Ethical & Legal Woes in Social Media

So your Facebook account is private? And your twitter account has your alter ego name attached to it correct? So there should be no such worries about legal issues and your Internet profile sites.

No matter what you post, say, or do on the Internet something, somewhere is following your every click. Yes, you can erase your computer history, but it will never be completely gone.

Social Media has caused job loss, criminal predators, high profile legal cases, yet it is still normally used with everyday people. So what is all the craze about?

Privacy is becoming a huge factor with Online Media, with social networks especially. There are plenty of ways for users to interact in these social networks, which causes plenty of information to be made easily available.

Quizzes and games on Facebook is just one way developers can have access to basic information. However Facebook has tightened security, but there are always new ways to sneak by security.

Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter have all been used in high profile cases, to catch the criminals, and Internet predators.

Recently CNN.com posted a list of the “Top 10 People Caught on Facebook”. Not all cases are bad. Some are relatively good, this list goes to show be careful what you share on the World Wide Web.

In November of 2009 two unknown D.C. Socialites became controversy when they snuck into a White House State dinner, honoring the Indian Prime Minister. Dressed to the nines they were unnoticed by White House security. Until pictures surfaced of them on Facebook. They themselves posted the pictures which became headline news. It is unknown yet if the party crashers will face criminal charges

Legal matters involving drinking have become a real problem online as well. Parents hosting underage drinking will face jail time. This is what recently occurred when a parent, who works in a school allowed her son to host a small drinking party. Pictures surfaced on facebook and the Mother faced 30 days in jail, 500$ fine, 10 days of trash pick up, and 3 years of probation.

Other underage drinking cases happen when underage cops pose as “friends” and try to look for illegal drinking pictures online.

Is this right to be caught and charged by photographs?

Some think it is, others think it is a huge invasion of privacy. This is true your privacy is much less protected, but at the same time these photos of evidence are very well known they are posted

If you are apart of a social network you may want to take some time to understand the laws pertaining to social networking sites.  Two laws, which stand out for both users and sites themselves, are Section 512, and Section 230.

Section 512, or the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. This act basically removes liability for copyright infringement from websites that allow users to post content. The problem here is sites such as YouTube which allow embedding materials for users to post can be copyright, without the users even realizing this. These cases are being resolved in Federal courts. The resolution will certainly impact what social networking does.

Section 230, is a bit more detailed. The Communications Decency Act, immunizes websites from liability resulting from publications of information provide by another. In other words if  a user posts illegal content, this section can protect the network provider from any harmful publications.

Ethical issues in Social Media is everything in the business. It is about navigating the internal channels of a business and to even make friends with professional co-workers. Relationships are built on trust. In these type of relationships personal & professional relationships are tied and built together.

Basically for ethical reasons know who you are on social media outlets, it will portray your personality. Keep these in mind because legally it can hurt your reputation.

First Time Social Media has taken top rankings for most visited website in a week, Facebook toppled Google

Why? Make friends, communicate, expand your business opportunities.

What are the legal issues? Both for user, and for the site itself.

Section 512, Digital Millenium Copyright Act

Removes liability for copy right infringment from websites that allow users to post content as long as the site has a mechanism in place whereby the copyright owner can request the removal of infringing content.

Problem for most sites that allow users to post music, photos, or videos.

Example several content owners have sued YouTube, The video sharing site, for copyright infringement, and YouTube has claimed a 512 defense.

Outlook: it’s future business plan most likely involves advertisements according to the kind of video that users view or search for.

If the site does this this could amount to a finacial benefit directly attributable to the sharing of copyrighted material. Currently before federal district courts and their resolution will greatly impact the serives that social networks offer as well as their business models.

Section 230 Communication Decency Act.

Immunizes website from any liability resulting from the publication of information provide by another. This usually arises in the context of defamation. F a user posts defamatory or otherwise illegal content, Section 230 sheilds the social network provider from any liability arising out of the publication, Websites that are deemed “content providers” that do not benefit form the protections of Section 230.

A recent 9th Circuit opinion has called the section’s broad coverage into question, and created uncertainty for social networking sites that have relied on Section 230 to protect them from claims relating to the content that their users create. In the case ‘Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC, began when two fair housing groups sued the website Roommates.com, alleging that Roommates.com’s roommate networking service violated the Fair Housing Act.

The Website qualified for Section 230 immunity, did not reach question if the site did violate the FHA What did it apparently violate? Created a website which developed information by creating the questions that users answered when creating their profiles, and second by channeling or filtering the profiles according to the answers to those questions.

