Imagine my surprise when I emailed a colleague on Facebook and received a response from her boss. Word to the wise employer: if you want a presence on Facebook, make sure you’re aware of the Terms of Service, first. Corporate fan pages? Feel free. Impersonating your employees? Facebook fraud.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
I don’t know anyone worth adding into my personal social mediasphere left in my Gmail address book who isn’t a total luddite living life without a cell phone, bank card, or voicemail. Do I really want to try and add these people to my Buzz network? Do you?
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
This morning on Twitter, one of the people I’m following retweeted a message from a regionally prominent interactive marketing manager who declared that tweeting’s not all that important. So where does social media fall in the grand scheme of things?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
In order to meet industry standards for protecting privacy on the Internet, Google should shut down new social-media service Buzz and reboot it as a service that gives informed consent back to users.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Cnet’s right. Google Buzz is an absolute privacy nightmare when it comes to social media platforms, or best practices on the Internet, in general. Here’s why–and why you should consider opting out of the new service until Google cleans up its act.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
A new survey from comScore this week (reported in TechCrunch) suggests that social media has a positive effect of holiday purchases. Last week, the survey firm asked 425 shoppers nationwide about their buying habits this holiday season. As many as 28% said that social media had affected their purchasing decisions this year, including online product reviews and Facebook and Twitter posts from friends and trusted influencers.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Back in January, new-media marketing maven Chris Brogan (@chrisBROGAN) asked whether social media could save a business. In the face of the TARPconomy, He was hoping to help keep a Peabody, Mass., sandwich shop open. He wasn’t successful. Last month, however, a local Chicago comic shop in economic distress had much better luck when reaching out to a loyal online following.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
A new report from consumer electronics site Retrevo finds that 36% of Twitter and Facebook users under the age of 35 like to post updates immediately after sex. I have a feeling the findings will have many readers nodding in agreement. If embarrassingly so.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The going assumption seems to be all social networking sites are the same: if you like me here, you’ll love me over there. The Internet is a bad place to make assumptions like that. Twitter and Facebook couldn’t be farther apart in the ways–and the whys–their respective communities mingle with each other. Here are four reasons why bloggers using Twitter shouldn’t push their Facebook pages on their followers, told from the perspective of a hapless new follower.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes