February 15, 2012

Privacy, Weblining and a Government That Knows Best

I was amused by Scott Canon’s article in yesterday’s edition of The Kansas City Star on his ever-growing dependency on all things Google and concerns about privacy issues. One notable quote:

“I’ve long understood that I have been engaged in a digital disrobing that reveals my digital self click by click, and byte by byte. I dropped almost all my veils, eagerly, in full view of the computer mind of a multinational corporation. It’s just that living in a Google world is so easy.”

Canon’s point is delivered tongue-in-cheek, but raises a broader and more serious concern, expressed on Sunday by  Chicago-Kent School of Law Professor Lori Andrews in her New York Times essay, “Facebook is Using You.”

“Material mined online has been used against people battling for child custody or defending themselves in criminal cases. LexisNexis has a product called Accurint for Law Enforcement, which gives government agents information about what people do on social networks. The Internal Revenue Service searches Facebook and MySpace for evidence of tax evaders’ income and whereabouts, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has been known to scrutinize photos and posts to confirm family relationships or weed out sham marriages. Employers sometimes decide whether to hire people based on their online profiles, with one study indicating that 70 percent of recruiters and human resource professionals in the United States have rejected candidates based on data found online. A company called Spokeo gathers online data for employers, the public and anyone else who wants it. The company even posts ads urging ‘HR Recruiters — Click Here Now!’ and asking women to submit their boyfriends’ e-mail addresses for an analysis of their online photos and activities to learn ‘Is He Cheating on You?’”

It’s not all bad, of course. As Jeffrey S. Trachtman points out in this response to Ms. Andrews’ piece, oftentimes, a site’s ability to deliver advertising offers that directly benefit both the site and the user, represents a win-win and is a positive outcome of data aggregation.

But the issue becomes more sinister when data are used to discriminate. More from Andrews:

“Now the map used in redlining is not a geographic map, but the map of your travels across the Web. The term Weblining describes the practice of denying people opportunities based on their digital selves. You might be refused health insurance based on a Google search you did about a medical condition. You might be shown a credit card with a lower credit limit, not because of your credit history, but because of your race, sex or ZIP code or the types of Web sites you visit.”

The key for me is the term “Weblining,” which could become a convenient excuse for greater government regulation of online sales and marketing practices. How many disgruntled consumers will it take before someone makes it his personal mission to ensure that no one is discriminated against due to his or her Web-surfing habits?

Where does efficient direct marketing end and Weblining begin? And is Weblining inherently a bad thing?

Stay tuned, sports fans. This is only the beginning.

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February 4, 2012

Is Social Media Addictive?

Has this ever happened to you?

You would have finished a current work project a long time ago, but you just couldn’t ween yourself away from your Twitter feed long enough to concentrate.

You’re kind of depressed that you don’t feel as happy as all my your Facebook friends seem to be.

If the answer is “yes,” perhaps it’s time to admit powerlessness and get yourself to a meeting of Social Media Addicts Anonymous (SMAA), a new group for folks addicted to all things social and unable to manage their lives, careers and relationships.

If this sounds ridiculous, check out this post from Erik Sass at The Social Graf, or this December 2011 article from Danial Gulati in the Harvard Business Review.

In the former, Sass cites a recent study following 250 social media users (ages 18 to 85) in Wurzburg, Germany. As reported in the journal Psychological Science, when asked to give up all social media, subjects reported:

“…social media was harder to resist than a gamut of other behaviors: ‘In contrast, people were relatively successful at resisting sports inclinations, sexual urges, and spending impulses, which seems surprising given the salience in modern culture of disastrous failures to control sexual impulses and urges to spend money.’ Likewise, the subjects’ reports for alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine marked their desires for these substances at relatively low levels compared to social media.”

Social media more addictive than alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and sex???

Wow.

