When I first heard about the recent hack of 12 million Apple device UDIDs, I wasn’t too concerned.
I caught a sound bite on Fox 5 News, on my way out the door, so the details were necessarily sketchy.
But hackers hack.
So what?
In my mind, the 12 million hacked UDIDs was a drop in the bucket relative to the total number of Apple devices out there.
I felt my nonchalant attitude was warranted.
But then I learned that these IDs had allegedly been lifted from a FBI laptop that hackers had somehow gained access to.
And then I started to be a little more concerned.
Why is the FBI just leaving laptops with sensitive information laying around?
And why the hell does an FBI laptop have 12 million UDIDs on it?
What legitimate purpose could the FBI possibly have for acquiring the UDIDs in the first place?
And then I learned that it wasn’t just random UDIDs.
The laptop allegedly also contained specific information about the users connected to those device IDs, including their names, email addresses and credit card information.
And now I’m concerned.
My colleagues, in the office, were following the story and passed around the link to the site where you could check to see if you were among the victims of this latest digital security breach.
We joked about how not being on the list didn’t mean that you were any more secure, than if you had been.
All jokes aside – I immediately checked to see if any of my devices were among those compromised.
Luckily they were not.
But despite my relief, I can’t help but be a tad ticked off.
The infamous hacks and blatant privacy policy violations of Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Chase, et al, can leave no doubt that ‘online security’ is a misnomer.
With this latest gaffe, we’ve learned that even the Feds are in on the chicanery.
And although both the FBI and Apple have denied that any such leak occurred, in light of the frequency with which hacks occur it’s hard to believe either of them.
It seems like every other day, we hear about some major leak of private or secure data.
And if it’s hackers, doing their thing, then so be it.
Hackers serve a legitimate role in keeping these corporations, who have a fiduciary duty to safeguard our information, on their collective j-o-b.
Without hackers exposing the flaws in corporate firewalls and security protocols, our shit would be a whole lot less secure than it is.
On an aside – I’m waiting for September 29th – the day after hackers have threatened to release Romney’s tax returns.
I digress.
This latest incident has exposed a reality that few of us really consider…
That online information is inherently insecure.
Each time you fill out an online form, use your credit card to make a purchase from your mobile phone, or create a digital profile on some site, you compromise your data.
And in this increasingly digital world we live in, this compromise is virtually inescapable.
Of course, mostmanysome a few of us take steps to safeguard our information online.
We use services like 1password to avoid the trap of using common passwords for all of our online accounts.
We change our passwords frequently and don’t share them with anyone.
We do whatever we have to do to avoid having our private info floating around in cyberspace.
At the end of the day, I pray that these cats get their acts together.
And despite the denials, if this hack is real, then Apple and the FBI, you’ve got some splainin’ to do!
As many of you are by now probably aware, LinkedIn was recently hacked, adding another notch in hackers’ belts globally.
The chances are extremely high that yours is among the more than 6 million LinkedIn passwords that were posted online by the Russian hacker who accomplished the feat.
In an effort to mitigate damages, LinkedIn, and a number of different online advocacy groups, have urged LinkedIn users to immediately changes their passwords.
If you haven’t yet, WTF are you waiting for?
But rather than simply use one of your standard passwords (birthday, wife’s name, favorite team, abcd1234, etc.) users are encouraged to utilize password protection and generation services like 1Password, which afford greater security than creating a password yourself.
Most folks use the same passwords over and over again, whenever they create a new online account.
If they don’t use the exact same password, they use some slight variation.
But the reality is that most people don’t really employ the type of password generation and variation strategy online, that would keep any of the sensitive data we routinely share online, particularly secure.
I’ve been using 1Password for a minute now, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it offered as a viable solution to LinkedIn’s present crisis.
If you’re unfamiliar with 1Password, it’s a service that allows you to store all of your online passwords and accounts in a secure environment.
It also generates unique complex passwords, that are difficult to crack.
