Fallout and Predictions for Instagram

Last week, Instagram announced changes to its privacy policy and has since lost 25% of its users. The photo-sharing site, owned by Facebook, clarified its terms of service to be closer in line with Facebook's. Changes laid groundwork for advertising on the site:

"To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your user name, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."

The new policy drew threats from Instagram heavy weights Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian. #Boycottinstagram quickly gained momentum on Twitter.

In response, the company has apologized and reverted to its original terms of service.

Although Instagram is still bruised, at least one commentator is optimistic about the company and its quick growth to 100 million users.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your reaction to Instagram's first revision to its privacy policy?
  
• How well did the company recover from the criticism? What persuasive strategies did Kevin Systrom use in his blog post?

Starbucks' Hashtag Backfires

Another company has had its Twitter hashtag hijacked. In a high-risk campaign, Starbucks asked people to use #spreadthecheer to have their holiday messages projected on a large video screen near the Natural History Museum in London at a public ice rink.

Unfortunately, the timing was off. Starbucks recently has been criticized for tax breaks in the UK. Tweets were less than generous.

• "I like buying coffee that tastes nice from a shop that pays tax. So I avoid @starbucks #spreadthecheer"

• "Tax paid: £8.6m. Additional tax paid to improve public image: £20m. Posting live tweets to a big screen: priceless. #spreadthecheer"

As The Consumerist wrote, "The people at Starbucks have apparently never used the Internet." It does seem that the company should have been more cautious, particularly given the tax issue.

So far, Starbucks has not commented on the failure. 

Discussion Starters:

• Read about other failed Twitter campaigns. What do these situations share in common?
• Should companies just stop using Twitter hashtags?

Cheerios' Facebook Campaign Fuels Controversy over GMOs

Another social media campaign gone awry: Cheerios' attempt for people to comment on what the cereal means to them turned into a free-for-all about the product. Thousands of posts criticized the use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in the cereal. The comments likely are the result of recently defeated Proposition 37, which would have required labeling of GMO products.

General Mills had been posting the comments, some via an app that displayed them in the Cheerios font. Since then the company has discontinued the app and stopped posting comments for some time. The company also removed anti-GMO photos from the Facebook page.

Todd Larsen, Green America Corporate Responsibility Programs Director, encourages consumers to understand the product and calls on the company to respond:

"At GMO Inside's Facebook page, people can see which ingredients in Cheerios and other products are likely to be genetically modified. Cheerios needs to label or remove the GMO ingredients. Consumers have a right to know."

The company's response has been minimal. Where the app was on the Facebook page is now this note:

"We consider your comments, and we listen to your point of view. Our community is passionate about food and about Cheerios. There are many varied opinions and they are often very strong. We've created this space to enable robust conversations, and we invite you to share your thoughts on things we're doing well and on areas we can improve. We ask only that you remain respectful and considerate of others as you're posting, in keeping with our community guidelines."

Critics say that General Mills should have known better: the opposition was clear, so the social media campaign was too risky, and the result is not surprising.

Discussion Starters: 

• What's your view of GMO products? Do they concern you or not? What research are you relying on to shape your opinion? 
• How else should General Mills respond to the controversy on its Facebook page or elsewhere?

Fun Facts About the Emoticon

The New York Times today featured Scott Fahlman, creator of the smiley face. Fahlman invented the character, which he called a "joke marker," back in 1982 to temper flaming in online discussion forums.

A linguist analyzed millions of tweets to see how emoticons were used and found that 10% of tweets had some type of character. His reasoning was that people could more accurately describe emotion in a longer paragraph, but shorter messages may require explanation.

We could debate whether and how emoticons should be used in business writing ad nauseum. Proponents see the ocassional smiley as a way to ensure accurately interpreted messages, particularly to convey tone, often misunderstood in business email.

Opponents think emoticons are silly and unprofessional. Writing instructors worry about the degradation of the language. As one communication lecturer said, "Certainly I understand the need for clarity. But language, used properly, is clear on its own." A British radio personality said, "If anybody on Facebook sends me a message with a little smiley-frowny face or a little sunshine with glasses on them, I will de-friend them. I also de-friend for OMG and LOL. They get no second chance. I find it lazy. Are your words not enough? To use a little picture with sunglasses on it to let you know how you're feeling is beyond ridiculous."

