As an entrepreneur and digital media consultant I spend lots of time “walking-the-walk” before making recommendations to executives or investors about what to do. I’ve always believed it is critical to actually use and try digital products and services before you are qualified to opine. Frustrated by the lack of this by key folks making decisions I wrote a post “learn by doing” over a year ago. This philosophy is the same for joining social communities or releasing Facebook functionality on your website. I believe you need to have been there, experienced it, and have a good understanding of the associated nuances.
Over the past several weeks there has been several situations that point to a basic question about social media and the web – Is it too public? There are many in the industry debating this question, myself included. Generally speaking, over time, I have seen myself enjoy exposing more, sharing more, yet sometimes have mixed feeling about the topic given the multiple hats I wear (Son, Father, Husband, Media Executive, Entrepreneur, Partner, etc.) However, innately being a private person, I have seen the holistic and commercial benefit of transparency. Less about ego, rather allowing others to understand me in different ways. More importantly, being somewhat transparent and out there allows me to be open to experience, share, and connect with others in deeper ways.
Let’s look at some of the recent public issues. For those not totally aware, below is a cheat sheet:
- Facebook’s decentralized “like” button launch. Big news – now independent websites can incorporate the Facebook “like” functionality on their own website. Previously, this was only available on Facebook. For example, if you are browsing an article on CNN – you can now “like it” and share that with all your friends on Facebook.
- Facebook’s Privacy Loophole. Facebook (inadvertently) disclosed private data in feeds to advertisers. More specifically, they shared personally identifiable private information (name, age, hometown, etc.) with sites such as Google, Double Click, Yahoo, etc. Not Good, especially for a site that prides itself on protecting users privacy.
- BP Oil Fiasco – Today is day 35 of continuous oil flow spilling into the Gulf coast with estimates over six million gallons so far. This article from Huffington Post is an example of how social media provides transparency to the issues everyone should know about. Given the circumstances I expect BP will collapse as a company without quickly learning how to do three things a) become be more transparent with the public about the situation b) quickly figure out how to fix the problem c) do the right thing by the people affected by this mess.
- Announcement of Jeff Jarvi’s Next Book “Public Parts.“ Among other things, Jeff is a key digital media veteran with a successful blog called BuzzMachine. This week he announced his next book about the end of privacy and the benefits of publicness. Yes, the name is a plug to Howard Stern.
- The list goes on…
Where do you stand on the public vs. private social media debate?
Do you feel you’ve experienced enough social media to understand it’s implications?
Do you feel drawn to frequently check your Facebook Newsfeed? Do you check it on your mobile phone?
Do you enjoy being a voyeur – reading status updates or viewing pictures from Facebook friends?
Do you like when social media exposes terrorism, unethical businesses or people?
Do you enjoy watching young entrepreneurs grow successful business through the use of Social Media?
Are you scared where this is all going?
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