Posted April 5, 2010 by cgseo under under
Pay-Per-Click As we reported last week , some significant news was announced regarding the open web, and the direction social networking is headed in. Cliqset and Status.net announced that for the first time ever, the users of two independent, public web entities are able to communicate with each other, without being on the same service as the person they are communicating with. These two services accomplished this using the Salmon protocol, a technology that’s already on Google’s list to implement with Buzz . Would you find value in communicating with a user of a social network you didn’t belong to?
Tags: advocate, building technology, Buzz, chris-messina, Cliqset, flickr, future, Google Buzz, personal, protocol, Salmon, social networking, Social Networks
Posted March 26, 2010 by cgseo under under
Pay-Per-Click The FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials that were updated in December have been the cause of a lot of concern and confusion among the industry, and this continues to do this day. A lot of the confusion has been around how the guidelines apply to social media use. I sat in on a session at SXSW recently that featured FTC lawyer, Mary Engle, and had an audience comprised of a nice mix of bloggers, advertisers, lawyers, social media marketers, and people from some big-name companies. A common theme among audience participants was concern about being able to comply with the guidelines, when employee social media use is basically out of the company’s control. For example, if an employee posts a status update on their personal account in their own free time, and happens to mention how great one of the company’s products is, without disclosing that they are an employee, how does a company control this? Who is liable? Engle says the individual has some responsibility, but in terms of where the FTC is looking, it’s at the company. The FTC’s stance is essentially that companies should have a clear policy in place that advises against such a practice. Based on the discussion from this panel, the FTC realizes that companies can’t completely control employee behavior, but as long as they have such a policy, and that is clearly laid out, the company will not likely get into trouble for this. However, companies are encouraged to take necessary action when such behavior is discovered. “If part of their job is to be out there in social media, than you should absolutely identify yourself. It has to be where the user can see it,” says Engle. “The reader needs to see it.” Sidenote: WebProNews also interviewed Jordan Mitchell of the Rubicon Project , who had some other things to say about the FTC guidelines: The intent of the SXSW session was to be very causal, and to clarify what the guidelines mean, and clear up as much confusion as possible. In some ways, it was probably successful, but in others, there seemed to be a fair amount of confusion remaining, simply because there is so much gray area around the guidelines, a fact the FTC openly admits. “We try to pick black and white examples, recognizing there’s a lot of gray in between, which is always the case…In the real world, there’s lots of things in the middle, that we’re not in a position to offer guidelines on.” says Engle. To make a long story short, a lot of the answers to audience questions regarding the guidelines were answered with a resounding, “It depends…”
Tags: Advertising, answers, employee behavior, free time, ftc guidelines, guidelines, Jordan, jordan-mitchell, People, personal, rubicon-project, testimonials, user
Posted March 18, 2010 by cgseo under under
Pay-Per-Click The majority (86%) of young people in Britain go online to find help with personal problems, instead of seeking advice from a family member or friend. The findings come from a poll of 1,000 people under 25 commissioned by Get Connected, a national helpline line in the UK, and conducted by Maximiles Surveys. Online one third of young people would turn to their mother to discuss a problem and just 5 percent would speak to their father. Fifty percent did say they would be likely to talk to a friend. More than half (53%) of young people who have surfed the Internet to search for help with a problem found the information actually made them more concerned they were before. Only 18 percent said they would double check any information they found online with another source like a friend or parent. “These results show that there is a need for young people to be able to verify the information that they find online, and in many cases that the vast amount of information available on the Internet seems to exacerbate their personal worries further,” said Andrew McKnight, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Get Connected .
Tags: board of trustees, Britain, Charity, Connected, get connected, launch, mass communication, online, people online, personal, point of reference, poll, Technology
Posted March 9, 2010 by cgseo under under
Pay-Per-Click Social media plays an important role in problem solving and strategy development in the workplace according to a new survey of 900 human resources executives conducted by Toolbox.com and PJA. Among HR executives and professionals, social media usage outpaced editorial and vendor content consumption. Respondents used social media at a rate of 3.77 hours per week, compared to 2.77 hours of online editorial content and 2.13 hours of online vendor content. The survey indicated active participation in social media is an important part of the HR job role and acts as a resource for experience-based knowledge in the workplace. Respondents said staying current (78%) and networking with peers (71%) as the most popular uses of social media. Additionally, more than half have responded to a question asked by a peer in an online community, while nearly 50 percent have built their personal knowledge network by making connections with peers. “This survey proves HR professionals have been fast adopters of social media, not just for networking but for improving their value as professionals,” said Mike O’Toole, president at PJA
Tags: human resources, personal, pja, problem-solving, question-asked, Review and Story, Social Media, toolbox, very-important, workplace
Posted March 7, 2010 by cgseo under under
Pay-Per-Click People who lie on online dating services are likely people-pleasers who want to present themselves favorably, just as they would in person, according to new research from the University of Kansas. Jeffery Hall, assistant professor of communications studies, surveyed more than 5,000 participants who used Internet dating services to find out what kinds of people are most likely to lie. He asked them how likely they were to lie about topics such as assets, relationship goals, personal interests, personal attributes, past relationships, age and weight. “What people lie about depends on what kind of people they are,” Hall said. “For example, if you’re an extrovert, you might downplay the number of past relationships you’ve had because chances are you’ve had more relationships than an introvert.” Those most likely to lie during the online dating process are people who have a strong awareness of what people like and control their behavior to achieve social ends. Their actions are not necessarily manipulative, but instead reflect a desire to be liked and to fit in. In the study, men admitted to lying more overall, but women were most likely to lie about their weight. Because online daters hope to meet face-to-face eventually, the amount of lying is quite small. “Online daters shouldn’t be concerned that most people are presenting a false impression of themselves,” Hall said. “What influences face-to-face dating influences the online world, too.” Hall’s research was published in the February issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Tags: daters-shouldn, extrovert, false impression, online dating, online dating services, personal, personal attributes, relationship goals, study, study men, such-as-assets, Technology, university