A recent CNN article offers this sound advice: use an emoticon if you must, "But nix emoticons from any initial emails with new contacts."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• When do you use emoticons in your writing?
• In addition to initial emails, as CNN suggests, when would you avoid using emoticons in business email?

Strategy to Hide Emails During Affair Didn't Work

General Petraeus and Paula Broadwell saved messages as "draft" in a shared email account to avoid sending them, thinking they would be less traceable. A technique used by Al Qaeda terrorists (and teenagers), not sending emails prevents them from being tracked to IP addresses that are linked to specific computers and their users.

Another possible strategy to hide one's identity through email is to use public computers that don't keep permanent records. It's unclear which strategies were used-and failed-between the other players in this unraveling story: General John Allen and Jill Kelley. General Allen succeeded General Patraeus as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Kelley is described as a "Tampa socialite." More than 20,000 pages (or hundreds) of "flirtatious" emails between the two are also under investigation.

Image source.

Related: "Trying to Keep Your E-Mails Secret When the C.I.A. Chief Couldn't" 

Discussion Starters: 

• What are the many ways in which draft emails can be made public?
• Critics question how well General Allen is managing the situation in Afghanistan as he sends so many pages of correspondece with Kelley. What's your view?

Did Trump Go Too Far on Twitter?

Apparently, Donald Trump was quite angry last night as he watched the presidential election results. He tweeted a series of comments criticizing the president and the electoral process.

A look at Trump's current Twitter feed shows that he deleted a few tweets, particularly those calling for a revolution. But others, such as calling the election a "travesty" and "disgusting injustice," remain.

In addition to these comments, Trump got into what seems like a one-sided debate with Brian Williams, NBC News Anchor. BloombergBusinessweek highlighted a few of his "taunting comments": 

There's this: "Brian, if I'm ‘well past the last exit to relevance' how come you spent so much time reading my tweets last night?" And this: "Brian-Thanks dummy-I picked up 70,000 twitter followers yesterday alone. Cable News just passed you in the ratings." And this: "Wouldn't you love to have my ratings?" An NBC spokeswoman had no immediate comment on Trump's tweets.

More than 1,800 people have signed a petition encouraging Macy's to drop Trump products from its stores.

In response to criticism, Trump said, "The fact is that there's a large group of people who like Donald Trump and what Donald Trump says. I have no regrets."

Discussion Starters:

• What's your reaction to Trump's tweets?
• Why do you think he choose to delete some tweets but not others?
• Also in response to the criticism, Trump cited his number of followers: almost 2 million. What does it mean to have followers on Twitter? Do you consider this to be a strong defense?

Criminal Charges for False Rumors About Hurricane

@ComfortablySmug may not be laughing since New York City Councilman Peter Vallone is pushing for criminal charges for spreading false information about Hurricane Sandy. Shashank Tripathi, who owns the Twitter handle, has since resigned as campaign manager for a congressional candidate. Tripathi also was a former assistant district attorney in Astoria, Queens.

Tripathi's tweets included false and accurate information, a mix that Vallone says is dangerous because it gives more legitimacy to the falsehoods.

Although Vallone admits this is a difficult case to prove, he's hoping it will deter similar behavior in the future. At a minimum, the criticism inspired Tripathi to issue this apology:

Tweets image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of Tripathi's tweets: harmless fun, potentially dangerous, or something else?
• Is the councilman taking the right approach in trying to press charges? What, if any, other consequences should Tripathi face?

NYT Article: BlackBerry Is Like an "Embarrassing Relative"

A New York Times article delivers a harsh blow to Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberrys. Several quotes from users paint a sad picture of the BlackBerry as a public embarrassment:

• "I'm ashamed of it."
• "I want to take a bat to it."
• "You can't do anything with it. You're supposed to, but it's all a big lie."
• "I feel absolutely helpless."

The article tells stories of people hiding their BlackBerry underneath their iPad, not using their BlackBerry at cocktail parties, and getting "disgusted" looks when asking a hotel concierge for a charger.

