ImaginativePRO Blog

INFOGRAPHIC: HOW HACKERS HACKED 500,000 DEVICES WORLDWIDE, THEN CREATED AN AMAZING PORTRAIT OF THE INTERNET

SOMEONE HACKED ALMOST HALF A MILLION DEVICES AROUND THE WORLD. WHY? THEY WANTED TO SEE WHAT THE INTERNET LOOKED LIKE.

It wasn’t malicious. The file itself was the size of a small JPEG. It was given the absolute lowest priority. And it was set to self-destruct if anything went wrong. But this small file allowed one single hacker to measure the Internet activity of nearly half a million connected devices around the world, then share the results with everyone.

"I saw the chance to really work on an Internet scale, command hundred thousands of devices with a click of my mouse, portscan and map the whole Internet in a way nobody had done before, basically have fun with computers and the Internet in a way very few people ever will. I decided it would be worth my time."

How was this even possible? The "hacker" barely hacked anything. In reality, they gained access to all these systems because each had the default "root" set as a password. (Note: Always change the password on your router!) With this access in hand, they ran several tests focusing on Internet structure and activity. And what they created from all this data is a spectacular map that captures a day in the life of the Internet (and all of its users).

Hacker's Internet Map of the World (Click Image To Enlarge)

The red represents peak traffic and the blue represents base traffic. The creator points out that night affects the U.S. and Europe less than other areas, due to the amount of omnipresent Internet connections (mostly routers and set-top boxes). Another interesting anomaly is that Europeans seem to reach peek usage right before the sun goes down, as if they’re cramming in a lot of work (or casual browsing) at the end of the work day.

No doubt, the general ethics of the study will likely turn some of you off. But given that most people who hack computers on this scale are filling it with devastating malware, I think we can let this anonymous data spelunker slide.

See more here. The bolder amongst you may appreciate the zoomable Hilbert browser.

COMMENTARY:   In 2004, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin did a presentation about Google Search at TED Monterey, California.  Part of that presentation was a real-time visualization of Google Search transactions happening on every part of the globe. They called it the Genesis of Google.  This kind of reminds me of what the hacker in the above article did by mapping the Inteernet. Here's the LINK. 

Courtesy of an article dated March 26, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design

FACEBOOK HUGE TIME SUCK FOR BUSINESS, 1/3 OF WORKERS VISIT NON-WORK SITES DURING WORK, COSTS U.S. ECONOMY $785 BIL

 

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is a drain on the U.S. economy. 

No, we’re not talking about Facebook’s IPO fiasco earlier this year and the subsequent stock price meltdown. It’s bigger than that.

Facebook is worst offender among the many Internet distractions keeping workers from getting things done in the office.

Most workers stop what they are doing several times an hour to respond to messages from friends and co-workers on social media like Facebook and Twitter, browse the Internet, and check and respond to e-mail.

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And once distracted, it takes time for a worker to get back to the task at hand – one study put the average disruption at 23 minutes.

All those interruptions add up to a massive expense for businesses and the U.S. economy.

Facebook Costs Us Billions

A study in 2005 by Basex Inc. estimated that Internet distractions to “knowledge workers” (managers, professionals and office staff) added up to over two hours per day and cost the U.S. economy$588 billion.

Using the Basex formula, Money Morning has calculated that Internet distractions will bleed a stunning $785 billion from the U.S. economy in 2012 – nearly 5% of the $15.8 trillion gross domestic prouct (GDP).

Noted the Basex report.

“Whether sitting at a desk in the office, in a conference room, in one’s home office, or at a client’s, the likelihood of being able to complete a task (what many call “work’) without interruption is near nil.” 

Last year research firm uSamp conducted a survey on work distractions for social email software maker harmon.ie that found 45% of IT employees couldn’t even work for 15 minutes without getting interrupted by something.

Assuming an average IT salary of $30 an hour and just one hour of time wasted each day, uSamp calculated a loss of $10,375 to the employer in lost productivity.

Facebook the Biggest Culprit

Another survey, conducted this year by Salary.com, showed just how deep the problem of wasted time on the job runs in the American workplace.  Their survey revealed the following:

• 64% or nearly two-thirds visit non-work related websites every day while at work. 
• 29% admitted spending 1-2 hours a week on personal websites.  
• 21% admitted to wasting 2-5 hours each week.

As for what workers are doing on the Internet the survey revealed:

• 41% said they were going on Facebook. 
• 37% said they visited LinkedIn. 
• 49% or nearly half used work time to hunt for another job.

These online activities of American workers while at work can cost companies more than lost time. 

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Other popular Internet distractions included:

• Google+ (28%)
• Amazon (25%)
• CNN (20%)
• YouTube (13%)

Many companies try to curb Internet distractions by blocking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but with limited success. People just use their smartphones instead.

Tudor Aw, KPMG’s European head of Technology, told Salary.com.

“Executives may be naïve in thinking that banned access to social networks eliminates employee use.  Indeed, the survey shows that by restricting or blocking access, many employees tend to move their activity to their own personal devices which are often less secure and completely unmonitored.”

In some of the surveys, employees said spending work time on Internet distractions provided much needed breaks that made them overall better workers. Maybe so, but any time spent on Facebook on the job is time that no work is getting accomplished.

Yaacov Cohen, co-founder and CEO of harmon.ie, said of the survey he commissioned. 

“Information technology that was designed at least in part to save time is actually doing precisely the opposite.  For all of us, it’s time to take back the Internet and find ways to control our digital addiction.”

COMMENTARY:    

How Employers Feel About Social Networks

According to the following infographic, researched and developed by PayScale, the higher-ups are really not too keen on the social media movement at large, especially when it involves giving social media freedom to employees within the company. And the fear of negative information keeps employers running for a tight leash. Only half of companies have a formal social media policy, and 42% of companies surveyed nix all forms of social media activity at work. In the employers’ eyes, social media should be exclusively reserved for carefully managed brand promotion and professionally handled social recruiting.

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Mobile Devices Driving Social Networking In The Workplace

According to Facebook's Q3 2012 earnings report, the social network now has 1.007 billion monthly active users, of which 604 million or 60% use mobile devices to access the site.

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So even though over 40% of employers surveyed by Scale block or prohibit Facebook while at work, the adoption of mobile devices to access the internet and social networks, has done little to stop social networking while at work.   In fact, if you look at the following graph, the number of minutes spent on social networks each month exploded from 27 billion minutes in June 2008 to over 70 billion minutes by the end of June 2011.  With the phenomenal growth in mobile devices, it would not be surprising if the number of minutes has doubled by the end of October 2012.

