Growth in Advertising

Advertising has come a long way. Currently holding the title as the most successful means of advertising: The Social Media!

Makes sense to engage your audience where they hang out. With that being said, “Facebook and Twitter dominate the advertising landscape”.

According to a recent study by The Pivot Conference, 67% of businesses are using the social media for advertising, 18% are expected to get on board with in the next year and yet there is still a 12% who have no plans to employ within the next year.

Most Popular Platforms Used to Advertise in the Social Media.

• Facebook 93%
• Twitter 78%
• Youtube 61%
• Linkedin 44%
• Foursquare 20%

Not to say that there aren’t other means of advertising, but it’s hard to understand why some businesses have not tried it yet. With all the benefits it has to offer and the success it brings why not?

In addition, businesses are now being pushed to further explore other advertising platforms such as Linkedin and Foursquare. Continuing to use these platforms with in the next year, according to an anticipated forecast there will be a successful increase of 20%.

I am pretty sure given the time the remaining businesses will learn to adapt to advertising through the social media. I think it’s safe to say that the other methods are not as effective.

keansocialmedia.blogspot.com

Public Relations & Social Media

Many people don't understand what public relations is and what people in that field do, furthermore people don't understand the relationship between public relations and social media.

In my opinion public relations is the medium between a brand and its publics.

In many cases a brands target audience may not have direct contact with the brand and most of the time consumers rave or bad mouth about their encounter with a new brand or favorite brand through social media.

Through social media public relations specialist can gain a batter understand of how its publics and shareholders feel about their brand and what is being said about them.

Social media & public relations really go hand in hand because a brand can only reach so many people through publications and television but when it comes to social media you are reaching millions of people at a time all over the world without spending any money.

A name for myself, rather then his..

With the right keywords, it's easy to find me. With a social brand, it's easy to know what I'm all about. It's from here on that determines whether or not I'm of any use to you, and the last thing I do is waste time. 


You're either my potential employer, a close friend considered family, or an admirer of my ideas. 


Through Facebook  you can follow me on my social endeavors, but if you really want to know what I have to offer adding me on Linkedin is your best bet. I've also been implementing my personal brand within my Facebook by liking the companies that interest me and I have my two cents to contribute to.


I've been able to use key words to find my target audience such as: 

• "Muscular Dystrophy philanthropists" 
• "Kean University Students" 
• "Retail Marketing" 
• "Social Media Advertising"

Search for me and you will think I'm the voice of Optimus Prime. Search for me with these words and you'll find the real Peter Cullen.  

• "Muscular Distrophy" 
• "Kean University"
• "Sigma Theta Chi"

http://keansocialmedia.blogspot.com/

Let's Interact!

Keywords to locate my target audience:

Performing Arts

Theater patrons

Non-Profit youth foundations

Social event planners

Newark performing arts non-profit

Non-profit funding

Young Entrepreneurs

Party Planner

These are some key words that come up on websites that involve my brand such as non-profits, public relations and event planning websites.

http://www.eventlucky.com/

http://www.bizbash.com/

http://www.prsa.org/

Another way I can interact with my audience is to create a blog with all these keywords and directing them to my blog. When these words or topics are searched on the internet my blog will be one of the first to come up.

By creating my own personal blog for my brand I show that I have knowledge in my particular field and I share my views and ideas that will set me apart from other personal brands.

Through my social media I will be able to drive traffic to by blog by tweeting and posting Facebook statues such as:

Muyiwa Omisore discusses his top 10 social event planning trends of 2011.

Looking for a way to expand you budget in 2012? Muyiwa let's you know how!

Click Here.

Promote Yourself Through The Right Strategy.

I ‘ve had the chance to be public relations chair for my sorority twice, in 2009 and this semester again.

In 2009, I actually had to make flyers to promote an event, send out mass emails to alumni, remind people with a text or two, and get the school approval to post it on the event board.

Now, almost 2012, all of that work has been reduced to one-two-three clicks here and there, thanks to facebook, twitter, and kean’s university new system cougarlink.

I saved a lot of time when it came to advertising bake sales, fundraisings, events, etc.