These aren't great testimonials for the product that was called "CrackBerry" when first introduced because of its popularity and additive qualities. Now it seems people can't wait to trade it in for an iPhone 5.

The article quotes an investment analyst saying that RIM's recent video, a play on REO Speedwagon's "I'll Just Keep on Loving You," is "a sign of a desperate company."

RIM clearly is not happy with the article. Amy McDowell, senior director of corporate communications at RIM, said that the company wasn't asked for input on the story. In response, CEO Thorsten Heins wrote an opinion letter in The New York Times:

"BlackBerry as Black Sheep in Smartphones" (Business Day, Oct. 16) lacks the balance your readers expect.

With more than 80 million customers globally, BlackBerry is growing and remains one of the world's most popular smartphones. I've just come from visiting carriers and partners in all parts of the world, and they have told me that there are millions of BlackBerry fans out there who not only find great value in their device, but also pride in being a BlackBerry owner.

While any report of dissatisfaction among our users is a cause for concern that I take very seriously, the comments supporting BlackBerry both online and in calls we've received from our customers in response to your article are encouraging to me.

BlackBerry remains the leader in providing security for corporate customers, which is why more than 90 percent of the Fortune 500 rely on BlackBerry. It's true that some companies put restrictions on accessing certain applications for security reasons, but applications like Yelp and OpenTable are, in fact, among the approximately 100,000 apps available in BlackBerry AppWorld.

We've received excellent feedback from carriers, developers and partners for our upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform and are on track to deliver it in the first quarter of 2013. We appreciate the customers who have remained loyal to the BlackBerry platform and look forward to winning back many who have left.

THORSTEN HEINS
President and Chief Executive
Research In Motion
Waterloo, Ontario, Oct. 16, 2012

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Should The New York Times have contacted RIM for comment on the story before publication? Does it have an obligation to do so?
• What examples of logical argument, emotional appeal, and credibility do you find in Heins's opinion letter?

KitchenAid's Errant Tweet

One of KitchenAid's tweeters confused accounts. During the Presidential debate Tuesday night between President Obama and Mitt Romney, someone tweeted from KitchenAid's handle:

"Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad!
'She died 3 days b4 he became president.'"

Although the company deleted the tweet, the damage was done. Criticsm was quick and rampant on Twitter. 

Cynthia Soledad, a senior director at KitchenAid issued this response:

"During the debate last night, a member of our Twitter team mistakenly posted an offensive tweet from the KitchenAid handle instead of a personal handle. This tasteless joke in no way represents our values at KitchenAid. This person will no longer be tweeting for us and appropriate actions are being taken.  That said, I lead the KitchenAid brand, and I take responsibility for the whole team. I am deeply sorry to President Obama, his family, and our consumers for this careless error."

Soledad posted a similar comment on the company's Facebook page: 

Someone managing the KitchenAid handle also tweeted this apology:

Discussion Starters:

• What could KitchenAid have done to prevent this situation?
• How do you assess KitchenAid's apologies? What aspects of the company's response are effective, and what could be improved?

Walmart's Local Facebook Pages Lag Behind Small Businesses'

Recommend.ly, a firm that helps companies optimize their Facebook pages, found that Walmart's local pages haven't fared well compared to small businesses' pages. "My Local Walmart," a program started in October 2011, aimed to connect customers to a store near them.

According to Advertising Age, Recommend.ly's research shows that the local Walmart pages haven't garnered the fan base that "mom-and-pop" stores have achieved. Although an impressive 2800 stores have their own fan pages (of Walmart's approximate 3500 stores), the fan activity isn't very high:

"But only 100, or fewer than 4%, have more than 1,000 fans. And 85% of Walmart's local-store pages didn't respond to any fan comments during the study.

"By contrast, in a sample of just under 1,900 local-business pages on Facebook, 22% had more than 1,000 fans. The Walmart local-store pages had an average of 563 fans, 5.2% of them active in some way during the 30 days of the study. Local businesses had an average of 4,207 fans, 12.2% of them active."

Further, the study found that customer engagement on these pages was lacking compared to local businesses' pages:

"But 99.5% of Walmart's local stores scored under 40 on a 100-point CScore scale used by Recommend.ly, which is based on how often a page starts conversations, how many posts the page participates in, how viral the page's content is based on the level of fan response and sharing, and how popular the page is based on fan count and active fan ratio.

