As my daughter Charlotte would say, "What the heck social media, what the heck"? Being that she is almost 3, she speaks wonderfully for her age, but probably is not questioning the lack of control and order of social media and comparing its environment to that of what the wild west was once known for. If she was, THAT would be impressive, and kind of odd. She's probably just repeating what she hears from me, Charlotte's dad. Why social media? And why the wild west? This week we are dealing with Social Media security and policy. As I'm sure many of you know, we are still in the very early stages of this Social Media phenomenon. We are in the infancy of a new THING that is taking the world by storm. Considering the fact that this is a new playing field, everyone is basically learning how to play the game as they go along. as that happens, mistakes will be made along the way. A certain chaos might break out, much the way it did in the infancy of the west when a certain law and order ceased to exist. It was every man for himself. Every man...not very "PC", but neither was the west! Anyway, check out the video below. It's about 5 years old, but it talks about how social media is like the wild west, and how there is a need for order and government control:
DISCLAIMER: Unbeknownst to me, the one video I really wanted to use, which compares social media to the wild west, does not want to upload into the blog. So I posted a direct link above to Youtube. It's not as pretty or cool as an actual embedded video, but moving on...
The picture to your right is very representative of social media. You just have to look closely. Sacred Valley is representative of Twitter. The Gold Mine is obviously Facebook, but only if you're Mark Zuckerberg. To everyone else it's merely a copper mine. The fertile prairies of Pinterest, and for good measure, the Texas ranch can be Blogs everywhere. Then you have the cowboys which of course are all the users of social media, and the horses (Search Engines) how we navigate the web, and in the middle, you have two dueling guns, representative of chaos and instability; an unstable environment.
Obviously history has showed us that order eventually came to be in the west. How was this done? By implementing laws and policy in order to create a harmonious environment where people can thrive. And the same can be said for social media and implementing security and policy in order to, in some cases, take back, and in other cases create control and a harmonious environment where again, people can....
Social Media Network Security:
When you are using sites like Facebook and Twitter, any information you share can be compromised, and is vulnerable to outside forces that might be looking to take advantage of you in some way. Network Security was implemented into these sites as a way for you to protect your personal information, while still being able to have a user profile, and allow those people who you want to interact with, to be able to interact with you in return. The following three tips can be useful when securing your social identity:
- Be sure to change your settings, in regard to your information, from public access to friends only access. This will allow only your friends to see your information.
- Never accept a friend request from someone you don't know. Even if they are friends with your friend, if you do not know who they are, it is not worth leaving yourself open to risk
- Do not use a "close up" picture of yourself to represent who you are in the social world. Use a picture that will make it hard for someone to copy your image and create a fake identity
Social Media Policy:
Social media policy is a set of standards implemented by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in order to better translate to companies and organizations, what is acceptable social media behavior in the work place. Three examples of those policies are:
- Be respectful. In a work place environment, this includes all of your constituents. According to (Herrin, 2012), "Always be fair and courteous". It also suggests that you will want to avoid posting things that could be harmful to the company such as inappropriate pictures, videos, or informational content.
- Be honest and accurate. If you are an employee representing the voice of the company through social media channels, you must be honest and accurate in everything you say and do. And if you make a mistake, own up to it and correct it quickly. Being able to remain transparent with your customers is what helps to build trust, and strengthening that relationship moving forward.
- Using social media at work. Unless using social media is related to your job function, and you are using it acting as the voice of the company, then that is fine. However, all personal social accounts should not be used during normal work hours.
Based on this week's blog posting, I am able to clearly see the relationship between Social network security and policy, and why it is necessary to incorporate both into a social environment in order to uphold peace and control in an already very voliile environement with many particpants and uncontrollable variables.
To close out this week's posting, here is a funny video from Kimmel. It's a random video, but good for a laugh.
References:
Herrin, Barry ( June, 2012) National Labor Relations Board Post & Template Social Media Policy. Legalhimformation Retrieved from: http://www.legalhimformation.com/articles/pdfs/HIM2012-06.pdf
Dan, I had an opportunity to check out the video you shared titled Social Media as the Wild West. It was very interesting and also a little disturbing with its proclamation that the web will one day face a catastrophic 9/11-type event that will result in the need for government control over the web.
