Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Social Media Addiction: It's Everywhere!
As we approach the beginning of the end of winter, I have noticed that everyone around me has become a social media addict. I have high level exective who has literally gone wild with the Flip camera that I advised our boss to get. She is pretty good telling stories too. My direct supervisor has become the queen of Facebook and actually keeps in touch of things through Facebook. The big boss who I call Papa Bear is really getting into it by encouraging us to do more and to be creative when use social media. Is this Bizarro land or something bigger?
At first I thought it was Bizarro land, I really did! However, it has become quit clear that the Obama digital revolution has finally taken hold in government, big business and even the non-profit sector. Why? In government, the President is literally the driving force because he ran his campaign utilizing social media as a fundraising tool, a direct unfiltered platform to address the public in concert with mainstream stream media, and as a media tool that can address multiple things simultaneously. Is this a good thing? I think it is a great thing because it allows the citizenry to get direct information from the government, as well as big business, and it does not cost a thing. Now that's what I call cost cutting and a stimulus!
The key thing for business, non-profit and government leaders to understand about social media is that these tools are bottom-up tools not top down tools. One cannot use the same old approaches to speak directly to the public or one's employees when they have the capability to instantly answer you through multiple devices like cell phones, gaming consoles and personal computers. You cannot disable questions when utilizing social media because then it is not social media, it is simply plain old new media, and the questions that you avoid will invariably be found on YouTube or other video sites by angry consumers, citizens or other stakeholders. While it is important to allow the executive to blog, it is even more important for rank in file employees and experts within the organization to participate. Many of these individuals are more savvy with these tools than their bosses and they make the boss look smarter when he or she has employees who are producing compelling content.
The bottom line is that everyone wants their content to be viewed or heard! If you are an organization looking to expand your horizons, do not wait to do it, just start a social media campaign and run with it. Have fun! Try new things! Really think outside of the box, and you will be surprised at the responses that you will get over time. Social media is not about control, it is about collaboration and compelling content. It means that the people in charge have to share the ball with the whole team and create stars from their team who may not necessarily be the stars that the boss would have picked in the past. This is a new day! We need news ideas and solutions! We need new voices! Are you listening to me business and government executives? What do you think?
At first I thought it was Bizarro land, I really did! However, it has become quit clear that the Obama digital revolution has finally taken hold in government, big business and even the non-profit sector. Why? In government, the President is literally the driving force because he ran his campaign utilizing social media as a fundraising tool, a direct unfiltered platform to address the public in concert with mainstream stream media, and as a media tool that can address multiple things simultaneously. Is this a good thing? I think it is a great thing because it allows the citizenry to get direct information from the government, as well as big business, and it does not cost a thing. Now that's what I call cost cutting and a stimulus!
The key thing for business, non-profit and government leaders to understand about social media is that these tools are bottom-up tools not top down tools. One cannot use the same old approaches to speak directly to the public or one's employees when they have the capability to instantly answer you through multiple devices like cell phones, gaming consoles and personal computers. You cannot disable questions when utilizing social media because then it is not social media, it is simply plain old new media, and the questions that you avoid will invariably be found on YouTube or other video sites by angry consumers, citizens or other stakeholders. While it is important to allow the executive to blog, it is even more important for rank in file employees and experts within the organization to participate. Many of these individuals are more savvy with these tools than their bosses and they make the boss look smarter when he or she has employees who are producing compelling content.
The bottom line is that everyone wants their content to be viewed or heard! If you are an organization looking to expand your horizons, do not wait to do it, just start a social media campaign and run with it. Have fun! Try new things! Really think outside of the box, and you will be surprised at the responses that you will get over time. Social media is not about control, it is about collaboration and compelling content. It means that the people in charge have to share the ball with the whole team and create stars from their team who may not necessarily be the stars that the boss would have picked in the past. This is a new day! We need news ideas and solutions! We need new voices! Are you listening to me business and government executives? What do you think?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Facebook Excommunication: It Can Happen To You! The Remix!
By Chris A. Heidelberg, III, PhD. Publisher & Managing Editor
Well I am already getting feedback from some of my 1600 Facebook friends, and they are not happy either. Why? Because they realize that what I wrote was true: you can be excommunicated from Facebook or other online sites on real charges due to lack of knowledge or trumped up charges or a combination of both. Apparently, Facebook is doing this to other people who are not adding too many friends but for other alleged reasons as I found out by reading Digg. Remember MySpace used to be the unquestioned leader, and now Facebook has surpassed MySpace for the first time recently.
One of the reasons was that Facebook was able to compete was that they were the more professional version of MySpace; however, Facebook runs the risk of engaging in the same type of heavy handed tactics that doomed Netscape, AOL, Sony, and to a lesser extent Microsoft. My point is this if you have the best product or service and people love it: work with them. Some of us are digital immigrants who are learning as we go along and other have researched the technology and we still have issues with understanding the terms of use.
