“Common sense is not so common.” -Voltaire
Since hopping on the Twitterville bandwagon – I have been completely amazed by not only the power of 140 characters or less, but well, by some of the down right stupid things people Tweet. So in an effort to help you not make those faux pas as well – below is a quick little guide to help keep you safe.
Privacy
Unless you’re Kim Kardashian and you’re looking for 8 billion people to show up at an autograph signing – for your own safety – you should never broadcast to the world – exactly where you’re at – or worse – when you’re on vacation. This includes auto-updating your Foursquare check-ins to Twitter or using TripIn on LinkedIn or anything else that will inform strangers of your exact whereabouts or when you’re away from home for an extended period of time. It’s also a wise move to nix posting a picture of the absolutely beautiful (and rather expensive) Tiffany & Co. 18k gold key heart charm necklace your oh so wonderful boyfriend bought you for Christmas like one of the people I follow did. And, unless of course if your Governor Schwarzenegger and have a staff of armed body guards ready to pounce, it’s probably best not to tell everyone when you go to sleep at night. Sadly, thieves, stalkers and all sorts of colorful characters are preying on people to leave the door open. When you provide valuable information to strangers – they will use it against you. You’re telling them your habits. You’re not only leaving the curtain open, you’re handing them their very own solid gold key on a silver platter to come and go as they please.
Professionalism
If in your bio you indicate your looking for a job, include a website to your LinkedIn profile, or are already employed and indicate – oh I don’t know – you’re the “Full time Director of Marketing” and then proceed to Tweet, at 10:00 in the morning on a school day, things such as, “Readyyy.. Settt.. LATE FOR WORK!”, and then follow it up with “.....still drunk” and a short while later “ehhh, It was a good night tho. Intoxicated ride to work was worth it,” it’s probably not a good thing. And while I could be wrong, but then also tweeting “Training a new Marketer.. She doesn't seem promising BLEHH Sorry you are 25 yrs older than me and I have a higher position. Get over it.” I’m thinking HR would have a field day with that. Then of course, my favorite was a Starbucks barista who texted to Twitter, “Wish all these damn people would leave. Don’t they know I don’t want to work today?” I would classify these tweets, while absolutely hysterical, also career suicide. Not only are would-be thieves preying on you on-line, chances are your employer is also aware of your status. So, if you wouldn’t actually say to your boss, “Hey Bob, by the way, I was late today, cuz I’m still drunk from last night,” well then ya probably shouldn’t tweet it. Unless of course I can actually witness you tell this to Bob, cuz I’d like to see his face when you do.
Just Be Nice
Many years ago Robert Fulghum wrote a book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Basically, the same principles you learned as a child; share your toys with others, always say thank you and please, if you don’t have anything nice to say-keep your yap shut, apply to your on-line activity. So being snarky for the sake of being snarky to a Facebook update or a tweet, is just really not necessary. This also includes going further and opening wretched Twitter handles with the words, “fire”, “murder”, or anything else intended to torment someone. When you start harassing people on-line – you’d be amazed how quickly it turns to cyberstalking. As for thinking about opening a Twitter or Facebook account in someone else’s name – and not for fun – guess what – it’s considered identity theft and is a 3rd degree felony charge. Swear.So the same principles that apply when you were five in the sand box with your bestest friends in the whole wide world – well – they also apply to your activities on-line. Just use some common sense judgement and don't be a knuckle head.
Since hopping on the Twitterville bandwagon – I have been completely amazed by not only the power of 140 characters or less, but well, by some of the down right stupid things people Tweet. So in an effort to help you not make those faux pas as well – below is a quick little guide to help keep you safe.
Privacy
Unless you’re Kim Kardashian and you’re looking for 8 billion people to show up at an autograph signing – for your own safety – you should never broadcast to the world – exactly where you’re at – or worse – when you’re on vacation. This includes auto-updating your Foursquare check-ins to Twitter or using TripIn on LinkedIn or anything else that will inform strangers of your exact whereabouts or when you’re away from home for an extended period of time. It’s also a wise move to nix posting a picture of the absolutely beautiful (and rather expensive) Tiffany & Co. 18k gold key heart charm necklace your oh so wonderful boyfriend bought you for Christmas like one of the people I follow did. And, unless of course if your Governor Schwarzenegger and have a staff of armed body guards ready to pounce, it’s probably best not to tell everyone when you go to sleep at night. Sadly, thieves, stalkers and all sorts of colorful characters are preying on people to leave the door open. When you provide valuable information to strangers – they will use it against you. You’re telling them your habits. You’re not only leaving the curtain open, you’re handing them their very own solid gold key on a silver platter to come and go as they please.
