Recent Twitter Fails

In the past few days, we've seen several apologies for tweets that were posted without thought-perhaps too quickly. Here are three examples.

1) A Wall Street Journal editor jabbed women who died in the Aurora, CO, shooting. James Taranto explained his tweet in a longer post. (Image source.)

2. Celeb Boutique jumped on "#Aurora" on Twitter, not realizing the hashtag connection to the theater shootings. The company's explanation was that it outsources its Twitter account overseas.

3. Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou was expelled from the London Olympics after a tweet some considered racist. The Greek Olympic Committee said that her tweet was "contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement." Apparently, Papchristou has a history of neo-Nazi sympathy. She did respond with this apology: "I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account," she wrote. "I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach on human rights." (Image source.)

Discussion Starters:

• How could these mistakes have been avoided?
• How do you assess each writer's explanation? Which do you find most and least acceptable?

Judge Rules that Tweets Are Public Speech

A judge has ruled that an Occupy Wall Street protester's tweets must be turned over. Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. said that tweets are not protected as private speech; rather, they are considered public comments. The judge wrote:

"The Constitution gives you the right to post, but as numerous people have learned, there are still consequences for your public posts. What you give to the public belongs to the public. What you keep to yourself belongs only to you."

The judge also wrote, "If you post a tweet, just like if you scream it out the window, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy."

The decision came out of a court case that subpoenaed the protestor's deleted tweets. Both the protestor and Twitter tried to block to subpoena. Twitter issued a statement about the decision, which included this excerpt: 

"Twitter's terms of service have long made it absolutely clear that its users own their content. We continue to have a steadfast commitment to our users and their rights."

Twitter also published its first "Transparency Report," showing the number of government requests for user information and what percentage of those requests were fulfilled. 

Image source. (Protestors arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge in October.)

Discussion Starters: 

• Does the judge's decision surprise you? Why or why not? 
• What are the implications of this decision to company communicators? To you personally?

Shell Regrets Social Media Campaign

In a creative, but failed attempt to encourage public contribution to its marketing efforts, Shell asked people to submit their own memes. Shell was perhaps naive in thinking that people would support its positive thinking about the company's contribution to the environment.

The campaign around the "Let's Go" slogan brought a mockery of images with captions such as "Because there are still places we haven't f'ked. Let's Drill" and "Proudly plundering and destroying environments for almost 200 years."

At least Shell hasn't hidden from the reaction. On its site, the company has posted the memes and made this statement:

"We at Shell are committed to providing consumers with clean and abundant Arctic energy. We're also committed to the open exchange of ideas and the wonder of human creativity which makes our job possible.

"It is in this spirit that we approached the exciting untapped resource of socialized media with our Let's Go! Arctic user-generated advertising technology. While we do realize that a very small portion of the user-generated content below does not accurately represent Shell's commitment to providing consumers with clean and abundant Arctic energy, this pioneering experiment in user-generated content does reflect our commitment to freedom.

"Shell remains proud of our commitment to freedom. The freedom to develop newly available and abundant Arctic energy reserves. And the freedom our consumers have to discount the work of a very small number of extremist individuals who remain determined to stand in the way of our quest to bring first class heritage technology to bear on the top of the world. We thank you for sharing in our commitment to freedom.

"And thank you for contributing to our Let's Go! Arctic campaign."

Discussion Starters:

• Should Shell have avoided the campaign entirely, knowing that this could be the result-or was this an unintended, unpredictable result?
• How do you assess Shell's reaction-its statement on the website? What else, if anything, should Shell say about the memes received?

NLRB Weighs in on Social Media Policies

What should companies include in their social media policies? The topic is still debatable; again, the National Labor Relations Board is taking issue with several restrictions identified in corporate policies and guidelines.

In a 24-page memo, the general counsel of the NLRB calls out General Motors, DISH Network, and Target as having policies that either too severely restrict employees' online activities or go so far as violate the National Labor Relations Act. The Act protects employees' right to collective bargaining and concerted activity to achieve their demands in the workplace.

The memo provides examples from GM's policy, which the NLRB believes are overly restrictive:

"If you engage in discussion related to [GM], in addition to disclosing that you work for [GM] and that your views are personal, you must also be sure that your posts are completely accurate and not misleading and that they do not reveal non-public company information on any public site."

