Paul Wallbank – Brilliant Communications

Category: social media

The beast in the machine: Protecting your online profile
Every village has an idiot and there’s a particular brand of idiot who’s attracted to the perceived anonymity of the Internet.

Being big communities, online networking sites like Facebook and MySpace combine the problem of having a lot of idiots who think they can’t be held responsible for what they do in cyberspace.

Last week we saw this with the shameful behaviour on Facebook where posters defaced memorial pages to a murdered girl. That disgraceful episode shows why it’s important to take precautions against idiots online. Here’s some ideas on protecting your online profile;

Take responsibility

You are responsible for what you post so if you create a Facebook fan page, LinkedIn group or blog then you need to maintain it, particularly the comments. If the posters become unwieldy then you need to moderate them or turn off visitor comments. Remember too that you are responsible for comments you make and the messages left on your site.

Be careful with joining groups

In life you are judged by the company you keep and the same applies online. If you join a group full of idiots you’ll be identified as one of them. Worse, those fools will be attracted to people they consider to be like minded. Think twice before accepting invitations.

Choose friends wisely

It’s tempting with Internet networking sites to try and get as many friends as possible. That misses the point of these tools and it increases the likelihood idiots will become part of your circle. Only allow people you know to connect. Using Facebook for family and friends while referring business colleagues to LinkedIn is a common way of separate work and social life online.

Avoid strangers

We tell our kids not to accept lollies from strangers yet many otherwise sensible adults link up with people they don’t know. Avoid doing this unless you are absolutely sure of who they are. The famous cartoon of “on the Internet nobody knows you’re dog” is true of thieves, stalkers and all manner of knaves.

Hide your details

Don’t go overboard spilling out your personal life to strangers. The more details you give out, the easier it is for troublemakers to find you or steal your identity. Keep the musings about your cats and your children to your close friends.

Used well, Internet networking tools are a fantastic feature of the Internet which can enrich your life and the lives of those around you. however all tools can be misused so be aware of the risks of these tools and act responsibly.

Remember if things get uncomfortable you can hit the delete button and turn the computer off. It’s best to do that at the first sign of trouble.

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February 28, 2010
Twitter is like CB radio and this isn’t a bad thing
Last week’s Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show illustrates the Hype Cycle we discussed just before the Christmas break. If there’s one thing for sure, we can say tablet computers, 3D televisions and Google phone are racing to see which will be the first to the “peak of inflated expectations”.

Funnily, we’ve been here before with mobile phones, tablet PCs and 3D entertainment so it will be interesting to see where these are in 18 months or so.

While it’s entertaining looking at the new gadgets, the interesting action is happening on the other side of the peak where real uses for technology and gizmos are found after the hype moves on to something newer and prettier. When the bored fashionistas move on from a product that’s no longer the newest and shiniest we see if something is genuinely useful or just a pointless fad.

Of all the predictions we can make for 2010 one good bet is social networking is approaching, if not past, the fashionable peak of the hype cycle. Particularly Twitter which we’ve seen pronounced dead by various writers over the break.

My favourite comment was from an weekend newspaper entertainment columnist stating the Twitter hype was driven by “Boring Old Farts Suddenly Discovering Technology” and the whole thing is now dead because an MTV host declared she was over Twitter. The Luddites are crowing that Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the entire Internet thingummybob can join CB radios in history’s discount bin of overhyped technology.

Citizens Band radio is a good lesson of what happens as a product moves through the hype cycle. In the mid 1970s peak, songs were being written about it and the media was awash with spookily similar stories of how CB radio was ushering in a new era of participatory democracy. Within a couple of years, the hype had passed and those who had a use for it, such as truckies, farmers and service people, got on with their work without the kids and newbies hogging their radio channels.

Exactly that process is happening now with the various online networking tools. The naysayers will crow they were right all along about a fad for boring old farts while unknown to them entrepreneurs will be figuring out ways to make money from these tools and smart businesses will be using them to stay ahead of their slower competitors.

As well as the trendies moving on, the social media snake oil sellers who’ve traded on the social media hype over the last two years will also move on to the Next Big Thing or go back to selling multi level marketing schemes. The honest consultants and genuine experts who survive the shakeout will be able to genuinely add value and help their clients achieve more with the tools.

So a product or technology passing the peak of the hype cycle is an excellent opportunity to use it do great things for your business without the fashionistas and snake oil merchants distracting you. Don’t be afraid to experiment just because the PR machines and fashion victims have moved on.

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January 13, 2010
The social media goldrush
A few months back I started a #socialmediaexperts meme with a slanderous tweet about those who arrive at the North Shore Coffee Mornings after 9.30.