But what I’ve found particularly appealing about 1Password, is the fact that it synchronizes between your devices, allowing you the flexibility to access all your accounts and associated passwords from the convenience of your desktop, mobile or tablet device.
I don’t count myself among those whose passwords were compromised, but if you weren’t like me and find yourself racking your brain for a unique password, I suggest you take 1Password for a spin.
And “No” I don’t work for 1Password, nor am I being paid to endorse them.
But if anyone from 1Password catches wind of this, feel free to break a brotha off!
The launch party is next weekend, March 30th at Pranna Lounge, and I’m more than a little excited.
F2FA or Face2Face Africa, is the brain child of Isaac Boateng and Sandra Appiah, two Ghanaian-born entrepreneurs, who wanted to put a new face (pun-intended) on how Africa is perceived.
Per their mission statement “Face2face Africa is a powerful, riveting, and refreshing media force that serves as the voice of Africa and represents Africans positively on a global level.”
And Sandra’s Linkedin profile describes Face2Face Africa as follows:
Face2face Africa, an online magazine launching in the first quarter of 2011 with a mission of Restoring Africa’s Image. The initiative was started by young Africans residing in the United States who realized that it was their time to make a difference in Africa.
From my interaction with the founders, F2FA impressed me with a singular focus on their mission of reframing the perception of Africa and Africans.
When I spoke to them a few months ago, during their search for the right person for their first cover, they described the F2FA magazine as a vibrant, multi-niche, high-end magazine.
They wanted the magazine to be the vehicle which used creativity to explore the many facets of African politics, culture, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, and the different methods Africans were employing to inspire change, progress, and development on the continent.
That’s a mouthful!
Their online magazine currently features stories about African artists, musicians, designers, authors and standouts from all walks of African life.
And if their online version is any indication of things to come, I’m confident that the print version will equally impress.
The launch party next weekend promises to be a star-studded affair.
Not that I’m in to celebrities.
But we (my partners and I) were instrumental in getting the personality that graces the inaugural cover (I can’t tell you who it is, but they’re reeaaalllyyy popular), so I’m also excited for that reason as well.
Although some would question the wisdom of publishing a print magazine when the big boys are folding and closing up shop, opting for digital subscription models, F2FA believes they’ve got a niche.
And they are planning on releasing an app to satisfy readers who want to access F2FA magazine from the convenience of their mobile or tablet devices.
So they’re definitely looking to cover all bases.
If you’re interested in attending their launch event, follow this link to get your tickets.
But you’d better hurry, they’re going fast!
And make sure you stay up on F2FA…they’re the new face of Africa!
This weekend was quite an active one in social media: President Obama officially launched his recruitment effort for the 2012 race. Shit White Girls Say…To Black Girls created a stir all over the internet. Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos pulled out a thrilling overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
How do I know all of this stuff? Am I clairvoyant? Do I own a crystal ball? Did I have CNN on smash all wekend?
No. No. And no.
I learned all of the above through Facebook, Twitter and text.
I’m sure that most would scoff at this statement.
So what? Don’t we all get our stuff that way?
Perhaps. But the reason I’ve decided to talk about this today, is to offer a snapshot of the real impact that social media has in our lives.
Social Mobilization: Obama 2012
Late Sunday evening, I got a Facebook alert on my iPhone that a friend of mine posted a job opportunity from President Obama.
There were jobs for State Directors, Communications, Press Secretaries, State Digital Directors, Deputy Field Directors, and the like.
Each job listing identified the state (or multiple states) for which the posted position was applicable.
Clicking on the link opened a detailed job description, which led with an overview of the job, the responsibilities, the requirements, salary statement, and a link to either apply for the job or send the listing to a friend.
Of course, I threw my hat in the ring.
The great thing about the applying for the job was that the interface allowed you to either (i) upload your resume or (ii) use your LinkedIn profile (I opted for the second).
A few multiple choice selections later, my application was complete.