The NLRB believes that "completely accurate and not misleading" is overly broad and may restrict employees' communication with each other. Similarly, GM's warning that employees should "[t]hink carefully about 'friending' co-workers" discourages employee communication.

DISH and Target have other problems in their policies, according to the NLRB, for example, restricting employees from speaking with reporters and bloggers, and "releas[ing] confidential guest, team member, or company information, respectively. These guidelines prevent employees from sharing information about their working conditions, a provision of the Act. 

The memo highlights Walmart's social media guidelines as a lawful model. Walmart's guidelines broadly discourage "inappropriate postings that may include discriminatory remarks, harassment, and threats of violence or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct."

NLRB on social media

Discussion Starters:

• Assess the NLRB memo. How well is it organized? Is the writing style effective? Is the content clear?
  
• If you were the head of corporate communication for GM, what, if any, changes would you make to the social media policy, which has been in place since 2007, according to GM spokesperson Mary Henige?

LinkedIn Responds to Password Hacking

It's time to change your LinkedIn password. A Russian forum user posted 6.5 million passwords from the site, and LinkedIn has confirmed their authenticity. The hacker also claims that he stole 1.5 million eHarmony passwords.

LinkedIn has responded to the incident with this post on its website:

An Update on LinkedIn Member Passwords Compromised

Vicente Silveira, June 6, 2012

We want to provide you with an update on this morning's reports of stolen passwords. We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation and here is what we are pursuing as far as next steps for the compromised accounts:

1. Members that have accounts associated with the compromised passwords will notice that their LinkedIn account password is no longer valid.
2. These members will also receive an email from LinkedIn with instructions on how to reset their passwords. There will not be any links in this email. Once you follow this step and request password assistance, then you will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.
3. These affected members will receive a second email from our Customer Support team providing a bit more context on this situation and why they are being asked to change their passwords.

It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our members. We take the security of our members very seriously. If you haven't read it already it is worth checking out my earlier blog post today about updating your password and other account security best practices.

LinkedIn has been active on Twitter, with four tweets so far about the incident.

Discussion Starters: 

• The company's communication process via email is a bit complex. Do you understand why the management team chose this process? Would you propose a better process?
• This paragraph could be written more clearly: "It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases." What changes would you suggest to the writer?

Twitter: Flat Percentage of Users, but Deeper Engagement

New research shows that only 15% of online adults use Twitter, and only 8% use the service every day. Although the percentage of users remains fairly stable and is fairly small, the number of daily users has doubled since May 2011 and quadrupled since late 2010.

Authors of the February 2012 Pew Research Center's report credit smartphones with the increase in usage. According to Aaron Smith, Pew senior research specialist, "I do think it's notable that typical day Twitter usage is growing even as the overall usage stats have remained fairly consistent, [which] would imply that existing Twitter users are growing more engaged over time, with mobile being a big part of that story."

It took a while, but younger users are getting onboard with Twitter. Between November 2010 and February 2012, the percentage of Internet users between 18 and 24 on Twitter has increased from 16% to 31%. In addition, one in five in this age group uses Twitter.

Discussion Starters:

• Read the Pew report. What other conclusions can you draw from the study?
• What is your own use of Twitter? If you fit within the category of growing users, why has your usage increased?
• How is this new information relevant to corporate communicators?

Welcome to Twitter, Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs has finally joined the list of companies that tweet. During its first few days, Goldman produced this string of yawn-inducing tweets before the holiday weekend started:

A writer for CS Monitor offers these tips for Goldman on Twitter, with a healthy dose of skepticism:

1.  Be cool.  Not everything on your stream has to be PR

2.  Tweet research like UBS @UBSAmericas

3.  Also join StockTwits and be sure to blast some equity upgrades and downgrades through there - its [sic] where all the tickerhounds and traders and investors are, may as well engage.

4.  Follow good people, smart people, not just lame, mainstream, boring, "safe" people

5.  Wouldn't kill you to throw some RTs around.  You'll probably be at 50k followers before year-end, that kind of thing goes a long way in social media

6.  Have some fun, be quirky.  Why not change the avatar to a picture of a squid for a day, why not tweet a link to an old Muppet Show clip.  This ain't LinkedIn, this is the Twitter, relax.