HBR’s Gulati, author of the book Passion & Purpose, observes three major trends emerging among heavy Facebook users:

  1. A tendency to compare their own personal situation unfavorably to those of their “friends.” In other words, people read the happy posts and see the smiling photos of their online friends and begin to feel that their own happiness and worth are wanting when compared to others’. (I wrote about this Facebook-depression link in a previous post.)
  2. Time fragmentation. We’re so busy checking our Facebook pages or Twitter feeds that we’re not able to fully concentrate on our work or everyday tasks. “Multitasking” has taken on a life of its own, to the point where people are switching back and forth between “real life” and social media on a minute-by-minute basis.
  3. A decline in close personal relationships. Why get together with your girlfriend for lunch when you can get caught up with her via Facebook? Connecting via social media is just like having a real relationship without all the mess. You can share what you want and you can quit listening at any time.

Just as the addict seeks to fill the void in his life with drink or drug, a person addicted to social media crave the “connection” these technologies provide as a way to fill the holes in his life.

As marketers, we talk about using social media as a way to “connect” with consumers and how companies can use Facebook, Twitter, etc., to “humanize” themselves and “become more authentic.”

But are we really accomplishing these goals, or merely contributing to a global addiction that ultimately will leave us all distracted, disconnected and depressed?

At this point, no one knows.

As someone who sits at a desk the majority of the day, I know it’s hard for me to get out and actually have a real conversation with a live human being (which means listening as well as talking) as often as I’d like.

However, I have found through my professional experience that it’s that face-to-face interaction that enables the type of trust and personal connection that makes business work.

If you want your company to behave more humanely, consider the interactions between the humans who work for you and the humans who buy from you. Is technology helping or hurting?

Are you doing all you can to foster true connection? Or are you merely trying to seduce and sedate your audience into an unhealthy relationship?

See you at the coffee shop.

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January 30, 2012

The Trouble With Kids Today

Does when you were born affect the way you feel about brands?

And do recent economic and demographic trends have an impact on communications crises?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, but a recent article got me to thinking about how expectations, recessions, social media and spare time can impact business today.

Rebecca Lindland has a thoughtful piece in Forbes this week about the youth of America, and how generational differences are cropping up in the form of American Idol contestants. Lindland cites research from DYG Research and IHS Consumer Markets on Gen Y (born between 1978 and 1987) and those born in 1988 and after, as two distinct groups:

“Generation Y isn’t what conventional wisdom and demographers alike first thought: it isn’t one big giant mass of 80 million kids. Instead, it is two very different, very unique cohorts—Generation Y and what I call Generation Green—both about the same size but growing up in very different environs.

Currently 24-35 years old, [Generation Y contestants] were brash and self-possessed in their youth, and American Idol provided the ultimate stage, inviting these kids to display their talent in the public eye. Social media was still relatively young, and YouTube wasn’t around yet. It appealed to the sharpest expressions of this young cohort – self-absorbed, obsessed with fun, and chock full of self-confidence (DYG). This was their own personal platform – and they could bring their equally fascinating, blindly (deafly?) supportive helicopter parents along for the ride to riches.

Generation Green, born after 1988 and currently 24 or younger, is the first generation to grow up with hybrid AND electric cars from mainstream brands (Toyota Prius, Chevy Volt, and Nissan Leaf) as part of their buying options, and they recycle religiously…Long before the Occupy movement, DYG research predicted these kids would take ‘part in a demonstration, rally or protest to promote a social or political cause’.”

Combined, the two generations comprise 80 million Americans, roughly a quarter of the population, are the biggest users of social media, and are hardest hit by the recession.

On the one hand, there are 40 million Americans who were raised in a boom economy, whose self-esteem was valued to the point of absurdity (“everybody gets a ribbon!”), who experienced impressive personal and financial success in their early 20s, and whose expectations are perhaps a bit unrealistic.

On the other, 40 million Americans who’ve seen the darker realities of our economy yet retain a Utopian vision for the world.

Add to this mix a boatload of social media savvy and the popularly held belief that their plight is due to the greed and misbehavior of the fortunate few, and you have a recipe for trouble.