"By comparison, only 60% of local business pages scored below 40 on that scale, and Walmart's main page scored what Recommend.ly deemed a 'respectable' 66."

Recommend.ly suggests that Walmart's failings are caused by the corporate-controlled content, while small businesses tend to provide more useful information, such as comments about local events and store promotions, to locals.

Discussion Starters:

• How could local Walmart Facebook pages provide more value to customers? What are other examples of ways to connect to people within a community?
• The Advertising Age article discusses Barnes & Noble's local Facebook attempts, particularly to reach college students. What are your ideas for making these pages more relevant to you? 

More Hijacked Twitter Campaigns

This week, two more attempts to engage people on Twitter have backfired. Following McDonald's and RIM's recent failures, Newsweek and Waitrose, a British supermarket, join the list of tweets gone awry. 

Newsweek tried to generate conversation about its front-page story, "Muslim Rage," a provocative piece in itself. With the hashtag, #MuslimRage, Newsweek's online site, Daily Beast, invited people to tweet about the cover story.

The result was not what Newsweek hoped for. Although the hashtag was trending, people made a joke of the it.

Newsweek has been criticized as a "troll"-intentionally started a heated debate for the sake of publicity. One critic tweeted, "Best way to deal with trolls: Silence. Second-best: mockery, e.g., #muslimrage." The Associated Press reported this response from the magazine: 

"Newsweek spokesman Andrew Kirk said the magazine's covers and hashtags 'bring attention and spark debate around topics of major global importance. The Internet is an open forum for people to continue their own discussion.'"

Upscale supermarket Waitrose tried a similar tactic to engage conversation about the brand, using the hashtag #Waitrosereasons.

Again, some tweets supported the brand, but most were sarcastic.

Waitrose responded with several gracious, good-natured tweets.

Analysis of the campaign is mixed: the hashtag certainly promoted Waitrose's name and got people talking, so in this case, was it a failure?

Discussion Starters:

• Where's the line between generating discussion and inciting controversy for the sole objective of sales? Did Newsweek cross this line?
• Read more of the #Waitrosereasons tweets. Would you characterize the campaign as a failure?

Beware of "Exploding" Studies

Twice in two weeks I've read a similar headline about a Northwestern University study: "Study Explodes the Myth of Internet-Based Information Overload." Authors of these articles should be mindful of the implications of research-and look more carefully at the methodology.

The study, involving a mere seven focus groups of 77 participants on vacation in Las Vegas, asked people about information they receive through the web and other media sources and how they feel about it. A relatively small study that doesn't look at behavior should be considered cautiously. Eszter Hargittai, lead author of the study, drew this conclusion:

"There's definitely some frustration with the quality of some of the information available. But these frustrations were accompanied by enthusiasm and excitement on a more general level about overall media choices."

Fair enough. But articles such as Social Media Today's is not exactly in line with the study's reach and impact. Northwestern University's own descriptions seem more appropriate:

"'Information overload' may be an exaggerated way to describe today's always-on media environment. Actually, very few Americans seem to feel bogged down or overwhelmed by the volume of news and information at their fingertips and on their screens, according to a new Northwestern University study."

"Most of the participants said television was their most used form of media, followed closely by websites. When asked how they felt about the amount of information available to them, few mentioned feeling overwhelmed or that they suffered from 'information overload.'"

On the other hand, the Social Media Today article raises a good point about exaggeration on the other side of the argument:

"Listen to enough hysterical warnings and dire forecasts and you'd think that information overload is leading us to some kind of bleak, post-apocalyptic future. In an Advertising Age column he wrote back in 2007, Edelman Senior VP Steve Rubel said, 'A crash is coming, folks. But this time it's not financial-it's personal.' The attention crisis, he said, is an epidemic. "There's no more room at the inn. People will cut back."

Perhaps we can learn lessons about both sides of the debate.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your own view about "information overload"?
• What could have been a better headline for the story in Social Media Today?

Go Daddy Responds to Outage

What brought down Go Daddy's websites? Although a hacker claimed responsibility, the domain registrar and web hosting company says it was an internal issue.

