Entries Tagged 'Twitter' ↓
August 23rd, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Google, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about “Cyber Shame,” one photographer’s stand against cyberbullying, and the White House’s consumer privacy protection plans.
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“More than a third of young people admit to feeling ‘cyber shame’ after posting embarrassing photos or posts online while drunk” according to a survey commissioned by the alcohol education charity Drinkaware. In addition to the physical dangers of excessive drinking, Chris Sorek, CEO of Drinkaware, notes that there are also reputation consequences to posting drunk photos online. Sorek explains that living in the digital world “means that people who have been drinking to excess can have their actions come back to haunt them online,” particularly when it comes to getting a new job and other important life transactions.
A Pennsylvania photographer has become an unlikely spokesperson in the country’s growing crusade against bullying after she refused to photograph several high school girls whom she observed on a Facebook page bullying other students. In a note on Facebook, Jennifer McKendrick wrote that she didn’t want to make people who were ugly on the inside look beautiful on the outside. Since making her stand, McKendrick has received broad support from anti-bullying advocates across the country.
The Sydney Morning Herald writes, “consumers are increasingly turning to Twitter and Facebook to vent their frustrations at having their complaints ignored as online activism becomes a powerful tool forcing businesses to fix unresolved issues.” Citing several examples where online activism has forced company’s to change their operating procedures, the Herald article highlights an important new reality for businesses of all sizes. In a world where customers can talk directly to brands, it’s important that brands listen and talk back.
In an article for InformationWeek, Thomas Claburn argues that Google’s real name policy for its new social network Google+ is a mistake, offering five reasons why it hurts users. Claburn’s argument echos other complaints from tech writers who view Google’s name policy as a mistake and argue that it stifles open discourse online.
Danny Weitzner, associate administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently outlined the White House’s plans for improving consumer privacy without stifling innovation in the economy. During comments at a Technology Policy Institute conference, Weitzner said, “You can have stronger privacy law, clearer rules, clearer principles established in law, without the costs and downsides of a traditional regulatory structure.” How privacy rules would be regulated without a traditional regulatory structure remains to be seen, but the notion of a broad “Privacy Bill of Rights” still seems to be popular in Washington, D.C.
August 17th, 2011 | Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, Jackie Chan faces a Twitter death hoax, Apple faces thousands of lawsuits, and four tech titans face off against each other for digital dominance.
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Beloved action star Jackie Chan has been declared dead on Twitter…again. According to the Washington Post, “Rumors of [Chan's] demise rekindled Tuesday night after someone made an ‘RIP Jackie Chan’ Facebook page. The page has more than 67,000 followers, and Twitter has been buzzing again.” Chan was the victim of an Internet death hoax in March as well, following in the footsteps of numerous other unfortunate celebrities.
LinkedIn recently found itself in hot water with privacy advocates after the company opted users into social advertising without their explicit consent. The resulting backlash has forced LinkedIn to change its privacy policies. This article from the New York Times Gadgetwise blog discusses the entire LinkedIn incident in detail, along with information on how to opt out of social ads on LinkedIn.
According to PCWorld, “nearly 27,000 South Koreans are suing Apple for privacy violations” following the company’s recent flap over location tracking via its mobile devices. Apple, which briefly was the richest company in the world following stock market fluctuations, can pay any penalties from the lawsuits easily, but there is a bigger issue at stake. As PCWorld explains, “a victory for the plaintiffs could spell bigger trouble for the company in the U.S., where it could embolden more plaintiffs and politicians to go after Apple.” With privacy continuing to be a touchy issue, Apple certainly doesn’t want this issue dredged up again with U.S. regulators.
It’s been said that all human beings can be connected by six degrees of separation, but researchers have never been able to prove this theory. Now, thanks to the incredible growth of social networking technology, it may actually be possible to put the theory to the test. The Washington Post reports that Facebook and Yahoo are starting something called the “Small World Experiment,” which will use Facebook’s extensive network of 750 million members to try and link two random people in six steps.
This article in the Washington Post discusses how four of the world’s largest tech companies – Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple – are competing with each other to rule the “digital age.” Each company is taking its own approach, sometimes working together and sometimes working against each other, to imprint their vision of the future on consumers.
August 11th, 2011 | Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Student Online Reputation, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Twitter’s new features, why sexting is an issue for schools (even if teens disagree), and why Rebecca Black of “Friday” fame had to drop out of school.
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Twitter is rolling out a handful of changes to its popular micro-blogging service, and many of them appear to be taken from social networking kingpin Facebook. This article from MSNBC describes the new features and why Twitter users may like and dislike the ability to see more information about who is interacting with them and what their followers are doing.
In a feature for the New York Times, several teens share their thoughts on sexting, the practice of sending nude or sexually provocative photos of oneself to others via mobile devices or online. Disturbingly, the teens interviewed don’t seem to think sexting is a big deal, even as they acknowledge that the photos routinely get shared with the whole school. For instance, one teen says “About three photos go viral each year and a third of the school sees them.” Simultaneously, however, teens don’t understand the ramifications of sexting. At the end of the article, a different teen is shocked to learn that sexting is actually against the law.