All I did was go to facebook upload an image or two, write a short description of the event, invite ALL of my friends & link it to cougar link and weekly alumni emails.

Sisters got the invitation and invited their friends. And the results of money-making were better this year.

The constant use of networking sites has made marketing and public relations a lot simpler and cheaper. Not only to promote a business, or an event but yourself also.

I know that if I want my co-workers or boss to see me as an upbeat and hard-working employee, I cant post any “ I am bored at work ” or negative statuses because it can affect my image.

Social media, marketing and PR have a greater impact on someone’s professional image today than it did on 2000 or even 2009.

If advertising my sorority worked for me, “Selling myself or a business” through Facebook, twitter, linkedIn can also give me good results.

It would save me the time of trying to get people to notice me or a business through flyers, telemarketing, business cards, weekly mail coupons, promotions or etc. But most importantly, it would save money!

Why? Because technology has better itself, people don’t really see the flyers you hand them out, or care to listen when you call them at home, or lose the business cards, or only read the important mail- not weekly promotions or etc.

I know I don’t. I spend more time checking my email, facebook, twitter, yelp, zumeo, foursquare etc than my actual home mail. My personal brand will reach more people through these social media sites.

PR and Marketing is cheap today, there are millions ways to get people to hear about a product/business/ or even your skills if trying to find a job. The only thing needed to invest is time and dedication to be creative.

Sure, there are other ways to advertise and these old-fashioned tactics will probably still work, but if I want to save money, time and suceed, my best bet is to have a clean network profile. And update my co-workers, employers, and friends with statuses that will benefit me & not make me or my job look bad.

Millie A.

aguinami@kean.edu

Publicity

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers."

If you were to ask me how I would publicize my own personal brand lets say 5 years ago. I would never say through social media. My most logical answer would be an expensive TV ad, or a newspaper. 

Well I am glad the no one did and that times have changed, thank God!

For my sake and for the sake of social media more and more users made it explode overnight into this very concentrated cyber market. A place where you can share, and opinionate what you think, and how you feel towards a certain product, service, or individual. 

Becoming involved, enhancing a reputation, and standing out defines what public relations is to me as a social media user. I use Facebook in order to maintain an image, and communicate that to world, my friends to be more specific.  

I would never post a picture, video, or post on my Facebook page that I know it would hurt me. The same way it can help stimulate my image, it can also hurt me.  

PR can help me defend my reputation, and personal brand. How? By giving my target audience and public a better understanding of whom I am through social media tools helping me reach my personal brand full potential. 

People often have the perception of public relations as a group of people who spin everything. The way I see it, is a turn around of a bad situation into an advantage. Sounds great when you expose a product, or service that you believe can help an individual to their full potential.

riostai@kean.edu

The Future of Advertising

I am at the computer now at 8:30pm on a Saturday night (no, no sadly I do not have a date - - but I digress) and the TV is playing in the background.  What's on TV?  The shows that I have recorded all week but have not gotten around to viewing.

TIVO, DVR's and other recording devices have made it possible for me to continue to be the TV geek that I am despite having a really hectic work/school schedule.  It has also made it possible for me to skip the commercials.  I am the advertisers worst nightmare!

I am sure that I am not alone in being a serial commercial circumventer.  So how do advertisers now capture the attention of consumers like me who are poised to push a button and skip that very costly advertisement?

If you research how companies are advertising now, how they predict they will be advertising in the future, and factor in my reluctance to give advertisers the time of day, it would seem that traditional media advertising may soon go the way of the dinosaur.
    
Advertisers are now smartly switching to online marketing and advertising.  According to a blog by MDG, How Social Media Changed The Ad Game [Infographic], advertising on traditional media sites such as TV, newspapers, and radio is steadily waning while online advertising is growing.

Not only has web marketing and advertising grown, it has become the top focus of most marketers. 

Facebook is by far the avenue of choice for most advertisers with its large number of subscribers.  Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc also give companies a way to measure the success of their online advertisement through tools such as the "Like" option on Facebook.

With advertisers focusing more and more on online advertising, I "like" the fact that maybe someday I will be able to watch a TV show uninterrupted.  But wait, without the sponsorship and advertising dollars, what is the future of TV?  But again, I digress.

