Social Media White Paper
Rich Baker has co-authored 33 Digital's paper 'Driving Forces of Digital Marketing in 2010' and was at the launch in late January 2010. More details coming soon!
The FaceBook Stream
By Rich Baker
UPDATE to previous post;
1100 Feb 8th: Film4 have found their twitter finger – see this first tweet from this morning;
film4's initial twitter response.
and then this;
So obviously film4’s social media channels aren’t monitored out of hours. A mistake in my book; if your product is available out of office hours, so should you be.
Instead of then focussing on apologising to people, @Film4 then took a swipe at @VirginMedia about a (personal) issue with their equipment;
So, to the average viewer appears @Film4 aren’t accepting responsiblity for the error and instead shifting the focus away from themselves and onto another company.
Not a wise move and one that will probably not win them any fans at Virgin Media.
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ORIGINAL POST
Well, its been a weekend for learning from others mistakes. First, @VodafoneUK remind us all it’s important to ensure you put controls in place to stop people ‘accidently’ posting a personal tweet to a corporate one (tweetdeck anyone?)
Early this evening (and THREE HOURS IN), Film4 were screening the second part of the brilliant Godfather trilogy and after an ad break instead of continuing the film as normal, showed the previously seen segment, obviously ruining the continuity and the experience for myself, and many people, judging by this;
Twitter's reaction to the #godfather error
To make matters worse, once they realised their mistake, instead of beginning again at the right point, they skipped ahead missing a big chunk of the film so they could keep to their schedule.
The lesson
In the ‘old days’, customers wouldn’t have been able to share their disappointment so publicly. Today, social mania (my term to define the sudden ‘explosion’ of sentiment around an incident on twitter) means the world knows about your mistakes before you know about it. That’s potentially damaging to your brand and shareholder value.
Now, if Film4 were really smart they would have jumped onto Twitter and Facebook when they realised their mistake and apologised. After all, we all make mistakes, and unlike the fishes, social media never sleeps.
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By Rich Baker
This afternoon, some poor soul responsible for Vodafone’s UK Twitter account, is replying to hundreds of outraged followers after their account was used to send the following (warning – may offend) message;
@VodafoneUK dodgy tweet today
According to @VodafoneUK, it was a ‘breach of the rules by staff in our building, dealing with that internally. We’re very sorry’.
To their credit, they were very quick to apologise and are talking to all their followers.
A troublesome end to a friday afternoon for Vodafone and a lesson to all corporate tweeters; make sure your account is secure.
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By Rich Baker
Here are the top 5 digital engagement/social media articles on this site over the past week. To make it easier get these direct to your inbox click here.
- Social Media and Intellectual Property
- #Ted2010 – Nokia plugs into Twitter
- Social Media, the Law and You
- Klout’s CEO talk to Rich Baker about Twitter
- The best flashmob dance ever?
What’s your favourite this week? Got an idea for a conversation/article? Get in touch now!
By Rich Baker
‘In 2010, a spectacular group of people will converge on Palm Springs, California, to experience a live simulcast of TED in an intimate, immersive setting. TEDActive, formerly TED@PalmSprings, blends the allure of the future with the mystique of a desert oasis, complete with live music, bonus speakers, and connections with makers and doers you’ll never forget.’ (source: Ted.com)
Nokia have announced the schedule for the Q&As that will be taking place at the upcoming TED conference in Long Beach w/c February 8th. These Q&As are a chance for the online community to have a voice, with speakers including Jamie Oliver, Bill Gates, Sarah Silverman and Sheryl Crow.
It’s interesting to see that, for the first time, TED fans will be able to submit their questions via Twitter and follow the sessions in real-time through the micro blogging platform. In addition to the speakers participating in the Q&A sessions, Nokia are also inviting this year’s TED Fellows, Senior Fellows and conference delegates all of whom have amazing stories to tell.
Nokia’s microsite goes live tomorrow and you can follow them on Twitter @nokiaatted2010
Matthew Gingell
©2010 Rich Baker
Matthew Gingell is an innovative software, technology and intellectual property lawyer based in the UK. After Matthew responded to a question I asked on Twitter I thought it would be interesting for us to have a conversation about web 2.0 and the law. Thanks to those of you who submitted questions, in particular Tia Fisher from eModeration.
Matthew has asked me to point out that our conversation is based on UK law and that his comments should not be relied on as legal advice. Circumstances, rights and issues change massively with each situation and must be assessed on a case by case basis.
First up – remember the video below? If you haven’t seen it it’s worth watching. Its a YouTube protest to United Airlines.
What are my legal rights if someone posts a video/podcast about my product or service? Can I demand they remove it?
In the UK, there are a number or rights that might exist to help. Firstly there may be rights under defamation laws if your organisation (or you) have been libelled.. However, as my libel colleague, Nigel Hanson, points out there are defences including truth, fair comment and privilege. Nigel adds that for libel there are minimum publication thresholds so that if only a handful of people have seen the video or downloaded the podcast then there will be no libel remedy. The interesting thing with social media is that publication can become viral so this threshold can be reached pretty quickly. Think retweeting.
In addition there would be remedies provided by the common law right of malicious falsehood if the video/podcast makes false statements about your product/service. There may also be remedies provided by registered or unregistered intellectual property rights in the product or service that could be used to demand removal. There may also be remedies provided by comparative advertising rules if the video/podcast is comparing products.
Practically speaking, nearly all social media platforms have a robust reporting and take down procedure and this should be used as well.
It is arguably better in certain situations to either reply to the offending video/podcast or ignore it. Many people ignore offensive UGC.
However if it is a malicious and vexatious attack on your brand, product or service there are legal solutions. The legal rights and strategy will change on a case by case basis and will depend on the SM platform, the content, context and type of goods/service.
A user submits a photo of an artwork (the Mona Lisa, let’s say) into a UGC photography comp competition run by a camera brand. Can the Louvre sue: a) the User b)the Brand c) the IP host? Does it make a difference – thinking safe harbour here – if the brand DOES or DOES not moderate their pages?
That is an easy one Richard. In the UK copyright in a work generally lasts for 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the Author died. As Da Vinci died some time ago there would be no copyright problem. That said the Louvre may have imposed terms and conditions on its visitors which the photographer may have breached. Practically I suspect the Louvre would not take action as it could be a PR disaster.
If it were a photo of a Damian Hurst or a Banksy then there may be more of an issue. The copyright owner, which will be the artist if it has not been transferred in writing, could theoretically sue all three. However, they are unlikely to sue the User as they usually have comparatively little money and is a PR own goal. The IP host will usually be able to rely on the innocent conduit defence. So it is the brand that is likely to be the target but always depending on the circumstances as they too can rely on the innocent conduit defence so long as they have a robust take down procedure to remove the offending content expeditiously when notified .
Moderation can make a difference because it brings the brand closer to being the publisher of that content. Fan pages would be no different and, depending on the circumstances the brand could become a knowing publisher for libel and a defence is removed . However it is likely that a pre-publication moderator would identify the issue of copyright/libel and would prevent publication, stopping the problem from ever occurring.
When I draft social media terms and conditions for online competitions like this I always recommend giving users some examples of what is and is not acceptable content for entries.
Can you be sued for publishing photo’s like this?
If a user uploads a candid photo of a celebrity onto a brand’s fan page, and the celebrity wants to sue – who gets sued? a) the fan b)the brand c)the social network
By Rich Baker
There are a few ‘hot topics’ buzzing around the web at the moment. One is measuring influence, another is the Apple iSlate (if that’s what it’s called) and the third is Social Media and Intellectual Property. I have spoken at length about Twitter Influence and despite my best efforts Apple haven’t given me an advanced model of its fabled Tablet PC to play with. 
Matthew Gingell is an innovative software, technology and intellectual property lawyer based in the UK. After Matthew responded to a question I asked on Twitter I thought it would be interesting for us to have a conversation about web 2.0 and the law.
If you have any questions about IP Law, technology etc please fill in the form below before Friday 29th January. Your question will feature in a new article published next week.
Example questions are; ‘What does the breaking down of the barriers to expression mean for copyright? How can I protect my online work from plagiarism?’
Click the link below to fill in the form!
A Conversation with Matthew Gingell – Social Media, the Law and You
By Rich Baker
I love flashmobs. A flash mob (or flashmob) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse.
The first flash mob was created in Manhattan in May 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine. (Source, Wikipedia) The origins of the flash mobs were unknown until Wasik published an article about his creation in the March 2006 edition of Harper’s. The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather. Wasik avoided such problems during the second flash mob, which occurred on June 3, 2003 at Macy’sdepartment store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas – in four prearranged Manhattan bars – where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.
I share one of my favourite flashmobs above, a Beyonce/Trident collaboration for a gig she performed in November 2009. What’s your favourite flashmob?
Top 5 Blog Posts
By Rich Baker
Here are the top 5 blog posts on Rich-Baker.com/Conversational.ly over the past week. To make it easier get these direct to your inbox click here.
- UK Exclusive – a conversation with Shane Rich
- Klouts’ CEO talk to Rich Baker about Twitter
- Chris Moyles, Lily Allen among top Twitter Influencers
- Epic Fail – BBC Reporter breaks unbreakable phone
- Twitter Influence – For Sale
What’s your favourite this week? Got an idea for a conversation/article? Get in touch!
Which is your favourite?
Shane Rich
©2010 Rich Baker
oncemany.com is the portal for my 365 day photographic marketing + journalist adventure for 2010. I’m booking each day in 2010 for one client to have their business or individual message endorsed through photography. I’ll work with each client to create their message, then utilize my blog and other means of social media to document and market the results to the masses. Each day of the year is sold for its numerical value, meaning Jan. 1st = $1, Jan. 2nd = $2… and Dec. 31st = $365. Beyond the social media exposure, each client gets a permanent spot and link on my website – and they receive a limited edition (1 of 1), signed gallery-quality archival print of the final photograph chosen to interpret the day.
The Subtle Sins of David Mejias
Cool idea! Where did it come from?
I’d like to say I’m the first to come up with this business model, but that’s not true. It might prove difficult to track it back to who first used this model but I was introduced to it through iwearyourshirt.com. A regular guy who basically wears a different company’s t-shirt every day of the year. He photographs and records himself as he’s out and about doing his everyday routine and posts the results to various social media outlets. He’s basically a walking/talking billboard. He was successful in 2009 and he’s almost booked through the end of 2010.
I’m using the same pricing structure for the cost of each day but adding another degree of difficulty by offering my photographic services to represent and interpret the message of the client. I’ll closely collaborate to achieve a custom photograph and also do a journalistic profile. I then blog about it on my site, post the photo and description on Flickr, send out status updates of the photo and arcticle on my Facebook Fan page, and tweet throughout the day on Twitter about the client. The client also receives a limited edition (1 of 1), signed archival print of the final photograph chosen for the day. They get advertising, exposure, and a piece of art!
How many have signed up so far?
The idea came very late last year and I wasn’t able to do any pre-year marketing about the project. Since the first of the year the story has been picked up by a few press sources and its quickly gaining momentum. So far the month of January is booked, less a couple days near the end, and bookings are spilling over into February.
I’ve booked February 8th and am really looking forward to the experience! Whats the weirdest ‘day’ someone has requested so far?
Check this out. The CEO handles it quite well though!
