March 30: Stop Cyberbullying Day
Andy Carvin has declared March 30th Stop Cyberbullying Day. He writes that he would like people to talk about cyberbullying because it is spinning out of control. Well that is certainly how it feels…that things are spinning out of control; and that feeling transcends cyberbullying.
First, as Andy states ,"he most constructive response is to talk about it." The "it" he is referring to is cyberbullying and yes, I agree that it needs to be talked about. The Internet gives the bully an even more effective add-on weapon of intimidation, anonyminity. And in this instance, it appears, another more diabolical weapon, impersonation. Kathy Sierra receives death threats and horrific pictured of her are posted on-line….the perpetrator is not only anonymous, but is pretending to be someone else.
The result has been a veritable trainwreck in the blogosphere…if the goal of the anonymous troll included disruption, along with intimidation, he/she must be quite satisfied. Not only do we have hideous behavior, we have irresponsible accusations of complicity being made and then repeated and republished. It is all hard to read…many of the people involved are bloggers I respect and some, Jeneane, is a friend and colleague also.
As I am writing this, Bill O’Reilly is interviewing Jim Gilchrist who was shouted off the stage at Columbia University in October. Gilchrist is the founder of the Minutemen, a group that patrols the Mexican in order to keep illegal aliens from entering the US.
O’Reilly, who frequently shouts down the guests he disgarees with on his show is "outraged" at the student’s behavior and their, in his opinion too lenient punishment. In the course of the discussion, O’Reilly labels Columbia President Bollinger,who is not on the show to defend himself, a "wimp," which he spells out for us for added impact.
Online and off, we seem to have lowered our standards of civility. Perhaps we all need a good hard look in the mirror. Can we make our points, based upon their merits without using a label or an insinuation to discredit those who disagree; can we listen to an oposing point of view without feeling the need to silence the voice of disagreement?
OK, so we are not cyber trolls, but are we bullies? If so, March 30th sounds like as good a day as any to clean up our own act. I prefer the blogosphere that assembled at Blogher Business and the bloggers that had a blast last Friday night in NYC. Coming back to this, to put it mildy, illustrated the extremes.
I found the accusations leveled against Blogher to be completely unfounded. Slow response? Do Lisa Stone, Jory DesJardins, and Elisa Camahort not have the right to be involved in other activities for a day without that being "evidence" that they are supportive of trolls and stalkers?
I think the fact that Lisa took the time to provide a thoughtful and acurate response speaks volumes….and the quality of her post contrasts sharply with many who were not so concerned with accuracy on their blogs and in their comments.
So, this is written with the hope that all the great bloggers that have ceased to blog because of the trolls and cyberstalkers will find their way back to their blogs….that would be a victory for the good guys.
And let’s talk about cyberbullying…but let’s talk nicely, and listen more.
Beth Kantor has more info about StopCyberbullying on her blog and Andy Carvin has put up lots of great thinking here.
Technorati Tags: media 2.0, Blogher, stopcyberbullying, Lisa Stone, Jeneane Sessum, Kathy Sierra, Jory Des Jardin, Elisa Camahort, Bill O’Reilly, Jim Gilchrist, Toby Bloomberg, CK, Beth Kantor, Ning, Andy Carvin
links for 2007-03-21
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Wired: manifesto for a new age=visual, mini oreo
Net Squared Innovation Fund Award
Have a vision of social change? Using a new or existing technology tool to turn your vision into reality? Nominate your project for the NetSquared Innovation Award.
The Net Squared Conference is being held on May 29th-30th in San Jose. The conference is focused on 20 social change projects that use technologies, tools and communities of the social web to create sustainable societal change. Net Squared has created a Technology Innovation Fund to financially support projects selected by the NetSquared Community.
If you or someone that you are aware of is working on a social impact project using technology you should consider nominating the project for a NetSquared Innovation Award.
Britt Bravo, Community Builder for NetSquared and Non-Profit and NGO Contributing Editor for Blogher explains that they are looking for projects that:
- Use the power of community and social networks to create change
- Use existing/newly developed technology tools for social impact
- Have a plausible financial model
- Have a clear way to measure success
- Exhibit extraordinary leadership, passion and resourcefulness
- Exhibit a passion for social change
The project guidelines are here and online submissions are being accepted until April 6th 2007, noon PST. On April 9-14 all the projects that have been nominatedﾃつ will be voted on by the public on the NetSquared web site.
On April 16th the top 20 projects will be announced and those 20 NetSquared Featured projects will receive an all expense paid trip to San Jose for the NetSquared Conference.