While teens may not think sexting is a big issue, educators and lawmakers disagree. For instance, should two teens who send nude photos back and forth be charged as sex criminals? This article from the Northwest Indiana Times discusses a new Indiana law that clarifies the issue of sexting, making it more difficult for children to be arrested and charged with child pornography for sharing nude photos with their peers. The article also discusses how texting and social media have contributed to bullying, and some of the steps schools have taken to discourage online harassment.
Rebecca Black, whose embarrassing music video Friday caused her international fame (or infamy) after racking up millions of views on YouTube, recently revealed that she had to drop out of her school after being bullied about the song. Black, who is now being home schooled, continues to maintain a positive attitude, saying “one thing that you can’t do is let them stop you from doing what you want to do.” The Internet celebrity singer is now trying to build a real recording career.
Several weeks ago, the state of Missouri banned teachers from interacting with students on social media websites. Since that time, educators and parents have been trying to work out the specifics of the rules, and figure out a way to keep positive interactions from getting swept aside by a blanket ban. This article and segment from The Early Show on CBS talks about the first amendment issues at stake in Missouri’s decision as well as other ways that parents can help keep their children safe online.
August 4th, 2011 | Facebook, Google, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about how deleted tweets are “undetweetable,” Facebook’s upcoming design tweaks, new facial recognition technology, and a guide to Google+ privacy settings.
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When someone deletes a tweet, he or she probably assumes that nobody will be able to access it (and rightly so). Unfortunately, that’s not the case, as demonstrated by the new website Undetweetable. The website was created by Dean Terry who says it is meant “to test limits, to question privacy, data ownership and explore the idea of the permanence of online expression.” Twitter has already forced Terry to shut down Undetweetable, but the website still retains all of its archived tweets.
ZDNet writes that Facebook is experimenting with an unfiltered news feed and expanded functionality for the site’s ubiquitous “like” button. Facebook is making the changes to improve advertising on the site. As ZDNet explains, “Facebook’s algorithms don’t display every piece of content that is shared, limiting the impact of the various advertising campaigns launched on the website. Facebook engineers are reportedly working to create an unfiltered News Feed that would show everything your friends are doing on the social network: from what games and apps they are using on the site to what Pages of companies and products they Like.”
A new software program from a University of Washington scientist and Google engineer is pushing the limits of facial recognition technology. The software, which has already been incorporated into Google’s Picasa photo-sharing service, synchs an individual’s facial features and expressions across multiple photos to create a movie. In Picasa, the feature is known as Face Movie and it also includes a name tagging feature. While technologically impressive, this software raises numerous privacy questions. If software like this can do such a good job of organizing unstructured photos, what could it do on a website like Facebook, where there are billions of available images?
Gawker’s Lifehacker blog has a great guide to Google+ privacy settings. Included in the guide are detailed instructions on how to conceal one’s profile, manage Google’s Social Circles feature, and how to ensure your posts don’t unintentionally end up being public.
July 11th, 2011 | Facebook, Google, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits, Student Online Reputation, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, Groupon has made a big change to its privacy policy, early Google+ users are optimistic about the service, and some thoughts from NPR on kids and social networking.
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Groupon Changes Privacy Policy to Collect More User Information
In advance of its upcoming IPO, the group discount company Groupon is increasing the amount of data it shares with third party companies. Groupon announced its privacy policy changes in an e-mail to customers on Sunday. According to Cecilia Kang at the Washington Post, Groupon said it would “expand the categories of “personal information” it collects and shares with partners, such as Expedia. Now, Groupon will share data on interests and habits with third-parties. Other information it shares includes contact information, relationship information, transaction information and mobile location information.”
Oakland A’s Suspend Pitching Prospect Over Twitter Updates
The Oakland A’s have suspended top pitching prospect Ian Krol for an offensive tweet involving a “gay slur along with some other offensive language.” This is not the first time that an athlete has been suspended for his social networking presence, but Krol’s low follower numbers make this an interesting story. At the time of the update, Krol only had approximately 90 followers. While 90 people is not a significant audience, the A’s organization determined that anything Krol said, no matter how many people he said it to, reflected on the A’s organization as a whole and that a suspension was necessary.
10 Safe Social Networking Websites for Kids
NPR writes about social networking websites for children and how there is a growing demand for such services. Quoting the article, “The need is undeniable; the market potentially huge and lucrative. Companies are gearing up for this gold rush by creating websites strictly for children and websites that allow parents to create profiles for their kids.” The article then lists 10 of the better known social networking websites for kids, including YourSphere from fellow ABC 20/20 Web Avenger Mary Kay Hoal.
When Should Children Join Social Networks?
In another NPR article on social networking for children, Linton Weeks discusses the appropriate age for kids to join social networking websites and how some parents are approaching the issue. Weeks’ article does a good job of discussing the various dangers involved with social networking for young users as well as the possible benefits, citing a number of academic sources.
Understanding Google+ Privacy Settings
As Google’s new social network, Google+, continues to roll out to a larger audience, many tech journalists are on high alert for privacy slip-ups. So far, Google has done a good job with privacy on Google+, earning mostly positive reviews. As the product becomes more popular however, there is potential for even one confusing privacy setting to turn off users. This article in the Wall Street Journal discusses Google+ privacy settings and where the company may run into some problems.