Last week’s #McFail may be an example. For those who missed it, as part of its strategy to promote relationships with family farmers and other “good guy” suppliers, McDonald’s launched a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #McDStories. Perhaps predictably, the hashtag elicited all manner of deliciously evil anecdotes, and the Golden Arches quickly killed the campaign.

Domino’s Pizza employees posting YouTube videos of themselves doing yucky things with people’s food could be another. (The two employees charged with crimes were aged 31 and 32, respectively, making them members of Gen Y.)

One could even make a case for the Occupy movement (although these groups count members from all walks of life and age groups) being a natural consequence of these forces. (One could make the same case for the Tea Party movement by viewing the opposite side of this same coin.)

Even if your company’s social justice policies are otherwise beyond reproach, if your corporate commissary dispenses coffee that was picked by child laborers and sold at below-fair-market prices, be prepared to hear about it. The first attack will come via social media, then the MSM, and then social media again as the “news” gets picked up and amplified.

For the record, I’m a member of Generation X, the group that brought you manky flannel, grunge music and Monica Lewinsky…so my peers and I are not without blame. And who knows what we would have done during the 1990-93 recession had we had access to social media.

Crises come from all angles, are perpetrated by all manner of people and recent events could simply be a reflection of the times.

Or, this could be the new normal.

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December 5, 2011

Brownback Wrestles With Pig; Facts Don’t Keep Him From Getting Muddy

George Bernard Shaw once said, “Never wrestle with a pig. You get all muddy and the pig enjoys it.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback would have been well-served to follow such advice, and as Christopher Budd points out, his office did an excellent job of making a minor blip into a major media circus. To make matters worse, much of what appeared in the original news story never actually happened.

Long story short: Emma Sullivan, an 18-year-old high school student, in Topeka for a Youth in Government session with the Governor, posts the following off-color Tweet:

The Governor’s office sends a nasty-gram to Youth in Government, (rightly, in my opinion), expressing displeasure at the student’s lack of respect for the Office. Her school principal calls her on the carpet and demands she write a letter of apology. The story lands on the front page of the Kansas City Star, becomes a free speech issue, and the Governor ends up apologizing to the student.

And the student’s roster of Twitter followers grew from 65 to 15,851 and counting.

Is this a great country or what?

Unfortunately, the meeting in the principal’s office, which became the eye of the media storm, didn’t happen the way it was reported.

The Star’s Nov. 23 story stated that Sullivan’s principal was, “forcing her to write an apology to the governor’s office, with the principal even giving her talking points to hit. [Shawnee Mission] East principal Karl R. Krawitz declined to comment on the matter Wednesday, calling it a disciplinary action: ‘It is a school issue, a private issue, not a public matter’.”

Turns out, Krawitz’s reluctance to initially discuss the matter became a “Three’s Company” moment. Only there’s no Regal Beagle in Kansas.

According to a blog post by Star columnist Yael Abouhalkah:

“It turns out one of teen tweeter Emma Sullivan’s original claims—that her principal was forcing her to apologize for an offensive tweet last month about Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback—wasn’t true.

Shawnee Mission East Principal Karl Krawitz says in a blunt email to Brownback’s staff that ‘The governor should know we did not force any letter of apology.’ (The email is in a report by NBC Action News.)

And Sullivan belatedly this week acknowledged the same thing: No apology was ordered.”

Turns out the story was fed to the media by Sullivan’s older sister, a poli sci major at Wichita State, and many facts of the case were lost in translation.

But why should the facts ever stand in the way of a good story?

Personally, I agree with with the Governor’s communications director, Sherriene Jones-Sontag (as quoted by the Star):

“[The tweet] wasn’t respectful…In order to really have a constructive dialogue, there has to be mutual respect…It was important for [Youth in Government] to be aware of the comments their students were making…It’s also important for students to recognize the power of social media, how lasting it is. It is on the Internet.”