Bam. Give me a call, let’s talk strategy.
I was (and am) completely impressed with the way the Obama campaign is (once again) leveraging social media to grow their staff and volunteer base.
Of course, there are only so many of these positions which will actually be filled via this process.
But the database they’re going to create will undoubtedly be the envy of the 2012 campaign cycle.
Social Commentary: Shit White Girls Say…To Black Girls
Last Thursday, one of my friends posted the video Shit White Girls Say…To Black Girls on their Facebook profile.
At the time, there were 305 views of the video.
By Friday, it was over 1 million
As of this posting, there have been over 4,277,387 views of that video.
In four days, this video was viewed over 4 million times!
Mind you, this is a parody of a parody.
The original video, Shit Girls Say has garnered over 9 million views since December 12, 2011, when it was originally posted.
Despite the fact that it owes it’s inception to another video, it has clearly taken a life of it’s own, spawning spirited discussion all over the internet.
The commentary around this video has been significant, considering it’s only five days old.
But it speaks to the power of social media to get people to address issues that they might not have otherwise.
Social Discourse: Shit White Girls Say…To Black Girls
I know. I know.
It’s tres gauche to use the same example for two different topics, but bear with me on this one.
On Sunday afternoon, a friend of mine sent me a text asking my wife to check out her Facebook profile on the whole “Shit White Girls Say” thing.
Apparently, she had posted the video to her profile and invited her network to weigh in on what they thought.
As my wife is not on Facebook and generally doesn’t pick up her phone, her girl knew that the most efficient way to reach her was through me.
But I digress…
Anyway, several of her friends had opined that the video was a realistic reflection of what they, as Black women, had experienced.
But one (brave/misguided) White woman decided that she was going to take up the charge for White women, and ‘educate’ the other posters on the ignorance of their perspective.
Her opinions were, needless to say, not ‘appreciated’ and folks let her know.
The heat finally became too much, and with this final statement (and I quote) “And I will un-follow this post now. It is ending like too many,” Miss Thing was done.
What I found particularly interesting about the whole episode was how people took ownership of the discussion around the video and had an active discourse on the subject.
While everyone was not in agreement, people took an active role in voicing their opinions in a forum, where the opinions of others were important to them.
Wait a minute…what was I saying…
Oh yeah!
Social media is a powerful force for mobilization, commentary and discourse.
All of this information I’ve shared with you, I initially learned of, interacted with, and ultimately shared via social media.
I even gave my two cents in the debate via Facebook on my iPhone, while I waited in the car for the wife.
Where TV used to be the dominant medium for sharing information, it’s now taking it’s cues from the internet generally, and social media specifically.
Think about how many stories last year broke on Twitter before mainstream media even knew what was happening.
Since I’m on this extended social media rant, its only proper that I go in a little deeper and talk about the tricks of the trade that I use to get my social media on.
My introduction to social media started about five years ago, participating in online forums and beta testing groups for different applications.
Back in the day (five years ago was so last year) forums were the original online social networks.
Today, there are countless social media networks of varying popularity, size and utility.
As more and more brands start realizing the value of social networks to their overall brand presence, managing these various networks is a growing issue.
I belong to a Social Media Marketing group on Linkedin, which discusses social media issues regularly.
One of the longest running discussions is about which social media management tool group members use.
The responses run the gamut, as do the rationales justifying the use of this tool over that.
Many of the responses talk about Radian 6, and recently Sendible has crept into these discussions as well.
In fact, there is an abundance of social media management and monitoring tools to chose from (of varying degrees of utility, quality and price), but one has stolen my heart.
For those of you in the know, Hootsuite was one of the earliest free (well used-to-be-free, but I’ll get to that later) social media management platforms available.
That’s how they got me – first in the space AND free.
Hootsuite promised me the world: unlimited social media profiles, analytics, simple and easy to use interface, desktop dashboard.
And I used it all.
