The Social Network Controversy: Part 3 – the Humor of it All

In Parts 1 and 2 of this post we explored the benefits and the pitfalls of social networking, along with methods to correct (at least on Facebook) privacy blunders that might cause potential problems for your online image.

A very recent study published by Nielsen (the American marketing and research behemoth) that tracks marketplace dynamics along with consumer attitudes for a variety of media enterprises, which includes television, radio, books, music, videos and web sites, has come out with some interesting statistics for the “Top U.S. Web Sites and Brands for April 2010,” and guesses what? - Ranking # 3 for the “Top 10 Web Brands (U.S. Home and Work)” was Facebook, which lagged only behind Google and Yahoo but ratcheted up over 122 million visitors, who each spent and average of six hours, 43 minutes and 22 seconds of time per week with their social networking. Those figures were a reflection of a 3.8% downward trend. Could that portend marketplace unrest with privacy and security issues? Time will tell.

However, to end this post series on a funny note – I’ll leave the final words to the folks who produce entertainment, and hold a mirror up to our society reflecting the craze of social networking.

WARNING: If you are not a fan of South Park, the adult cartoon that oftentimes goes over the top in portraying current affairs, do not watch the first video below, even though the clip is far more tame than the usual fare that they produce.

The second clip also carries a WARNING – if you are offended by the use of certain slang words such as, %@&*, *(%# and #^*$ you probably will not appreciate the humor in David Ippolito, the Guitar Man of Central Park’s newly debuted song, “Facebook is a Stupid Idiot” (subtitled "What the $*&@ is Farmville!?") which was performed at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater in New York City.

IMHO, I think both clips are way to laugh at the entire social networking dilemma and maybe, as Victor Borge once said, “ Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” Now, isn’t that what social networking is all about?

The Social Network Controversy: Part 2 – The GIGO Principle

In the first installment of this series we took an overall look at social networking and media in the marketplace as it stands today – blossoming at a vigorous rate and bringing with it socialization benefits as well as potential downsides in reference to the dissemination of personal information in the public arena.

Specifically, new concerns have been posed as to the gathering and selling of your personal information by “data mining companies.”

Eye opening to say the least for many of us, but not to panic, there are options that can level the playing field.

The first thing we all have to understand is this: The GIGO Principle (also known as “Garbage in/Garbage out”) – remember this – whatever you feed into your computer and post on a social network or media site is controllable by only one person – YOU!

You have the option to not post sensitive information, inflammatory comments, and unflattering or compromising photographs with your identity attached – that is your choice, however some sites make it difficult to determine whether your personal information is essential versus non-essential. When in doubt don’t post or share.

Information that you offer up on sites such as Facebook can be controlled, but you need some basic information to get you through all the confusing options.

The video below, produced by SophosLabs (a computer security company) probably best explains how to navigate and make informed choices about privacy and security settings… at least on Facebook, which has taken the bulk of heat on this issue since making extensive changes to their site.

There is also another option for securing your Facebook privacy, but it has taken the form of a revolt that throws out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Scheduled to take place on Monday, May 31, 2010 is Quit Facebook Day, and it is rapidly garnering followers.

Know your options, check them out and make the choices and changes you prefer, and be sure to come back for the third and final installment in this series, a humorous look at the lighter side of social networking.

New on the Social Network Scene

When a video goes ”viral” on the Internet, it explodes on the scene with the force of a one megaton PR campaign. The reach of said video goes everywhere and is accessible by everyone.

For bloggers, if the video's message and content is convincing enough, it is often embraced and winds up on blogs and/or in mailboxes around the globe, but mainstream media may pick up on it as well and might be fooled into accepting it as gospel, unless they go directly to the source for further background.

During the first week in April, there were some very credible and geeky websites that fell for the concept of “Fluttering” (a form of “Nanoblogging”) – supposedly the ultimate step after “Twittering” (the social network tool, which has rapidly become famous for tracking every move of the famous, not-so-famous, wanna-be-famous, and infamous in 140 characters or less.)

Nanoblogging (as portrayed in a "mockumentary" tongue-in-cheek video from Salon Magazine) offered anyone who is attached to their computers or iphones, multiple opportunities to keep their friends and followers informed of their every move by utilizing a sparse 26 characters of alphabet communications – somewhere between “Twittering” and texting… you remember texting don’t you?

That’s right, 26 characters to stay informed on everything - in every one of your social contact’s lives.

Amazing!!! But, it was all a mirthful joke, which many in technology geekdom took seriously, two days after April Fools Day!

I won't embarrass anyone by sending you to their blogs or websites but suffice to say in less than a week the video was viewed over 400,000 times.

A stroke of genius by Salon. What do you think? Maybe we are actually glimpsing the future?