Companies May Get Access to What People Say About Them on FB

Lots of conversations about companies' products and services happen on Facebook, but companies aren't always privy to them. Now, Facebook is looking for a way to give companies access and the ability to respond.

Facebook is at a disadvantage compared to Twitter, on which brands easily see what it said about them: all they have to do is search for their name. On Facebook, the process is trickier: people have privacy setting that don't allow for searchable conversations. According to Chris Daniels, vice president of business development for Facebook, "We know people are talking about TV, movies, and media on Facebook. We know it's happening on Facebook more than anywhere else. We just need to surface that more."

With newly developed application programming interfaces (APIs), companies could see those conversations on Facebook, but users would have to adjust their privacy settings. Also, how would users react when companies jump in on what might feel like a private conversation among Facebook friends?

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your opinion of the new technology? How would you feel as a Facebook user?
• What should companies consider when deciding whether to jump into Facebook conversations or respond to Facebook comments about a brand? 

SpaghettiOs' Pearl Harbor Tweet

Campbell Soup has apologized for an inappropriate tweet posted by its SpaghettiOs brand. On December 7, the 72nd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, whoever manages SpaghettiOs' Twitter feed had the wrong idea for commemorating the event:

 

Twitter critics were quick, retweeting "A tweet that will live in infamy," "First UH-OH, SPAGHETTIOs headline in 3, 2, 1..." and "Those who believe that any publicity is good publicity have not had much publicity." A smiling piece of pasta didn't seem to be the best way to pay respects to the 2,400 Americans who died.

The tweet was deleted, and Campbell Soup issued this apology: "We apologize for our recent tweet in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. We meant to pay respect, not to offend." The spokesperson admitted that the Twitter account is managed internally. 

Discussion Starters:

• Do you find the tweet offensive, cute, or something else? Are people just too sensitive?
• How could this situation have been prevented?
• Campbell Soup's statement is short. Do you find it effective? How, if at all, could the statement be improved?

Gap Responds Swiftly to Racist Comments

When Gap heard one of its ads was graffitied with racist comments, the company responded quickly.

Gap created an ad featuring Waris Ahluwalia, an Indian-American designer and actor, and Quentin Jones, a model and filmmaker. Much of the reaction was positive, but not everyone was happy with the portrayal. This version of the ad made the rounds on Twitter:

When Gap learned of the graffitied ad, the company asked for more information, which is appropriate before deciding how to respond. Soon after, Gap changed its Twitter banner to the original image:

Support for Gap's response traveled throughout Twitter, with people thanking Gap and promising to shop the store for the holidays.

Still, Gap's other ads as part of the "Make Love" campaign are getting mixed reviews. An ad featuring two men was defaced with homophobic comments. That one was ordered removed by the mayor of Chicago.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your assessment of Gap's response? What worked well?
• I don't see any Gap comments or tweets about the situation. Should the company have done anything else? 

Study Finds Facebook Improves Image During a Crisis

A Missouri School of Journalism study found that Facebook posts improved how people perceived organizations during a crisis. A doctoral candidate showed study participants two fictional stories about universities in crisis. Then, participants read Facebook posts by each university and were asked how the felt about the crisis. Attitudes about the organizations improved, and participants thought the crisis was less severe.

Seoyeon Hong also found that a narrative, or storytelling, type of writing in the Facebook posts was more effective than a style that wasn't narrative:

"This indicates that the effect of narrative tone in organizational statements during crises increases perceived conversational human voice, which represents a high level of engagement and best communicates trust, satisfaction, and commitment to the audience. This is an important practice for public relations professionals because perceptions that an organization is sincerely trying to provide timely and accurate information during a crisis can lead to not only more favorable attitudes toward the organization, but also perceptions of less responsibility the organization has for causing the crisis."

Discussion Starters:

• Does this research surprise you? Why or why not?
• Find an example of an organizationi's Facebook post written as a narrative. What is effective about that style?