You can see the most recent projects that have been submitted here.
Tags: NetSquared, NetSquared Conference, NetSquared Innovation Fund Award, Media 2.0, Non-profit, Non-profit tech, innovation, Britt Bravo
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Whoa!
Interview With Blogher Business 07 Panelist Nina Kaufman
Next week at this time I will be on my way to NYC for Blogher Business 07 and I am very much looking forward to it. Not only will I get to catch up with old friends of the non-blogging variety but also many blogging friends, some for the first time face- to- face. The latter is one of those value added benefits to blogging which I will cover in my response to Toby’s tag.
I am especially excited to be moderating the Day 2 Panel , How to Keep Out of Real Trouble with three experts, attorneys Megan Belcher and Nina Kaufman and Google’s Karen Wickre. This panel is part of the How to Get it Right the First Time Track.
I have interviewed Megan and Karen over the last several days, and today will post my interview with Nina Kaufman. Nina is the co-founder of Paltrowitz & Kaufman LLP a New York law firm that serves as in-house counsel to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Nina also is the founder and President of Wise Counsel Press, LLC which publishes articles, guides, and podcasts on legal issues for entrepreneurs. In addition, Nina is a stand-up comedienne. No joke.
Marianne: The Blogher panel that we are on is called "How to Keep Out of Real Trouble." Keeping out of trouble when it comes to blogs seems to be top of mind with lawyers for large corporations. You work with entrepreneurs and small businesses; can you give an overview of real trouble as it relates to your clients.
Nina: What’s "real trouble" for small business? A lawsuit. In particular, a big ugly complicated lawsuit (especially) with a large company on the other side. Or, involving someone who has stolen your valuable intellectual property.ﾃつ Small businesses don’t have the war "chest to fund" these legal battles. So, like the old adage, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," small businesses are well served trying to avoid the snares of defamation, copyright infringement, and privacy lawsuits (among others) that social media can engender.
Marianne: Over the last several weeks it seems as if use of Twitter has increased exponentially. All of this "what are you doing?" information is shared not only by bloggers but even presidential candidates. Do you see any cautionary notes that need to be extended to users and participants?
Nina: It reminds me of my mother’s warning about getting a tattoo" "Twenty, thirty, forty years from now…are you really going to want it? And will it look good?" {The answer was no} While today, people may think it is cool to have their exploits around the world, tomorrow, this information will still be available. it will be cached some place, on some server, accessible somehow. And when tomorrow comes, they may not be so thrilled with the fact that the information is still available, or how it may be used against them because of the ways the laws have changed (which we can’t predict today).
It presents a particular challenge for political candidates who are demanded by the public to be "transparent" and then castigated when they provide " too much information." Do I really need Twitter to provide me with a minute by minute update of where John Edwards is?
Marianne: It seems like the increased use of the internet for business collaborations, "always on" accessibility, increased participation in social networks and communities,ﾃつ a constant stream of new technologies, and the flattening world in general… and the frequent lack of clear definition for intellectualﾃつ property ownership might be leading to a huge increase in legal disputes. Do you see this as a possibility?
Nina: The internet and social media are shaking up a lot of our expectations bout the way we work, what we can control, and how to protect it. It is not clear where the dust will settle. While we’re in this in-between stage, I think there will be a lot of disputes. The boundaries between what is acceptable (legal) and not are in flux. For example, there are reports of bloggers who have been hit with lawsuits by major companies for posting negative comments. Is this an attempt to chill free speech or have the bloggers over stepped the defamation line?
Also, our ability to firmly control our work product and company reputation has decreased as we have become more interconnected. Look at the way that former Edward’s campaign blogger Amanda Marcotte’s musing on her personal blog affected her employment (and employer).
Marianne: What advice and warnings can you offer those at risk?
Nina: There are a handful of important guidelines that I think entrepreneurs should keep in mind when using social media for business.
- First, before they jump on the bandwagon, they should carefully consider whether it is really necessary for their business growth. Don’t do it "just because" or because "everyone else is." Blogging, podcasts, ezines, social networks–all can take copious amounts of time to breathe, update, cultivate, and grow. if you don’t stay on top of it and publish regularly, you lose credibility.
- ﾃつ Second, be professional. for most entrepreneurs, blogging isn’t your business–it’s an aspect of marketing you business. Are you presenting the right image for your company by posting scathing comments on your competitors’s blogs? Just because you have the freedom and the readily available technology to say something, doesn’t mean you always should.