So as you read a re-post of the orginal post below, I want you to ask yourself a few basic questions: do you want to be treated fairly; do want the the terms of online agreement clearly explained to you in plain English or your language of choice; and do you want companies to work with you when you make honest mistakes due to lack of knowledge. With great power comes great responsibility, let's make sure that great young companies like Facebook do not get puffed up like the older companies that are having tough times today because they did not do the right thing long term for their customers because they only cared about the immediate profits and not the long term. I guarantee you the company that has learned this well has been Google. They made things simple for their customers and then gave it away for free so that they could charge great advertising fees. Now for the remix!
If you are one of my former 1600 Facebook friends, don't even bother trying to contact me because you can't! I don't exist! I am officially disabled which really means excommunicated! I guess the YouTube videos below best describe how I feel right now. One of the biggest problems of dealing with many online companies is knowing what the terms of your agreement. Like Internet veteran Rob Scobie I recently had my Facebook account disabled after receiving a warning email that I might be disabled. I think that there is a huge difference between getting a warning email and being straight up cut off by the powers that be at Facebook. My "warning" from Facebook turned into being banished from Facebook in a manner that would have made Charlton Heston's Moses look like he was still included in the Egyptian Royal Family. I was kicked out, thrown out, and literally made an example of because I betrayed the terms of my agreement.
Here is a quick quiz: how many of you really understand the terms of the agreement when you signed up for Facebook or any online service. I actually went to law school, have a PhD and deal with legal documents all of the time and I have to tell you that the document that most people routinely scan and click is clearly written in favor of the drafter of the contract because they know that few people will successfully protest or win in a court of law.
My point here is that I love the Facebook platform, but in their zeal to prevent spam they are persecuting amateurs like me who have no intention of spamming and only intentions of networking. Maybe they should borrow from LinkedIn and allow people to network who belong to the same groups. In my case I was experimenting with teaching a class in South Africa and here simultaneously before taking a trip. So I networked through one of my friends and that was considered a violation because I was adding too many friends too fast.
I have written Facebook several times and I have only received an initial response and after that I have received no response email from Facebook. This is disturbing to me that a company of this size would treat its customers like this and not even both to respond to email with at least a form letter. Hey, I work with the government and even they send you a form email to respond to your email. I realize that I will probably not get my account restored for writing this post but after trying to correspond with them and promising to reform from my "wicked ways" that I did not know I had. All I want to do is network with my academic, technology, media and student friends. I am so disappointed because I feel that the heavy handedness of Facebook is a shame because I think it has the potential to become the platform. I have always liked it better than MySpace but it appears that they don't want me.
My real problem with Facebook is that when you try to find out how many friends that you can add they cannot tell you what the limits are. Please spare me the lecture about safety when we know that everyone's data is being mined and used for advertising in the future by Microsoft after that huge deal. If by some miracle that I manage to get my account restored, you can bet that I will be on ten friend limit per day. What is really terrible is that I actually interacted with my friends and used them for both professional and media contacts.
So here are my questions: what does one do when they run afoul of the undisputed king of social networking? What would you do? In the meantime, if you want to contact me by Facebook you may be eligible for retirement by the time I even get a response, so don't hold your breath waiting. Come on Facebook give me one more chance and loosen up because you are starting to act like Microsoft used to act before they re-discovered customer service.
If you're reading this and you are on Facebook, I hope you learned what I did: Facebook can do whatever they want to do; Facebook will cut you from the squad quick and then tell you to read the vague rules that they wrote to protect themselves legally; Facebook will not give you specifics in plain English on how to stay out of trouble once you have run afoul; Facebook will not give you real due process and you will be punished with a snowball's chance in hell of being reinstated with all of your existing friends; Facebook will not respond to your requests for reinstatement even when you promise to change; Facebook has created rules similar to the credit card companies and you know you can't win appeals with them unless you are F. Lee Bailey or loaded; and Facebook has the best social networking site in the world that will make you an addict as I am finding out as I go through withdrawal. Hey maybe we should protest! Yeah right!
Hey I have already lost my privacy, due process, and right to protection against self-incrimination with Facebook. So I better use my First Amendment right while I still have it! I guess I feel like the guy getting lectured to by Clint Eastwood as Clint is holding the gun to him and promising this gentleman to, "Go ahead make my day!" You never get a straight answer when the person holding the gun is holding all of the cards, has cut you off of Facebook, and has already shot at you quite accurately. Don't bet on me getting reinstated, especially after this post!
