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Behavioral Targeting: Violating Transparency

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Behavioral targeting gives a whole new meaning to net neutrality. It violates the foundations of a social media environment: authenticity and transparency. If the majority of online users don’t want to have their online search activities tracked, advertisers and search companies are walking a fine line between profit and a huge public relations disaster when they target consumers. Search engines can help advertisers target us, but in doing so, they "invisibly"skew our search results and make our world narrower and less rich. Whatever happened to freedom of information? Media Post reported on a study by TRUSTe showing that only 11% of the participants were comfortable with online behavioral advertising (Web Users Uneasy With Behavioral Targeting.) In behavioral advertising, our browser behaviors -- where we search, what we search for, and how often we do it -- are tracked in order to provide ads targeted at us based on our perceived likes and buying habits. Forty two percent of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brands & Identity, Psychology, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , ,

Hating Selena Gomez

July 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber

I don't hate Selena Gomez.  I didn't know who she was until I read the news reports about death threats and flows of vitriolic Tweets from Justin Bieber's female fans.  In fact, I admire her talent and  anyone willing to work that hard work, especially at a young age.  But from the eyes of passionate teenage Bieber fans, I do understand how some might feel the rage of rejection and lash out against the cold harsh world of reality by inappropriately targeting Ms. Gomez. Parasocial affection for Bieber turned into rejection-rage for Selena In 1956, Horton and Wohl published a seminal paper on parasocial interaction.  Parasocial interaction is the illusion of a real life, face-to-face, reciprocal relationship with someone you've seen in the media but don't actually know, such as a performer like Justin Bieber.  This is not a psychological aberration.  The evolution and ubiquity of Internet access, social networking sites, smartphones, YouTube channels, and the rawness of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cognition, Culture & Society, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , , ,

Should Teachers and Students Be Facebook Friends?

June 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Prohibiting teachers from Facebook is like putting your head in the sand

Ask most students if they are Facebook friends with their teachers and they will tell you, “it depends on the teacher.”  That alone should tell us that a blanket policy prohibiting teachers from interacting on social networks with students is the functional equivalent of burying your head in the sand. As social networks become a normal means of connection, it’s time to step back and examine the underlying purposes that the social networking tools facilitate.   Facebook currently has everyone’s attention but it’s not because the relationships on it are unique relative to other types of social media.  It’s because it is so in-your-face.  Facebook, much to Mark Zuckerberg’s delight I’m sure, has become synonymous with social media, like Kleenex is for tissues.  In the past week alone, I’ve been asked if Facebook means we have to give up our privacy, be friends with people we don’t want to be friends with, and whether or not it’s okay to connect with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Psychology, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , ,

Six Weiner Lessons for Using Social Media

June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Anthony Weiner and the Twitter Faux Pas

Politicians may have personalities predisposed to risk-taking behaviors.  The same is often true with CEOs and Rock Stars.  These kinds of occupations attract competitiveness, narcissism, and the need for power along with talent, tenacity, resilience, and the willingness to take risks.  A bigger problem however is when success turns into Celebrity Syndrome, especially in the age of social media.  The only cure is a serious reality check. In Celebrity Syndrome, the people who achieve success or notoriety lose the ability to see themselves as 'regular' folks, subject to the same social norms and laws of gravity as the rest of us. The problem with getting cured is that reality checks at the top are hard to come by. When you have status and power, your world is full of fans, sycophants, power-seekers, and people on your payroll who reflect back the image that you want to see.  It's pretty hard to get real information--even if you actually wanted it-which most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture & Society, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , , ,
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