Social Media Security in an Unsecure World - My #MaristSM16 Week 6 Blog Post

This week our readings focused on security related to social media.  For me, this subject was of particular interest because just over a week ago my Instagram account was hacked.  I was panicked, embarrassed, and scared all at the same time.  Thank goodness for a friend who happened to notice a problem with my account not long after it happened and reached me immediately on Facebook messenger!  I posted on Twitter that evening:

The situation led me to changing my Instagram password account twice.  Once to regain access to the account and delete the pictures the hacker had put on my account and then a second time with a slightly stronger password after I had set my account to private.  I also changed the password on my email account I signed up for Instagram with as well as the password to my primary personal email account.  And now, at least three times a day, I check my Instagram account to see what is on my list of posted pictures.  While at work this has become easy using Hootsuite, since they now allow you to monitor and schedule Instagram posts.  In addition to monitoring Twitter and my church's Facebook page, I added my personal Instagram feed so I always know what I have posted on Instagram.  I have to be better about using the mobile Hootsuite app though.

For personal accounts, it is easy to set things to private so only your followers/friends can see things or post comments.  Which is what I wound up doing with my Instagram account.  But for professional businesses or even celebrities, if they make their Twitter feed private, then no one can see their tweets and they (or whoever runs their social accounts if they don't) have to approve everyone who follows them.  Even for myself I have left my Twitter account open because it has led me to other accounts to follow in relation to my health (migraines), likes (Scorpion, Code Black), and faith.  I get emails when someone follows me (in addition to the notifications) and check out their account.  Some people I follow and some I wonder why they chose to follow me in the first place.

But now I am just rambling and I need to get to the questions Nicole, our discussion leader for this week, posed.

Question 1: Do you believe that employers should be able to restrict their employees’ use of social media? Consider the decisions outlined by the NLRB and whether you agree or disagree with any in particular.

I do think that some restriction is needed on behalf of employers when it comes to social media use by an employee.  Sure I have bad days at work and would love to complain about something.  But if I am complaining publicly, as social media is a public outlet, about my job or my employer, what does that say about me and my dedication to my job?  Nothing positive, that is for sure.  Halpern (2012) summarized nine key points from a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision regarding social media in the work place.  Item 1 stated, "Employers may prohibit employee 'rants'" (Halpern, 2012, para. 2).  It is one thing to rant or complain about something to a family member or even a co-worker that you are friends with.  They are usually trusted individuals that you know would not go around and gossip about your gripes.  However, the moment you put that information on social media, it becomes public consumption and a rant becomes an attack on your place of employment.  And honestly, would you want someone working for you who hated a particular policy or disliked a particular co-worker who was not afraid to voice that dislike or hatred so publicly?

I also noticed point two, "Employers may restrict employees' commercial use of company marks" (Halpern, 2012, para. 3).  This actually makes a lot of sense to me.  My employer, Marist, has guidelines when it comes to producing items using different logos.  There is a style guide that is available that lists all the rules and regulations that come with using the Marist nameplate, specific use of the full Marist College seal, and how to go about producing office letterhead, business cards, and other publications.  Available on Marist's website also are images that have been produced by Marist that can be used as well as PowerPoint templates if you are doing a presentation representing Marist.  This way everything is uniform and everyone is following the same rules.  In the article Halpern (2012) discussing the company marks as it relates to complaining or conversing on social media.  This is important to note as many offices and groups at Marist have social media representation and would likely use something "Marist-branded" as their image to identify themselves as part of Marist College.

Employers may prohibit employee “rants.”

Question 2: Think about how well your personal or professional social media habits follow the tips outlined by Microsoft and McAfee. In your discussion, choose one guideline that you think you follow well and one guideline that you could follow more closely.

The tips outlined by Microsoft and McAfee are very practical and sensible.  In some cases, they overlap each other in subject matter.  Which is a good thing, because when two large organizations like Microsoft and McAfee agree on something, it must be right!

One guideline I follow well came from McAfee's site, item number 7, "Be suspicious of anything that sounds unusual or feels odd. If one of your friends posts, 'We’re stuck in Cambodia and need money,' it’s most likely a scam" (Siciliano, 2011, para. 7).  For a very long time I have realized that messages like that are scams.  Recently someone I know from various church functions sent me an email like that.  I knew it was wrong, as did several others, because we knew for sure if he was going out of the country he would have told us and asked us to pray for him, because that is the type of person he is.  So we let him know someone had gained access to his email account, and he took measures to secure it.

One guideline I could follow more closely, from the Microsoft site, "To avoid giving away email addresses of your friends, do not allow social networking services to scan your email address book. When you join a new social network, you might receive an offer to enter your email address and password to find out if your contacts are on the network. The site might use this information to send email messages to everyone in your contact list or even everyone you've ever sent an email message to with that email address. Social networking sites should explain that they're going to do this, but some do not" ("11 Tips for Social Networking Safety", para. 4).  There have been times when I have joined a new social media platform or chat platform, that I have used the feature to see if other friends of mine are using the same platform.  I will think twice about that now, maybe choosing to make a post on my own social media saying I am using a particular new platform and if you are also using it, send me your information privately.



11 tips for social networking safety. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2016, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/online-privacy/social-networking.aspx

Halpern, S. (2012, December 3). When is your company’s social media policy an unfair labor practice? Recent NLRB decisions offer long-awaited guidance for employers. Retrieved from http://www.natlawreview.com/article/when-your-company-s-social-media-policy-unfair-labor-practice-recent-nlrb-decisions-#sthash.lhT2scRO.dpuf.