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By mid-May 2012, Facebook had reached 901 million active users, but the number of time spent on the social giant stood at 393 minutes per year.   This is more than twice the other major social networks combined. 

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Courtesy of an article dated November 9, 2012 appearing in Market Daily News and an article date June 10, 2012 appearing in Mashable

ONLINE ADS FOR FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2012 REACH ALL-TIME HIGH OF $17 BILLION, UP BY 14%, SEARCH AND RETAIL LEAD

Online Advertising Ecosystem (Click Image To Enlarge)

While some Web publishers have been squeezed by tighter ad budgets and a slow economy, new figures show the online ad market is healthier than ever.   

Revenues increase 14% in HY 2012 — Internet advertising revenues in the United States totaled $8.7 billion in the second-quarter of 2012, an increase of 5% from the 2012 first-quarter total of $8.3 billion and an increase of 14% from the 2011 second-quarter total of $7.7 billion. Year-to-date revenues through June 2012 totaled $17.0 billion, up 14% from the $14.9 billion reported 2011.

Sherrill Mane, SVP of Research, Analytics and Measurement at the IAB, said Thursday.

“Solid double-digit growth in a stagnating economy is a significant accomplishment.” 

Mane added.

“There is evidence that CPMs are maintaining, and even increasing, further substantiating the vitality of the Internet ad market.”

Online Ad Revenues By Format

• Search revenues accounted for 48% of HY 2012 revenues, up from 46% in HY 2011. Search revenues totaled $8.1 billion in HY 2012, up 19% from HY 2011, when Search totaled $6.8 billion.
• Display-related advertising accounted for $5.6 billion or 33% of total revenues during HY 2012, up 4% from the $5.3 billion (36% of total) reported in HY 2011. HY 2012 Display-related advertising includes Display/Banner Ads (21% of HY 2012 revenues, or $3.6 billion), Rich Media (3% or $495 million), Digital Video (6% or $1 billion), and Sponsorship (2% or $416 million). 
• Classifieds revenues totaled $1.2 billion or 7% of HY 2012 revenues, on par with the $1.2 billion (8% of total) reported in HY 2011.  
• Lead Generation revenues accounted for 5% of HY 2012 revenues, or $834 million, up 4% from the $800 million (5% of total) reported in HY 2011.  
• Mobile revenues totaled 7% of HY 2012 revenues, or $1.2 billion, up 95% from the $636 million (4% of total) reported in HY 2011.  
• Email revenues accounted for 0.5% of HY 2012 revenues or $78 million, down 1% from the $79 million (0.5% of total) reported for HY 2011. 

Online Ad Revenues By Category

• Retail advertisers, despite an overall decline, continue to represent the largest category of Internet ad spending, accounting for 20% in the first-half of 2012, or $3.4 billion, down from 4% ($3.5 billion) reported in HY 2011.  
• Telecom companies accounted for 12% of 2012 first six months' revenues or $2.1 billion, consistent with revenues reported in 2011, which represented 14% of HY 2011 revenues.  
• Financial Services advertisers accounted for 13% in 2012 ($2.2 billion), up from the $1.9 billion (13% of total) reported in HY 2011. 
• Automotive advertisers accounted for 13% of revenues in the first-half of 2012, or $2.2 billion, up from the $1.7 billion (11% of total) reported in HY 2011. 
• Computing products advertisers represented 8% of revenues in the first six months of 2012, or $1.3 billion, down from the $1.5 billion (10% of total) reported in HY 2011. 
• Leisure Travel (airfare, hotels, and resorts) accounted for 8% of revenues in the first six months of 2012 ($1.3 billion), up from the $1.2 billion (8% of total) reported in HY 2011. 
• Consumer Packaged Goods represented 5% in 2012, or $898 million, up from $866 million (6%) reported in HY 2011. 
• Entertainment accounted for 4% of 2012 revenues, or $729 million, up from the $556 million (4% of total) reported in HY 2011. 
• Media accounted for 4% in 2012, or $719 million, up from the $660 million (4% of total) reported in 2011.  
• Pharma/Healthcare accounted for 6% in 2012, or $1.1 billion, up from the $608 million (4% of total) reported in HY 2011. 

IAB sponsors the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, which is conducted independently by the New Media Group of PwC.

Courtesy of an article dated October 11, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications Online Media Daily

HOW KHAN ACADEMY IS GOING GLOBAL, BY USING VOLUNTEERS TO TRANSLATE ITS 2,600 15-MIN VIDEOS INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Inside the online education juggernaut's mission to make their free lessons available in more than a dozen languages.

Khan Academy, one of the world's most popular educational sites, has a problem. People around the world want to learn online. However, the majority of world Internet users aren't fluent English speakers. For Khan Academy, the answer is obvious: Translate content, using the Internet as its translators. Quickly.

Many American high school and college student--as well as many adult, non-students--are already familiar with Khan Academy. The site, founded by former hedge fund analyst Salman Khan, hosts thousands of free, high-quality educational videos. Though most of the site's content focuses on mathematics, hard sciences, and computing, recent videos have begun covering the liberal arts as well.

Salman Khan (Click Image To Enlarge)

The donation-funded non-profit has spent the past few years systematically porting their lectures and tests into over 16 foreign languages. Volunteer workers crowdsourced from the Internet work closely with Khan Academy supervisors to create subtitles for lectures, along with voiceovers for select videos.

According to Khan Academy Dean of Translations Bilal Musharraf (Yes, that's his official title; Musharraf is the son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf), the organization crowdsources translators through Universal Subtitles' Amara platform, which recruits volunteers worldwide to write foreign language and closed-caption translations. Other Universal Subtitles clients include TED and PBS.

 

Translated content availability for Khan Academy varies wildly from language to language. Estonian is the most frequently subtitled language, with over 500 videos available, followed by Polish and Spanish. Dubbed content is available in 16 languages including Bangla, Hebrew, Malayalam, and Swahili. Musharraf tells Fast Company that each language has an official "Language Advocate" whose job is to review translations for accuracy and fluency. Language Advocates review both subtitles for Khan Academy videos and audio dubs.