Listen up, corporate big-wigs, government leaders and persons in power: YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WIN AGAINST THE LITTLE GUY IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION. Not ever.

But feel free to pig-wrestle. Just do so at your own risk. And think twice before going after someone smaller than yourself.

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November 11, 2011

Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett Takes Charge of Penn State Mess

There is really nothing happy in Happy Valley these days.

Children have been brutalized. The truth has been concealed. Administrators have perjured themselves. And for the first time since 1965, someone other than Joe Paterno will be head coach of the Penn State football team. (Recommended reading: Jason Gay’s column from yesterday’s Wall Street Journal.)

My colleagues have spilled barrels of ink on this subject, tagged #hownottomanageacrisis, but yesterday evening, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett demonstrated how to calm a stormy sea when chaos strikes.

Speaking to a group of reporters in State College, Gov. Corbett showed excellent command of the issues and returned the focus to the safety and well-being of children, a point that’s been lost in the aftermath of JoPa’s firing and ensuing student riots on the Penn State campus.

You can read excerpts from the Governor’s news conference by CLICKING HERE.

Just what the coach and administrators knew about the behavior of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who has been charged with 21 felony accounts of sexually abusing eight boys, is unclear. What is clear, however, is that no one connected with the program ever brought allegations of wrongdoing to the police.

Corbett, who served as Pennsylvania Attorney General and worked on the Sandusky case prior to becoming governor, made a point not to comment on the specifics of the case, deferring to current Pa. AG Linda Kelly, whose office is now handling the matter. He didn’t speculate. He didn’t offer his opinions on matters beyond the facts of the case.

He spoke directly to Penn State students, supporting their right to assemble and express their opinions, and admonishing them to represent their school in the best possible light. Expect television ratings for Saturdays Nebraska-Penn State football game to smash projections.

When asked if Pennsylvania taxpayers should be concerned about child safety when so much state money was going to Penn State, Corbett was at his best, stating that child safety should be the primary concern of ALL educators, from grammar school up.

“Parents across the state want to know that their students are safe. And I think it’s incumbent upon all colleges, universities, high schools and middle schools, grade schools, to keep the children safe.”

There will be more pain in the future as victims of Sandusky’s crimes come forward and the details of the case emerge. During a difficult time, the Governor took charge and let the world know that the Keystone State is doing everything possible to bring justice and healing.

Nice job, Gov’nor.

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October 28, 2011

The Buck Pauses Here Briefly

Pat Lencioni made my day with an article posted on Bloomberg BusinessWeek entitled, “Humble Yourself at Work,” which reminds all business leaders that none of us is good as he thinks he is, and that in order for companies to perform at a higher level, top execs must begin all evaluations with a good long look in the mirror.

Lencioni, founder and president of a consultancy called the Table Group is a father of four apparently energetic boys, who most frequently learns humility in his own home. (As the father of a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, I can relate.)

His key point is that it’s easier for business leaders to gripe about what their reports are not doing right than it is to set and enforce standards for employee conduct:

“[I]n most organizations, the biggest problems arise not because leaders are actively promoting the wrong behavior, but rather because they’re passively doing so by allowing people to get away with such behavior with impunity. The most common reason that leaders commit sins of omission is that they just don’t feel comfortable confronting people about what they are or are not doing. Instead, they look the other way and hope the problem goes away.”

Over time, everything goes straight to heck while corporate leaders sit isolated in their corner offices complaining.

It’s akin to turning on the bathwater, heading downstairs and expecting that everything will run smoothly at bath time. After all, what could go wrong?

Managing is tough. And humbling. Especially when you realize that you are the problem.

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October 19, 2011

Please Accept the Mentors Challenge on Nov. 1

Howard McConnell never got rich and he never was famous.

In his work boots he stood a mere 5-7, but he will always be a giant to me.

He loved to sing and he loved the great outdoors. He loved Jane, his wife of 39 years.

He was not afraid of hard work and earned a living working with his hands. He was a great husband and caring father to his sons, Danny, Doug and Shawn.

