In today’s Quick Hits, we ruminate on why celebrities love Twitter, how more and more lawyers are using social media, and why Google is a chicken (at least according to the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog).

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Celebs Cut Out Middle Men with Twitter

Twitter has made it infinitely easier for celebrities to connect with their fans online. They don’t have to go through their publicist or agent, they can just make an announcement whenever the place. While this has been liberating for some celebrities, it has also been dangerous for those who don’t think before they tweet. This article from CBS News talks about celebrities on Twitter and offers advice for new Twitter users.

ABA Survey Shows More Lawyers Using Social Media for Branding and Networking

According to Above the Law, in this year’s 2010 American Bar Association Technology Survey Report, 10% of respondents indicated that they “had a client retain their legal services as a result of use of online communities/social networking.” The survey also showed that “56% of attorneys reported having a presence in 2010, up from just 43% in 2009 and 15% in 2008.” These numbers indicate a growing acceptance among attorneys to embrace social media technology as a means of engaging new clients and proactively promoting a positive online identity.

Oklahoma Receiver Suspended for Twitter Joke

University of Oklahoma receiver Jaz Reynolds has been suspended by head coach Bob Stoops for sending a message on Twitter saying, “Hey everyone in Austin, tx…….kill yourself.” The tweet came in advance of Oklahoma’s game against the University of Texas and was a direct reference to the recent suicide of a Texas student. Because of social media tools like Twitter and Facebook, many colleges have been forced to adopt strict social media policies to prevent their players from damaging their school’s reputation with an inappropriate message.

Advocacy Group Calls Google “Chicken” in Times Square Jumbotron Ad Over Privacy Debate

The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has taken to the super-sized screens of Times Square in New York City to challenge Google to a debate over privacy concerns about the company. In its most recent ads, Consumer Watchdog calls Google a chicken for avoiding debates on the issue. The ad can be seen here.

Web Analysts Debate Self-Regulation

To combat growing negative sentiment over behavioral tracking online, the Web Analytics Association recently put together the first version of a “Web Analysts Code of Ethics.” As part of its ongoing “What They Know” coverage, the Wall Street Journal spoke with web analysts Eric Peterson and John Lovett about the code and how other analysts have responded to the proposal of self-regulating their work.

In today’s Quick Hits, we explore shifting trends in social media, offer advice on avoiding clickjacking attacks, and hear from a doctor about the importance of online reputation management for medical professionals.

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Forrester Study: Decrease in Content Creators on Social Media

A new Forrester Study shows a decrease in the number of people who are content “creators” on social media websites. Creators are social media users who “have a blog, upload videos and music and write articles.” There was also a decrease in the number of “critics,” or users who “who rate and review products, post comments on others’ blogs, participate in discussion forums and collaborate on wikis,” as well as a decrease in the number of “collectors,” or users who “subscribe to syndicated feeds, tag Web pages and photos and in general organize content for the benefit of other users.”

The majority of users in these categories represent early adopters of social media technology who are becoming less active over time. For social media to continue to grow, new social media users, called “joiners” by Forrester, must continue to evolve as users. The number of “joiners” on social media websites increased from 51% to 59%.

New Social Networking Website Namesake Aims to Connect Users with Professional “Opportunities”

Namesake, a new social networking venture that was formally announced at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference, hopes to become the preferred network for entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals to connect with one another and share job opportunities through mutual social connections. Co-founder Brian Norgard said the site would be “the next evolution” from professional social networking websites like LinkedIn, because it would focus on building out “the expertise graph” of its users.

PCMag: Advice on Avoiding Clickjacking Attacks

Clickjacking has become a popular method for attacking Facebook, because it preys on a user’s instincts for clicking provocative content and it uses their social network to spread the message further. In this informative article, PCMag talks about ways to avoid clickjacking attacks, which can severely tarnish a victim’s reputation.

