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.

Using the Influence of Twitter and Facebook

As a Social Media tool to help showcase my personal brand and to help with our campaign, I tried to get some perspective from others by tweeting and posting to my facebook account.

Now while my pursuit did not pan out as I thought it would, this exercise has shown me that my facebook page is too personal a page to get any actual usable information and that I should create a new page that is more professional in nature. 

Below are two examples of why I say that my FB page is too personal.  The first post received no
response at all and the second post only received one rather silly response.

First FB post was:
Trying to come up with a marketing campaign for the launch of a cool revolutionary tool used by mechanics and pit crew guys. For any of my FB friends and family that are mechanics, what online sites do you frequent?

Second FB post:
Kelly Peoples Davis K, taking a course on social media marketing and how to brand myself. Have been using Twitter and LinkedIn to showcase my expertise as a Produce Buyer for a large chain of grocery stores with lots of retail experience. What is your personal brand?

Now although my Twitter posts did not get any response at all, it did show up on my facebook page since the two are linked and that is a definite positive.

First Tweet: one tip on blogging is posts cant b paragraphs-keep to 2 sentences 4 bettr readability. see how my class is doing http://t.co/aBnG5QdN

Second Tweet: my class is learning bout social media marketing and blogging - check out how we progressed so far http://t.co/aBnG5QdN

It makes sense to me that engaging others via Facebook and Twitter has great potential and although I was unable to get any legitimate hits on either sites, I am sure that a few people did check out our class blog.

The power of social media is fascinating!

Redo, Revise...Just Make it Better

One of the great things we have learned is how to be creative in our blog titles.  To be honest, it is hard to create titles that will evoke interest without creating a title that is too... cutesy.

I happen to like the title of most of my posts.  The first blog I wrote is the exception.  It was titled "Blogger Newbie" and it could have been a bit more creative. 

In racking my brain for the perfect revision, the changes I think of seem to border that fine line  between eloquence and just plain silliness.  So, it took me a little longer that I thought it would to come up with the right title.

I think maybe "Blogger Newbie's First Step in Developing Great Posts" sounds good without suffering from the cutesy syndrome.

I haven't gotten too many comments from my classmates or the Professor on most of my posts so maybe I should rethink all the titles so that they garner more immediate interests..... or maybe, just maybe... I'm a bore of a writer.:)

But What's My Brand Blog

Here is where I attempt to show my own personal growth as we learn how to use different Social Media tools.  If you do happen to take a peak at the blog that I am about to share with you, please be kind in your judgements.

Because when we first began this class, I thought about how cool it would be to create a blog and use it as a sort of  personal journal.  As the weeks progressed, I began to realize that it would better serve me in my professional life and my attempt to "brand" myself and my own unique set of business perspectives and skills.

Blogging is another great way to further our personal brand.  Since my personal brand is that of a savvy business professional, I have found that blogging is a bit difficult even though I love to write. 

 First, to have a sucessful personal blog you must make the time and be diligent in your postings.    

I failed at this right from the start!  I decided to blog once a week but too soon I had given up on being able to write weekly. Thiis is great article about being diligent in postings http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/SuccessfulBlogRequirements.htm

Second, I think you have to have a clear and concise blogging theme.

I began blogging as I would writing in a journal with no real purpose or interesting topics.  I have begun to rethink my postings as it relates to my own personal business expertise and I will begin to post more about business skills.

Besides finding the time to post and being creative and interesting in my posting, I also am having difficulty in being able to post about business acumen without speaking specifically about the company I work for.  I also do not want to cross any line where I inadvertently give out any trade secrets.

Anyway,  I have provided the link to my blog.  The first four posts are...well...crap but the last post is more akin to how I am going to use this as an additional tool to promote by personal brand.
http://kdavisproduce.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think.