I used to boast (to anyone who would listen) that I managed 20 social media profiles effortlessly – and it was all because of Hootsuite.
For those of you who are asking, “WTF is Hootstuite?” shame on you.
But if you, like me, are in the know, you know WTF Hootsuite is: only the best-es social media management/monitoring tool in the free world (although, as I said earlier, it’s no longer free).
With Hootsuite, you can manage multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook profiles, Facebook pages, Linkedin, Ping.fm, WordPress, MySpace and Foursquare accounts.
Social networks? Hootsuite does that!
From the Hootsuite dashboard, you can simultaneously manage and monitor multiple streams.
You can manage and monitor multiple streams from the Hootsuite dash.
In addition to managing and monitoring multiple streams and profiles, you also have the capacity to generate comprehensive statistics using Google Analytics, Twitter and Facebook Insights.
Hootsuite does statistics too!
Mind you, I’ve only really been freaking Hootsuite in the past few weeks because they’re about to start charging me, and I need to know that I’m going to get the right bang for my buck.
They’ve got a free 30 day trial, to take it for a test drive and see if its really the tool for you.
So if you’re interested in using a fairly inexpensive social media management and monitoring tool that won’t break the bank (it’s only $5/month for unlimited profiles and $15 for additional team members), then Hootsuite may just be the right tool for you.
I Hootsuite.
Do you?
Note: Hootsuite does not pay me to endorse their product (although I wish they would!)
As a technology and social media evangelist, I regularly recommend that my clients explore using technology and social media platforms to reach niche audiences, by employing the medium used by these audiences. Invariably, services like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and their progeny feature prominently in my discussions.
With the ever-increasing number of users, and the development of widgets and other technologies, like Tweetdeck, which enable users to access platforms on-the-go, social media services are becoming inextricably intertwined in the way many of us live our lives.
Conventional wisdom dictates that the younger you are, the more familiar you are with advancements in technology, and the more readily you adopt them. Conversely, the older you are, the more out of touch you are when it comes to technology and social media platforms.
Take me, for example. I’m fairly adept at texting, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. But when compared to my 21 year old brother, I’m a sloth, groping blindly to grasp the nuances and intricacies these platforms have to offer. I figured that my little microcosm reflected the real world. However, as of recent, my assumption has been turned on it’s head.
You see, this weekend, I spent some time with my nieces, students at Spellman, and I was amazed to learn their perspective when it came to their use of, and familiarity with technology and social media platforms.
My older niece is a texting monster. Every few seconds, her Blackberry Curve is buzzing. She regularly engages in multiple conversations simultaneously. With many of her friends far away at their respective homes, texting became their main form of communication.
She loathes Facebook and Twitter, as unnecessary invasions of privacy. She sees no purpose in posting every intimate detail of one’s life online and believes that it gives strangers (i.e. friends of friends) access to information that they would otherwise not be privy to if they didn’t know you personally. Her younger sister, also an avid texter, is similarly Facebook and Twitter averse.
Both of them regaled me with stories of the various ‘beefs’ raging on Facebook, caused by one person posting a status update or picture that offended another. They narrated one instance in which the reputation of one Spellman student was put on full blast, because people she had friended, engaged in a smear campaign using the viral nature of the platform to spread misinformation about her.
This lack of privacy and ease for abuse has made many, like them, very Facebook averse. So while Facebook and Twitter are all the rage for some, for others, not so much.
As this little insight into social media from my nieces demonstrates, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. And while brands may have different concerns from college students, many of the issues they face will be similar.
Knowing which nodes to tweak to reach which person becomes invaluable as user preferences differ widely. The digital and social media marketing mix employed by brands should be designed to tap into the digital spaces in which folks naturally congregate.
At the end of the day, I encourage my clients to jump, feet first, into the technological/social media fray, because you can’t have a dialogue with folks, if you don’t speak the language.
