All Posts By

Marijean

Jun 22
Love0

Roger Ebert Faces the Wrath of Facebook and Jackasses Everywhere

By Communications
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/ebertchicago/status/82872136712192000″]

Facebook put the smackdown on Roger Ebert this week, deleting his page after Ebert alleged that drinking and driving may have caused the death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn.

The next day, Facebook restored Ebert’s page, saying the deletion was in error. But was it?

Facebook has on every page the option to report it (see image at left). When commenters are uncensored and post what could be construed as hate messages or other inappropriate content, users can report the violation. ANYONE can report a page and Facebook may disable a page until they can resolve the matter.

It’s a good policy, I think and in the Ebert scenario, where comments were getting pretty heated, may have been appropriate. I don’t think Ebert was at fault — what he said was his opinion and in MY opinion, not at all out of line.

What do you think? Should Facebook be able to censor, based on the categories in the page report feature?

Read Roger Ebert’s response.

 

Jun 21
Love0

Social Content, Allergies and the Parents who Diagnose Them

By Social Media

Photo credit: Muffet

I was allergic to dairy products until I was about 12 years old. Recent health issues led to surgery (I’m fine, now) and for the last month my diet has subsisted primarily of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. I’ve been adding dairy back in gradually and it’s the weirdest thing — it all tastes off to me. In the last couple of weeks I’ve poured out a couple of glasses of milk that were fine, but for some reason just tasted really sour.

I’m fascinated by this new study that suggests food allergies may be more common than originally thought and that about 8% of American children likely have them.

The Booster Shots blog of the LA Times reports this:

KidsHealth, from the Nemours Foundation, has this to say about “growing out” of allergies:

“Most kids who are allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, or soy outgrow their allergies by the time they’re 5 years old. But only about 20% of people with peanut allergy and about 10% of kids with tree nut allergy outgrow their allergy. Fish and shellfish allergies usually develop later in life, and people are unlikely to outgrow them.”

Now, I hope that information like this study doesn’t result in a slew of parents downsizing kids’ diets. If anything, I hope that more parents seek allergy testing for their kids when they suspect sensitivities. The results of these studies are often inflammatory, whether that’s the intent or not.

I’m glad I outgrew my allergy to dairy early and suspect that this current aversion will work its way through my system as well. Studies like these and the wealth of health information available online may contribute to parents over-diagnosing allergies. Leave the diagnosing to the professionals, and read online social content such as blogs and warnings via social networks with a grain of salt.

Jun 20
Love0

Color me Doubtful: Barack Obama to Tweet “Personally”

By Public Relations

Barack ObamaAfter what already seems like a long summer of mis-tweeting politicians and executives, the news of our most senior executive composing his own tweets seems out of place. Obama for America has been managing the president’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, but now, going into the 2012 presidential campaign, President Barack Obama will contribute to the Twitter timeline signing his personally authored tweets with a “– BO.”

Now, I may be a jaded, cynical public relations person but my gut tells me this is not so. Would the leader of the free world really be allowed to update Twitter personally? Will Barack Obama be allowed to DM? To use hashtags, to Twitpic and @reply? Will he get to add new users to follow — or, better yet, choose who to unfollow? What if he makes a mistake? What then?

What do you think? Is there anyway the Twitter account @BarackObama would ever be tweets straight from the man himself?

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/BarackObama/status/82505176849711104″]
Jun 17
Love0

WTF? Friday: The Five People Who Make Me Nuts on Twitter

By Social Media

WTF FridayFrom time to time I review the list of Twitter users following me. There are many I’m fully aware of and engage with on a regular basis. There are a lot though, that leave me shaking my head.

I’m enjoying the new Klout extension for Chrome , a handy tool that allows me to scan through my list of followers quickly to see who really cares that they’re on Twitter and who’s just screwing around. Anyway, today, my scan through my list and the revelation of  dozens of disengaged followers has really fired me up. Therefore, I give you . . .

The Five People Who Make Me Nuts on Twitter 

You look great! Is that a new haircut? Have you lost weight?

  1. The egg. Really? You’re an egg? Awesome. I’ll be sure to recognize you at the next Tweetup. Please get a photo in there or get out.
  2. The person with no content in their bio. NOTHING. I have no idea who you are, what you’re interested in, where you are or in short, WTF you are doing on Twitter.
  3. The person who set up a Twitter account more than a year ago because, oh, I don’ t know, someone probably told them they needed one, but has never tweeted a single thing. Don’t lurk; engage, you creep. What might actually be worse is the user who has attracted followers and yet tweets maybe once a month or so and never, ever replies to other users.
  4. The person running a Twitter account for a business whose tweets are protected. Kinda ruins the point, doesn’t it?
  5. Here’s a phenomenon I can’t even begin to understand: the user following me because we have the same first name. Can you imagine if my name was Jennifer?

If you’re a Twitter user (with a Klout score of 20 or better), what makes you nuts?