Social Paranoia: Introduction (First Draft)
Social networking sites can be scary places. When the whole world is connected, anything can happen, and it can happen quickly, too. Just consider the case of Justine Sacco, the PR executive who was fired after posting a racist tweet when boarding a plane. Sacco went offline for eleven hours during the flight, only to find out that her post had gone viral and she’d been fired whilst in the air.
The speed of social networking has its upsides – after all, a world of information is at your fingertips, and I’ll always fondly remember when I first saw the power of Twitter, when people were posting updates from the London Riots in 2009, literally hours before the same information was being broadcast by the news channels.
But it has its downsides, too. These days, anyone can accidentally become a meme, or unwittingly star in a viral video. Remember the Star Wars Kid? His name is Ghyslain Raza, and he went viral aged fifteen after starring in a video where he twirled a golf ball retriever around like a lightsaber. Raza never intended for the video to go public, but he accidentally left the tape lying around and it was discovered by a schoolmate who distributed it online.
Reza has said that he was a victim of cyberbullying, because the video attracted a number of negative comments. His family filed a lawsuit against the families of the kids who uploaded it, and Reza has since started using the video to speak out against bullies and cyberbullying.
And it’s not just individuals who can fall victim to a social networking scandal – it can happen to brands as well, and it’s arguably more noticeable when it does happen. Just think about the backlash against Celeb Boutique, when they hijacked the #Aurora hashtag with the message, “#Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora dress ;)”
No, Celeb Boutique. #Aurora was trending because James Eagan Holmes walked into a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, and then killed twelve people. No-one’s in the mood to buy a dress.
Then there’s the infamous case of Dell Hell with blogger Jeff Jarvis, and when Dave Carroll went viral for writing a song called ‘United Breaks Guitars’, about his troubles with an airline. Sure, people have every right to be paranoid about using social networking sites, but so do brands. It’s a minefield out there, if you’re unprepared.
I could go on and on, but that’s what the rest of the book is for – I’ll talk to you about the different types of situations that social networking can make you vulnerable in, and I’ll tell you how to avoid them. After all, used responsibly, social networking sites are a great way to keep up with your family and friends, as well as the events of the outside world.
Social Paranoia: How to Stay Safe in a Connected World is the result of years of industry experience and a survey which was conducted in 2015 to gauge the thoughts and opinions of real people. You can read more about that in the appendix. In the meantime, make sure no-one’s looking over your shoulder and read on.
Oh, and don’t forget to post about the book on your social networking site of choice – if you dare…
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