Kevin Smith was asked to get off a Southwest flight because of his size, and the controversy over Southwest’s Customer of Size policy was re-ignited. I’ve got a lot of feelings on the issue, and I’ve broken them into 3 parts — the policy, the social media/pr response, and my personal feelings on the issue. It’s an epic but meaty tome that I hope everyone can learn something from.
What do all these items have in common? They are just some of the things we’ve given away to fans during Free Stuff Friday. Our Twitter giveaways have been very successful, and I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look into how we do them. At the least, I hope companies can stop using Twitter as just another avenue to push a marketing message.
Planning to attend the Social Media and Community 2.0 Strategies conference in Boston? Would you attend if you had a 20% discount? I can hook you up! Hit the jump for all the details on what I’m up to in 2010.
With all the self-proclaimed “social media experts” on the internet, it’s no wonder that companies have a hard time knowing who to trust with their social media. But are these people doing any real harm? I probably gave my opinion away in the title, but I do have some ideas for how to solve the issue, or at least make it better.
America’s sex offender laws are unjust, unfair, ineffective, and out of control. The same fear-mongering and panic is now moving online, causing social media companies like Facebook to remove the accounts of registered sex offenders. This sounds good on the surface, but it’s based in the same shaky logic and judgmental language as the original laws.
Homophobia is a problem in all virtual communities, but especially in gaming communities. GLAAD recently launched a project to combat this, beginning with a panel discussion with gaming industry leaders next week. Through statistics and video, GLAAD makes some compelling arguments about why this important issue needs to be addressed right now. I’m proud to be working with GLAAD on this — as a gaming industry employee, a community manager, and an out lesbian.
Facebook is growing, but MySpace isn’t shrinking. Why do some people choose to leave MySpace for Facebook, and some people choose to stay? Teenagers gave danah boyd insight into this, and the results have wide-reaching implications for anyone looking to engage an audience using social media.
Social media and the internet are impacting the court system, and can result in mistrials and unfair trials. Find out why this is important, and what you can do (and not do) to prevent a mistrial when you’re serving on a jury.
What does anthropology have to do with online community? Your first instinct may be “nothing”, but the answer is really “everything”.
Does your company have a social media policy, or are you considering one? I’ve taken a look at two corporate policies — Intel and the Wall Street Journal — and the differences are striking. Which one should you look to for guidance? Find out inside.