Professionalism
If in your bio you indicate your looking for a job, include a website to your LinkedIn profile, or are already employed and indicate – oh I don’t know – you’re the “Full time Director of Marketing” and then proceed to Tweet, at 10:00 in the morning on a school day, things such as, “Readyyy.. Settt.. LATE FOR WORK!”, and then follow it up with “.....still drunk” and a short while later “ehhh, It was a good night tho. Intoxicated ride to work was worth it,” it’s probably not a good thing. And while I could be wrong, but then also tweeting “Training a new Marketer.. She doesn't seem promising BLEHH Sorry you are 25 yrs older than me and I have a higher position. Get over it.” I’m thinking HR would have a field day with that. Then of course, my favorite was a Starbucks barista who texted to Twitter, “Wish all these damn people would leave. Don’t they know I don’t want to work today?” I would classify these tweets, while absolutely hysterical, also career suicide. Not only are would-be thieves preying on you on-line, chances are your employer is also aware of your status. So, if you wouldn’t actually say to your boss, “Hey Bob, by the way, I was late today, cuz I’m still drunk from last night,” well then ya probably shouldn’t tweet it. Unless of course I can actually witness you tell this to Bob, cuz I’d like to see his face when you do.
Just Be Nice
Many years ago Robert Fulghum wrote a book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Basically, the same principles you learned as a child; share your toys with others, always say thank you and please, if you don’t have anything nice to say-keep your yap shut, apply to your on-line activity. So being snarky for the sake of being snarky to a Facebook update or a tweet, is just really not necessary. This also includes going further and opening wretched Twitter handles with the words, “fire”, “murder”, or anything else intended to torment someone. When you start harassing people on-line – you’d be amazed how quickly it turns to cyberstalking. As for thinking about opening a Twitter or Facebook account in someone else’s name – and not for fun – guess what – it’s considered identity theft and is a 3rd degree felony charge. Swear.So the same principles that apply when you were five in the sand box with your bestest friends in the whole wide world – well – they also apply to your activities on-line. Just use some common sense judgement and don't be a knuckle head.
About Karen Moran
Like her love for adventure travel, Karen Moran's 15 year advertising career has been quite a journey.
She launched her ad career at iconic Leo Burnett. From there she went on to BBDO, Publicis & Hal Riney, West Wayne and others.
With an equally diverse client roster, Karen has managed multi-million dollar ad campaigns for Dodge, Toyota, Oldsmobile, Sealy, OfficeMax, Time Warner Cable, Disney Cruise Line, Canyon Ranch, the Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau and even worked on post-Hurricane Katrina marketing efforts for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Karen has since given up big ad agency life to go off on her own. She is now Chief Mischief Maker (aka Head Cheese) at Magnet Social Media When not diligently working to help small brands ignite and foster social dialogue, Karen enjoys her time being out on the water. After all her company is located on a tiny palm-tree laden, stop-light free island called Matlacha off Fort Myers, Florida. Population less than 800. No really, it is.
And, if ya every get a chance to speak with Karen, be sure to ask her how she got a Major League Baseball player...to tweet.
Magnet Social Media
Fort Myers, Florida
Phone: (239) 314-4778
Contact Magnet Social Media to turn your brand into a social media magnet.
Like her love for adventure travel, Karen Moran's 15 year advertising career has been quite a journey.
She launched her ad career at iconic Leo Burnett. From there she went on to BBDO, Publicis & Hal Riney, West Wayne and others.
With an equally diverse client roster, Karen has managed multi-million dollar ad campaigns for Dodge, Toyota, Oldsmobile, Sealy, OfficeMax, Time Warner Cable, Disney Cruise Line, Canyon Ranch, the Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau and even worked on post-Hurricane Katrina marketing efforts for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Karen has since given up big ad agency life to go off on her own. She is now Chief Mischief Maker (aka Head Cheese) at Magnet Social Media When not diligently working to help small brands ignite and foster social dialogue, Karen enjoys her time being out on the water. After all her company is located on a tiny palm-tree laden, stop-light free island called Matlacha off Fort Myers, Florida. Population less than 800. No really, it is.
And, if ya every get a chance to speak with Karen, be sure to ask her how she got a Major League Baseball player...to tweet.
Magnet Social Media
Fort Myers, Florida
Phone: (239) 314-4778
Contact Magnet Social Media to turn your brand into a social media magnet.
RSS Feed