Employment Using Social media to view employee applicants. Sometimes having social media sites is a good thing for employment

Own personal experience Is your Identity safe in ChatRoulette?

Online Interaction is done within the safety of our networks. New social networking that pairs its users with random webcam partners.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10465705-2.html?tag=mncol

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2008/tc2008115_988160.htm

http://articles.technology.findlaw.com/2007/Sep/18/10966.html

http://205.188.238.109/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1943680_1943678,00.html

The Business of Social Media:

In recent years Social Media has up roared in popularity. The way we interact in virtual space has become normality among anyone with even the slightest bit of computer education. From Blogging, to My Space, to the ever so popular Facebook and Twitter, we like to share our thoughts, information, and social everyday lives with anyone who may be curious to see.

This sharing of information has also been turned into free marketing. With many celebrities jumping on this technology frenzy we love to follow the people who entertain us, now entertain us through Social Media outlets.
Not only is it free publicity for Celebrities to use Social Media, plenty of business’ use this outlet to make profits. It is the practical way to market, there is no need to wait for your audience to take notice, but rather it is important to give something for your audience to talk about. To every right way there is also wrong ways to go about certain ways of Marketing. It is important to discuss the Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media

There must be more admiration in the way social Media works. The past 2008 election sparked different uses of social media in the presidential race. Both candidates used this form of mass communication to grab attention, but only one contender truly engaged more viewers to vote.

This Tweet’s for Sale…

It is shocking to see how much money celebrities can make to appear on a TV show, awards event, or to host a party, but to tweet about something they ate? It is true that celebrities are now being paid to be followed on twitter, and that every tweet they make about a product is a new way of marketing.

In an article posted January 4^th 2010 “Do Celebrities Get Paid to Tweet about Products?” by E Online, it is talked about how Celebrities can make up to $10,000 per tweet. It is an amazing number, and companies like Sony, and Nestle are just some of the buyers.

In this new business of social media it strikes up the latest companies to advance in the cash. Ad.ly is a Third-party advertising company to set up tweets for celebrities to make. Once a celebrity tweet is approved by Ad.ly the tweet has potential to reach millions of views.

I’m with… Fan Pages.

Not only does Twitter grab attention for marketing, but so does Facebook. The Latest in Facebook is to make Fan Pages and groups. Lets talk about the recent controversy with the Late-night talk shows and NBC. After the announcement that Conan O’Brien, a favorite with the young audience, would be pushed back to make room for Jay Leno, uproar in the virtual world of Facebook began. A Freelance, L.A. based designer Mike Mitchell, created the Modern art “I’m with Coco” poster. Currently with 995,000 plus fans, the “I’m with Coco” group proved it’s social media movement.

Before the “I’m with Coco” movement, more importantly was the first ever Social Media Election.  In 2008 the role the web played in the Presidential election was unlike any other election. No longer will voting be so private, thanks to the Web we know our friends votes weeks before the election. And even our friend’s status updates can influence our voting ways.

Social Media T.M.I. (too much information!)

Where will we draw the line with social media? When is information too much information? These are the questions of what do you post on the Internet and what do you not post. Social Media is great in ways of business, its free, it can give your brand personality, and if you do it right its all about the ROE (Return on Engagement).

What you say on the Internet will speak your personality. It is important to know what your writing, and don’t let your day get in the way of your tweeting. For many celebrities, whom are promoting their personal brand, this is a very important advice to take, too many times have their personal PR’s had to clean up their messy tweets afterwards. These tweets can hurt their names in career opportunities.

So for business purposes remember you are what your Twitter, Facebook, or Blog page says. Use these to connect with people, build opportunities, to connect with your business, and be consistent in your posts. Because you’re social media personality is your brands legacy.

More than 700,000 local businesses have an active fan page on Facebook. This is great for the local economy, since Social Media is currently the #1 activity on the web.

Soc. Med. Psych Class 101.

The online world is so fascinating it is curious to see why people use it so much. There are so many reasons why people use social media. It’s not just for business, but it’s for you to explore. I’ve been reading an article by Doug Firebaugh about “The Psychology of Social Media- The 7 A’s.” Through research he has found that social media plays a huge part in the marketing world. It’s a very powerful source that most of us don’t even see. I do believe, no matter where you are, or how old you maybe, social media greatly impacts us all.