Twitter Earthquake Hoax Frightens Californians

News spreads fast on Twitter, but so do hoaxes (just ask any of the celebrities who have been pronounced dead on the website). Recently, a hoax spread across Twitter claiming that a massive earthquake was going to strike Southern California. Amazingly, even though earthquakes can’t be predicted with any certainty, people begin retweeting the message hundreds of times over causing a mild panic among some less-discerning Twitter users.

Physicians Have Trouble Fighting Back Against Online Attacks

This well-written article by Dr. David Goldberg talks about the importance of online reputation management for medical professionals and how doctor review websites and social networking websites have become tools for angry patients (or competitors) to launch biased and defamatory attacks against doctors. Dr. Goldberg’s analysis is right on the money and a clear reminder that doctors are some of the people who need proactive online reputation management services the most.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about how your social media privacy settings might not matter if you’re in court and how social media can be addictive like alcohol or cigarettes.

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Analysis of One Week Ban on Social Media Suggests Web Addiction

Earlier in the month, Harrisburg University in Pennsylvania conducted an interesting social experiment. The college banned access to social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook for one week from all school computers. Students were still able to access the websites from their mobile phones or from their home computer if they lived off-campus. Early analysis of the experiment suggests that it caused a disruption in many students’ lives. As Dr. Keith Ablow explains in this Fox News column, the fact that students resorted to using alternate methods to access the channels suggests a mild addiction to the technology, similar to how an alcoholic might “sneak” a drink. Any knowledge gleaned from this experiment is scientifically invalid, but it still raises interesting questions about how college students engage with each other online and in the real world.

Two Court Decisions Show Strength and Limitations of Social Media Privacy Settings

In an excellent column, Forbes’ privacy blogger Kashmir Hill explains how your social media privacy settings may or may not hold up in the court of law, depending on where you live. Hill cites two recent court cases, one in California and one in New York, in which an individual sought to keep their social media communications from being presented as evidence.

In the California case, a designer successfully petitioned to keep his Facebook and MySpace messages private during a contractual dispute with a fashion company. In the New York case, a woman sued a furniture manufacturer after she fell out of one of the company’s chairs, causing her “serious, permanent personal injuries.” The chair company wanted to find proof that she was faking the injury so they asked the judge for permission to enter her social networking profile into evidence. Presumably, if there was a picture of her not looking seriously injured, the company could argue her claims were overstated. Using the same federal law that the California judge used to deny access to the profile, the New York judge granted access saying that it was necessary for a fair trial. One law, two judges, two different decisions.

Florida Teachers Advised Against Social Media Contact with Students

This article in Bridget Carey’s Miami Herald netiquette column explores how teachers in South Florida are being advised against using social media to connect with students outside of school. The article touches on some of the common issues teachers face when interacting with students online, chiefly the fact that it makes it hard for teachers to maintain a professional relationship in the classroom.

Anonymous Bullies Deface Facebook Memorial to Slain Teen

Demonstrating the kind of despicable behavior characteristic of anonymous bullies online, several individuals left obscene comments and photos on a Facebook memorial page set up for the victim of a fatal assault in Delta, British Columbia. The individuals responsible for the messages were more than likely “Internet trolls,” who probably did not know the girl, but are trolling the memorial page looking to provoke reactions from grieving family members and friends.

Web Users Want Tougher Online Privacy Laws

In a privacy forum sponsored by two Washington, D.C. think tanks, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Technology Policy Institute (TPI), Mr. Daniel Weitzner, associate administrator in the Office of Policy Analysis and Development at the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), spoke about a growing desire among American Internet users for stronger online privacy protections and stricter data privacy laws for corporations. In the same hearing, representatives from Internet companies objected to new laws, saying they would inhibit commerce.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about a police officer’s “cute” Facebook photos, how the “Where’s Waldo” bank robber who taunted police officers on Facebook was caught, and why a UK man feels his punishment for tweeting about blowing up an airport was undeserved.