P.R and Social Media

In 2011, when starting a new company or even a new campaign, what would be your first thought on how to get the name and brand out to the consumers?

My first answer, being a student in this day and age, would be, well, social media of course. Create a Facebook and Twitter. Get people LinkedIn with similar products or companies. Create emails with coupons and promotions.

This is so very different from how marketing was when there was no Social Media. These sites have improved business's ways of communicating with 'word of mouth'.

Social Media, Marketing and P.R has become this days Triple Threat. This is how companies improve, this is how they get customers, and if they had customers before this is how they gain more.

With social media sites such as Facebook, consumers can actually interact with the company and provide feedback instantly instead of this such as mail in surveys, or 'How are we doing" calls.

As the times increase the use of Social Media for Marketing and Public Relations will only increase and become more involved. Knowing the use, and purpose of these sites now can only improve not only yourself but the company you may one day work for as well.

KAYLA KAPLAN

What's Legal On-Line?

While researching topics about social media and law, I came across this great presentation on slide share.

The presentation titled 'Legal Implications of Social Media' really went into detail the rights and wrongs of what to write on your personal social media sites. Also it went into full detail the consequences people face when writing something bad.

They give an example of a high school girl who wrote a poem on MySpace about how she hates her home town, her principal saw it and published to her local paper. Her family was then ruined by the remarks she wrote about the town. The law court found no legal expectation of privacy since it was published on her public MySpace.

I agree with the law, these sites as personable as they may seem they are indeed public unless made other wise. If your settings aren't turned to as private as possible, then what you write is out there for all to see.

Even sites like ratemyprofessor.com are dangerous sites. These public sites allow students to go on and write what ever they want about specific professors. This can really ruin a professors image, and prevent students from signing up to their classes.

The presentation also goes into full detail, job hirings and how what you have on your social media might sway their decision to hire you or not. This again ties into your settings and how private your keep your social media.

People, especially young people just starting out in high school or even beginning their life in the work force, should really consider what they write on their sites. The world is becoming more and more like big brother and someone is always watching and reading up on what your doing.

KAYLA KAPLAN

Blogging! Opinion vs. Fact

In March 2011 Katie Holmes filed a lawsuit against the owner of a celebrity gossip website for $50 million dollars based on a false story that she had a drug addiction.

Many bloggers stand firm behind the first amendment which gives everyone freedom of speech but why must bloggers use that freedom to print false stories about people they know nothing about?

Although we are all granted freedom of speech and the opportunity to voice our own opinions bloggers should understand that false stories about celebrities and companies taint the brand because the false story brings a negative vibe around the brand and all that are associated with it.

Bloggers, especially ones with a huge audience must realize that their audience trusts them to relay accurate news stories to them and in order to relay accurate news research must be done.

Bloggers are social media journalist so they need to treat their posts as if their posts were being printed in a magazine and newspaper!

How much influence does your favorite blogger have on you?

A story about thanksgiving, twitter addictions, and personal brands...

So this Thanksgiving I went to my aunt's house where I met up with hella family members and chowed down on some good food.

We didn't have the natural, sit around the table dinner. It was more of a "food-is-at-the-table, come-and-go-as-you-please" type of dinner.

So I spent most of the time chilling in the living room watching football with my cousins.

At one point during the night, my cousin asked if she could use my phone to support her scary twitter addiction after her battery was on it's last leg. I wasn't willing to let her drain my battery like she did hers, so I used this opportunity to bring up personal brands.

I told her about the J.I.D. brand, based on Judgement, Insight, and Determination. I told her about the my focus on marketing quality products to the people. I told her about my involvement in the entertainment industry. I told her about my desire to motivate and inspire those around me and those who believe in J.I.D. I told her about how far I'm trying to go in this life.

I told her.

She said "that's nice..but c'mon let me use your phone."

I asked her if she has a brand and she said it's her twitter lol.

But as the conversation continued, I discovered that while she doesn't have her own defined personal brand, she does understand the concept. She also knows that employers are checking on prospective employees using social media tools, which is one of the reasons she doesn't have a facebook and keeps her real personal information off of the twitter.

She just got a job in the legal department of some company, so I figure things are working out for her.