Why do we gravitate to this source of media? What are our goals and reasons? Doug Firebaugh makes excellent points. We use it for attention. Maybe in the real world you lacked at attention, well now it’s much easier to be seen.  Also helps with being approved of, many of us lack good self images, but by social media it is much easier to be approved.

The same feeling goes towards Twitter as well. Twitter isn’t just to stay connected or to help market my business, it is here because it is Instant. It is a fact that 80% of twitter usage is from mobile devices, with all these smart phones being produced it makes sense to update while your mobile.

Celebrity Endorsment

You may not think there is a huge different between Facebook and Twitter, but there is a significant difference. The fact is Facebook you have friends, but Twitter you have followers, these followers are your Return on Engagement, and will be following you with every tweet. Facebook is more information driven. What Twitter has accomplished is the new age of word of mouth marketing. You might tweet about something, well then two followers will re-tweet about it, then another five will twitter about it from then. It is an endless game of telephone, and has become a huge success in business marketing.

It is true that by the end of 2009 there was an average of 27.3 million tweets per day, or 1.3 million an hour.  In this new age we can only wait for what new social media trend will be next.

Easy Said, Easier Done.

There is an endless possibility of what’s next on the web. Applications, Widgets, Gadgets, are all apart of a new view in the way we socialize. I’m not surprised about the amount of business heading towards these types of free marketing. It’s a great way to stay current with the times. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company on Wall street in NYC, or a small bakery on Main street in Portland Maine, we can all share our thoughts through Tweeting.

Twittering & F-Booking

•Celebrity Endorsements- tweeting brand names for $$$ http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b160341_Do_Celebs_Get_Paid_to_Tweet_About_Products_.html

Company Ad.ly http://www.ad.ly/

Who? An in-stream advertising platform the matches top-tier Twitter publishers with top-tier brands

What? Ad.ly enables advertisers to reach the highly sough-after Twitter audience by connecting brands with the most influential people in the community.

Why? Because Twitter is a global phenomenon and one of the fastest growing sites, with over 52 million users in the U.S. alone. Ad.ly enables advertisers to reach the highly sough-after Twitter audience by connecting brands with the most influential people in the community.

How: Ad.ly enables Twitter publishers to make money form the content they produce on Twitter by sending one tweet every day from advertisers that they approve. In order to ensure authenticity, every Ad.ly tweet is explicitly approved by the Twitter publisher.

•Business

Applications- for mobile updates

Pages- fan based pages

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

•Do’s and Don’ts of sharing information- where is the line of T.M.I.?

•Free Publicity- easy to sign up, share and do.

The Different Networks

•Blogs, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

•Whats the Difference? Whats the best? And what will this lead to?

Social media psychology

•How mixes with business, and business perception on social media.

Production Budget & Development Team Duties

Production Time September 2009-April 2010

Launch Date April 29^th 2010 9:00 am EST.

STE Team (everyone is approx. full time, 40 hours per week)

STE member 1, Me- Head of the Company, Business Developer- I out see every step

STE member 2- Senior Designer/Developer (55K) Produces WF’s along with myself. Creates Logo designs and mock-ups. Creates major designing with myself.

STE member 3- Junior Designer/Developer  (40K) Assists on WF’s follows the Senior on ideas and mock ups. Assists with Photoshop Mock-ups, helps create each page after major designing is complete. The follows in the assisting of Developing in dreamweaver. On the business trips will have a part in taking photos for the site.

STE member 4- Senior Developer  (56K) Works in setting up the Site along with IT. Main go-to person on designing the development of the website.

STE member 5- Information Tech.  (50K) Sets up server, any technical aspects wrong will fix

STE member 6- Marketer/ Promoter   (45K) Produce written content for each page. Creates marketing plan, sets up business trips and other business opportunities. Networks to Social Media pages, blogs etc.

246K for employees, excluding myself.

Work out of personal home office

Setup, furniture, etc. 4,000

Computers, Telephones, TV, cameras, electronics. 25,000

30,000 for Office supplies, materials for a start up business.

Business trips (4 weekends)

Include Hotel, Food, transportation (car gas) Lift tickets, etc.

12,000 (est. 3,000 per trip)

Total amount to set up business.

288K

around 300K, leaving extra room for budget changes.

This is the Proposed Monthly Production Schedule for STE. Each month new tasks begin, but workers will always be focused on other tasks. This schedule is merely to help simplify the process of what to do and when. Things might change but the easier we communicate the better. I also add monthly meetings to catch up and to know exactly where people are in their work.