Thank you Chris Dodd
The web is buzzing with contempt over a statement by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Chairman and CEO Chris Dodd to Fox last Thursday:
“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”
As pointed out on the MPAA web site, Dodd is also a former US Senator from Connecticut. Surely he understood the implications of publicly confirming what we have always expected — that Hollywood spends a lot of money on politicans and expects a return on their investments. Rather than condemn him, perhaps we should be thanking him for putting this out in the open.
The movie industry, like many others, is facing a harsh new reality — one that, for the most part, they appear to be in denial about. Pushing for draconian, ill-informed legislation such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act isn’t the solution. Perhaps it’s time that Hollywood stop trying to purchase politicians and apply some creativity to their business model instead.
Now Think Now
A new student-run program in Indianapolis called Now Think Now encourages teens to think and make better decisions behind the wheel. Their web site explains,
Now Think Now is a social site where teens and other community members can gather and share their stories, ideas and opinions. Our ultimate goal is getting teens the information they need to make the right decision at the right time. Members can socialize about real topics with their friends and the community at large while at the same time earn points and recognition by peers. Points can be earned by contributing content or taking place in various activities, then can be redeemed for gift cards for food, gas, and more.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this great use of social media.
Radian6: Monitoring Social Media
The explosive growth of social media is changing how companies interact with customers. Those that understand social media know that what is being said about them online can have a huge impact on their bottom line.
There are a number of ways to monitor a brand online. Some free services will monitor search engines for mention of specific keywords and other medium-specific tools can be used to monitor media like Twitter. But when I asked the pros what they use, the name Radian6 came up — over and over again.
Radian6, founded in 2007, is based in Fredericton, New Brunswick and has 45 full-time employees. Amber Naslund, the firms’s Director of Community, explained,
“Radian6 provides the social media monitoring platform for marketing, communications and customer support professionals. The company’s flexible dashboard enables monitoring all forms of social media with results appearing in real-time as discovered. Various analysis widgets give users the ability to uncover the top influencers as well as which conversations are having an impact online.
Radian6 gathers real-time-as-discovered information from across the social web, including blogs, video sharing sites, boards and forums including LinkedIn Answers, and emerging media such as FriendFeed and Twitter.”
After a brief online training session that Radian6 provides to all new customers, I logged in to their slick web application and began to enter some keywords I wanted to track. And that’s where the similarity with free tools ended. Radian6 provides powerful tools to drill down in results and analyze them. For example, I could quickly sort hits based upon the level of engagement (measured by comments) or inbound links.
While savvy companies will obviously want to read everything written about their products, it is often necessary to prioritize. Radian6 not only finds relevant information and conversations, but they also provide the tools needed to analyze and prioritize.
While monitoring their brand is an obvious priority for Radian6’s 300+ customers, I can imagine many other uses. For example, by choosing the right keywords and leveraging Radian6’s powerful widgets, I was able identify and begin to track key influencers on specific subjects. A similar approach could also be used to track competitors, business partners or a key industry.
It didn’t take long to understand why PR pros pointed me to Radian6. Behind their advanced software is a team that not only understand and embrace social media, but they also ‘get’ customer service. When I needed help, one Tweet and Amber had me sorted out in a matter of minutes. It doesn’t get better than that.
Facebook safely
Facebook (along with other social networking sites) has been around for a few years, and a lot has been written about the security issues involved. Googling “facebook security†yields about 20,500 hits. But what do users really need to know?
Information about Facebook users can be broken down into several categories:
- Personal information: Facebook allows users to enter personal information such as their date of birth, home town, relationship status, sexual orientation, religious views, email address, telephone number, educational background, and employer.
- Friends: The point of social networking is to connect with “friendsâ€. Facebook users send requests to add friends, and if the potential friend agrees, they are connected on facebook. Any user who can view either of the “friends†profiles can see that they are connected. Some people allow anyone to see who their “friends” are, so social networks can be mapped.
- Photos: Facebook users can upload photos and tag people in them. For example, if a friend uploads a photo that you are in, they can tag you in the photo. Another user viewing the photo can see your name associated with the photo.
- Facebook Applications: Facebook applications allow users to post information on their profile, other user’s profiles, etc. Whether other users can see the information depends on your privacy settings (more on that later).
- Third Party Applications: Facebook and third party applications that you enable have access to information in your profile. While there are some privacy restrictions in place, you should assume that all your personal information is available to any application you add.
So how do you stay safe on Facebook? The various applications and privacy settings may be overwhelming, but the answer is simple:
- Don’t enter unnecessary personal information into Facebook in the first place. While they require that you provide your date of birth (although they have no way to verify that you are providing correct information), virtually all the other personal information is optional. If you wouldn’t be comfortable answering the same question posed by a stranger or at a job interview, don’t type it into Facebook.
- Do not supply information about your school or employer. While you might not consider your employment details particularly sensitive, doing so may give your employer a legitimate reason to object to what you have written since it may reflect on them. Unless you use Facebook for business purposes, keep your employer out of it.
- Configure all privacy settings for your profile (Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile) to ‘Only Friends’. This makes it more difficult for people who don’t know you to obtain personal information about you. You can always change this later if there is specific information you wish to share with a wider audience.
- Don’t blindly accept friend requests. Identity thieves and unscrupulous marketers may send large numbers of friend requests. If you’re not comfortable simply ignoring requests from people you don’t recognize, you can always send them a message back politely asking, “Can you remind me where I know you from?†Just remember that sending someone a message on Facebook gives them access to some information in your profile.
- Think before you post. As a general rule, don’t post anything on Facebook that you wouldn’t want posted on the Internet. You may think that only your ‘friends’ can read it, and today you might be right. However, your words may hang around Facebook for a long time. Also, you have no way to prevent a ‘friend’ from copying, printing or creating a .pdf and sharing it with others.
Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with friends. By following a few basic rules and considering the potential consequences before giving Facebook information you can keep it safe.
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