Creating subtitled Khan Academy videos doesn't just boost the website's profile in non-Anglophone markets. Subtitles also help Khan Academy work SEO magic and lure in new viewers via Google and other search engines. The not-so-dirty secret is that video transcripts are fully searchable and can help make Khan Academy's content easier to discover.

While any Khan Academy user can subtitle videos, dubbing requires a stricter approval process. Potential voice-over volunteers undergo strict vetting by the non-profit; Khan places great importance on hand-holding voiceover artists and close supervision to guarantee accuracy and a consistent tone. In most cases, Khan Academy tries to use one voiceover person for each foreign language. Translators are expected to contribute a significant time investment; Khan Academy's Bangla project, for instance, requires at least 20 hours a week of volunteering.

Khan Academy's subtitle project began at the end of 2010 and is ongoing. Current language priorities, according to Musharraf, are Spanish, Portuguese, and Bengali. In the longer term, Khan Academy also plans to add original foreign language content--lectures and chats conducted from start to finish in non-English languages with no translation involved. Volunteers for translation are still being accepted.

Khan Academy Highlights:

• 2,600+ learning videos in its library. 
• At the end of December 2011, Khan Academy saw 4 million unique users. That’s up from 1 million in the same period in 2010, and up from 3.5 million in October. 
• The Khan Academy team is currently made up of 22 people, and they’re hiring ~1 more per month. 
• “I’d say that 90% [of the videos are shot] in 1 take. 99% are 2 takes.” 
• “I will definitely do much more advanced mathematics in the next year than what we have now.” (This resulted in Michael Nielson, leading quantum computing expert and author of the standard text on the subject, to offer his assistance right in the thread)
• Foundation grants received todate:
  • Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation in July 2011 - $1.5 million
  • Google in July 2011 - $2 million
  • The O'Sullivan Foundation in November 2011 - $5 million

COMMENTARY:   I've been blogging about the Khan Academy since August 2010 when I first learned of the bold effort by former hedge fund analyst Salman Khan, to produce 15 minute videos to teach math and science to school kids.  

In the old days, Salman Khan churned out video teaching lessons from a converted walk-in closet in his Silicon Valley home (Click Image To Enlarge)

Thanks to the benevolence of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been able to raise sufficient capital to hire a CEO and sufficient staff to expand Khan Academy worlwide.  

 

Here's Salman Khan making an appearance at the Good Experience Live conference back on May 14, 2010.

 

On March 18, 2012, Khan Academy founder Salman Khan was interviewed by Sanjay Gupta for CBS' "60 Minutes" television program. It was an incredible interview showing Khan at work putting together his famous teaching videos. 

In March 2011, Salman Khan spoke at TED 2011.  Here's the video.

In a blog post dated March 20, 2012, I profiled Khan Academy's new mobile app for the  iPhone and iPad.  You can download the new Khan Academy iPad app here

The language barrier was going to become an issue sooner, rather than later, and I am glad the Khan is addressing that issue.  It will be a monumental task to translate all those videos into non-English languages. 

Courtesy of an article dated June 14, 2012 appearing in Fast Company

PART I - UNTANGLING THE SOCIAL WEB: INSIGHTS FOR BRANDS, USERS & RETAILERS - ASSESSING THE SOCIAL NETWORKING LANDSCAPE

 

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Every day, 41% of Facebook users and 27% of Twitter users log on to their pages, four out of ten doing so before they get dressed or have breakfast.3,4 Every day, 250 million updates are posted on Twitter, and more than 250 million photos are uploaded on Facebook.

Yet social networking is far more than sharing personal updates and photos. Increasingly, social networking is about individuals connecting with retailers and brands and sharing back their experiences with peers. This changing reality means that retailers and brands must aggressively create strategies to engage in this evolving and exciting space.

But first, retailers and brands must understand the dynamics of the social networking landscape. This will shed light on how to interact in the most positive way, which is critical to any company that hopes to build effective social networking communities and communication. 

So it might be comforting to realize that the key to understanding this new landscape could be as easy as remembering experiences from adolescence—specifically, high school.  The social web is very much like high school because:

• The people involved self-select into cliques and subgroups.
• What people say can shape a reputation—for good and bad.
• Boring people are often overlooked. Fun and exciting people attract a crowd. 
• Users seek both individuals and the groups those individuals are a part of.
• Sometimes it’s inclusive; sometimes it’s exclusive. 

Through the lens of high school, the complex nature of social networking appears to be more commonplace. Like high school, the social networking landscape is comprised of an eclectic mix of individuals who are rapidly changing and diversifying. Though most assume that young Millennials dominate social networking, older generations are actually the fastest-growing user segment. In 2009, approximately 40% of social networkers were over 35 years old. This population has experienced 20% to 35% growth in recent years and is expected to represent approximately 50% of users in 2013.

But because of its dynamic nature, the industry has not settled on one clear definition of the term social networking. Everyone has their own definition, and many defer to the online platforms (e.g., Facebook or Twitter) to address the overall social networking landscape. However, researchers and industry participants agree that there are nuances and distinctions regarding the social landscape, specifically when it comes to the difference between social networking and social media. Understanding these terms and definitions can help a brand or retailer start to see how and where they may consider strategically engaging.

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To create clarity and consistency throughout this report, we use these definitions:

Social Networking (Verb):  "the act of using social media tools to connect, communicate or interact with others in a social manner."

Social Media:  "the tools (e.g., social networks, blogs, etc.) that enable people to connect, create, disseminate, annotate or edit content online by":

• Enabling users to create a profile/persona
• Providing users with the ability to have two-way connections with others

It is important to understand that social networking is characterized by human behavior rather than the specific technology that creates the online space.  However, technology is instrumental to the space because, at the most basic level, social media is a technological catalyst for social networking.  Today’s social media is complex and ever advancing in seven rather distinct areas, including publication, sharing, discussion, commerce, location, networking and games, with Google® and Facebook at the center acting as cross-functional integration platforms.   Social media can be segmented into the following distinct categories:

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The Evolution of the Social Web

Upon examining how the social web began, evolved and established itself in our culture, we identified three eras:

• The Invention Era (Mid To Late 1990s) - The social web began to surface during the mid-1990s with the launch of the first social networks equipped with personal profiles and “friend lists.” At this time, social networking was a “new invention,” an evolution of the Internet, which, to its credit, has been helping to connect us in new and interesting ways since the first email was sent in 1971.
• The Industrialization Era (2000 to 2006)- After the bubble and uneventful passing of Y2K, platforms including StumbleUpon® and MySpace® emerged on the social web. These platforms allowed users to seek friends from the lists of others and proactively grow their network. Soon to follow (in 2004) were platforms like LinkedIn®, Facebook and eventually Twitter (in 2006), which we now see as the modern-day social network name brands. During this time, the social web was industrializing and establishing itself as a linchpin in our culture.
• The Entrepreneurial Era (2006 to Present) - Over the last five years, much advancement has been made within the social web regarding user habits, platform style/functionality and network accessibility. This evolution embodies an entrepreneurial spirit, in that it has evolved and innovated the idea of what the social web is, how it can be used and a push to consider what it could be tomorrow.  This entrepreneurial spirit has created a very fragmented yet highly integrated social web in which users are geared toward real-time, customized and often “snack size” consumption of content in tremendous volume.  The Entrepreneurial Era brought us MeetUp®, Ning® and Google+®.