So over the last few days (weeks actually) since I last posted, I learned that my concept of ‘being the brand’ was not only a catchy way to express my concept of self-promotion, but someone else’s trademarked IP. “Be The Brand” is the title of a book by Tamara Jacobs, in which she provides her advice on presentation skills.
Not to ride the wave of some else’s brand identity, I needed to take some time to rethink how I wanted to position myself. Since my ultimate objective is to demonstrate how to distinctly brand onesself, this dilemna presented a singular opportuity to offer Lesson Two: You are the Brand.
When someone Googles your name, what do they find? Does your Google search generate 1000 hits? 100? 10? Do you come up at all? If not, what does that mean? It certainly doesn’t mean that you don’t exist, but it does mean that you’re off the radar. Now if its your intent to stay off the radar (and creates the mystique that is ‘you’), then ignore the balance of what I have to say on this subject. If however, you want to show up as a returned result from a Google (or any other enginge) search, listen up.
You are the brand refers to the fact that as a unique person, you are your own calling card. People’s perception of you is shaped initially, not by the ACTUAL you, but by the PERCEIVED you. Its not the internal you, the soft, caring, sensitive person who loves everyone, that people see. Its the external, irreverent abrasive, jerk (and I offer this dichotomy for illustrative purposes only). My point is that people have formed their opinions of you before they ever meet you.
In today’s world, one’s perception of another is shaped by Google search results, the number of Myspace friends, Facebook friends, Linkedin contacts, webpage Alexa rankings. Its shaped by the content returned in those search results, the quality of your friends, quantity of contacts, impressiveness of your statistics. All of these perceptions take place in the absence of you.
By the time you actually run into the person who has Googled you, they have already formed an opinion of who you are, which, invariably, ends up being a large part of how you will be defined in the eyes of that person. If you are, in reality, who you represent yourself to be virtually, then its all good. If however, you are not, and your virtual self is a mis-representation of your actual self, then I suggest you take stock of this lesson and apply it forthwith.
The steps which follow will help you re-define yourself, or if you’re happy with the virtual you, enhance your already impressive appeal.
Step 1: Audit your virtual self. You’ve got to know what’s out there painting the virtual picture of you. Since your virtual self is the extension of your real self, you should make sure that you’re happy with it. Perform a Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, and any other kind of search to learn what the ether has amassed about you.
Step 2: Assess your virtual self. Are you happy with what you’ve found? Does your virtual self exist at all? How far off the mark is the virtual self from the real thing? Is the information about you old, out-of-date or inaccurate? If you didn’t know you, what impression would you have of you? Positive? Negative? Indifferent? Come up with a concrete picture of yourself that articulates the positives and negatives of the virtual picture of you.
Step 3: Create the perfect virtual you. Having conducted your audit and assessment, you’ve learned a few things about yourself. Now you should take a stab at defining the you that you WANT people to see. Make a list of all the things that you’ve done, places you’ve worked, people you know and accomplishments.
Step 4: Get the perfect virtual you online. There are a number of strategies you can employ to re-define yourself online. There are things as simple as putting up a Myspace page, creating Facebook and Linkedin profiles, setting up a blog or website. If you’re really savvy, you can engage in some SEO activities and create anchors that route people to you and populate search results with information you want them to see (while pushing down the relevance of other content that may not be as favorable).
Step 5: Analyze your efforts. Now that you’ve rebuilt yourself online. Do that Google search again. You liking what you see? If not, don’t worry, we can fix it. Sometimes it takes a few days for the results to populate these search engines, so chillax. If however, you’ve set up a website, created online profiles, written a blog, commented in an online forum, you may find that those elements appear instantly. In either instance, be patient, your virtual identity wasn’t created overnight.
There’s a saying which goes, ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover.’ And while that may be true, people do, in fact, judge books by their covers every day. Today’s covers are no longer merely the physical package, but also the virtual book jacket that provides glimpses of the story within. At the end of the day, you are the brand. You’ve got to be cognizant of that all the time, and take steps to define it, lest you be defined by others.