The outage lasted from 10 a.m. until about 4 p.m., affecting an unknown number of websites hosted by Go Daddy. On Twitter,@AnonymousOwn3r, a member of the Anonymous hackivist group, took responsibility:

 However, Go Daddy's CEO told a different story:

Still, the Anonymous member maintained responsibility:

Discussion Starters:

• While we waited to hear Go Daddy's response, small business owners blamed the hacker. Why would Go Daddy take responsibility rather than let customers think it was an external issue?
• The CEO's response is rather technical. Do you think this is appropriate for the audience and situation? Why or why not?
• Rewrite the CEO's message for the average business owner who has a website hosted by the company. How can you reduce the technical jargon?

Fortune 500 Step Up Social Media Use in 2012

A study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research shows Fortune 500 companies increasing their social media use. With annual data from 2008, the report highlights growth in companies' use of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest: 

"...there has been a surge forward in the adoption and use of social media and new communications tools among this year's Fortune 500.  For years, this group has lagged behind other sectors and at times appeared to shun social media.  These latest numbers show a renewed interest that includes using these tools for engagement, hiring and fundraising as well as for corporate advancement.  It is exciting to watch as these corporate giants embrace social media in a way they have not in the past.  It will be interesting to see if their enthusiasm for social media continues."

The Center published a report with its findings and created an infographic.

The number of Facebook "likes" of the ten biggest players have increased between 18% (Kohl's) and 78% (Walt Disney and Intel). The number of Twitter followers have also increased for the ten biggest Twitter players between 12% (Southwest) and 84% (Walt Disney); however, after reading the recent report of fake followers, I'm not impressed by these numbers.

The Center conducted a similar study of Inc 500 companies (designated by Inc. Magazine as the fastest growing companies). Blogging among this company group declined dramatically in 2011, while Fortune 500 blogging held steady.

Discussion Starters:

• One of the two charts shown here has a typographical error. Can you find it?*
• What do you think explains the differences between Inc. and Fortune 500 companies' use of corporate blogs?
• What do you think explains the industry differences in how many companies have a Facebook page?

*Under "Corporate Facebook Pages," text in the yellow triangle in the first column mistakenly refers to "Twitter Accounts"; this should read "Facebook Pages."

More Fake Twitter Followers Than You May Think

I'm so naive. Turns out, about 30% of ESPN's, CNN's, and Lady Gaga's Twitter followers are fake. Of Twitter's own followers, only 23% are considered "good": neither fake nor inactive. An infographic compiled by Social Selling University gives us a few examples.

According to Status People, a social media management company, "at least 11,283 Twitter users have purchased more than 72,000 fake followers." Followers are easy to buy: a Google search reveals many companies willing to sell you fake followers at the bargain price of $2 and $55 per 1,000. However, The New York Times reported one example of a marketing company buying 250,000 for just a penny each.

The pricier options look more authentic than the cheaper versions. To make Twitter profiles appear real, sellers follow real and random people and post tweets.

With its "Fake Follower Check," Status People will tell you how many fake and real followers you and others have on Twitter. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have bought their share of followers, according to Social Selling University.

Twitter is cracking down on fake followers, but at least for now, the practice persists.

Discussion Starters:

• If you wanted to garner support for your Twitter feed, would you consider buying followers? Why or why not?
• What does having fake followers do to the credibility of Twitter? Do you think this practice is a serious threat, no big deal, or something else?
• Do you consider the practice ethical? Why or why not?

RealNetworks Posts Internal Layoff Email to Facebook

Why wait for employees to forward internal messages to the press? RealNetworks founder and interim chief executive Rob Glaser has posted a layoff email to employees on Facebook.

Dear RealNetworks Team,

I'm writing to provide an update on the progress we've made over the past 8 weeks and to provide some context and information regarding the layoffs that are taking place today.

When I came back in as Interim CEO on July 3rd, I said we would focus on 3 things:

Reviewing and assessing all of our businesses and new initiatives,

Coming up with a go-forward Strategy for RealNetworks that would set us up to grow and thrive, and

Putting together a plan to stop burning cash and to return the company to profitability.