And now my younger cousin, her baby brother is building his brand in which he wants to undergo a short stint in the NFL, then branch out to acting and modeling. It's not even that farfetched. More power to 'em.


Oh yeh...and my cousin never got my phone.

J.I.D.

-Majid

mtejanjalloh1@hotmail.com

Social Media Take Over

Social Media has become the newest and one of the most powerful tools, when it comes to branding yourself and and advertising.

When I researched the term social media and advertising, a variety of web pages came up, I came across a blog which I found pretty interesting.

http://sharemarketing.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/social-media-is-advertising/

In this blog, shes discusses another blog she came across, arguing the difference between advertising and social media. The writer of this blog clearly believes that social media isn't the answer into getting your product or company more success.

I happened to disagree with her post, because social media and advertising have merged together to become one powerful tool when it comes to marketing. Almost everyone has some type of social media, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp, etc.

Companies as well are all over social media, for that purpose! To advertise their companies, services, and products.

I currently work at NJ Eye Care, the office manager has recently started a Facebook page, to help get our office out there to the community and help the office get new patients, through our current patients. She's even added the "Find us on Facebook" link to our website.

So every time we receive a new patient, we ask how they found our office or how they were referred to us, surprising most of them say they found us through our Facebook page through a mutual friend.

This is exactly why I disagreed with her post, because yeah social media isn't exactly every thing that advertising consists of, but it is a form of it. In today's society it's the biggest and easiest way to promote!

Jennifer

camposj1@kean.edu

The Right to Write

The First Amendment right to freedom of speech has always been, in my opinion, a shield for journalists to hide behind when expressing unpopular opinions.

So it's no surprise that when social media opens up so many opportunities for anyone to voice their thoughts, the legal issues come pouring in behind them.

A recent study by the Knight Foundation found that people who use social media as their news source regularly are more supportive of unpopular opinions than those that do not.

I can tell you from personal experience that when Casey Anthony was found innocent, I found out via Facebook because of all the "heavily opinionated" statuses that came with the verdict.

But, as we've also seen recently, this newly found freedom of expression also comes with a big backlash. In Kean University's own hometown, a high school teacher is under investigation for posting anti-gay comments on her personal Facebook page in response to an LGBT event at her school.

The situation is ironic because the same study reveals that "36 percent of teachers agree that students should be allowed to express their opinions about teachers and school administrators on Facebook without worrying about being punished at school for what they say."

So why the double standard, and where is the line drawn between what is acceptable in freedom of speech and what isn't covered by our rights?

http://keansocialmedia.blogspot.com

Defamation within Social Media Rises

So much for freedom of speech… Through social media there is and will always be an exception to being "entitled to your opinion".

More and more people continue engaging in the social media every day and for those who are already using it need to also realize it's not the same as having a face to face conversation. What you post WILL be used against you in the Court of Law! Just as it was used against Leong Yook Kong of Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia for posting his thoughts.

Skimming through the social media I began reading this article of 64 year old retired Leong Yook Kong who used his Facebook page to express his anger on a Mechanics Training Center where his son failed an exam in vehicle maintenance. In his comments he stated how the center was, "guilty of fraud" and had "corrupt practices".

After the hearing in court it was determined that Kong had no evidence to support his claims against the center where his son attended school. Also because his intentions were to defame the center he lost the case.

All it took was three posts and in exchange a $31,000 fine and the acknowledgement on his behalf that he would no longer post defamatory statements.

Abocca0127@yahoo.com

Legalities of the Internet, Socially

So I read the chapter regarding the legal boundaries when writing in the cyber space and I pretty much got a good understanding for the do's and don't's.

I respect the laws for intellectual property. In this day and age where everyone's out for their own gain, I can see someone taking someone else's thoughts or ideas and running with them to build something of their own.

But what I really want to talk about is the laws for libel and defamation..

When I was younger, I used to go on various internet forums on the iternet that catered to my interests (sounds corny, I know, I had my reasons)...and that's when I learned that the internet is not for the feint at heart.
On another forum, a guy was cheated on by his girlfriend. For revenge, he released her phone number, address, facebook, and promiscuous pictures of her to the users of that forum. May I add that that forum is one of the most popular forums on the internet. (Just know that it's one of those, I don't want to post the site and knowing this site, they probably deleted the event from it's archives.)