Each era embodies unique characteristics and builds on the past to continue to drive this dynamic landscape.

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The Role of Technology In Shaping The Social Web

Technological evolutions, including greater platform functionality and integration, application development and increased mobile accessibility, as well as new platform launches including Google+TM and Pinterest. Users can now utilize several different platforms and devices to tweet, upload an HD-quality video, search or review and navigate to a restaurant in the moment. And, to put it in perspective, these capabilities have been made possible only in the past few years.

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Though technology is complex and ever-evolving, it is more important to recognize that it is also driving, enhancing and evolving social networking. Many retailers and brands see this trend and tap in to various platforms and devices to explore new ways to connect with social networkers.

The social web has seen tremendous change in a short time. The beginnings of social networking were geared toward discovery but soon evolved to a multidimensional space with various platforms, user motives and devices. The entrepreneurial spirit as of late will likely lead to new dimensions of the social web and lead us to a new era of social networking.

The Forces Shaping The Social Web

The social web is made of human behavior and media tools, but which is driving the evolution of the space? We believe it is both. Evolution of the social web is the result of a cyclical, symbiotic relationship in which each party (in this case social networkers and developers) interact, influence and affect each other while also deriving benefits.

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Social networking behavior inspires developers to evolve platforms/technology, which in turn produces an advancement that is of use to the social networker and beneficial to the developer. However, technology/platform advancement alone does not imply success—because it is reliant on user demand. For example, Facebook users began to incorporate their location into status updates. Developers responded through app development and mobile phone advancements, which gave birth to geo-location-powered check-in functions like foursquare.

This evolution benefitted both parties and highlights an important strategic distinction for retailers and brands to consider moving forward—to not think about a strategy for a platform, but rather think about how to satisfy an unmet social need and use the appropriate platform to do so.

Drivers of Evolution and Future Trends of the Social Web

Though social networkers and developers are the foundational forces for evolution, four drivers in particular have shaped the social web of today and will continue to drive evolution moving forward.  

1. Behavioral Evolution - Human behavior is at the root of social networking. Therefore, it is not surprising that behavioral evolution drives change. As we humans evolve, grow and desire personal and unique experiences in real life, it is only natural that those demands be reflected online.  One behavioral evolution of interest is the interaction between shoppers and brands. Consider this: if a brand had never created a page on Facebook or started a Twitter feed, users might have never recognized how they felt about the brand, what it means to them or why they would interact with a company.   Conversely, now that brands are on the social web and learning what customers are really saying and what they really want, best practices online and off are changing. Brands are leveraging the social web as a real-time customer service-response unit, location-specific deal distributor and more. 
2. Specificity/Personalization - The desire for greater specificity and personalization goes hand-in-hand with behavioral evolution.  By defining our own individuality and finding specific, personalized outlets, we ultimately aim to identify others with a common passion and derive deeper connections.  The desire for specificity and personalization is prompting people to use more platforms targeted toward certain hobbies, certain groups, certain information or certain shopping perks.   The desire for greater specificity and personalization has resulted in the creation of LinkedIn (social network for professionals), Pinterest (social network for pinning things), Badoo.com (first dating social network) and Twitter (news, information and publicity decimination)
   
3. Simplicity - In recent years, the proliferation and advancement of mobile technology has helped users integrate and simplify all their social networking activities.  Mobile apps, Facebook integration and push alerts are making it easier and simpler for us to connect. Developing newer, faster, one-click technology is a competitive advantage in that it helps make capturing or creating sharable content easier.  The advancement of smartphones and tablets has elevated user capabilities even more.  Consider this: to share a video a few years ago meant shooting footage with a specific video camera, connecting the camera to the computer, transferring the file and then uploading that file to the web. Now users can shoot HD-quality video with their phones and upload it wirelessly and instantly to the web to share.
4. Technology Proliferation - New technology is driving simplicity and is proliferating and propelling change among social networkers.  It is redefining how, when and where people fundamentally interact and operate. As of December 2011, computers are still the primary access point for social media.  However, users are increasingly accessing social media through their mobile browsers. Traffic to social sites from mobile devices increased 21% over last year, and access via application increased 101%.   Most social networkers (65%) use their mobile phones to connect to the social web because it gives them the freedom to access their network anywhere. However, 35% of respondents report that their primary reason to access the social web on their mobile is because it is also a fun and easy way to pass the time.

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COMMENTARY:   Little did we know how within a period of twelve years, social media has transformed The Old Web into The Social Web.  It's hard not to find the integration of social media within search results, on websites, blogs, display ads or even on traditional media like email or print publications.  It's a rare instance when you won't encounter the "f", "blue bird" or G+ icon for Facebook, Twitter or Google+ to share a post or the Like button to comment approval of internet content.  Hell, for some secure websites, you can only login using your Facebook or Twitter username and password.   Having said this, the Social Web has made the Old Web more efficient by allowing consumers to share content without anyone on the plant, 24/7-365.  Social has transfered the Old Web for better or for worst.      

Stay tuned for Part II - Untangling The Social Web: Insights For Brands, Users and Retailers - Identifying The Allure of Social Networking: Traits, Behaviors and Motivators coming soon.

 Courtesy of Untangling The Social Web: Insights For Brands, Users and Retailers by Coke Solutions and Integer 

ADVERTISING AGENCIES ARE STEADILY MOVING INTO THE INTERNET AGE, SPENDING MORE ON ONLINE ADVERTISING

The cast of "Mad Men" looking sharp in their 1960's outfits (Click Image To Enlarge) 

Long criticized for hanging onto the Mad Men era of advertising for far too long, ad agencies are steadily moving into the Internet age, according to data released today by Advertising Age.

