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Is Social Media Secure?

26 May 2009 | social-media | 2 Comments

is social media secure?

Privacy Issues

A common question (or objection if you will) to using social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook is how private and secure are they?

The Answer is…

…no and neither is television, radio or the phone. Social media is the same as any other media in that messages are broadcast to the public with the difference in online social networks being the empowered voice of the individual. The upside to an empowered individual is that each person can make an impact in their niche while the downside is that the traditional broadcaster has a higher bar of entry than an internet user (they have to apply for a job to speak publicly whereas all a blogger has to have internet access and the ability to type).

Social networks are simple to set up and use and can lead to people feeling a sense of comfort where anything goes and security isn’t on their minds. To someone on the outside, this seems ignorant, but there is more to it than people behaving in a manner that an outsider deems careless… social medians are acting according to the culture that has risen out of years of the evolution of internet use beginning with IRC, then personal websites and chat rooms to professional blogs and social networks. Characteristics of each spot on the timeline varies according to the tool used to network but the commonality in each phase is the theory of transparency and individualism that has become inherent to the online space.

A decade ago, no private company would dare reveal their profit margins, commissions, practices or otherwise as it would be seen as the company’s suicide. Today, companies like Zappos.com are led by a Twitter-using CEO that has an open door policy. This transparency is not about “fighting the man” but about the destruction of the plastic-faced salesman that no one liked in the first place, it’s about individuals making genuine connections with other individuals which leads to endorsements of each other to each other and endorsements of products to the crowd which leads to the wisdom of the crowd (which is any company’s dream).

Attitudes vary by geography

Attitudes toward web security vary greatly depending on geography and this is important for you to know as your target demographic may not yet embrace the transparency movement or they may expect it. Certain cultures and geographic areas have a fear of Big Brother and are hesitant to use any public social media. Some countries have regulated speech and regulated web use and are not as likely as Americans to openly communicate.

Other geographic areas such as small towns enjoy town centers where people spend their social time and some of them feel as if they don’t need the internet to network because they do all their socializing in person. Across the world, it is more common for family members to spread out so the need for the internet is increasing as east coast grannies skype with their west coast grandkids.

Forget the word social

So you know who feels what about what and such, but it still may be intimidating. Don’t be intimidated by the word social- people online argue over what to call interactive marketing, social media, social media marketing, or otherwise when the bottom line is that it’s marketing. You can wrap your brain around that, right? Social media just a different tool to learn for your marketing toolbox. Just think of it as marketing plus feedback, it’s not complicated.

Preparing yourself before using social media is the same as educating yourself before any marketing campaign- you wouldn’t launch a new product without a focus group would you? You also wouldn’t sign up for a Twitter account without understanding how to market yourself there either. Social media marketing is a chance for you to get involved in a conversation that already exists whether you enter or not, it’s a way to connect with your consumers in a human way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but is it secure?

If you tell Twitter you want a private account and only people you select to see your messages, then only the people you select to see your messages will see them (unless someone quotes you elsewhere or retweets your message). But if you tell Facebook that you don’t want people to see your year of birth, no one will see your year of birth the same as if you don’t tell Linked-In about that summer semester you spent in Spain, no one will see that you spent a summer in Spain. Privacy levels are different in every social network and most of them offer at least minimal guards.

The other fear people have is that their online activity, especially blogs, will be stolen and used by others as their own. There is a common fear that because the medium is the internet that there are no protections, but regardless of what country you are in, copyrights and creative commons still apply to any created content and your intellectual property can be protected by being aware of where you broadcast your content (you have the most control over your blog as you can copyright your material whereas Twitter is a free-for-all and what you say should be said with more caution).

Some people worry about hackers- will someone hack my social network and act like me, will someone start an account in my name and defame me? It’s possible. It’s also possible that you made that waiter mad last night and he kept a copy of your credit card for his next stereo system purchase online. It’s also possible that when you logged into your corporate email account in the hotel lobby yesterday, that guy next to you had wandering eyes and saw that your passwords was “donuts123″ and as we speak is sending lewd emails to your boss. It’s also possible that when you drive to work tomorrow, you’ll have a fender bender. Risk is inherent in life and social media is no different, you must be vigilant but you don’t need to be paralyzed with fear.

The golden rule to being cautious is that if you wouldn’t say something on live tv, on the radio or in a newspaper article, don’t say it publicly on any social network. It’s your intellectual property but you may be quoted, so individuals should protect trade secrets (like Dr. Pepper’s 23 flavors), not reveal salaries, internal office affairs or anything covered by employees’ signed non-compete or non-disclosure agreements.

But I heard people get fired…

Social media missteps have led to people losing their jobs by calling in sick yet Twittering about their day trip to Dallas or missing out on that second interview when their name was Googled and pictures of them skinny dipping in Cabo popped up. But never fear, you should find social media a great marketing tool if you simply mind the golden rule and don’t publish any comment, picture or article online that you wouldn’t show the world on television, over the radio or in a newspaper.

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2 Comments for this entry

  • Ohdoctah
    May 26th, 2009 on 7:48 am

    This is a great post. No matter what you do you are never completely secure. You can take steps to ensure your safety. I have a family to protect you all of my online content would never lead a person/fan to my home.

    This makes me want to do a write up on how to secure yourself online.

    Again nice points made across the board & I would have to say I agree with you!

    Owen

  • Susie Blackmon
    May 26th, 2009 on 8:09 am

    Lani, excellent and timely post. I’m not sure what we are all supposed to be hiding from… ;-) although I do understand completely the ‘safety’ issue. Seems I’m running into quite a few SM posts today. Am still reeling from biting my tongue when I read (from some ‘expert’ of some sort) that she spent ‘all weekend trying to learn Twitter’ and just didn’t get it. It’s a pleasure to read an intelligent post.

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