Drama ensued...

After her phone number was out there, dozens of dudes were hitting this chick up harrassing her life...

Her character wasn't defamed, it was raped. Her soul was raped.

She said that she was going to call her lawyers implying that she was going to sue him, but nothing happened. He lived to post again.

I didn't think much of the incident until I read this chapter. Now I want to know if she had grounds to sue him...and win.

While it was a derogatory, defaming, and a privacy issue...it was all true...and morally, cheating is looked at as unforgivable...but did it warrant all of this?

edit: I found a video documenting the whole thing...lol View Here

So I pose you this question...

What do you think?

Do you think the girlfriend (the cheater) would have won a libel or invasion of privacy case in a court of law for this incident?

Do you think L_Erwin's (the cheatee) actions were justified?


-Majid

mtejanjalloh1@hotmail.com

The People vs Internets

After reading Learning the Legal Landscape chapter of Brian Carroll’s “Writing for digital media.” I’ve decided to forgo my dreams in becoming a VH1 reality star and perhaps take a chance at becoming an attorney.

In this chapter Carroll offers some keen insights on how to avoid entering a court room for posting digital content that violates privacy, trademarks, or copyright matters; just to name a few.



So How do you protect yourself from a libel Suit?

Carroll stress that a writer should use:

• Good journalistic and communication practices; 
• Have a solid story and follow documentation;
• Use at least three credible sources, when stating a claim; 
• KNOW THE LAW!

Following these four points are just a considerations that the author encourages his readers to follow if they want to prevent having to deal with libel lawsuit.

In the chapter Carroll's reveals the six hurdles that a plaintiff must clear all six to win a libel lawsuit:

1. Defamation: Prove material is derogatory
2. Identification: Prove at least one other person could read and identify plaintiff in story
3. Publication: Did it reach a third party?
4. Fault: “Actual malice,” prove reporter had a reckless disregard for the truth
5. Falsity: Prove that the story is false
6. Injury: Compen$atory damage$, $special damage$, and Punitive damage$ 

I was surprised to have learned that Private citizen and public citizen do not occupy the same space in the legal system.

Sparingly; celebrity socialites like Amber Rose and Kim Kardashian have virtually no libel protection because they’re viewed as All-purpose public figures.

Which explains why celebrity blogs like TMZ can make a trillion claims concerning Lindsay Lohan personal affairs without ever being severed with a Subpoena.

[So] when you are too inflential in the public and are highly praised, prepared to get buried by The National Enquirer, MediaTakeOut, or even The Source.

However, if your labeled as a limited public figure like Monica Lewkinsky. A person who’s pulled into the public sphere will obtain this protection.

The chapter was very informative and it helped me to understand how to use copyrighted material in a manner that follows Fair use. Not to mention aviod publishing digital content that violate a person privacy rights, Great read!

Walford Guillaume

Juliet's Family Brand

Over a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with the fam, I had the opportunity to share my
personal brand for everyone to hear. So my personal brand that I'm developing is a lifestyle
brand that appeals to young adults
(college students, graduates, entrepreneurs and young hustlers in their own right.)

I am an aspiring actress that wants to develop a brand that expands into fields of entertainment, real estate and medicine. These are the basics that I have shared with my family. (Believe me there's alot more!)

My sisters are on board with me. We share some of the same interests and goals. I've always been the visionary with the overly ambitious goals so it comes as no surprise that I would want to accomplish all of these goals. However, all of my family came up with one solution to achieving my goals. Focus!

My Dad: "Focus on Education"
My Mom: "Focus on something professional"
Chinwe- my older sister- "Get that money!"
Chinedum-my younger sister- "When I'm a doctor and your a star______ will happen!

Pretty much everyone is in support of my goals and aspiration.
 The incremental approach is to carefully outline a detailed personal brand
 that will be appealing to the masses, yet remain genuine and reflective of me.

Trying to Reach You Back

Class,

Some of you have emailed me ... and I have attempted to reach you back over email.