Goldman has launched this page without a social media manager, for which the company has been advertising. The company describes the position in this way:

"Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is looking for a Community Manager/Social Media Strategist to serve as the administrator for Goldman Sachs social media communities.  In addition to the management of these communities, this person would play a strategic role as initial point of contact for our relationships with representatives of the various social platforms.  The Community Manager/ Social Media Strategist will be responsible for ensuring active and engaged communities around a defined topic or topics by managing long-lead editorial calendars, monitoring online conversations and participating in those conversations to build brand visibility and thought leadership. The goal is to establish a positive online presence for Goldman Sachs as well as to integrate our messaging into the online community in a compelling and valuable way for participants. In this role, the Community Manager/ Social Media Strategist will be part of our Brand Management Group."

Although 11,901 followers is impressive in four days, this is no match for "GS Elevator Gossip" tweets that have been active for some time, with 264,000 followers. The GS Elevator tweets are jokes-comments that could be heard on the elevator at Goldman Sachs. They're too racy to publish here, but you can view them on the GS Elevator Twitter page.

Discussion Starters: 

• What should be Goldman's approach on Twitter? How would you define the company's objectives?
• Write a few tweets that meet CS Monitor's suggestions.
• The CS Monitor writer suggests changing the Twitter image to a squid and linking to a Muppets video. Do you understand the references for Goldman Sachs?
• This is a holiday weekend. Would you expect Goldman Sachs to tweet on Memorial Day?

U.S. Presidential Candidates Go Social

President Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney are using social networking to boast their campaigns. Today, the Obama campaign is releasing a new platform called "Dashboard." Katie Hogan, spokesperson for the campaign, described the purpose of Dashboard:

"Dashboard is our online field office - a hub for campaign volunteers and supporters to communicate with each other and become members of neighborhood teams. . . .

"Supporters can use the tool to set goals, communicate those goals, and see what other supporters are doing. Supporters who want to be engaged can go to Dashboard, message other supporters in their area, and have a conversation about how to get started. It provides a good volunteer experience online that is directly tied to our field operation goals."

Built into the system is a keen focus on setting goals and friendly competition among neighborhoods. With a Facebook-like interface, volunteers are expected to use the site easily.

Since the fall, Mitt Romney's campaign has used a different home-grown system, "MyMitt."

Images via Raw Story and Signal News.

Discussion Starters:

• If you supported one of the candidates, would you use his social network? Why or why not?
• Why would both campaigns create their own platform rather than use Facebook as their main tool for volunteers?
• Consider signing up for both sites. What differences do you notice? Which is more effective for what purposes?

GM Quits Facebook Advertising, But Why?

Ad Age and others are criticizing General Motors, not for quitting Facebook but for failing to get the most from the social network. The timing was unfortunate for Facebook, in the midst of its initial public offering, but there's little evidence that the withdrawal impacted Facebook's IPO success.

Ad Age calls GM's Facebook presence, for which the company spent $30 million, "wrong" and "boring," with the following examples of posts:

• We're excited to announce the return of a V-8 powered, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan to our robust U.S. lineup, the Chevrolet SS!" (Well, of course you are. Maybe you should ask us if we're excited.)
• "Check out this picture of our Chairman and CEO, Dan Akerson." (Don't know about you, but I go to Facebook hoping to see the Chairman of GM's picture.)
• "Just wanted to let our millions of Facebook fans know, we're still here, and we 'like' you back!" (OK, thanks for checking in.)
• "GM is full of history and classic cars that we all know and love." (Uh huh. That's so exciting.)
• "Check out our latest Faces of GM video to find how John uses what he does at the race track to make the cars he works on even better." (Wake me when it's over)
• "Ever wonder what happens with leftover scrap metal from our vehicles?" (Umm, no, can't say that I have)
• "Happy Administrative Professionals Day to the women and men who keep our offices and dealerships running all across the globe! Thanks for all you do each and every day." (I'm sure they felt very rewarded by this post.)
• "We're thrilled to announce that Chevrolet sold 1.18 million vehicles worldwide in the first 3 months of 2012." (Of course you're thrilled. But we don't really give a damn.)
• "Hey GM Fans! Let's have a little fun before the weekend begins... What's your favorite current GM vehicle and why?" (Whose idea of fun is this? And the reason we have to have this fun is that GM is not online during the weekend, even though the Internet is, and always has been, 24/7, 365 days a year. Yes, even weekends. Hint: you want to make some trouble for GM? Post on Facebook and Twitter during the weekend. They won't see it til Monday.)
• "It may be Friday the 13th, but we think of it as just another day for you to drive your GM vehicle." (We live to drive our GM vehicle.)
• "One in four Buick Veranos sold have worn the most colorful hue offered, Crystal Red Tintcoat." (If that's not thrilling, tell me what is.)