- Third, be original. Simply because information is available on the internet doesn’t mean that you have the right to copy it wholesale. You can go a long way to avoiding copyright infringement lawsuits, for example, if you create your own content.
- Fourth, if you have any reason to think that your next step could be a real doozy, consult with an attorney in advance.
Marianne: I noticed that you offer flat fee/package for your clients. This seems to make such good sense for both attorneys and clients…would you please discuss how this has worked for your practice.
Nina: Small businesses like certainty, especially when it comes to their budget items. They are certainly worried about legal fees and how they can spiral out of control. There are certain assignments that we handle with great frequency: business partnership agreements, company formation, certain contracts/business transactions. There’s no reason that we should have to reinvent the wheel when answering the question "What do you charge for______?" It makes it easier for business owners to decide the sequence and timing for building a sold legal foundation for their companies.
For us, it takes the guesswork out of that part of our pricing structure. When you quote a flat fee price, you help remove a worry (among many) from a business owner’s shoulders….creating an environment of safety and trust within the attorney-client relationship.
Thanks to Megan, Karen and Nina for this pre-conference discussion. And thanks to Toby for the idea. We will be MCing the Case Study Lab on Day 1. See you in New York!
Tags: Blogher, Bloger Business 07, Megan Belcher, Toby Bloomberg, Nina Kaufman, Karen Wickre, Paltrowitz & Kaufman, Twitter, campaign08, media 2.0,ﾃつ social media, blogs
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links for 2007-03-15
Interview with Blogher Business ‘07 Panelist Karen Wickre
In anticipation of next week’s Blogher Business 07 Conference in New York City, I am posting interviews with the participants on the panel that I am moderating on Day 2, How to Keep Out of Real Trouble. ﾃつ This panel is part of the track How Do I Get It Right The First Time which focuses on issues that should be discussed in the planning stage in order to launch the most effective social media initiative.
Yesterday, Megan Belcher discussed potential real trouble issues relating to employment law, her field of expertise. Today, Karen Wickre, managing editor of the Official Google Blog has answers for a few questions.
Marianne: The panel that we are doing at Blogher is about how to keep out of real trouble with social media. You oversee all 40 of Google’s corporate blogs and are managing editor of the Official Google Blog. How top of mind is the concept of "keeping of real trouble in your daily life at Google?"
Karen: It’s simply not a daily issue. Corporate blogs-those created and maintained by one or more people on behalf of a company featuring the company’s news–aren’t particularly racy by definition. We’re clear at Google that our family of corporate blogs are a PR vehicle–a more direct, friendlier, speedier and perhaps more candid platform than companies have had in the past, but a PR mechanism nonetheless. As such, its not a risky business.
Marianne: Continuing with the "keeping out of real trouble theme"…how frequent is your interaction with the legal department; or said another way, how involved is legal with Google blogging?
Karen: Legal submits its own blog posts! That is, when we have a policy or legal issue, such as privacy or perhaps a lawsuit we’d like to comment on (here are two examples):
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/response-to-doj-motion.htm l
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/germany-and-google-books-library.html
The legal group wants to get out viewpoint out there via the blog. In non-legal matters, an attorney related to, for example, a specific product launch may review an upcoming post, in the course of reviewing all public communications. Beyond that we only reach occasionally and vice versa.
Marianne: There are many ethical issues that surface in the blogosphere on an ongoing basis. There are also ongoing discussions about adopting a blogger code of ethics. Some of the issues are covered in things like the WOMMA code of ethics but there is no universally agreed upon code of ethics. Disclosure seems to the basis of many of the ethical issues. Currently, as you know, social media is more or less unregulated. Do you see the need for the adoption of a code of ethics?
Karen: Personally, I’d like to see a code of ethics for several reasons. In this I speak as an inveterate reader of blogs, a writer and a media junkie. Disclosure (about work for hire and other reward consideration) is one reason a code is needed, in the case of bloggers who are crossing the line into journalism but not agreeing to all of its traditional tenets.
I also want some ground rules about the identity of the person who is blogging…so often I can’t find a name, a profile, a bio, or even an email address for some blog I read, which discounts it immediately in my mind. And for those who "do" fancy themselves reporters, I’d like to know if they will or will not be honoring press embargoes, and if they will cite their sources responsibly when possible (there are good reasons for tech bloggers to do this).
For all these reasons, I’d welcome a code.
Tomorrow, look for the interview with our third panelist,ﾃつ Nina Kaufman.
Tags: Blogher, Blogher Business 07, Google, Karen Wickre, Megan Belcher, disclosure, WOMMA, blogger ethics,ﾃつ media2.0, legal
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