He also was a second father to me and dozens of other young men as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 393.

He taught me how to build a fire and how to respect and handle a 30.06 rifle. He woke up early to count my laps when I completed the mile swim. And he proudly presented me with my Eagle Scout award in 1984.

Mr. McConnell, who passed away at the age of 61 in 1998, is one of the hundreds of mentors who will be honored on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at the first-ever Mentors Challenge, a benefit for High Aspirations, presented by J.E. Dunn Construction.

The event is free of charge, but we ask that guests make a tax deductible contribution to High Aspirations in honor of the person or persons who helped you achieve success in life.

Space is limited, so please reserve your spot now by clicking HERE.

Thank you for supporting High Aspirations, a Kansas City, Mo.-based mentoring program serving the social, emotional, academic and spiritual needs of African American males ages 8 to 18. For more information, visit www.highaspirationskc.org.

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September 27, 2011

Ad Campaign May Make Me Smarter and More Distinguished

The good people at Boston University hit the jackpot yesterday with an article in The New York Times profiling their new ad campaign.

As a proud alum (B.S., College of Communication, 1990), I’m hoping the ads resonate with the folks who compile all those “best colleges” lists and help drive applications. According to the story, the campaign, developed by Watertown, Mass. agency Allen & Garritsen, seeks to position B.U. as, “among the ‘leading,’ ‘most respected’ or ‘great’ centers of ‘research and knowledge’.” Each ad bears the tagline, “The World Needs to Know.”

“The World Needs to Know?”

Although I’m 20 years removed from my own rain-soaked graduation in the Commonwealth Avenue Howard Johnson’s parking lot, I’m having some trouble accepting this new brand position from B.U., even though I hope it succeeds.

If memory serves, the only research going on at B.U. back in the day involved the best ways to sneak alcohol into Warren Towers and why the eagle is a stupid mascot, especially for a school that calls itself “Boston College” despite being located in Newton.

The good news for me is that I chose to apply to B.U. at the right time; they probably wouldn’t even sniff at my S.A.T. scores today. I also had the advantage of being one of the five in my freshman class not from Long Island or New England.

And I suppose that’s the real point of the campaign, which is designed to take B.U. beyond its “commuter school” legacy and persuade those who participate in the school-ranking surveys to bump B.U. from its current perch at #59 in the 2010-11 edition of The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, to somewhere less mediocre.

The hope is that a higher rank will beget more applications from better students, which in turn will boost the school’s rankings.

At a robust 50 grand per year, B.U. is like every other institution of higher learning fighting to fill its freshman classes. In tough economic times and population in decline following the Gen Y bubble, they need every warm body they can get. And if they still have the College of Basic Studies, it’s the ultimate safety school.

My favorite part of the article are the quotes from Allen & Gerritsen Creative Director Doug Gould, which include:

“We were skeptical to begin with…[W]hen they told us how much they’re doing, our minds were changed.” (Translation: “When they told us they had a half-million-dollar budget, our minds were changed.”)

“We haven’t done anything with a heavy amount of spin.” (Just the normal amount of spin we’d use in any campaign we create. Okay, maybe a little bit more than normal.)

“Running an ad about knowledge and learning should be interesting on its own merits.” (I’m sorry? Oh,  I must have been daydreaming. Could you repeat what you just said?)

In all seriousness, I applaud B.U. and A&G for this campaign and sincerely hope it works. And then B.U. can quit sending me those letters asking for money.

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June 27, 2011

Should #Ethics Be Taught in #B-School?

Maybe I’m just anxious because it’s Monday, but a blog post from Dr. David Rock in the Harvard Business Review has me a bit concerned.

“The Business of Values” recounts the discussions from a recent symposium hosted by the Harvard Business School on the “sticky subject of ethics.”

“With the poor standing that business leaders have in society today, there was wide agreement that the grand experiment to leave values out of business education has probably not gone so well, to put it politely,” said Rock, executive director of the NeuroLeadership Institute. Ya think?

