in the comments as well, like using those ???missing??? contacts to increase your LinkedIn network and syncing this with your Google Contacts and phone address book for a ???holistic??? address book.

How To Recreate That Facebook Profile Picture Hack by Alexia Tsotsis [1,302]

Jealous of the new ???sliced??? profile pics some people have been showing off at the top of their new professional profile?  You can have that on your profile as well through a few Photoshop steps introduced in this post.

The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now by Sarah Perez [1,188]

If you care about privacy at all, you only need to take 5 minutes to get your profile info in order and keep it away from snooping eyes.  A classic post from ReadWriteWeb which is still relevant today and was featured in the New York Times when first published earlier this year.

I wrote a post about the increasing amount of spam you might be receiving and how to deal with it here: Understanding Those Mysterious FB Spam Messages You May Be Receiving [11]

General Marketing

25 Tips for Killer Facebook Marketing by Justin Stravarius [533]

This is a great article from Appstorm that should get you started thinking about how to use Facebook above and beyond merely launching a Page.  It???s crammed with tips from snagging a vanity URL to posting user experiences, all of which will help get your business noticed socially.

I published two posts this year that go beyond the genre of simply developing a Page and instead thinking outside of the box for marketing on this social media site:

Growing Your Business???One FB Friend at a Time [14]

Farmers Insurance Social Media Marketing Case Study: Utilizing FarmVille for FB Brand Awareness [32]

Page Design & Development

HOW TO: Build a Facebook Landing Page for Your Business by Matt Silverman [2,570]

Don???t let your company???s Page look like everyone else???s.  Crank up the customization a notch by adding a tab (or three) using FBML.  Mashable contributes a short but informative article on how to do so with little effort.

Designing A Facebook Fan Page: Showcases, Tutorials, Resources by Julia May [2.381]

This is probably one of the most definitive guides out there of best practices in designing visually stunning and effective Fan Pages from our friends at Smashing Magazine.  The great looking landing tabs that are showcased here are truly inspiring.

The 12 Best Ways To Customize Your Facebook Pages by Orli Yakuel [1,768]

You don???t have to hack it out on your own to get a custom Page operating. Check out this selection of web services that will help you edit to impress.

How to Build Engaging One-of-Kind Facebook Fan Pages by Orli Yakuel [1,687]

This Techcrunch article bundles up a lot of great advice on how to grab the attention of your FB fans and visitors. Unsurprisingly, it???s all about great content, but it???s the way in which you develop your Page that can foster this.

How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML by Nick Shin [885]

Another in depth look on how to utilize Static FBML in personalizing your Page, this time coming from Social Media Examiner.  Dig into this for a little more detailed look at tips like embedding YouTube videos and creating images with clickable links for your Page.

10 Tips & Tricks For You
r Business???s Facebook Fan Page by Michael Vreeken [787]

More tips on tricks on FBML programming on your Page to include elements such as hiding content from non-fans, inserting Flash content, and adding a ???Invite Your Friends??? box.

Creating a custom facebook fan page from Webdigi [135]

The power of Static FBML is showcased by this short tutorial for more advanced developers, showing how to do things in your Page such as create a carousel, submit a web form, and even customize a dialogue box.

7 FBML examples to rock your Facebook fan page from Webdistortion [129]

This top blog post contains even more FBML code samples to help make your Page a true marketing powerhouse, from randomizing marketing messages (great for experimenting with new ideas) to adding sharing buttons to make it more viral.

Page Applications

Top 75 Apps for Enhancing Your Facebook Page by Mari Smith [842]

Stop the press!!!  This is the definitive post, just published two days ago, of the best Page applications that are out there.  And it was written by Mari Smith.  Enough said.

Page Analytics

Google Analytics for Facebook Fan Pages from Webdigi [2,923]

Google Analytics shouldn???t just be about analyzing your main website anymore.  The folks over at Webdigi were crafty enough to devise a solution that lets you use Google???s flagship web analysis tool to analyze activity on your Page on the most popular social network in the world.

How to Add Google Analytics to Your Facebook Fan Page by Mariam John [2,266]

Another tutorial of the same with a little more hand-holding and images published by Social Media Examiner but still based on Webdigi???s code.

Page Engagement

21 Creative Ways To Increase Your Facebook Fanbase by Mari Smith  [3,312]

Funnel people into your Page using all the social muscle you can muster through these tips.  Both traditional and new media techniques are listed here, so there are no excuses for saying you can???t deploy any of these techniques.

5 Fantastic Facebook Fan Page Ideas to Learn From by Matt Silverman [1,664]

Ranging from the simple to the full-on website experience, Mashable presents ideas from some of the most engaged landing pages on FB. If you???ve been stumped on what approach you should take, this should kick start your idea machine.

Altimeter Report: The 8 Success Criteria For Facebook Page Marketing by Jeremiah Owyang [1,355]

While not a how-to per se, this report should still be able to give you an idea on what works vis a vis engagement in the realm of Pages.  Based on excellent research from Jeremiah Owyang and the thought leaders at Altimeter Group, this report includes an analysis of 30 brands to learn from.

How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ???Fans??? by Mari Smith [1,245]

Getting noticed online is primarily about two things: content and conversations.  This post shares a lot of insight on how to succeed using those two things using a plethora of examples.  Another definitive post from Mari Smith.

How We Got To 40,310 Facebook Fans In 4 Days by Dennis Yu [151]

A step-by-step analytical case study of how one company grew their Fan base by over 40,000 in 4 days primarily through a clever Facebook Ad campaign.

Marketing Analysis

When Are Facebook Users Most Active? [STUDY] by Christina Warren [4,030]

Facebook is touted by some as ???now??? media ??? meaning you need to be engaging users at the same time they are on the site for it to be effective.  Check out when you should be posting to get the best results through this Mashable analysis.

The Biggest Brands on Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC] by Shane Snow [2,902]

A very interesting infographic about the biggest brands on FB.  Amazingly, some of the brands you see most often on TV and on billboards aren???t in the list.  Check out how many Likes you need to be counted on top.

What ???Like??? Buttons Mean for Web Traffic [STATS] by Jolie O???Dell [2,385]

How exactly has the ubiquitous thumbs-up icon been affecting Internet traffic? Here???s a rundown of the numbers straight from the source.

World Map Of Social Networks Shows Facebook???s Ever-Increasing Dominance by Robin Wauters [2,275]

The big blue social machine is slowly toppling off other networks as shown in this series of maps from June, 2009 to December, 2010.  Will 2011 see the entire world converted into FBdom?

Facebook directs more online users than Google by Benny Evangelista [2,267]

Although this article was written back in February, it is still relevant for marketers to understand the importance that a Facebook presence has attached to it not just for engagement but also for leading potential customers to your website.

Facebook News Feed Settings: Random or Not, Biggest Secrets Revealed by Thomas E. Weber  [1,808]

Appearing in the News Feed of all of your Fans is a marketer???s dream but rarely happens in reality.  Read more about how to accomplish this by discovering FB???s biggest secrets as to how they determine what gets placed into who???s News Feed through one website???s experiment.

How Much Is a Facebook Fan Really Worth? by Mathew Ingram [1,718]

The answer? $136.38, more or less.  A controversial study that is required reading for any social media marketer.

Facebook, By The Numbers by Alexia Tsotsis [1,064]

The history of the world???s favorite social destination featured in this definitive infographic which has almost everything you???ve wanted to know about the site and more.

You may also want to check out my analysis of FB Places: Facebook Places Analysis: 3 Reasons Why FB Will Continue to Be Your Aggregator of Social Information [24].