Unfortunately, any email going to a Kean email address has bounced back. This has been going on since Thursday. If you need to reach me, please email me from a non-Kean email address and / or call me!

Thanks,
Perri

Law Abating Social Media

When an angry girlfriend after a harsh break-up made up a fake Facebook profile for her ex, Dana Thornton had herself struggling with a fourth-degree identity theft charge in New Jersey court of law.  

Dana Thornton set up a fake Facebook page impersonating her ex-boyfriend, allegedly stating he was high all the time, had STDs, and liked prostitutes.   

Being so, The NJ Criminal Justice identifies her actions as of offense of identity theft to include; assuming a false identity to falsify and injure or defraud another individual’s’ image. 

Since the statute did not mention the use of electronic communication, Miss. Thornton tried to obtain a case dismissal. The jury did not obtain the argument, and the case will go forward.  

Reading Chapter 11 and actually coming to an understanding of how much information can be given to us citizens, and how much can be exposed. The statute explicitly says that pretentious a false identity to harm a further person is against the law! 

It shouldn't matter what tools are used in the process. In this case a social media blog site Facebook. 

Since social media is such huge network that has grown so fast, and the law abating it is not as stable so limited as it should be. Due to the fact that cases like these normally happens a lot mainly for curious reasons. 

My question to you since the majority of us have Facebook accounts is, should the legislature try to amend all other laws that could be caught up in the context of online communications?

Rock Starlette vs. Fashionista

We’ve all just about heard of the historical “shot heard around the world”, however in this day in age Paul Revere's enemy comes in many forms. One in particular: Courtney Love.

CASE: Courtney Love (rock star) vs. Dawn Simorangkir (fashion designer).

Albeit rather than Love a gun (as in Rever’s case), Twitter was the accessory. One of her slanderous comments of calling Simorangkir a "drug-pushing prostitute with a history of assault and battery who lost custody of her own child and capitalized on Love's fame before stealing from her", was seen by over 90,000 of Love’s followers, which was then retweeted to a much bigger audience. Who would've known! (clearly sarcastic)...

So regardless if you’re a Twitter extremist, a sporadic Facebooker or a blog-a-holic, you need to know of the possible ramifications you face every time you “click”. If you think you can click without penalties…think again.

Courtney clearly didn't, resulting in a settlement of Love being down $430k and Simorangkir up by $430k.

The lesson learned here: even in short 20-minute 140-character tsunamic bursts, one can even be responsible for defamation.

Ms. Love brought upon herself a libel case by calling the designer a "drug-pushing prostitute" via Twitter. For it to be deemed “libel”, the slanderous comment has to be confirmed that it was false and was publicized to someone other than the offendee.

As mentioned by Simorangkir’s attorney, "(Love) embarked on what is nothing short of an obsessive and delusional crusade to destroy Simorangkir's reputation and her livelihood." And let’s face it being a called a "drug-pushing prostitute" doesn’t normally up your real estate value.

To be honest, I certainly wouldn’t expect anything more than classy from the Love machine and I’m not totally surprised about her Twitter tirade either.

What we all need to learn from her pre-pubescent playground rant is that, in general, anything involving a lawsuit muddled with social media has a high chance of being picked up in the internet.

If you make a mistake with your social media posts, it can cost you your job, reputation, bank account(s) and credibility.

Web Of Blogging Legalities

In reading from the book "writing for digital media", the author teaches us that there are some easy ways to legally protect yourself when publishing writing material (like our blogs) online.  In addition, there are some legalities that are a bit more cumbersome and complicated but necessary to learn.

Complicated legalities include the many Privacy legislations and laws that have been enacted to protect against privacy issues in traditional publications and online publications. 

There are also many mandates that protect citizens, both private and public, from libel.  Libel and Privacy issues are two problems that are hard to manage legally and the growing number of professional and non-professional writers (like bloggers) on the internet are only making it harder to oversee and manage.

Online privacy issues include access to and selling of personal records/information, surveillance, file-sharing, and computer cookies.  As web writers (bloggers), we need to be sure that the way we gather information for anything we write does not fall afoul of the laws that protect against these issues.