The weekly magazine said a little over 30% of agencies’ revenue last year, or $10.1 billion, came from “digital,” up from 28% in 2010. The data is drawn from about 1,000 agencies and holding companies.

Advertising agencies are going digital.  In 2011, 28.0% of advertising agency revenues were from online ads, projectred to grow to 30.3% in 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Overall, digital revenues rose more than 16% last year, with digital-focused agencies such as those focused on search, social, and mobile taking nearly $6 billion of the total.

Still, large agency holding companies have reported similar percentages, says Ad Age. Publicis Groupe has said digital comprised nearly 31% of last year’s revenues, up from 28.0% in 2010. WPP said “direct, digital and interactive” revenue was nearly 30% of revenues last year, up about a percentage point.

Of course, you’ll know ad agencies have really embraced digital when they stop using that dated word, which conjures up not so much Google and Facebook but a defunct Massachusetts computer maker swallowed up long ago by two other tech companies.

COMMENTARY:   In a blog post dated April 21, 2012, I reported that online advertising for the year 2011 reached $31.7 billion.   

Search advertising continues to dominate growth in online ads, even gaining a little market share over other types of advertising in 2011, according to a biannual report released April 18, 2012 by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). But the biggest growth story is mobile ads, which saw triple-digit gains last year.

According to the IAB report, available in full here along with accompanying presentations, overall online ad revenues rose 22% over 2010, to $31.7 billion. That catapulted online advertising past cable TV advertising for the first time.

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Highlights of the report:

• Mobile experienced the fastest growth of all categories – triple-digit growth year-over-year – up 149 percent to $1.6 billion in full-year 2011 from $0.6 billion in 2010.
• Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, saw a significant uptick of 29 percent year-over-year, bringing in $1.8 billion in revenue in 2011 compared to $1.4 billion in 2010.
• Search revenues in 2011 totaled $14.8 billion, up almost 27 percent from $11.7 billion in 2010.
• Display-related advertising revenues in 2011 totaled $11.1 billion or 35 percent of 2011 revenues, up 15 percent from $9.6 billion in 2010.
• Retail advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet ad spending, accounting for 22 percent in 2011, or $7.1 billion, up from 21 percent ($5.5 billion) reported in 2010.

Also interesting: Despite lots of talk lately about brands looking to move dollars from TV to online, performance-based, usually direct-response ads–those measured by overt actions such as clicks–are still gaining online vs. impression-based ads usually aiming at branding. For the time being, broadcast and cable TV still rules for brands.

Courtesy of an article dated April 30, 2012 appearing in Forbes

 

5 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT MARK CUBAN, DALLAS MAVERICKS OWNER AN D INTERNET AND ENTERTAINMENT ENTREPRENEUR

Internet and entertainment mogul Mark Cuban may be most well known for owning the Dallas Mavericks and his roles on Shark Tank, Entourage and Dancing with the Stars, but here are some things you may not know about him:

• 1. He hates Silicon Valley.
• 2. He sold garbage bags door to door.
• 3. He believes in transactional VOD for video.
• 4. He started his blog to “combat media.”
• 5. He got naked with his investment Naked Pizza.

Cuban sat down with Jesse Draper of "The Valley Girl Show" in San Francisco to talk shop. We covered everything from his hatred of Silicon Valley “pretentious,” to the private jet he bought online and how he invests in people without meeting them.

 

He also shares his first entrepreneurial experiences, how the Mavs are his only investment not making money (because they have to win) and how his competitive nature is the reason he loves sports.

COMMENTARY:  Jesse Draper is creator and host of “The Valley Girl Show” through which she’s become a spokesperson for startups and helped pioneer the way of new media content distribution. Formerly a Nickelodeon star, Draper is now CEO of Valley Girl™ where she oversees the show and runs technology blog Lalawag.com.

I like Mark Cuban, because he is very outspoken and opinionated. Mark will always give you the straight scoop on a business startup or new innovative idea. If you have ever watched him on ABC TV's Shark Tank, you know he can be very arrogant, hard hitting and asks the hard questions and doesn't care if feelings are hurt.  He probes for the right answers and always looks for any signs of weakness in a startup business model.  He is definitely a lone wolf, often making investments other panelists on the Shark Tank would shun.           

Courtesy of an article dated April 25, 2012 appearingi n Mashable

 

FOUR THINGS SOCIAL TV CAN ACTUALLY DO AND THE TECHNOLOGY THAT'S DRIVING BRAND ENGAGEMENT IN REAL-TIME

 

A Lot of People Are Gathered Around The Digital Water Cooler Talking About TV Shows. Here's Why It Matters

Within the broadcast and social-media-analytics worlds, as well as the broadcast-obsessed precincts of the agency and marketer universe, the term "social TV" is uttered and heard endlessly these days. But two recent conversations I had with high-level media executives -- one in the glossy print world, and one in a digital business not directly connected to broadcast -- reminded me that not everyone understands the term of art.

Both execs basically asked me,

"What do you mean, exactly, when you say 'social TV'?"

The short answer:

Millions of people are now partaking of the "dual-screen" experience -- watching TV while using a smartphone (or tablet) to share (primarily on Twitter and Facebook) their thoughts about what they're viewing and to "check in" to shows (on services like GetGlue and Viggle). The result: a massive and rapidly expanding real-time focus group (and promotional force).

So a lot of people are gathered around the digital water cooler talking about TV shows. What's the big deal? Some of the hype is overblown, sure, but there are a bunch of very good reasons why social TV actually matters. For starters:

Social TV can increase ratings

At the Social TV Summit in San Francisco a couple weeks back, Deirdre Bannon, VP-media analytics at Nielsen, shared the result of research the company has been conducting during the past year. (It began releasing research on the social-TV-to-ratings connection last October and continues to cross-reference live data.) The main takeaway: For key demos, social buzz surrounding shows can goose ratings -- a bit.   Below is the video recording of the live video stream during the keynote speech during the Social TV Summit in San Francisco.

For instance, Nielsen says a 9% to 14% increase in buzz volume (depending on where a particular show is in its season) correlates to a 1% increase in ratings in the 18-to-34 demo. That's obviously not enough to make or break a show, but it's enough to matter. It's also worth noting that ratings seem to be most susceptible to social influence when it comes to season premieres and finales -- i.e., the pivot points that are heavily marketed in traditional, nonsocial media (especially network promos).

