This is a site dedicated to social media. As such, it’s in the interest of those of us who contribute to Ploked to write informative posts for readers regarding the use of social media, and the numerous networking tools associated with social media, in our daily affairs. I fully acknowledge social media as a tool to increase business, and my posts reflect this belief. A professional media planner by trade, my job depends on determining as much as possible about consumers, using this information to better target advertising messages to potential customers. Obviously, the more information, the better the results.

Facebook

While striving to remain objective and professional, at times I have to question the level of blind trust that we, as consumers, provide to entities outside our immediate control, opting to allow online businesses the ability to access personal information, including birth dates, address, email, family members, friends, and online surfing behaviors. I’ve written posts that substantiate social media’s success at growing businesses. I’ve also written here–and on other sites–posts concerning privacy and the “information for access” model practiced by social media sites. The majority of these posts–questioning the use of personal information–concern Facebook.

Facebook was once a place to share among friends. As the site’s evolved, its morphed into a money-making phenomenon that changes the rules as necessary. Once Facebook respected, and protected their user’s privacy. Then, unforeseen and unprecedented, the site grew from college site to worldwide network in less-than a decade. Facebook ranks among the most popular online destinations, quick approaching half a billion users Read the rest of this entry »

“Facebook Privacy ” is a bit like saying “Deafening Silence” or “Suicide Victim:”  The words contradict one another, yet they’re often used in the same sentence together.  As we race our way toward Social Media becoming a major part of our lives, we need to address the issues of information and privacy. First of all, let it be said that the best policy to use with Social Media is “Safety First.” Some sites are safer than others,of course, but to truly understand how privacy is administered, it is critical to read those ridiculously long “Terms of Use” statements. Why? Because once you hit the “Enter” button, you’ve accepted them, whether they’ve been read or not. Knowing that we tend not to deal with “trivial” matters, such as privacy, until it’s too late,  sometimes it’s a bonus to have watchdog groups interfering in our lives; in this case, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Though personally not a huge fan of the organization, supporters list the ACLU’s contributions to our society as:

“…the country’s leading watchdog in protecting civil liberties and preserving the Constitution; …protecting the freedoms and rights of all people; …one of the United States’ greatest defender of liberty against government abuse and extremist policies.”

Detractors state that the ACLU actively sabotages the Constitution by using “manipulation tactics” to undermine US courts. Whether a famous, or Read the rest of this entry »