The Period and Tone in a Text Message

To some, using a period in a text message changes the tone. Because few people use any punctuation in texts, the period, according to one article, is taking new meaning.

Mark Liberman, professor of linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, explains how a period may be intepreted by a reader:

"In the world of texting and IMing … the default is to end just by stopping, with no punctuation mark at all. In that situation, choosing to add a period also adds meaning because the reader(s) need to figure out why you did it. And what they infer, plausibly enough, is something like 'This is final, this is the end of the discussion or at least the end of what I have to contribute to it.'"

Instead, paragraph breaks are more common to start new sentences, presumably because the return key is easier to access than the period. (On the iPhone, the return key is on the same screen as the alphabet, while the period requires a keyboard change to access.)

The article author claims that the question mark also has "outgrown its traditional purpose," now used to downplay an otherwise "cocky" statement, such as "I think he likes me?"

Image source (from article).

Discussion Starters:

• Do you agree with the author's assessment of the period? Does it imply tone to you?
• I've been accused of over-punctuating text messages. And it's not unheard of for me to use a semi-colon in a text. Do I need professional help?

KlearGear Charges Customer $3,500 for a Bad Online Review

A customer who didn't receive what she ordered from KlearGear wrote a negative review on a complaint site and was charged $3,500. KlearGear sells desk toys such as an LED shoelaces and something called a Splat Stan Coaster-a figure squashed by a coffee mug (not on my Christmas wish list).

Three years after the customer posted on the site RipoffReport, KlearGear contacted her husband and requested $3,500, based on a clause in the company's terms of service (which apparently wasn't included at the time): 

Non-Disparagement Clause

In an effort to ensure fair and honest public feedback, and to prevent the publishing of libelous content in any form, your acceptance of this sales contract prohibits you from taking any action that negatively impacts KlearGear.com, its reputation, products, services, management or employees.

Should you violate this clause, as determined by KlearGear.com in its sole discretion, you will be provided a seventy-two (72) hour opportunity to retract the content in question. If the content remains, in whole or in part, you will immediately be billed $3,500.00 USD for legal fees and court costs until such complete costs are determined in litigation. Should these charges remain unpaid for 30 calendar days from the billing date, your unpaid invoice will be forwarded to our third party collection firm and will be reported to consumer credit reporting agencies until paid.

The clause, of course, is ridiculous. Trying to control social media conversation is a fool's game and can only hurt a company in the long-run. KlearGear made the situation worse when it closed its Twitter and Facebook accounts.

 

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of KlearGear's "Non-Disparagement Clause"? One writer calls it "contemptible, unethical, and un-American." Do those adjectives sum it up for you-or are others more appropriate?
• How would you advise KlearGear to handle the social media situation?
• Imagine that KlearGear reopened its Facebook page. Write an apology post on behalf of the company.

Reinforcing Advertising Rules for Bloggers

Bloggers who are paid by companies to advertise a product or service must come clean about the relationship, according to the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). This should be just a reminder to bloggers because the rules aren't new-but apparently they aren't followed consistently.

The ASA article indicates that bloggers asked for clarification:

"Why are we doing this? We've received a steady stream of enquiries from bloggers wanting clarity on this issue and how the rules apply to their blogs."

Below are the rules:

Rules

2.1    Marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such.

2.2    Unsolicited e-mail marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as marketing communications without the need to open them (see rule 10.6).

2.3    Marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer is acting as a consumer or for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession; marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent, if that is not obvious from the context.

2.4    Marketers and publishers must make clear that advertorials are marketing communications; for example, by heading them "advertisement feature."

Part of the issue may be that bloggers are paid but asked by companies not to disclose the relationship. Although this puts bloggers in a difficult position, the rules-and ethics-are clear. Perhaps companies need the reminder, not bloggers.

Image source. 

Discussion Starters:

• What situations may be blurry for bloggers? Think of a few examples when the rules may not be clear.
• What are the U.S. rules for bloggers? Research the issue and compare the advice for U.S. blogger.
• What are the rules for people who tweet? Should celebrities, for example, reveal their relationships with companies they promote?

