Brick by Brick

Social media is a powerful tool that often allows users to spread ideas and help make the world a better place. But what about the medium’s power to affect national (or personal) security? The US Department of the Army recently released a handbook that provides helpful hints and warnings about the dangers of social media to employees and soldiers. The 39 page document aims to reach the newcomers to social media as well as the tech-savvy .

From the operational security standpoint, this sort of guide makes perfect sense. When a 19 year old soldier has grown up with the internet and has been sharing facets if his or her life online for over a decade, it becomes important to set slight boundaries on what information should and should not be shared during wartime. The guide focuses on helping users of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and blogging software be better aware of the data that they are putting online; as this information may compromise things like unit location and personal safety while deployed.

Some tips from the document include:

• Be careful with geotagging pictures on Flickr or Picassa
• Do not reveal sensitive personal information about yourself on social networking profiles
• Talk to your family and make sure that they also follow good operational security online
• Do not violate copyright or trademark

The US Army is not forbidding free speech, nor is it prohibiting its soldiers from using social media to connect with their friends and family across the globe. Rather – the Department of the Army is educating against accidental information leakage (like GPS coordinates or personal information) and making sure everyone is keeping up with good operational security practices.

To read the entire document go go –

http://www.slideshare.net/USArmySocialMedia/army-social-media-handbook-2011

What do you think of the US Army 2011 Social media guidelines?

In their just released report “The Social Side of the Internet” the Pew Research Center presents data which presents a mixed, but encouraging picture of the role online communications and social networks have in supporting volunteer and charitable organizations. 

Of their major findings, Pew found that not only are internet users more likely to be active participants, with volunteer groups: 80% vs. 54%  for non-connected volunteers-  That of all Americans, 68% believe the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to draw attention to an issue, with 59% also reporting that the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to impact society at large. 

Of groups that have achieved a goal in the last 12 months, an impressive majority cite the internet as the playing a major role in getting a candidate elected to office and raising awareness about an issue. This is especially striking given that Pew’s other finding that only 15% of Americans report being active in political parties and organizations. Overall, Pew found that more Americans volunteer with religious and spiritual groups than anything else, with 40% participation.

In terms of how people use the internet to interact with groups,  65% of report visiting their group’s website and an astounding  56% reported reading an email newsletter. Pew also found that the internet is a key tool for mobilizing and expanding groups, with 57% of internet users joining a group in response to an online invitation.

Turning to the role of social media, not only are social media users considerably more likely than anyone else to be involved with volunteer groups, (82% of social network users & 85% of Twitter users participate) social media users are also the most likely to contribute to their  volunteer groups, either by inviting friends (48% of social network users  & 65% of Twitter users) or sharing content (30% social networks 21% Twitter).

As to whether or not this this report confirms or deny the points raised by  Malcom Gladwell in his article: “Small Change- Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted,” while it would seem to call into question his argument that social networks are not having much of an impact, on the other hand Pew did not  survey for  activities that one would consider ‘high risk activism.’

A few days ago Facebook released a study that showed that in most cases the candidate with the most Facebook fans won the election.  Specifically, they wrote:

“The Facebook political team’s initial snapshot of 98 House races shows that 74% of candidates with the most Facebook fans won their contests. In the Senate, our initial snapshot of 19 races shows that 81% of candidates with the most Facebook fans won their contests.”

Folks a lot smarter than I am have deftly pointed out the problems with the concept that you can predict election results based on the number of Facebook fans.  We have no idea how many of the fans actually live in the district of the politicians they are fans of.  Tea Party and colorful folks tend to attract more fans that more straightforward candidates.  Etc.  Etc.

However, I did want to add one small point to the discussion.  For politicians in lower profile races (Congress in particular), the number of Facebook hands is more an indication of how hard they have worked to recruit fans than it is of voter enthusiasm.

These fans don’t just appear out of the blue – campaigns work hard to actively build their fan base using a variety of tactics.  Do they have a prominent Facebook link on their site?  Do they include their Facebook address in email communication?  Do they post compelling content?  Do they run Facebook ads in an effort to promote their page?

Politicians with national profiles can simply put a Facebook page up and watch the numbers grow.  But your run-of-the-mill Congressional candidate has to work to grow their supporter base.  If you put in the time and spend some money you can make your numbers go up.  If you don’t, your numbers will stay pretty flat unless you are a sensation like Christine O’Donnell or Sharon Angle.

Guerilla and social media marking campaigns all dream of going viral – a la Old Spice Man on a Horse – but some advertising really strikes out. Below is a look at two particularly bad unfortunate ad campaigns that resulted in more bad press than good. Let this be a lesson that for every Old Spice man on a horse, there is also an Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare.

Mafia Wars: Leading to Wars with City Hall

No more than a few weeks ago, the video game maker Zynga was advertising for its Mafia Wars Las Vegas expansion pack.  Allegedly, this company authorized an ad agency to plant fake $25,000 bills on the sidewalks of San Francisco.  The plan was for pedestrians to pick up said bills, and find the address of the Mafia Wars website, where they could get information on Mafia Wars: Las Vegas. However, the City of San Francisco did not take the marketing tactic very well – and reported that the cleanup effort was of great expense to the city.  The San Francisco’s city attorney’s office is now officially investigating the incident.

“The Last Exorcism” and Chatroulette: Two iffy things that did not go great together

Everyone’s favorite random video chat website Chatroulete was seemingly the perfect medium on which to promote the Lionsgate horror film The Last Exorcism.  Its complete anonymity lents itself well to beginning short-lived interactions with strangers.

Playing off of this random notion, the marketing team behind The Last Exorcism decided to show a taped video to those connecting to it on the Chatroulette .  Subsequently, they released a video on their YouTube channel showing the “best of” reactions of those watching the exorcism video. In the clip, a female begins gesturing to remove her clothing, when suddenly her eyes roll back and she screams into the camera before the screen goes black. Meanwhile, the viewer is expected to look at the reactions on the male’s faces – which show notable distress.

While the Chatroulette “social experiment” service is currently down, the videos were released as part of a marketing campaign to drum up excitement for the movie. However, this is not the first YouTube video in this movie’s marketing mix. A few weeks ago, a website called Church of Saint Marks appeared online with supposed “information” on exorcism. Meanwhile, the site actually featured one of the main characters from the movie, Reverend Cotton Marcus of the fictional Saint Marks Church.

In the past few days, political media outlets have been abuzz with the news that Gowalla, a location based social networking service, has teamed up with politicians to create politically-themed stamps. Subsequently, Gowalla users are now able to see when politicians check-in at political rallies, fundraising dinners, and town hall meetings. With midterm elections just around the corner, this move aims to make candidates more accessible to their tech-savvy constituency.

 The new move to use GPS-centered online networking is innovative – with less than 10% of smartphone users using applications such as Gowalla and Foursquare. Politicans home to utilize Gowalla as a way to connect with voters while allowing the social network’s users to collect limited-edition campaign-themed  stamps for their virtual passports. Likewise, this continue integrating and connecting with other forms of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. 

Many experts are saying that these forays into social media may portend a greater amount of user interaction during the 2012 presidential campaign season. But with only three months left until the next midterm elections, only time will tell how social media will continue to be used by political candidates.

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