For another view, Reuters critized Facebook, saying that the company didn't adequately sell GM on the benefits of paid ads. The article explains GM's decision this way:

"GM dropped its Facebook ads because they were less effective than other options such as Google's AdSense, the sources said. Facebook's ads garner about half the clicks per page view, a measure of effectiveness, compared with the average website.

"Moreover, Facebook's ad prices were expected to rise after the company's IPO. Ad prices are set in auction and vary depending on the target audience."

 Discussion Starters:

• What's your view? Did GM fail to take full advantage of social networking on Facebook, did Facebook fail to deliver, or is there another story here?
• Regardless of the decision, how could GM have done a better job engaging customers on Facebook? Rewrite a few of the company's posts, above.

Retailer CFO Loses Job Over Social Media Posts

Maybe this is why so few CFOs use social media. Women's clothing retailer Francesca's fired its CFO today for his tweets and Facebook posts that revealed too much about the company.

Francesca's issued a press release announcing the decision but didn't mention which posts, specifically, were of concern. However, the statement said that Gene Morphis had "improperly communicated Company information through social media." Below are two examples of Morphis's Facebook posts.

 

In another post, Morphis criticized co-sponsors of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, a law that defines financial reporting standards: 

"Audit committee. Damn you Paul Sarbanes! Damn you Michael Oxley!"

Discussion Starters:

• What should be the social media guidelines for corporate CFOs? Should they differ from guidelines for all employees?
• Was the Board right in terminating Morphis?
• What could have been done to prevent this situation?

Facebook's IPO Video Focuses on Emotional Appeals

This is not your grandmother's IPO video. Facebook has taken a unique approach in luring investors to buy a stake in the company's initial public offering. 

Staff members tell the Facebook story through a 30-minute video that the CFO says is consistent with their "focus on authentic, engaging communications." Mashable agrees that the video is a different approach to IPO communications:

"It's an interesting take on the normal business investment pitch video-instead of a heavy emphasis on dry finance numbers, Facebook plays to the heartstrings.

"Soft lighting, multiple interview angles and background music fit for sunrise in a nature show combine to make a clear emotional pitch to potential investors."

A theme throughout the video, as you might expect, is connecting people and "changing within a generation, the fabric" of how people communicate. In simple language, Facebook executives explain their platform and how their product functionality makes the web social. They compare Facebook to a game.

Section 3, Advertising, begins to cover financial information. The section profiles Ben & Jerry's, who claim that every dollar spent on Facebook returns $3 in incremental sales. Sheryl Sanberg, Facebook's COO, claims that online advertising will increase, in part because of Facebook's value proposition of "reach, relevance, engagement, and social context."

Section 4, Finance, starts 23 minutes into the 30-minute video. In this section, CFO David Ebersman reviews the number of users (including global penetration rates) revenue (advertising and payments), capital expenditures, operating margins, and future investment plans.

The video ends with Mark Zuckerberg claiming that almost every app will be connected to Facebook in some way.

Discussion Starters:

• Watch the entire video. Does it convince you to invest? Which are the most and least convincing arguments?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook's approach compared to more traditional IPO communications?

Kraft Mac & Cheese Thanks Facebook Fans

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese hired an a capella group to show appreciation for the 4,632 fans who "liked" its Facebook page. Sung by The Yellow Jackets from the University of Rochester, the song is a great example of connecting with customers in a creative way.

The video is cute, but so far it has only 11,000 views after a week. Why hasn't it been more popular? Will it go viral still? 

Google Drive for Team Projects

Google has introduced an evolution of Google Docs: Drive, a service that stores photos and videos in addition to documents. The new service will likely compete with both Dropbox for cloud storage and Microsoft's similar product, SkyDrive.