JPMorgan Chase Cancels Twitter Q&A

JPMorgan Chase had good intentions when scheduling a Twitter Q&A with students about career advice, but the strategy backfired. The company encouraged questions of executive James B. Lee under the hashtag #AskJPM.

Of course, curious students weren't the only ones who used the hashtag. Plenty of snarky comments piled in.

It's a delicate time for JPMorganChase to expose itself on social media. Just last month, the company agreed to pay a $13 billion settlement because of misleading mortgage practices (the fourth multi-million-dollar settlement in 2013). A Wall Street Journal article two weeks ago explored CEO Jamie Dimon's "Complicated Relationship with Washington." And today, Reuters reported an investigation into the company's  practices in China, including potentially widespread bribery and a questionable decision to pay "$1.8 million over two years to a small consulting firm run by the daughter of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao."

In the end, JPMorgan Chase cancelled the Q&A:

 

PR Daily offers sound advice for companies considering similar customer engagement activities:

"Social media is about interacting with people, but it's also about occasionally sticking a finger in the air and seeing which way the wind is blowing."

Discussion Starters:

• Do you find fault with JPMorgan Chase's attempt? Was the Q&A a nice idea, or should the management team have known better?
• What's your reaction to the cancellation tweet? In what ways is it effective or not?
• Apply PR Daily's advice to other social media failures. How is this useful for companies?

What Do the New Common App and Health Care Have in Common?

Technology problems abound. For weeks, the new health care system has been criticized for causing enrollment issues. Now, the new college Common Application system is causing universities, such as Georgia Tech, to extend the review process for prospective students.

Students have reported that they can't log into the system or upload documents, while universities can't download applications. Jason Locke, interim associate vice provost for enrollment at Cornell, blamed the problems on inadequate testing: "Many aspects of the system simply weren't thoroughly tested and should not have been launched."

Yes, we see a theme.

A Huffington Post article identified three major problems with the Common App system:

• Failure to modernize
• Failure to simplify the process
• Failure to acknowledge user experience

Discussion Starters:

• Read the Huffington Post article. Which of the three failures do you believe is most prevalent and why?
• What are the similarities and differences between the Common App and the health care situations?

Mashable Email to Staff Announces New Exec

Pete Cashmore, founder of technology news website Mashable, announced a new executive. In his email to staff, Cashmore used the direct organization plan (as we would expect) and put the news up front:

Team Mashable,

Today we are announcing an important and exciting addition to our family – Jim Roberts. Jim joins our team as Executive Editor and Chief Content Officer.

Many of you may know Jim from Twitter as @nycjim, from his work as Executive Editor of Reuters Digital, and from his years at The New York Times where he was most recently Assistant Managing Editor, overseeing the digital newsroom including video, social media and breaking news.

Read the entire email.

To complement the internal annoucement, Jim Roberts, the new hire, wrote an article on LinkedIn about joining the company. Here are the first two paragraphs: 

Today is an exciting day for me. I'm joining a new family, as executive editor and chief content officer at Mashable.

To some it might seem a bit of a departure. You might imagine a headline like: "Longtime New York Times and Reuters veteran forsakes legacy media for digital upstart."

Read the full article.

(Side note: Although the story on LinkedIn refers to the communication as a  "Memo to Staff," it is highly unlikely that Mashable is sending printed memos rather than email. [In his introduction, Cashman refers to it as a "message."] Using "memo" as a generic term was part of my presentation topic at ABC 2013 in New Orleans: "The Memo Is Dead.")

Discussion Starters:

• In what ways does this email follow principles described in Chapter 6 about positive and neutral messages? Where does it fall short?
• In addition to the direct style, what other organizational strategies does Cashman use in his email? In what ways are they effective or ineffective?
• If Cashman asked for your feedback on his email before he sent it, what would you advise? 