Siciliano, R. (2011, July 13). 15 social media security tips - McAfee. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from https://blogs.mcafee.com/consumer/15-social-media-security-tips/

When Social Media goes Prime Time #MaristSM16 #TeamScorpion

It's mid-term week, so there is no regular discussion.

I did, however, run into something amazing via Twitter that showed just what an influence social media has on prime time television.

Since the start of Season 1 in 2014, Scorpion fans have been rooting for their favorite couples, giving them hashtag names that have become so popular.  One hashtag that came up for a vote on social media was the pairing of Toby Curtis and Happy Quinn.  So that the fans were united in their discussion of the couple, we were asked to vote between #Tappy (Toby/Happy) or #Quintis (Quinn/Curtis).  #Quintis won out and that is how they were referred to.

Fans of the coupling on the show talk often about how much #Quintis or #Waige (Walter/Paige) action there was and continue to remember probably their most favorite couple, #Melvester (Megan/Sylvester), even though the character of Megan has now passed on.

Well, that name "Quintis" will be showing up on the next episode, airing Monday, February 22nd.  Below is a clip where it is announced:

Announcing Quintis

I'm not sure if it was an overall plan for the writers to incorporate that name or if they decided to incorporate it because of the social media use...I prefer to think it was the latter....

Interruptive Social Media? A #MaristSM16 Additional Thought

I'm a #TeamScorpion member.  If you've been following my Twitter account from time to time you will see me re-tweet something with that hashtag or create my own post with it.  Basically it means I'm a huge fan of CBS's show Scorpion.

Here's why I bring it up on this blog.  This week in class we have been talking about brands knowing their target audience and not being so "interruptive" in their marketing tactics.  As I was driving in to work today I got to thinking about how sometimes social media becomes an interruption.  The official Scorpion account quite often repeats tweets, especially on show days where pre-programmed messages are aired at certain times during the east coast showing and then the west coast showing.  It doesn't matter whether the show is a repeat or a new episode, the tweets always come.  (Like recently when a pre-programmed tweet from an episode's first airing made reference to one of the actor's birthday - and the birthday had already passed during the 2nd airing of the show.)

We all know those companies that tweet something and then repeatedly tweet the same message every day for a set period of time.  People often use the acronym "ICYMI" which means "In Case You Missed It" as a way to resend the same message, image, or link out.  ICYMI seems more for the individual than the brand where brands just resend the same message.

But isn't that an interruption as well?  We may already know about the upcoming "insert holiday here" sale or the contest to win tickets to a major concert or sporting event.  So we really do not need to see it repeated many times in our Twitter feeds like it is a new thing.

I was most affected by this a couple years ago when another CBS show I was a fan of, Intelligence ran a contest for several weeks within a month where you just had to "favorite" and "retweet" a post the show's official Twitter account posted.  Simple enough, right?  And, of course, those of us who were fans dutifully chose to favorite the tweet and retweet it to all our followers.  So, several times a day throughout the course of the promotion this account would post the same message, encouraging people to enter the contest.

However, there was a problem.  If you clicked on the rules link (which was also in the tweet posted) you were only allowed to enter once a contest period, and you were disqualified if you entered more than once.

So, since it ran multiple times within a month, how were you supposed to know that you already entered that week's game?  Were you expected to go back through your own tweets to see if you did what was required already?  Did you just have to remember that you already chose to "favorite" the tweet and you already retweeted it?

With some web-entry contests, there are ways to keep track of that type of information.  So if I entered something today and then tried to enter again on Monday, it had some sort of database that would know, "Hey Jennifer, you have already entered this contest.  You can't enter again."  But entering a social-media based contest does not have the same feature.

The interruptions from repeated tweets will continue.  And we will have to either remember that we already entered something so we don't get disqualified...or contests run through social media need to be more flexible for the person, like me, who may not always remember whether I already entered a contest or not.

Maybe that in itself is another way of knowing the target audience.

It Wasn't Just Broncos vs. Panthers at the Superbowl #MaristSM16

In our class we are broken up into smaller groups, which aids immensely in the whole discussion process.  Imagine having to thoroughly read through over 20 posts and then decide which ones to respond to, and read all the responses.  Sometimes it can get overwhelming.  One of my classmates in another group posted a blog with questions focused around the Superbowl, which makes sense since it just happened on Sunday and the Superbowl is pretty much one of the largest marketing events in a year.  If you're interested, her post is here:

Sandy Wisor's Blog Post

We are not required to respond to other team's blog questions, but can if we choose to.  I will be honest, I did not watch much of the Superbowl at all.  I did, however, watch the movie trailers that aired during the Superbowl because pretty much if there's an ad I want to see during the Superbowl, it's a movie trailer.  (No, I'm not being sarcastic.  I am being very serious.)

So today in my email I received a link to an article on a site called Cinema Blend which was called "The 5 Most Effective Superbowl Movie Ads According to Social Media"

Cinema Blend Article

The top movie ad was for Captain America: Civil War and I am honestly not surprised.  I have Twitter notifications set up for both Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) and Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America).  As soon as the movie ad aired, Chris Evans  link to the add and an interactive button that said "Tweet #TeamCap."  Robert Downey Jr. attempted to draw people to "#TeamIronMan" by saying they had snacks.

I chose #TeamCap and when I pressed the interactive button, I was able to tweet this:



My own version of the Captain America ad, listing the Avengers who are on Cap's side.  What a great way to incorporate social media!

I know other movies who had Superbowl ads made sure to post links on their own social media feeds, but I think this was a great way to incorporate the fans and have them "pick sides" too.  What made it even better is that two of the movie's stars took to social media and became part of the marketing effort too.

The Superbowl was not just Broncos vs. Panthers.  It was also #TeamCap vs. #TeamIronMan.