The advantages of Drive over Dropbox are clear: in Dropbox, users can only store files; they can't edit documents as they can in Google Docs and Drive. The tougher choice is between Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive. PCWorld compared the services in these articles:

• Four Reasons Google Wins Out
• Five Reasons Microsoft SkyDrive is Better Than Google Drive

For students, the decision may come down to ease of access (Drive doesn't require another login if they're already on Gmail) versus software (SkyDrive uses Microsoft files, which are more standard and feature rich than Google Docs). A minor issue for students is privacy. People have expressed concern over Drive's "terms of service," but the risks may be exaggerated, and I'm not too worried about my students' revealing trade secrets during their team projects.

Discussion Starters:

• What are the advantages of Google Drive over Google Docs?
• Which service would you prefer: Google Drive or Microsoft SkyDrive? Why?

Study: 98% Are Tethered to Email

According to a new study of more than 500 executives, people check email often. When not at work, 98% of people check email. Authors of the study conclude, "Work is not a place anymore. It's a state of mind." 

Discussion Starters: 

• Are you in the majority of people who check email every 1 or 2 hours? 
• Organizations benefit from people checking email often and when on vacation, and the consequences to people personally may be obvious, but what are the potential negative consequences to organizations? 

KFC Apologizes to Thailand Earthquake Victims

Connecting chicken to the earthquake in Thailand, KFC posted this on its Facebook wall as people were being evacuated from the beaches: "Let's hurry home and follow the earthquake news. And don't forget to order your favorite KFC menu."

People didn't respond well. Admitting its mistake, KFC removed the post within a day and replaced it with this statement:

"KFC Thailand expresses its sincere regret for the improper post on its Facebook page and apologizes for the insensitivity and timing of the message." 

This isn't the first time a company used a tragic or emotionally charged event to promote its products (and it probably won't be the last). Kenneth Cole learned a tough lesson when he encouraged people to buy his "spring collection" clothing during the uprising in Cairo. And a blogger called Amy Winehouse's death a "wake-up call for small business owners."

Companies need to be smarter about how they use social media. Sure, they can take some risks, but mixing sales and disaster likely leads only to disaster.

Discussion Starters:

• Can you think of any time when using a tragedy to promote a company's products would be viewed positively, for example, after a certain period of time? 
• Assess KFC's apology. Do you find it convincing? Should the company have done anything else to demonstrate its regret?

Facebook Wants You to Use Its Email

Facebook has a new program on the horizon: your timeline address will now be your email address. Unless you already have a @facebook.com email, you'll be assigned one.

Facebook describes the change for consistency:

"Starting today, we're updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site. Now, the address people use to get to your timeline and send you email on Facebook will be the same."

Clearly, Facebook is continuing to push its email application, previously called messaging. Speculation is that Facebook is trying to match the integration of Google+ with Gmail. Also, a recent study showed that people are more likely to use the Internet for email (85%) than for social networking (62%). Despite early reports of its demise, email remains a frequent tool for communication.

Discussion Starters:

• Do you use Facebook email? Would you if you were assigned an email address? 
• What's the value of email to Facebook? How has the company's "messaging" strategy evolved? 

Few CIOs Use Social Networks

Despite their companies' increasing use of social media, CIOs are not at all active on social networking sites. TechCrunch calls this group "a little anti-social" and describes the results of a study by harmon.ie:

"...only about 10 percent of CIOs in the top companies - Fortune 250 and and Global 250 - actively use public social networks. Within that group, only four CIOs write blogs, and more than one-third either do not have LinkedIn profiles, or have profiles with fewer than 100 connections."

We could explain the data by saying that CIOs hire people to manage the social networking for them or that they are active on intranets rather than on the public web. But Mark Fidelman, lead author of the study, explains the issue:

"These 250 CIOs are charged with transforming the world's largest enterprises, yet our analysis shows that most have relatively little experience using the kinds of tools that are needed to drive that change."

Fidelman also says, "If CIOs are charged with building a social business, shouldn't they have a social presence?" He also suggested to Information Week that "CIOs who don't get social might not be CIOs next year."

On a more positive note, harmon.ie identified the Top 25 Social CIOs in the Fortune 250. The top five include CIOs of technology companies (no surprise) SAP, Google, and Microsoft, but also includes CIOs of the Corporate Banking division of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Mexican petroleum company Pemex.

Discussion Starters:

• Do you find this news alarming? Why or why not?
• What advice would you give CIOs who want to be more active in social networks? Where should they concentrate their efforts? Would your advice vary by industry?