Facebook Finally Admits Decline in Young Teens

After denying reports of young teens forgoing Facebook, company officials have finally admitted the decline. On a third-quarter earnings call, CFO David Ebersman told analysts,

"Our best analysis on youth engagement in the US reveals that usage of Facebook among US teens overall was stable from Q2 to Q3, but we did see a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens."

This drop seemed to shake investors' confidence. The stock dropped 2% on the news.

According to the CNET article, Ebersman also admitted that it's difficult to determine teen activity becauses this group often fabricates dates of birth. 

Earlier reports claimed that Facebook isn't cool now that mom and dad (and grandma) have accounts. Some statistics show that young teens are flocking to sites such as Twitter and Tumblr instead. 

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• How do you think Facebook made the decision to stop denying reports? What do you think were the deciding points?
• What's your view of Facebook's claim about fabricated birth dates? What are the responsibilities of users, the company, parents, and perhaps other groups?

Spy Convo Live Tweeted from Train

Spies: Don't talk on the phone while on a public train. A passenger on an Acela train near Philadelphia overheard former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden criticizing the Obama Administration during an interview.

At a certain point, Twitter monitors caught onto the situation, and passenger Tom Matzzie tweeted this: a photo of himself with Matzzie. Apparently, they became BFFs because they both like the Steelers. 

 

 Discussion Starters:

• What are the ethical considerations in this situation? Consider the position of the CIA/NSA, the American public, journalists, and other constituencies.
• Where did Hayden go wrong? How well did he recover?
• Matzzie seems to change his tune, so to speak, in later tweets. Why do you think this happened?

Health Care Website Trouble

A PBS news story assesses problems with the new healthcare website, which, according to a CNN report, includes log-in errors, delays, incorrect information, and the requirement for users to register before browsing plan options.

In the interview, a software expert tells Hari Sreenivasan that the fixes are in "the right direction," but "it's going to take quite a long time to fix the entire system." Another systems expert explained the complications: the site is a "massive integration project" across several states and agencies. Just one transaction (for example, signing someone up for health care), requires a "tremendous" amount of coordination. The government's lack of experience in managing such complexity is blamed for the problems, including running out of time for proper testing.

The PBS News Hour guests paint a grim picture of the site going forward, claiming that users have encountered problems so far with mostly the site interface. Problems with data integration and coordination are yet to be discovered, but surely will. A troubleshooter admits that the fixes will take a month.

The Obama Administration is now under pressure to delay the enrollment deadline.  Some are calling for Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's resignation.

Discussion Starters:

• How do you think the website problems will affect Obama's legacy? Will people remember this, or will it blow over once the site (we hope) is up and running?
• In the PBS interview, Hari Sreenivasan asks whether it was realistic for software development to follow a political timeline. What does he mean by this, and what's your view? 

A Peak Into GM's Social Media Team

General Motors gets its share of negative social media comments, and staff are ready to respond if they need to. An article in Automotive News describes GM's extensive social media strategy.

To promote GM products, the customer service team Tweets, posts to Facebook, blogs, and runs contests. But GM also has an active defensive strategy. Here are a few examples of how they work:

• Eighteen employees monitor social media sites, including 90 car-enthusiast sites.
• Employees post online between 200 and 300 times a day (between 5,000 and 7,000 a month).
• 47% of staff interactions are in response to Twitter posts, and 47 percent are posts on GM customer sites.
• Employees clear up misinformation, give repair advice, and so on, to keep customers happy.

Discussion Starters:

• How do you think GM's strategy might differ from other companies' approach to social media? Consider the industry, brand, and customers.
• Search for GM responses on two or three social media sites. What works well about the responses, and what, if anything, could be improved?

Users Aren't Happy About Yahoo Mail Changes

Trying to be more Gmail-like, Yahoo has changed how its mail system works, and people don't like it. Users are organizing online by signing a petition, participating in a Facebook group, and posting to a Yahoo Mail forum with comments such as this:

The petition asks Marissa Mayer to revert back to the old mail:

People are complaining most about the lack of tabs and ability to multitask:

"We are asking Yahoo to restore the old version - with tabs, with the ability to edit an email and switch to a folder - to multi-task like we used to be able to do. If they are unable to do so, we want them to restore these BUSINESS-CRITICAL functions to Yahoo Mail.