Social TV can make TV better

Chris Stephenson is both a hard-charging new-media executive as president of Viggle -- the "loyalty program for TV" that launched in January -- and a pop-culture addict who takes naked delight in making what's fun TV even ... funner. Stephenson told me over coffee in San Francisco,

"People talk a lot about 'social TV,' but we don't think that way at Viggle. We think more about 'better TV.'  We want to add a layer of enjoyment to television-watching which enhances the experience and rewards people for their loyalty and engagement. While many of the social-TV apps rely on the basic principle of 'sharing my check-ins,' we think about deep engagement, polls, trivia, mood-o-meters, etc."

Truth is, he was preaching to the converted. I confessed to Stephenson that on Oscar night in February I happened to be stuck in a Boston hotel room (on the eve of yet another social-TV conference, Hill Holliday's excellent TV Next Summit) and I watched -- and enjoyed -- the whole damn show, thanks to Viggle.

After checking into the Oscars on Viggle's iPhone app, I was served a steady stream of trivia questions (in a Viggle Live engagement sponsored by Bing that actually got me to use Bing for the first time on my phone) and got to vote on who I thought would win what. I felt a stupid amount of pleasure when I guessed correctly and earned bonus points. (Viggle points can be redeemed for gift cards from the likes of Starbucks and Best Buy.) And I even felt oddly validated when I guessed wrong -- if Viggle's poll results told me that most other Vigglers got it wrong, too. I really can't imagine having watched the entire Oscar telecast if Viggle Live hadn't added an extra layer of entertainment value to keep me glued to the screen across the room and to the one in my hand.

Social TV can get consumers to engage with shows (and brands) far beyond the broadcast window

USA Network senior VP-Digital Jesse Redniss, speaking of the various social-TV programs he and his team have devised over the past few years said.

"We provide custom metrics depending on what our sponsors are looking for.  Nobody is really saying, 'We want to get clicks.' Nobody cares about the click anymore; the click is pretty much dead. Marketers really want engagement over time: 'People viewed our vehicle for X amount of time.' Or, 'We want people to experience all the cool attributes of what our brand represents.'"

In the case of its hit show "Burn Notice," for instance, USA Network produced two "seasons" of the "Burn Notice: A New Day" digital graphic novel (aka tablet comic book), sponsored by Hyundai, whose vehicles are featured in beautifully drawn, interactive storylines that have baked-in Twitter and Facebook connections.  Fans of "Burn Notice" might watch every episode -- hardcore fans might even watch reruns, too, to catch nuances they missed on first viewing. But that's about it. Through TV alone, USA and its sponsors have a hold on viewer attention for a finite set of hour-long chunks for its dramas. But done right, social-TV initiatives like the "Burn Notice" comic book can strengthen engagement by deepening the narrative pre- and post-broadcast.

Social TV can provide tons of new 'hooks' for marketers

Earlier this month in his company's light-filled loft headquarters in SoMa (San Francisco's semi-sketchy/semi-hip South of Market neighborhood), Watchwith CEO and co-founder Zane Vella showed me the system his company has developed to provide what he calls a "time-based metadata" platform to power social-TV apps.

He said, sounding every bit the on-pitch evangelist.

"We're creating a world where every frame of TV is rich in possibilities."  

But the proof is in the pop-ups -- the visual manifestation in Watchwith's back end (not visible to viewers) that creates second-by-second data bubbles that display what the database "knows" about every given scene. In an episode of social-TV (and ratings) hit "The Big Bang Theory," for instance, a character walks into a room and the Watchwith database serves up information (which in turn feeds into social-TV apps) about exactly which model of Jansport backpack he's carrying.

Consider that Watchwith -- which just rebranded from its nerdy previous incarnation, Related Content Database -- has been working with major broadcast and cable networks, social-TV startups and e-commerce players including eBay.

Now consider what can happen when such product-smart metadata gets synced with the crowdsourced data that more and more TV viewers are producing themselves during every scene of all their favorite shows. You can begin to understand where the whole social-TV phenomenon, and media engagement in general, is going.

COMMENTARY:  A couple hundred execs gathered in San Francisco for the Social TV Summit, and LostRemote pulled together the following highlights from the event.  Social TV technology is making a huge impact on how viewers experience their television programming, and can offer brands a powerful way to connect and engage with their viewers in real-time.  You can glean information about Social TV technologies by viewing the highlight clips provided by Snappy.tv (well worth watching).

• One of the biggest reoccurring themes at social TV events is how early we are in the product development process, and how second screen experiences are something entirely new. Yahoo/IntoNow’s Adam Cahan summed up the social TV product challenge in a “post-PC world” this way:  He said.  “Television has been an incredible medium for brands to tell their story, but transferring that into a direct response environment or bringing that to a device is a fundamentally different proposition. It’s a very different set of consumer interactions.”
• Microsoft’s Pete Thompson shared that the new Sky TV application on Xbox Live — which offers up to 32 live channels for subscribers — features one of the first truly social TV experiences on Xbox.  He explained.  “You can be on Xbox Live and see where all your friends are watching TV, and their avatars pop up as you go through the program guide.  You can join them and have your streams be connected at the same time, so you can be watching and talking and interacting at the same time.” Thompson said Xbox is also thinking about “reach clients” — second screen devices — and how to connect those to the Xbox Live experience, as well.
• AOL’s Janet Balis said they’re quickly ramping up for the launch of Huffington Post Streaming Network in Q2 of this year.  She said, offering a little insight into the 12-hour-day streaming service.  “We’re literally building studios.  Imagine pulling reporters right off the newsroom floor… [and] bringing the audience into the dialogue, where normally comments and social activity happens on a page, suddenly those people have a place on the screen and are as vital as a source and contributor as the content itself.” She explained how HPSN (as it’s called) will balance a real-time social experience with a shareable on-demand experience — a big bet that “social can make great TV.”
• Surprising factoid from SocialGuide’s Sean Casey: “Our data shows that live sports events constitute somewhere between one and three percent of all TV programming, but about 50 percent of all social activity (around TV) is being driven by sports events.” Which includes regional sports events, too.
• Google’s Chee Chew (pictured) talked about “Google Hangouts on Air,” Google+’s ongoing effort to extend Hangouts to TV broadcasts and everyone else on YouTube, both live and on-demand. In other words, a live streaming service tied to YouTube, not just video chats. “The value that we bring with real-time and hangouts and that interaction is to transform what we think of as entertainment,” he said. “Our vision is for everyone on the planet to have access to On Air.” For more, Chee spoke with GigaOm after the event.
• TVGuide’s Christy Tanner revealed a new social TV survey, which we broke out as a separate story.
• Shazam’s David Jones announced the launch of a new “lightning fast” version of the app.  He explained.  “Literally in as little as one second we can match the content you’re hearing.” We gave the new app a try and it’s about twice as fast as the old version: some content took 5 seconds to “listen” and identify, others as quickly as a second. This goes a long way to address our earlier concerns about Shazam for TV: that whipping out the app to tag a :30 second commercial is quite the challenge. The new app carves a few precious seconds off the task.
• ConnecTV’s Ian Aaron shared some engagement metrics from the second-screen app’s first couple months in the wild: 42% of users have liked something, 31% have invited people, 28% participated in polls, 37% have chatted and another 39% go back in the timeline to see something they missed. Aaron says they’ve surpassed the 1 million check-in mark, and a TV promotion campaign (both in local markets and nationally) is poised to roll out soon.
• TV Plus’ AJ Shaw had an interesting pitch for his second-screen platform product. “The important thing to do is to learn and understand what types of engagement work for different content experiences,” he said, positioning TVPlus as “a platform to make it cheap and easy” for content creators to experiment quickly in the early-stage social TV industry. Great advice, regardless of platform.