Jon Stewart Criticizes President Obama's Emails

On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart questions the Obama campaign's informal approach to email. Stewart gives examples of subject lines such as "Hey" and "Dinner?" Rather than what he calls "fake familiarity," Stewart suggests that these email subjects should focus on the real purpose: "Give me money."

Jon Stewart isn't the first one to criticize President Obama's emails. Back in December, White House reporter Keith Koffler took issue with the the "Hey" emails:

"Obama, who was sold to us as something surpassingly genuine, actually likes to pretend he's someone he's not. All his town halls on people's back porches, trips to Best Buy, and dinners with three dollar donors doesn't change that he is a card carrying member of the elite liberal ruling class.

"He was admitted around college or law school, and that's where his soul has resided ever since. Recently, with book sales buoyed by his presidential success, he's gained the financial status commensurate with his social standing.

"He should act that way. The regular guy stuff diminishes both him and the presidency. More than classy or low-brow, friendly or stiff, Americans want one thing more than anything else in their leader: Authenticity.

 "'Hey,' is phony. And it's puny for a president."

Discussion Starters and Assignment Idea:

• What's your view of the President's approach to email? Do you agree with this criticism?
• What could be better subject lines that do, in reality, request donations?
• As practice, write two email messages on behalf of a presidential candidate's campaign (a candidate of your choice). What could you say to inspire people to give, and what subject line will you use? Check the tone by asking other students for their opinion.

Councilman Pays $28,800 for Tweets

A Philadelphia councilman needs help with that transparent, authentic social media voice on Twitter, so he hired a firm to tweet for him. Jim Kenney hired ChatterBlast to help with his social media strategy, including monitoring his Facebook and Twitter accounts and writing posts.

Kenney explains why he needs this help: 

"I, at 53 years old, do not have that facility. So I need consultant advice to communicate with a group of folks who are not necessarily in my age group."

In addition to hiring ChatterBlast, Kenney has hired an outside communications consultant, Martin O'Rourke. In an embarrassing admission, O'Rourke described his own limitations:

"I have no clue how to tweet; I still don't understand the mechanics of it. It's a thing of the future."

ChatterBlast promotes its services to government officials in this way: 

"Interactive online communities represent a whole new arena of vocal constituents. ChatterBlast uses social media networks, targeted advertising and digital marketing to deliver real-time, personalized and high-impact messages while building a community of supporters.  We can listen to what is being said about you or your organization in real-time, faster and more accurately then pollsters. More importantly, we can engage and address the naysayers while promoting and rewarding positive feedback. 

"If you are an agency or elected official, social media can be used to keep in touch with your constituents and address issues before they become a crisis. If you are running for office, social media provides a new untapped fundraising channel.  Maintaining an active and identifiable base can be managed before, during, and after your campaign.  We can even help secure your votes before campaign time begins."

Discussion Starters:

• What are the ethical considerations in this situation? 
• Where do you see the line between how an outside firm helps a person or a company develop and implement a social media strategy and how that firm implements the strategy?
• Under what, if any, circumstances should an individual hire an outside firm to tweet on his or her behalf?

P&G Blocks Pandora and Netflix

Bandwidth hogs Pandora and Netflix have been taking up too much time and space, causing P&G to block employees' access to these sites. According to an internal memo, the strain on P&G's network was great, "requiring immediate intervention."  The memo also warned that blocking these two sites is a "first step" to addressing employees' personal use of the Internet on company time. 

Recent studies show how much prospective employees, particularly college students, value access to social media. At the same time, 19% of companies (according to a September 2011 survey) block some social media sites. Many have taken more drastic positions than P&G has: Cintas, for example, with 30,000 employees, blocks Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

From a communication perspective, some of the language is jargony and could be improved:

• "It's a worldwide phenomenon. As P&G drives toward end-to-end digitization of our business, ensuring bandwidth capacity within our networks is a high priority." (from P&G spokesperson Paul Fox)
• "These statistics indicate that access to non-business-critical Internet sites goes far beyond the business need." (from the internal memo)
• "We're asking all employees to leverage company resources with an ownership mentality." (also from the internal memo)

Discussion Starter and Assignment Idea: 

• Do you believe that P&G is justified in its decision to block these sites? Why or why not? What about companies, such as GE Aviation (also a Cincinnati-based company), that also block YouTube and Facebook? 
• Practice your revising skills by rewriting the three P&G quotes above.