This was partly in jest, but there was a serious undertone as it seemed to me I was bumping into social media experts on every street corner and I just couldn’t see how all of these gurus were getting paying clients.

So it wasn’t surprising to read that blogger B.L. Ochman found 15,740 social media experts on Twitter, a number which has more than trebled from 4,487 when she last looked six months ago.

Almost certainly the numbers are higher than that, as those are only the experts who’ve listed themselves as such on Twitter. I’m sure there’s a heap more who haven’t yet discovered Tweeting.

I also wonder how many of today’s social media experts were the SEO gurus of two years ago.

To be fair, I’m sure most of these folk are hard working, well intentioned people but I can’t escape the idea that the current wave of experts is simply another gold rush and, like the gold rushes of the 19th Century, most of those flocking to dig this ground aren’t going to find much success.

I wish them luck but of the 15,740 social media gurus on the planet, it’s probably ten thousand too many.

Perhaps it might be better finding out who is selling these gold diggers their shovels and investing time and money there?

Postscript: I did a search on LinkedIn for those with the position of “social media experts” and only 193 results came back, the scary thing is I’m indirectly connected with almost all of them.

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December 29, 2009
Growing your business with Tweetups
It’s hard to resist the offer of a free sandwich in Sydney’s Hyde Park on a beautiful spring day, so a“tweet up” offering was always going to be successful.

Like most social media meetings in any big town these days, people from all walks of life gathered to meet and become more than just a Twitter handle or obscure forum name.

Any idea that your average internet user is a pasty, overweight, underemployed 20-something is quickly dispelled as you meet all sorts of interesting people who are doing interesting things.

The hundreds of “tweet ups”, coffee mornings and social media dinners across the land are creating new networks which are changing business and society.

This is opposite of the stereotype being used to reinforce the mindset that blames the internet and social networking sites for everything from schoolyard bullying through to street riots and arrested brain development.

Over the last few days we’ve been treated to stream of stories about the views of professors and researchers detailing how the world and our minds are being destroyed by the internet.

My favourite is an English professor currently visiting Australia who claims computer game addled 20-something market traders may be responsible for the global financial crisis.

Perish the thought that good old-fashioned greed and hubris, the cause of every market crash since the Bronze Age, may have had something to do with the GFC.

The weekend press mentioned the professor applying for a study grant from an American university to prove her theory.

If that is true, it’s a shame the she didn’t take the time to check out the Twitter hashtag to join us for a sandwich in Hyde Park.

Had she done that she’d have had a nice sandwich, caught some sun and seen her theory disproved.

She would have met a far more diverse group than a bunch of stuffed shirts huddling in a cosy lunch club, desperately trying to validate their deliberate ignorance of the changing world outside.

It’s those stuffed shirts, along with their newspaper columnist friends, who are isolated. By choosing to demonise the internet and ignore the opportunities social media tools present, they are being left behind in a fast changing world.

The options for entrepreneurs and business owners are clear – you can lock yourself up with the stuffed shirts and rage about your dying business or you can use the net to help your business grow. The choice is yours.

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September 21, 2009
Buying friends online
At school, kids who tried to buy friends always found it ended badly. There is little reason to believe things are any different for grown ups running a business.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been treated to the running saga of a Brisbane-based service fighting the big social media sites over their claim to have thousands of rent-a-followers available for businesses wanting to build a quick fan base.

The whole idea of this sort of business baffles me as I can’t see where the benefit lies in buying a Twitter or Facebook following. The only scenario I can think of is where somebody is trying to boost the value of a business to a gullible buyer on the basis of how many Twitter followers the enterprise has.

This sort of thinking is a fallacy – social media isn’t some sort of contest to boast how big your following is, it’s about being part of a community that trusts and values your contribution.

If you’re really trustworthy and have something useful to offer then a community will grow around you. Buying followers runs counter to that as it shows you’re not really trustworthy and what you have to say offers so little value, you have to pay others to be your friends.

Noone has to be on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and it isn’t compulsory to have a blog or even a website. As useful as all these services are, they remain simply tools to get a job done.

When your business has to buy fans, it’s worthwhile asking if social media offers the right tools for your company, as the best thing that will happen is you’ll be ignored.

If you have to stoop to gaming the system, then perhaps it’s quicker and easier to stick to traditional forms of advertising which offer less risk and will probably be cheaper.

The most popular kids in the playground didn’t have to buy friends, while those who did found their friends didn’t last. The same applies for businesses.

In a world where a few blog posts or tweets can expose an untrustworthy business you need to have genuine fans and friends.

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September 13, 2009