ReplyDeleteThis is a real concern for many. In fact, in some countries government control over social media is already a reality. “As some governments see both their power and potential, they are clamping down. In some scenarios, with expanding control and the use of government-employed contributors, social media could become yet another tool of oppression” (Omidyar, 2014, para. 8).
One place where this is already a problem is in China. The government of President Xi Jinping has acted upon the concern for the power that social media has to spread information. “Hundreds of bloggers across the country have been detained and intimidation tactics have ramped up. Microbloggers have been threatened with three years' jail time for posting "false" information that is viewed at least 5,000 times” (Omidyar, 2014, para. 6).
Since social media is a tool of liberation and empowerment for so many, do you think that government control or moderation over this mediums would result in decreased popularity and usage?
Reference
Omidyar, P. (2014, February 27). Social media: Enemy of the state of power of the people? Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pierre-omidyar/social-media-enemy-of-the_b_4867421.html
Hi Bobbi Sue,
DeleteThank you for your feedback. It's ironic that the essence of what social media represents is a place where individuals have a voice, a voice that can promote change, and affect policy. The irony is that in China, a communist regime, people's voices are being suppressed by the government. In China, social media is available, but the way its allowed to be used is being controlled, and there in lies the irony. But its the same in China as it always has been in regard to the monitoring and filtering of information. Can we assume that the social media movement is what it will take to change the way things are presently in China? I would think that perhaps a social type of interaction and communication could very well be the closest thing they have come to in regard to the oppression of their individual freedoms, but as you pointed out in your response, micro bloggers are threatened with jail time if they post false information. So perhaps they are allowed to interact via a social platform, however, the punishment and consequences are so severe that people will not be allowed to use social media channels the way they should be used, and therefore, why bother using it at all.
I feel that those sentiments would be felt here in the United States if the government tried to control our social networks. I feel in regard to policy in the workplace, that is acceptable because you need to be able to maintain order internally, within an organization. Also, the "social voice" is representative of the entire company. So yes, I feel government control would decrease usage, but I also think trying to control something that represents a person's individual freedoms would do more harm than good.
You make some really valid points, Dan. Though it may seem intrusive for organizations to mandate or restrict personal social media usage, if an individual is using their personal social media to communicate internal information about that organization, it does impact its social voice. Having a policy in place is an important to protect the organization’s brand.
DeleteDan,
ReplyDeleteI liked that you related social media back to the wild west. It is interesting to think about it that way, but the social media is fairly young and there is a lot of territory left unexplored. I found it interesting in this week’s readings how even small pieces of unprotected information can allow people to find out much more about you then you may want them to know. I also found it interesting some of security solutions that experts came up with. I like that you specifically brought up social media in the work place. One thing I noticed is that there are a ton of negative things that can come out of people combing their work life and social media life.
Another interesting topic I encountered was that often other people can post information about you. For example friends can post about you and in that case monitoring what you post will not help because the information is coming from someone else. This would suggest that there is more to consider than privacy and safety features on social websites. Since social media is relatively young it is difficult to understand what mix of safety features works best in all situations. What do you feel is more important in order to ensure safety? Should people utilize safety features on websites or simply limit the amount of information that they allow online?
Great Post!
Hey Ian,
DeleteThank you for your reply. As i said in my post, social media as a "thing" is relatively new, and like anything else, it's an even playing field in many ways, and people are learning how to use social media as a tool to communicate, as they go along. Along the way mistakes will be made, and we must be able to learn from those mistakes in order to ensure a better social environment as a whole.
When considering security in a social environment, I truly feel that the bottom line is, if you don't want something to be compromised, or certain information to be hacked or stolen, its very simple; keep it off the internet. If you don't want certain things to be seen, assume if you post it everyone will see it, so if you don't want it to be seen, DON'T POST IT! That is easier said than done, and to remain completely off the grid in today's world is in itself, not an easy task. And really, when there is so much cool technology to play with, who wants to remain completely off the grid?