"Most of us picked Yahoo because of its interface. We don't like gmail! Please let us go back!"

On the Yahoo Mail forum, the company explains the new features this way:

"We have refreshed your inbox with more room for messages and added exciting new features you will love. These include 1TB of free mail storage, Conversations, Stunning new Themes, Attachments preview and much more. Please note that while there is no way to revert to the previous version of Yahoo Mail, you can learn more about the new features.

"We want to hear what you think about Yahoo Mail. Help us make it better for you. The more specific your feedback, the more useful for us. While we can't respond to every suggestion, we do take your suggestions seriously and review them regularly."

Discussion Starters:

• What features do you most appreciate in your current email program? Compare those to Yahoo Mail's functionality. 
• How could Yahoo have communicated the changes differently?
• How should Yahoo address these complaints now? 

Study Shows Importance of Employees' Role in Social Media

A recent study in the Journal of Marketing Management has an important message for companies: manage employees for them to represent you well on social media. Education News summarizes the study results:

"...companies need to focus more on managing employees as active reputation builders and brand ambassadors in social media instead of conceiving them only as possible reputation risks."

According to lead author Joonas Rokka, "employees have a crucial role as active meaning makers and reputation builders in various social-media networks that include customers, colleagues, and friends." Rokka also emphasized companies' role in employees' well-being:

"When companies trust and treat employees fairly, and employ good day-to-day management practices, employees will do good for the company in return. For instance, by sharing their experiences of the company and its products in social media." 

The article is titled "Balancing Acts: Managing Employees and Reputation in Social Media" in recognition of the paradoxes and contradictions in managing employees as well as a company's reputation. In other words, companies won't find easy approaches or perfect solutions.

Discussion Starters:

• How, if at all, has your own experience working at companies affected your online posts about them?
• What would inspire you to talk positively about your employer on social media sites?

Language Variations Gathered from Facebook Users

A University of Pennsylvania study of 75,000 Facebook users identified interesting differences in language by personality, gender, and age. 

This is the largest study of language and personality, and it reveals, for example, that a Faceboook user's gender can be predicted with 92% accuracy just based on words used in status updates. According to the authors, language also predicts age within three years more than 50% of the time and personality (based on questionnaires).

Comparing extraverts' and intraverts' language, for example, we see some obvious differences-and some that are surprising. A graduate student who contributed to the study explained,

"It may seem obvious that a super extraverted person would talk a lot about parties, but taken altogether, these word clouds provide an unprecedented window into the psychological world of people with a given trait. Many things seem obvious after the fact and each item makes sense, but would you have thought of them all, or even most of them?"

The study raises interest in the "open vocabulary" to research rather than giving subjects a list of pre-determined words.

Discussion Starters:

• What surprises you about the word choices of each group?
• How do you do see your own language choices reflected in these examples?
• What other applications could you see for the "open vocabulary" approach to research?

Employee Quits by Dance Video

Fed up with her job at Next Media Animation, Marina Shifrin resigned byvideo rather than the traditional letter. As of this writing, the video received 13 million views.

One of the company executives, Mark Simon, responded by email to Gawker:

I am Mark Simon, I am the one who hired Marina Shifrin, who danced her way to fame in her resignation video which she sent to Gawker.

Currently, I am one of the senior executives of the group and she reports up to the folks who work for me. Marina actually thinks enough of me to have given me a call the Thursday before she released this to say that she was resigning, which I appreciated. I asked her to tell her bosses, as I took our call to be in confidence. The first her boss saw was the video.

Look, I actually like Marina a great deal. Marina herself has said we are a great company to work for, and I do not think she intended to hurt anyone, but it has happened.