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend that you read my previous blog posts about social TV including those dated January 11, 2012, January 12, 2012, November 29, 2011, November 1, 2011, October 29, 2011, October 15, 2011, July 23, 2011, and October 27, 2010

Courtesy of an article dated April 13, 2012 appearing in AdAge Media News and an article dated April 4, 2012 appearing in LostRemote -- The Home of Social TV

ONLINE ADVERTISING HITS $31.7 BILLION IN 2011, UP BY 22% OVER 2010, MOBILE FASTING GROWING SEGMENT JUMPING 149%

Online advertising ecosystem (Click Image To Enlarge)

Internet ad spending grew 22% in 2011 to $31.7 billion, according to the latest data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. That growth rate tops last year’s 14.5%, indicating that digital advertising continues to ramp up after a recession-induced setback in 2009.

Click Image To Enlarge

For the fourth quarter of 2011, online ad spending hit nearly $9 billion -- up 20.4% from a year ago, and 14.7% from the third quarter.

According to the IAB, online advertising by media segment breakdown as follows:

• Mobile advertising -- which it began tracking in 2010 for the first time -- was the fastest-growing segment in 2011, jumping 149% to $1.6 billion from $641 million in 2010. Mobile also doubled from 2.5% to 5% of total online ad dollars this year.
• Digital video advertising -- which the IAB includes as part of display advertising -- saw strong growth as well, rising 29% from $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion. Overall, display spending rose 15% in 2011 from $9.6 billion to $11.1 billion.
• Search advertising - enjoyed even bigger gains, growing 27% from $11.7 billion to $14.8 billion. It continued to make up the largest proportion of online ad spend: at 46.5%, up from 44.8% in 2010. That increase came at the expense of display, which declined from 37% in 2010 to 34.8% last year.

The largest online ad spenders by industry catetogy were:

• Retailing - 22% or ($7.1 billio, up slightly from 21% or $5.5 billion in 2010)
• Financial Services - 13% ($4.1 billion) 
• Telecom - 12% ($3.9 billion) 
• Automotive - 11% ($2.9 billion) 
• Leisure Travel - 8% ($2.4 billion) 
• Computing - 8% ($2.7 billion). 

Those proportions all held fairly steady through 2011, varying only by a percentage point here and there.

According to the IAB, online advertising by model type was as follows: 

• Performance-based advertising - Fueled by search and mobile spending, performance-based advertising gained ground in 2011, accounting for nearly 65% of total online ad dollars, up from 62% in 2010. 
• CPM-based advertising - dipped slightly from 33% to 31.3%, while dollars going to hybrid-priced models also declined from 4.8% to 4.2%.

By its reckoning, the IAB said the $31.7 billion in Internet advertising in 2011 eclipsed the $31 billion in cable TV advertising last year, making the category second only to broadcast TV ($38.5 billion).   IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg, in announcing the 2011 figures Wednesday said.

“Pushing past the $30 billion barrier, the interactive advertising industry confirms its central place in media." 

COMMENTARY:    

U.S. Online Ad Spending

For the first time in U.S. history, marketers are projected to spend more on online advertising than on advertising in print magazines and newspapers.

According to a study released Thursday by eMarketer, online advertising is expected to generate $39.5 billion in sales this year — a 23.3% increase from 2011 — compared to a sum of $33.8 billion on print.

That’s impressive growth, especially since 2011 also witnessed a 23% jump in online ad spending, according to eMarketer’s calculations. Online ad revenues should continue to grow over the next half-decade, albeit at a more modest rate, as shown in the chart below. Total online ad investment is projected to hit $62 billion by that time.

Click Image To Enlarge

U.S. Print vs Online Ad Spending

The forecast for print is foreboding. Marketers are expected to continue cutting their print advertising budgets for the next half-decade, spending $32.3 billion in 2016, 10% less than what they invested in print ads in 2011.

Click Image To Enlarge

U.S. Television vs Online Ad Spending 

Spending on TV promises to be largely unaffected by growing online ad budgets, although the gap between the two is set to narrow significantly. U.S. marketers are expected to spend $72 billion in TV advertising in 2016, up 18.6% from 2011.

Click Image To Enlarge

Social Media Ad Spending

In its report titled “Worldwide Social Network Ad Spending: 2011 Outlook” eMarketer forecasts global advertising spend across social networks will reach $5.97 billion in 2011 which represents a growth of 71.6% compared to 2010.

Social network advertising spending will account for 8.7% of total online ad spend in 2011.

US will represent the majority of spending accounting for 51.6% of the total.

Facebook will be the dominant social network and will receive 68% of worldwide social network ad spending this year. Indeed, Facebook ad revenues are expected to rise 118%, to reach $4billion in 2011.