Well I am already getting feedback from some of my 1600 Facebook friends, and they are not happy either. Why? Because they realize that what I wrote was true: you can be excommunicated from Facebook or other online sites on real charges due to lack of knowledge or trumped up charges or a combination of both. Apparently, Facebook is doing this to other people who are not adding too many friends but for other alleged reasons as I found out by reading Digg. Remember MySpace used to be the unquestioned leader, and now Facebook has surpassed MySpace for the first time recently.
One of the reasons was that Facebook was able to compete was that they were the more professional version of MySpace; however, Facebook runs the risk of engaging in the same type of heavy handed tactics that doomed Netscape, AOL, Sony, and to a lesser extent Microsoft. My point is this if you have the best product or service and people love it: work with them. Some of us are digital immigrants who are learning as we go along and other have researched the technology and we still have issues with understanding the terms of use.
So as you read a re-post of the orginal post below, I want you to ask yourself a few basic questions: do you want to be treated fairly; do want the the terms of online agreement clearly explained to you in plain English or your language of choice; and do you want companies to work with you when you make honest mistakes due to lack of knowledge. With great power comes great responsibility, let's make sure that great young companies like Facebook do not get puffed up like the older companies that are having tough times today because they did not do the right thing long term for their customers because they only cared about the immediate profits and not the long term. I guarantee you the company that has learned this well has been Google. They made things simple for their customers and then gave it away for free so that they could charge great advertising fees. Now for the remix!
If you are one of my former 1600 Facebook friends, don't even bother trying to contact me because you can't! I don't exist! I am officially disabled which really means excommunicated! I guess the YouTube videos below best describe how I feel right now. One of the biggest problems of dealing with many online companies is knowing what the terms of your agreement. Like Internet veteran Rob Scobie I recently had my Facebook account disabled after receiving a warning email that I might be disabled. I think that there is a huge difference between getting a warning email and being straight up cut off by the powers that be at Facebook. My "warning" from Facebook turned into being banished from Facebook in a manner that would have made Charlton Heston's Moses look like he was still included in the Egyptian Royal Family. I was kicked out, thrown out, and literally made an example of because I betrayed the terms of my agreement.
Here is a quick quiz: how many of you really understand the terms of the agreement when you signed up for Facebook or any online service. I actually went to law school, have a PhD and deal with legal documents all of the time and I have to tell you that the document that most people routinely scan and click is clearly written in favor of the drafter of the contract because they know that few people will successfully protest or win in a court of law.
My point here is that I love the Facebook platform, but in their zeal to prevent spam they are persecuting amateurs like me who have no intention of spamming and only intentions of networking. Maybe they should borrow from LinkedIn and allow people to network who belong to the same groups. In my case I was experimenting with teaching a class in South Africa and here simultaneously before taking a trip. So I networked through one of my friends and that was considered a violation because I was adding too many friends too fast.
I have written Facebook several times and I have only received an initial response and after that I have received no response email from Facebook. This is disturbing to me that a company of this size would treat its customers like this and not even both to respond to email with at least a form letter. Hey, I work with the government and even they send you a form email to respond to your email. I realize that I will probably not get my account restored for writing this post but after trying to correspond with them and promising to reform from my "wicked ways" that I did not know I had. All I want to do is network with my academic, technology, media and student friends. I am so disappointed because I feel that the heavy handedness of Facebook is a shame because I think it has the potential to become the platform. I have always liked it better than MySpace but it appears that they don't want me.
My real problem with Facebook is that when you try to find out how many friends that you can add they cannot tell you what the limits are. Please spare me the lecture about safety when we know that everyone's data is being mined and used for advertising in the future by Microsoft after that huge deal. If by some miracle that I manage to get my account restored, you can bet that I will be on ten friend limit per day. What is really terrible is that I actually interacted with my friends and used them for both professional and media contacts.
So here are my questions: what does one do when they run afoul of the undisputed king of social networking? What would you do? In the meantime, if you want to contact me by Facebook you may be eligible for retirement by the time I even get a response, so don't hold your breath waiting. Come on Facebook give me one more chance and loosen up because you are starting to act like Microsoft used to act before they re-discovered customer service.
If you're reading this and you are on Facebook, I hope you learned what I did: Facebook can do whatever they want to do; Facebook will cut you from the squad quick and then tell you to read the vague rules that they wrote to protect themselves legally; Facebook will not give you specifics in plain English on how to stay out of trouble once you have run afoul; Facebook will not give you real due process and you will be punished with a snowball's chance in hell of being reinstated with all of your existing friends; Facebook will not respond to your requests for reinstatement even when you promise to change; Facebook has created rules similar to the credit card companies and you know you can't win appeals with them unless you are F. Lee Bailey or loaded; and Facebook has the best social networking site in the world that will make you an addict as I am finding out as I go through withdrawal. Hey maybe we should protest! Yeah right!