Some of these laws and legislations include:

• The Freedom of Information Act
• The Electronic Freedom of Information Act
• Open Government Act
• The Electronic Communication Privacy Act

Another interesting thing I read was that almost anything written is automatically copyrighted to the original author.  Only the author has the right to alter, publish, copy, etc their written work.  So plagiarism is not only wrong, it is illegal. Who knew?

Libel is another issue that we as bloggers must guard against.  If I were to publish a writing about a person/organization, I have to make sure that I do not write something I can be sued for.

I learned that libel only occurs when information printed is untrue.  So if I am writing about a person/organization, I have to do my due diligence to make sure that it is true.

Getting at least three documented sources, doing real research and homework, and giving the person/organization I am writing about a chance to respond or defend themselves are ways to legally keep me from being sued for libel or defamation.

In the end, the most surprising thing of note in my reading of the book was that anyone, professional writers and non-professionals (like bloggers), can be sued for libel/defamation and that ignorance of the law is no defense. Who knew?

Family's View Of Personal Brand

I knew when I read our assignment that this was going to be an interesting, yet comical exercise. 

I read aloud my personal brand statement to the family right after the Thanksgiving Day dinner. 


Bellies were full from the turkey and while the tryptophan may relax and dull the senses, my family's witty sarcasm was sharp as ever.

My cousin said that it was a good thing that my cooking was way better than my brand statement.

My sister said that my 25 years of retail procurement experience was the reason I am so frugal.....she used the word "stingy" but tomayto/tomahto. 

My oldest son was too amused by the fact that I have a Twitter account now and my youngest son made a suggestion that i add in the fact that I make the best sweet potato pies.

After they all had their fun, they were impressed with my personal brand statement and my LinkedIn account page.  They didn't have any suggestions for me but did have questions about how they could go about creating a LinkedIn account. 

I spent the rest of the evening showing them the LinkedIn site and how to created their own personal blogs.  I didn't get much help that night but because of this class, I was able to help others become more interested and adept in the area of social media.

Social Misuse Fact Finding Session

By Rachael Licata 

In searching about some of the legal issues while using social media, I am most interested in what employers can and cannot do. Especially when done within the realm of their employees  personal time. 
I found the following information from Saper law offices. 

• Can an employer check up on employees through social media?                                       Yes, with some limitations

• Employers can check LinkedIn to verify information supplied by an applicant or employee on previous work history.

• Employers can check Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. for postings that may be viewed as harassment of other employees or if an employee who called in sick is really out partying

• Employers cannot use information found on social medial to discriminate against employees or candidates due to race, religion, sexual orientation or other protected class. (Better have screening policy in place) 

Social Media & Employment

• Employers may use social media User Generated Content  UGC for hiring/firing decisions

• Corporate “social media policy” can prohibit employee participation, e.g.  tweets, marks/logos, use of company IT 

• Marketing/PR positions present different rights & risks

• ECPA and/or CFAA may protect non-consensual intrusion into third-party employee accounts 

Intellectual Property

• Who owns the Copyright to material posted on Social Media?

• The original author owns the copyright to their posts on Social Media.

• If someone is hired to promote a product to friends or other users on Social Media , the Work For Hire doctrine will apply, and it is best to clarify ownership in the contract.

• However, it should be considered that many postings may not meet the minimally creative threshold and therefore may not have Copyright protection. (Facebook Status updates? Twitter updates?)

However, there is no “law of social media,” yet!

Law evolves slowly and cannot keep up with technological change

Legacy real-world rules apply, and adapted to social stream,  otherwise unlawful practices are still illegal when online.

So what are some best practices?

• Culture— Foster corporate culture of openness. Listen to & respect opinions of employees, customers and other stakeholders.

• Trust— Employees should be trusted to communicate and develop relationships with customers. Do not review content prior to posting.

• Training— Provide employee training about how to blog; review legal issues with employees. Give employees option of participation for off-hours socmedia activities.

• Transparency— Disclose connections with customers. Reveal commercial and sponsored relationships. Transparency and authenticity are key.

• Accuracy— Confirm facts. Check with colleagues before publishing content that will affect them. If employees write about private matters, insist upon permission before postings. 

• I think I will inherently keep all of these things in mind if and when I start using Social Media in the work place.