I also said we would move fast, have a bias towards action, and would work hard to complete all 3 of these efforts within 2 months.
After a lot of hard work by many people across the company and around the world, today I report to you that we have indeed achieved the 3 objectives we set out to work on beginning 8 weeks ago.

Very soon I will have a lot more to say about our collective assessment of our businesses & new initiatives, and about our go forward strategy. Specifically, we have scheduled a series of company meetings – both in Seattle and at our main offices around the world – for on or around September 6th. After these meetings I believe that each of you in attendance will walk away with a clear understanding of our strategies and excitement regarding where we're going.

Today I will discuss our plans to return the company to profitability -- in a way that will set us up for future growth & success.

As we mentioned on our financial results call on August 8th, our senior team has put together a plan to cut at least $45 Million of annualized costs. This plan has several aspects to it; one of the main ones is to streamline our operations and to do things more efficiently.

Unfortunately, a major part of this streamlining entails reducing our workforce from approximately 1140 people to about 980 people. We are doing this in two phases. The first phase, which begins today, involves laying off approximately 80 people, who are being given notice today.

The second phase, which will take place over the next 3 to 7 months, involves approximately 80 more people, who are being notified today that there is a specific future date when their current assignment will be ending. We hope to redeploy a number of these people when their current assignments end, but as of today don't know how many we will find positions for. These people are working on projects that will merge duplicate systems or otherwise make us more efficient.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the approximately 160 people affected by today's announcement, and also my remorse that we have had to take these steps. You have all made major contributions to RealNetworks. We are grateful for everything you have done for our company and our customers.

I also want to express my appreciation to the approximately 980 people who are not directly impacted by today's actions, and to acknowledge that many of you are indirectly affected, because of the impact on your colleagues and friends.

Permit me to close on a personal note. When I came back into Real after having been away from day-to-day operations for 2 ½ years, I thought there was a pretty high likelihood that there would be a day like today. I knew it would suck for everyone, and indeed it does.

But I promised myself that if we did have to do a significant layoff, I would do everything in my power to make sure that when we did it we also knew where we were going. I wanted to be able to look everyone in the eye and tell them that we have a plan to succeed that I believed in from the bottom of my heart.

I feel like we are almost there. While we still have a few areas to work out, we have made great progress. I can honestly tell you today that we are at least 80% of the way to having such a plan for every major part of our company, and have line-of-sight on the final 20%.

This clarity on strategy, as you would expect, has significantly influenced how and where we are cutting costs, and where we are investing for the future. I look forward to discussing this further when we meet next week.

Rob

Glaser responded to a New York Times inquiry about his decision by saying that he will limit his Facebook posts to major company-wide messages. The few comments he's received on Facebook support his transparency.

Fortunately, the email also is well written and appropriate for a layoff message. And it's not the first. The New York Times reports that Glaser has been keeping employees informed throughout the process, so this email is no surprise.

Discussion Starters:

• How does Glaser balance emotional appeal and logical arguments in his email?
• How is the email structured? Does this work well for the message and audience?
• What do you think of Glaser's tone, particularly this line: "I knew it would suck for everyone, and indeed it does"?

Storm Preparedness Communications in Social Media

New Orleans is bracing itself for Hurricane Isaac, just upgraded from a "Tropical Storm" and sadly reminiscent of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. Local authorities generally are doing a good job of keeping residents informed through social media.

The city has an updated website with easy-to-understand links on the left side. However, these might be improved with parallel phrasing and more consideration to the order. Is "Past Emergency News" the most important, implied by its top position? At this point-when the storm is quickly approaching-maybe "Leaving Town" is most important?*

On Twitter, the city's preparedness team and mayor use the same "NOLA Ready" logo, which connects the feeds nicely. Both are tweeting regularly with updated information and responses to questions and concerns. Here is a sampling of recent tweets from the mayor's feed:

Although the mayor's tweets are timely and seem relevant, some criticize the tone. One media trainer suggests a more personal tone to emphasize the city's focus on keeping people safe. Another communications expert calls the NOLA website "too politically correct," and says, "It seems more about the local politicians than an emergency service for residents."

Social media is sure to have a front-and-center role as Isaac moves closer.