There are a few things I would like just make a point of and if there is an interest I will be happy to be asked any question. (We do not have a PR department and we are wide open to any and all questions).

There is an image now of a sweat shop, we are not. Marina made USD$42k per year. She had a 40 hr work week, 5 days a week. There is no expectation of OT on our behalf, you finish your shift and leave. In our office most folks leave when their shift is up as you work on news flow.

Also we ask journalists to work one month per year on the midnight shift as we just need to cover the shift. We pay a differential of 30% for these hours, which I know are hard hours to work.

Look, we do news animations. We are not investigative reporters. Two international outlets have asked us for comment, and her video is up on nearly 300 sites. We think we have something to say about this and we are hoping Gawker will have us.

I am not looking to slam her, nor am I engaged in anything but trying to help some other managers in their early 30's, understand why the young lady they hung out with just cashiered them. I don't think she meant for it to be seen as so harsh, but we are getting some nasty attacks on our managers, who she says she respects.

I just want any chance to answer any questions, answer anything on Skype or on phone.

I am not spitting nastiness at Marina, but in her 9 months with us we sent her to Hong Kong twice, to Thailand for a media conference, and she just came back a month ago from two weeks in LA and NYC where she was pitching animation stories. She logged 170 hours the last 3 months in creative time working up ideas to pitch. She is a hard worker, but I cannot foresee results or always give her the best story of the day.

We let her talk to all the press she wanted, we encouraged her stand-up, and frankly my folks in Taiwan are a bunch of granola's... They are nice folks. We have 600 employees and I have not one outstanding case in labor tribunal. That is no small feat in Taiwan.

I though Gawker played this fair and so if anyone wants anything we are open.

Thanks

Mark

Employees also posted a video in response:

Discussion Starters:

• What are the potential risks and rewards for Shifrin? Consider her position and industry?
• How do you assess Simon's response? 
• Correct Simon's many typographical and punctuation errors.

"Reverse Showrooming" from Pinterest and Other Sites

People are looking at product images online and buying in the store. Proving a concept called "reverse showrooming," a survey reported that 41% of social media users look online and buy in person, while only 26% practice "showrooming," which is browsing in the store but ordering online. Twenty-one percent of Pinterest users reported purchasing a product in-store after pinning, repinning, or liking an item.

This survey is significant because it could alleviate concerns that people increasingly browse in brick-and-mortar stores but order online, a claim used to explain declining store sales, such as Best Buy's.

In a nifty interactive, a Harvard Business Review article described five typical paths that Pinterest users follow to consume products: 

• The Deal Seeker
• The Nonseeker
• The Category Seeker
• The Inspiration Seeker
• The Social-Proof Seeker

 Discussion Starters:

• What is your own experience with online and in-store shopping? How do you explain differences or similarities between your behavior and that reported in this survey?
• What implications of this survey do you see for Pinterest? Amazon? Best Buy?

Chipotle's "The Scarecrow" App

Chipotle has a clever new ad in the form of a game. With "The Scarecrow" app, users help the Scarecrow win against Crow Foods, an invented food monopoly that produces factory food. On the website, users are invited to "Join Chipotle and the Scarecrow on a journey to bring real food back to thepeople. Play the game, watch the animated short film, and find out how to take action."

A companion video features Fiona Apple singing a cover of "Pure Imagination" from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." 

Chipotle Marketing Manager Mark Crumpacker told The Village Voice that the company wants to educate people about processed foods and how antibiotics are used in meat production:

"That's the most pressing issue to us right now. There are multiple consequences. There are obvious public-health issues, because you risk creating new antibiotic-resistant diseases. There are environmental issues that come with animals living in confinement. And there are issues with eating the food."

This isn't Chipotle's first time mixing music and advertising. The video Back to the Start featured Willie Nelson singing a cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist. With that animated short, Chiptole targeted pork production.

Discussion Starters:

• Who is Chipotle's target audience for the app? Is the app effective for the audience?
• Read the recent story about Panera apologizing to farmers. What, if any, implications do you see for Chipotle?