To conclude, social network advertising is growing and is increasing their representation. “Major marketers are integrating social media into their overall marketing programs,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst and author of this report. “As they do so, advertising in social destinations is becoming a more logical part of their plan.”

eMarketer reported that in 2011, there was a 55% hike in ad spending on social networking sites by U.S. marketers. In 2010, they spent $1.99 billion for advertising on popular social media platforms. That’s not all, in 2012, spending on advertisements by marketers will even increase to 27.7% and the net figure will come to around $4 billion.   Facebook earned the lions share of social media ad spending in 2011.

Click Image To Enlarge

eMarketer predicted that making profits based on ad revenues will continue in the 2012 also, as the Menlo Park-based social networking site is expected to garner $5.74 billion from ad revenue worldwide. However the juggernaut like in-exorability of Facebook astounds eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson, she says,

“If Facebook can continue to increase its global user base and boost the amount of revenue it generates per user, it could even surpass these forecasts. Facebook must continue to innovate its user experience and its ad platform.”  

Overall, it looks to be a healthy year for the ad industry, with total U.S. ad spending forecast to grow by 6.7% to $169.5 billion. eMarketer attributes the bump to investment in campaigns ads and mobile advertising. Total ad spending is set to reach nearly $200 billion by 2016, of which online will account for a third.

Courtesy of an article dated April 18, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications Online Media Daily, an article dated January 19, 2012 appearing in Mashable and article dated February 3, 2012 appearing in Hi-Media Group Blog

TECH EMPLOYERS ASKING JOB HUNTERS FOR THEIR FACEBOOK PASSWORDS, AND 1 IN 5 ARE REJECTING JOB APPLICANTS OVER THEIR SM POSTS

Social media profiles are a great way to network and promote yourself, both personally and professionally, but they are also a great way to sabotage yourself with stupid, incriminating content.

And indeed, it turns out that one out of five technology firms has rejected a job applicant because of something they included on their social media profile, according to the 2012 annual technology market survey conducted by Eurocom Worldwide and its associated agencies.

This finding is especially remarkable because a previous wave of the study found that only around 40% of the tech executives surveyed were even looking at profiles of job applicants at all. While that number has probably increased, the fact remains that a large proportion of executives who look at social media profiles are finding something they don’t like.

Mads Christensen, Network Director at Eurocom Worldwide, offered a summary of the findings which makes me want to climb in bed, turn the lights out, and pull the covers over my head forever:

“The 21st century human is learning that every action leaves an indelible digital trail. In the years ahead many of us will be challenged by what we are making public in various social forums today.”

More positively for social media, the Eurocom survey also found that 49% of tech executives said they plan to increase spending on social media in the next year. Of course, social media is still haunted by the unresolved question of ROI, as 57% of surveys said they are still unable to measure the impact of social media spending.

COMMENTARY:  For quite a while I have been warning my readers about professional social media snooping firms like Social Intelligence Corporation, a firm that makes a living investigating what job applicatioins say and post online, especially on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and reporting their findings to employers who hire them.  Social Intelligence Corporation does this legally and there is not much you can do about it.  

Besides verifying prior employment, many employer's are now conducting background checks, credit checks, drug tests, and now social media investigations.  Many will require job applications to sign an authorization giving them this authority.  If you haven't already done so, I urge you to read my previous blog posts dated October 3, 2010, February 3, 2012 and March 8, 2012.   

Now we find that employers have been asking their employees and new job applications to provide them with the password to their social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and others.  This is the straw that broke the camels back, because it is going far overboard in violating our privacy.   Non-profit organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.org), PrivacyRights.org and BackgroundCheck.org believe that employers have gone too far so have collaborated in designing the following Social Networking Bill of Rights.

 Click Image To Enlarge

Due to The Great Recession and a slow recovering U.S. economy, jobs in some part of America are very hard to comeby, and employers have become very selective, are using selective and discriminatory hiring practices like requiring that you already be gainfully employed to even apply for a job, others are discriminating on the basis of age and getting away with it, and now they believe that they can legally violate our privacy by asking for our social network passwords.  Well, I am here to tell you that they can't.  So no matter how great that new company is, how great the new job is, or how much money they throw at you, if they ask you to give up the passwords to your social networks watchout.  You tell them from me:  "No!!"  In fact, you tell them "Fuck No!!"  It's none of their business and an invasion of your privacy.  I would also report the incident to the ACLU and PrivacyRights.org.

Facebook agrees with me on the subject of  releasing your social network password to employers. On March 23, 2012, here's what Erin Egan, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer said about the new practice by some employers to ask employees and new job applications for their social network account passwords:

"In recent months, we’ve seen a distressing increase in reports of employers or others seeking to gain inappropriate access to people’s Facebook profiles or private information. This practice undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user’s friends. It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability."

"The most alarming of these practices is the reported incidents of employers asking prospective or actual employees to reveal their passwords.  If you are a Facebook user, you should never have to share your password, let anyone access your account, or do anything that might jeopardize the security of your account or violate the privacy of your friends.  We have worked really hard at Facebook to give you the tools to control who sees your information."

"As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job.  And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job.  That’s why we’ve made it a violation of Facebook’s  Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password."

"We don’t think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide their passwords because we don’t think it’s the right thing to do.  But it also may cause problems for the employers that they are not anticipating.  For example, if an employer sees on Facebook that someone is a member of a protected group (e.g. over a certain age, etc.) that employer may open themselves up to claims of discrimination if they don’t hire that person." 

"Employers also may not have the proper policies and training for reviewers to handle private information.  If they don’t—and actually, even if they do—the employer may assume liability for the protection of the information they have seen or for knowing what responsibilities may arise based on different types of information (e.g. if the information suggests the commission of a crime)."

"Facebook takes your privacy seriously.  We’ll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges."

"While we will continue to do our part, it is important that everyone on Facebook understands they have a right to keep their password to themselves, and we will do our best to protect that right."

-- Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer, Policy

While I am on the subject of privacy.  I highly recommend that you NOT use company computers to access your personal email or social network accounts or do any web surfing (unless the latter is required in your job performance).  IT departments have been known to track your online behaviors while at work.  Many employees have been fired over this.  About 40% of employers now ban social networking from the workplace even if you are using your smartphone, and if you post something derogatory about them on your social network, you are just asking for problems. Remember, unless you have an employment contract, in most states you are an at-will employee, and can be fired for any reason.   

Courtesy of an article dated March 19, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications The Social Graf    and an article dated March 20, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications The Social Graf