Personally, I think teaching ethics at B-school is like teaching celibacy at the Bunny Ranch. If you haven’t bought in by the time you get there, four credit hours (or even two full years) of ethics teaching probably aren’t going to change your ways.

I think many in the business world come from the “Miller’s Crossing” school of ethics.

Regardless, Rock observed three current schools of thought on teaching ethics and values in business schools:

  1. Ethics = values. “These schools were teaching students how to recognize their wider responsibilities — like their deeper legal and fiduciary responsibilities, as well as less obvious responsibilities to their employees, stakeholders and the wider community.”
  2. Universal ethics. There is a universal set of values, which should be taught to all business students, although this approach begs the question of which values should be taught and how.
  3. “Ethics from the inside out.” Helping students to understand their individual values and how to exercise those values when facing ethical dilemmas.

The one phrase in the article that most deeply disturbs me is a quote from one unnamed participant, “[I]t is easier to make headway teaching values if we take the stance that we are all deeply flawed, in deeply complex, chaotic systems.”

I find this sort of thinking defeatist, but I can understand why someone would feel this way. After all, you don’t have to look too far to find stories about leaders from business, government or The Church behaving badly.

I used to promote the Kansas City Business Ethics Awards, which are held annually to celebrate business owners who “did the right thing,” even when it cost their business money or even an important client relationship.

We had a heck of a time getting any attention from the news media (even back in the days when newspapers employed reporters). After all, the media don’t report on airplanes that land safely or on people who obey the laws.

But I disagree with the notion that we’re all deeply flawed. Or that life is terribly chaotic or complex.

We are all imperfect. We all make mistakes. I would argue that most people make the right choices most of the time and that most people genuinely care about their families, their neighbors, their communities and the world.

Further, in the age of social media, it’s tougher for an individual or a company to hide bad behavior or unethical business practices from the public. The truth always gets out, and even a seemingly small decision, such as where you’re sourcing raw materials, can (and will) come back to bite you.

I am optimistic about the future, as I hear more people choosing to take responsibility for their actions and to think twice about the pursuit of material possessions vs. doing what’s right.

I applaud business school educators for making the effort to make ethics an integral part of business. I hope they also will hold the line when it comes to pursuing justice and celebrating fair play.

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June 22, 2011

#RogerEbert, #SocialMedia and the #FirstAmendment

I kinda figured Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) wasn’t a fan of the “Jackass” television shows and movies (although I personally find them gut-bustingly hilarious despite my alleged high IQ and fancy college degree), but the famed film critic ruffled feathers when he posted the following tweet after “Jackass” player Ryan Dunn’s death in a car crash early Monday morning:

As one might imagine, response to Mr. Ebert’s missive elicited some angry responses, so much so that Facebook pulled his page from the site. Ebert fired back:

The thumbs and keyboards of Ebert defenders and defamers, as well as Ebert himself, have been working overtime ever since.

Facebook spokeman Andrew Noyes later was quoted as saying that Mr. Ebert’s page “was removed in error.”

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a libertarian when it comes to the First Amendment, and I applaud anyone who chooses to exercise this right and out himself as a jerk or an idiot….it makes life easier for demographers to sort them into target audiences boxes.

But the larger issue here is the impact of social media on the laws of free speech.

For instance, let’s say the leadership at Facebook tomorrow decides they really want to see Barack Obama re-elected next year, and that they’re going to pull the pages of every other candidate. In theory, it’s their bat and ball, and they can make up the rules as they see fit.

Same thing with Twitter. I doubt that’s going to happen, but it could.

I may be wrong here, but unlike the “equal time” rules governing broadcast media (which use the public airwaves to deliver their messages), there are no laws governing what private businesses can and cannot do with their online media properties.

And that means that anything you’re posting to a social media site belongs to someone else, and that they have the power to remove, edit, block or delete your content depending on how they feel on any given morning.

Your freedom of speech is only as free as the owners of social media platforms want it to be.

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