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Cute Animal Photo Causes Trouble for Michigan Police Officer

Last week, I shared the story of a police officer who got into trouble after taking his cruiser to a sexy car wash and posting the pictures on Facebook. Today, we have another police officer who was disciplined for Facebook pictures…pictures of goats. Specifically, goats climbing on someone’s roof. Keeping goats within 10 miles of Detroit city limits is illegal. When the police officer came to enforce the law, the officer took a picture of the goats because they were “cute.” However, Police Chief Joseph Thomas had to remind the officer that “that’s a photograph of the crime scene.” The incident led Metro Detroit police officials to consider implementing a clear social media policy to help officer understand what they can and cannot share about their jobs online.

Where’s Waldo Bank Robber Arrested by FBI After Facebook Update

The so-called “Where’s Waldo” bank robber, who boasted about his exploits on Facebook and even changed his profile picture to security camera footage of his robbery, was arrested by the FBI two days after changing his Facebook status to say: “I’m now a bank robber.” The man claimed to be committing the robberies to help pay for his diabetes-related medical expenses. The FBI arrested him while he was in a hospital receiving treatment.

Man Seeks Appeal After Fine for Jokingly Tweeting an Airport Bomb Threat

In January of this year, a U.K. man was arrested and fined for jokingly tweeting that he would blow up an airport if weather delayed his flight. This article from The Guardian details the man’s appeal and how his lawyer is arguing that he shouldn’t have been charged with a crime because he didn’t have a “menacing intent.” The attorney argued that the message is “obviously facetious” and characterized it as a “jest, a joke, a parody.” The subsequent arrest and the follow-up appeal have sparked debate among legal scholars as to how social media communications should be interpreted by courts during cases like this.

British Surveys Seek to Uncover Facts on Cyberstalking

The British Crime Survey recently revealed that “more than one million women and 900,000 men have been victims of stalking” in the U.K. While these numbers are substantial, it is unknown how many of those people were “cyberstalked,” or how Internet and mobile technology was used to assist in the harassing behavior. A new survey (the Electronic Communication Harassment Observation or ECHO survey) commissioned by the Network for Surviving Stalking will hopefully be able to offer more data on cyberstalking specifically.

In today’s Quick Hits, we learn of yet another Facebook phishing scam, what the New York Bar Association thinks about searching the Internet during a trial, and why two Australian teens decided to hack Twitter.

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New Facebook Phishing Scam

Security experts are warning of a new phishing scam on Facebook. The scam works by telling users that their passwords have been changed for their safety and offering them their new password in an attachment. In addition to traditional phishing scams, Facebook is a frequent target for clickjacking attacks, which seek to spread spam and other content virally within a user’s personal social network.

Etiquette for Making Important Announcements on Facebook

In the old days, when you had an important announcement to make (engagement, pregnancy, etc.), you either called your loved ones on the phone or you spoke to them in person. Now, thanks to social media, sharing big news is far trickier. If you tell one person, and they offer congrats on Facebook, suddenly everyone knows. That could lead to hurt feelings among family and friends who wanted to hear the news first. This article from Mike Osegueda relates his personal experience sharing news of his wife’s pregnancy online.

New York Bar Association Gives Okay to Digital Digging

In an official statement, the New York Bar Association announced that it is “ethical for lawyers to comb social networking websites to collect damaging information on opposing parties in lawsuits.” Specifically, the New York Bar said that “attorneys in litigation can access the public pages of another party’s site to get information about that person, as long as it’s accessible to all members of the network.” The practice of searching for information about the opposition, as well as jurors, has become standard practice in many courtrooms across the country. The New York Bar’s statement just gives legitimacy to the practice and offers another compelling reason why individuals should maintain clean online reputations.

Interview With the Teens Who Hacked Twitter

Twitter was recently hit by a widespread hack after a Japanese web developer discovered a security vulnerability on the site, and two Australian teens wrote a piece of code exploiting the vulnerability. As the code spread, spammers and scammers begin customizing it to deliver links to pornography websites and other not-safe-for-work web content. In this interview with VentureBeat, the teens explain how they wrote the code and why they thought it was just an idle prank.

Restaurant Owners Use Twitter to Address Online Critics

This article from the Associated Press explains how many restaurants are turning to Twitter and other social media tools to address customer complaints and proactively manage their online brand.