* Update: After I tweeted about the ill-conceived order, NOLA changed its website links, now leading with "Emergency Updates," with instructions for signing up for notifications from the site. This wouldn't have been my choice, but it's better than referring to past emergencies.

Discussion Starters:

• Read recent tweets on the city's preparedness feed. Which tweets are most and least effective?
• What improvements could you make to the city's website? What information is most important to people expecting a hurricane?

"Slam" This Newspaper, and "You Will Be Deleted"

An editor for a small-town newspaper in California is fed up with critical Facebook posts. Apparently, Jackie Kaczmarek at the Hanford Sentinel hasn't read the literature on how to handle social media comments. Rather than engaging customers, he's pushing them away.

We can understand Kaczmarek's frustration: people can be irrational and just plain rude online, but does his approach help matters? As one writer says, "The first rule of digital media is that commenters are often irrational, but those who take commenter's comments to heart are even more irrational."

On the other hand, Kaczmarek has gotten quite a bit of support on the newspaper's Facebook page. And another staff member at Hanford has posted to soften the blow.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of the original post: understandable or irrational, just like some Facebook comments?
• What might be a better way for a frustrated editor to handle the situation?

Progressive Fights Lawsuit and Responds to Backlash

Progressive Insurance lost a lawsuit and a social media battle. When Katie Fisher was killed in a car accident, Progressive fought to avoid paying a settlement to her family. The company was obligated to contribute because the other driver was underinsured. Katie's brother, Matt, wrote a blog post that captured attention: "My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court." 

When Progressive was criticized on Twitter and on other social media sites, the company produced repeated tweets, which only fueled the backlash: 

The app TwitLonger linked to Progressive's full message, which was longer than 140 characters:

"This is a tragic case, and our sympathies go out to Mr. Fisher and his family for the pain they've had to endure. We fully investigated this claim and relevant background, and feel we properly handled the claim within our contractual obligations."

The response wasn't received well either, and Progressive has since deleted the tweet and issued this longer statement:

Discussion Starters and Assignment Ideas

• What's your view of Progressive's role in the Fisher case: is the company a monster, just doing what it should to protect itself, or something else?
• Let's help Progressive write better messages. Rewrite the "robo-tweets," as CNN Money called them. What could have been a better initial response?
• We can understand Progressive's desire to explain its role in the lawsuit, but the official statement, above, could be improved. Also, according to CNN Money, "Court documents show that Progressive was added to the case last year as a defendant, alongside the at-fault driver, and that it actively participated in fighting against the Fishers' claims." So, technicalities aside, Matt Fisher was correct that Progressive fought the settlement to Fisher's family. Rewrite Progressive's statement to improve the company's image.

Who Topped Olympics Social Media Conversations?

Using data from 150 million sources, Salesforce Radian6 tracked social media conversations about the Olympics on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others sites.

 

The chart shows social media mentions of the top medal-winning countries during the second week of the Olympics. Consistent with the number of wins in the actual games, the United States ranks first. 

From a business communication perspective, the chart is rather easy to understand, but it can be improved. Also, at least one description of the chart is questionable:

"But Great Britain, fourth in the medal standings, surges to the second spot in social media mentions."

For participants, the press, and others writing about the games, the International Olympic Committee published social media guidelines. The guidelines encourage social media participation and explain acceptable uses of photographs and trademark symbols. As expected, the guidelines warn writers about violations of policy:

"The IOC will continue to monitor Olympic on-line content to ensure that the integrity of rights-holding broadcasters and sponsor rights as well as the Olympic Charter is maintained. The IOC asks for the support of all participants and other accredited persons in halting any ambush activity or any sites engaged in conduct which is offensive to or adversely affects the goodwill associated with the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. The IOC asks that participants and other accredited persons discovering unauthorised content, please report it immediately to www.olympicgamesmonitoring.com."

As we know from some examples, not everyone respected these guidelines.

Discussion Starters:

• In what ways can the chart be improved to improve readability and accuracy?
• What is potentially questionable about the article quote, above, about Great Britain? How should this be fixed?
• How effective are the social media guidelines? What, if anything, would you suggest that the International Olympic Committee change for next year?