Hey I have already lost my privacy, due process, and right to protection against self-incrimination with Facebook. So I better use my First Amendment right while I still have it! I guess I feel like the guy getting lectured to by Clint Eastwood as Clint is holding the gun to him and promising this gentleman to, "Go ahead make my day!" You never get a straight answer when the person holding the gun is holding all of the cards, has cut you off of Facebook, and has already shot at you quite accurately. Don't bet on me getting reinstated, especially after this post!
It's Time To For Performers And Media Outlets To Embrace Edutainment!
By Chris A. Heidelberg III, PhD, Publisher & Managing Editor
Why is it that no one was really paying attention when Gil Scott-Heron said, " The revolution will not be televised." Scott-Heron was not only right, he was absolutely on point because that is exactly what is happening! Remember when Apple introduced the iPod in 2001, this was the true beginning of true convergence because it put the power of technology literally in the hands of students and professionals alike. Once the iPhone, the iPodTouch and iTunesU officially debuted last year the revolution went into high gear.
The fact that schools like Stanford, MIT, Duke and many other prominent schools are on board with iTunesU is a shot across the bow of traditional education and the telecommunications companies that have been using traditional distance learning platforms in large rooms or directly to personal computers. What makes iTunesU special is that students literally can summon their course on demand on a computer or portable device anytime, anyplace and anywhere! Moreover, professors and students can utilize tools like Digg and Facebook to promote, share, bookmark, and blog the course internationally, and they can utilize video services such as blip.Tv, YouTube, Google video, Yahoo video, Vimeo, and Brightcove to to disseminate the content of the class through iPhones and iPodTouch devices too!
The fact that iTunesU is a free service is a winning hand for Apple and I am sure that Google and Apple will figure out a way to monetize this and share some of the proceeds with the schools through advertising in a non-distracting way so that academics do not hit the roof with anger. Nintendo is doing a very similar thing with its Nintendo DS model and its highly popular Wii platform with its Wii Fit game. Nintendo has already integrated learning into a few of its games and I see them taking a serious plunge into serious gaming already because of Wii Fit. Microsoft and Sony will definitely respond to stay competitive with Nintendo.
The Wii Fit is a game that teaches one how to get fit, and iTunesU gives you a class in your hand. The only thing missing is innovative content! Are you listening Jive Records, Warner Brothers, Def Jam, A& M, Virgin Records? I am listening to an edutainment based rap song that teaches multiplication and it is already a hit in the Baltimore-Washington area. These are two areas with high public school dropout rates and majority African American populations, and anything that can help these children learn and have fun in school is critical. The house is literally burning while experts are fighting over whether or not an esteemed Harvard professor should pay kids to learn! Why not! The rap game actually popularized the term edutainment with KRS 1 back in the early days of hip-hop, and now it is time that the new school rappers go back to the roots of rap and provide something lasting and positive to young people who are often from the same backgrounds and areas as many of the rappers.
I have an experiment with anyone that will take it. Ask your child regardless of age to tell you the words to Lil
Wayne's Lollipop and then ask them to recite a serious academic lesson verbatim. Most of them will flunk this test, but if you challenge them to write a rap about their history project, Hamlet or any other type of literature, basic science principles or a how to on math you may get a surprise. Say what you want about Bill Cosby and Barack Obama, but the education problem is an American issue and a matter of national defense. The country is turning brown and multi-colored and if we are serious about not leaving any children behind in this nation. KRS 1 said it years ago, " You must learn!" I guess the learning establishment was not listening! I can guarantee you that within ten years there will be a rise in learning rappers and I am looking for them.
The time is now, we cannot keep creating two jails: one for the mind and one for the person in America. Edutainment and convergence is a force that is here to stay! It is time for performers and media outlets to create, promote, and financially get behind serious hip hop that teaches learning principles, or are they really about money and all that stuff about social responsibility is really horse hockey? Victor Hugo once wrote, "There is one thing more powerful than all of the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come!" Today that ideas is iTunesU but record labels as well as the rest of the entertainment world is missing out on a chance to make real profits and transform society. The question is this: do they have the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing the right way for the right reasons and still get
paid? I think we all know what the answer should be! These media firms often hate Apple and Google, but they often fail the creativity test instead of trying to work with these creative companies for the long haul they like suing them or punishing them even when it costs them big money like the Viacom and NBC fights have demonstrated! For once will someone show some leadership in academia and corporate America, and work with people like me to help to solve this problem.
I focus on tech things because I see the power of technology when combined with the arts and educational theories and practices in innovative fashions. Apple, Nintendo, and Google should not have all the fun and get paid! Let's share the love of gaming, convergence, and the joy of learning through music, drama, art, and dance. Gil Scott-Heron was right revolution has not been televised but it sure has been streamed and downloaded.
Now that's edutainment!
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