In regard to importance of safety, I think its balance of the two points you mentioned. I feel people need to take precautions in regard to keeping up to date with their security settings in their various blogs, e-mail, and micro-blogs, as well as information they enter into 3rd party sites, but I also feel they need to take a certain discretion in regard to what is being posted. Like I said before, if you really don't want something to be seen or read by everyone, then its best not to even post it.
Hi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI like that you brought up the fact that social media is still considered a new phenomenal and we are all still learning how to best adapt to it. I confess that things I shared one year ago I would not be sharing today. That is living and learning and we still have a lot to learn from Social Media usage. It is not surprising that laws and regulations are being shaped to help guide us through this new era as well.
Like you said, we all need to follow social media security guidelines you provided to help us stay safe. This course and your post opened my eyes to the close up pictures. I never thought about it before but that makes sense. We sometimes make it easier for people to create a fake ID using our picture when we provide a close up picture of ourselves.
I am very familiar with the Halloween video you shared with us. I actually considered playing the same trick on my kids. LOL Their Halloween candy is very important to them. Very funny!
Have you ever had any problems due to over-sharing of information online?
Great Job!
Ana
Hi Ana,
DeleteThank you for your feedback. When I read about the pictures, it didn't even occur to me before reading it, that this is something that social thieves target. And t makes sense that the picture being the size of a passport photo is something they could both steal and use. I can only imagine all the other things we haven't considered in regard to social security precautions that are out there. You almost need to think like a thief in order to know the type of information they will target. I also found it interesting how they could piece together little bits of different information in order to uncover additional bigger things you might not have even directly shared. Its important to really consider first what you are putting out there before you hit the "post" button. BTW, love watching all of those Jimmy Kimmel videos with the kids, their reactions are priceless. LOL, thanks again for your feedback and have a great weekend!!!
So sad (but true) that we've come to a time where we have to think like a thief to protect our information. The seemingly most innocent post or share can be turned against us and used to jeopardize our information. Thankfully, the knowledge we’ve gained through this course should help us stay one step ahead of the cyber bad guys!
DeleteHey Dan,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I loved your comparison of social media to the Wild Wild West, and I would have to agree with Bobbie Sue; that the inclination that the web will one day face a 9-11 scale event is "disturbing". I absolutely agree with the video that you posted about the need for some sort of government regulation. Today, crimes committed over the internet are just as bad as those committed off the internet. Think about it, you have predators luring women and children to locations, you have hackers stealing people's personal information and identities, you have stalkers following people with the use of their social media GPS trackers, you have people uploading "fight" videos in the hopes of it being posted on a site like "World Star Hip Hop", you have teenagers committing suicide because of the bullying they face through these social media outlets, and you have people stealing people's pictures and creating fake profiles. If the government doesn't step in to do something soon, we could very well be headed towards that catastrophic event.
Social media is such a free roaming space that even debt collectors have taken to Facebook to track down elusive debtors. Suzanne Martindale, staff attorney for Consumers Union, said, "We have concerns about debt collectors using social networking in part because the law really is unclear and there's such a risk of invading people's privacy" (Holmes, 2011).
As much as we'd like to think that the government will step in before a devastating online event occurs, history shows that many laws and bills that are passed are the outcome of some sort of "tragedy".
Reference
Holmes, T. (2011, August 2). Debt collectors' use of social media raises concerns. Retrieved from http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/debt-collectors-social-media-guidelines-concerns-1282.php
Hi Damaris,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback. It is unfortunate that many times in life, it takes a tragedy to occur before any preventative measures are taken to avoid such a tragedy. Its such a reactionary system we have, and it really needs to be proactive, and plan for those types of occurrences before they happen. But to do that would take money and time, and companies in general are not willing to budget for events that haven't happened yet. I think its silly though to think like that, and it is always good to have a crisis plan in place, should a catastrophic event happen. The same goes for a companies dealings on line, and also in relation to their social presence. I feel companies should be responsible for creating policies specific to their business, and as for government regulation, I really think the government should set a broad set of standards which basically affects everyone, without putting individual restraints on a single person or organization.