public relations + risk communication + social theory

Facebook wisely takes the responsive route to FTC's privacy complaint

Rather than fight a federal complaint about its use of customer data, social network Facebook decided it is better to be responsive than pretend to be responsible. It also agreed to allow the feds to audit its activities for the next 20 years -- another smart move.

The Daily Dog reports:

Facebook this week finally had to succumb to allegations that it was misusing members' personal data — the social giant agreed to 20 years of privacy audits to settle a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission, which says Facebook misled its members about its use of their private data. Facebook "deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public," the FTC said in its lengthy complaint, which cites several examples of alleged false promises from Facebook, most of which took place several years ago. ...

Under the terms of the settlement, Facebook will have to undergo a third-party privacy audit every two years for the next 20 years. Twitter and Google have recently signed similar deals with the FTC.

via www.bulldogreporter.com

PRSA's attempt to redefine 'public relations' is misguided, Shel Israel says

The author of "Twitterville" blogs:

PR, for the past 60 years, has focused on broadcasting. They send messages out. When one approach doesn’t work, they try a new way to send the same messages in different forms. When talking doesn’t work, they shout.

In fact, what PRSA needs to teach its members is that they must learn to listen. They can now talk with customers, prospects, investors, potential employees and bring back the wisdom of vital crowds to organizational decision makers.

This is not touchy-feely thinking. This is serious business strategy.

via globalneighbourhoods.net

Companies should avoid the hype of social media, says new report from Pitney Bowes

From the Daily Dog:

The findings reveal that customers are more likely to stay loyal to companies that offer them concrete customer service initiatives and communication management rather than social media interaction, such as:

• Providing an easy and effective way to contact a company (53%)
• Providing home delivery (52%)
• Giving consumers a say in development of products and services (46%)
• Featuring controls so consumers may select preferred channels and frequency of communications (46%)

via www.bulldogreporter.com

Condom maker Durex resists apologizing for tweet, but finally gives in

Local activist group FeministSA led the charge vocally against Durex, and a barrage of complaints ensued amid calls for a boycott. A simple apology might have ended it right there, but Durex doubled down.

The company refused to apologize, told folks to get a sense of humor, and kept tweeting out jokes for the rest of the day. It finally bowed from the pressure the following day, deleted the tweets and dumped the blame on its local PR agency. Hardly a sufficient way to make it up to all the people offended.

via www.businessinsider.com

Survey says: Americans like companies, but not the CEOs | #CrisisPR

They also disapprove (generally) of companies that hire lobbyists, or who contribute to political campaigns.

 

via pac.org

 

Something to think about if you shop on Black Friday: You are killing the employees' Thanksgiving | #CrisisPR

Reporting to work at 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day ruins what is supposed to be a day spent with family, said Anthony Hardwick, who works part-time at a Target store in Omaha corralling carts. His online petition against Target Corp.’s plan to open at midnight on Black Friday had drawn more than 100,000 signatures from retail workers and the public by Wednesday, about two weeks after he launched it.

“The folks that work at Target are going to be working all night overnight on one of the most hectic retail days of the holidays,” Hardwick said, “they need to be well-rested for that, so they have to miss out on Thanksgiving if they’re going to be working overnight.”

via www.washingtonpost.com

Why did Penn State fail to stop Sandusky? | #CrisisPR

Buzz Bissinger at the Daily Beast offers this:

I think the answer to the question of inaction is simple. It wasn’t a matter of university officials and football staffers in Happy Valley not wanting to deal with it (which they didn’t), or not following up (which they didn’t), or having better things to do like attending Friday-night football pep rallies. There is no great conspiracy theory at work.

What happened, or more accurately did not happen, goes to the core of evil that major college sports programs in this country have become, equivalent to Mafia families in which the code of omertà rules and coaches and staff always close ranks around their own, even if it means letting someone who was first accused of inappropriate sexual conduct in 1998 continue to roam.

via www.thedailybeast.com

Why people hate Wall Street in just 39 words | #CrisisPR

Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone offers a succinct analysis:

They hate it because the banks have made life for ordinary people a vicious tightrope act; you slip anywhere along the way, it's 10,000 feet down into a vat of razor blades that you can never climb out of.

via www.rollingstone.com

How should Wall Street respond to Occupy Wall Street? Pay attention more visibly | #CrisisPR

Risk communications consultant Peter Sandman writes:

A feeling of disenfranchisement, of not being listened to, is often the core of outrage.

That was certainly true of the sixties Vietnam War demonstrations. We now know that President Lyndon Johnson was paying assiduous attention to the antiwar movement, but he pretended he wasn’t for fear that the movement would escalate if it thought it was having an impact. Johnson hoped to discourage the demonstrators into giving up. His pretense worked – the demonstrators thought he wasn’t listening – but his understanding of outrage was deficient. The antiwar movement escalated and its violent wing flourished because it (wrongly) thought Johnson wasn’t paying attention.

I believe that Wall Street is paying a lot closer attention to Occupy Wall Street than it pretends. And I believe that it would be wiser for Wall Street to pay attention more visibly. (Some government leaders are also pretending not to be paying attention, while others are letting their attention show.)

No financial institution (or politician or government agency) has sought my advice on the outrage management implications of Occupy Wall Street. What would I say if they asked? Pay attention more visibly.

Sandman then offers six specific steps that Wall Street should consider if it wants to calm the situation.

via www.psandman.com

 

Michael Jordan goes from hero to zero among NBA players | #CrisisPR

Michael Jordan grabbed headlines last week, as he used to do with his electrifying dunks and championship performances, but this time it was for a very different reason. Last week Jordan, now the owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, spoke out against a 50/50 split of Basketball Related Income (BRI), saying it was too generous. He, along with some 10-15 other owners, preferred to start the negotiations with a 47% split for the NBA players and work down from there.

The response was almost immediate, as current NBA players took to Twitter to call Jordan out as a complete hypocrite.

via www.hoopsworld.com

Americans are reserving 'a special place in hell' for Congress and Big Banks, Rasmussen poll shows | #CrisisPR

There’s a lot of anger in America today, but voters seem to reserve a special place in hell for Congress and the large banks bailed out by the federal government.

Rasmussen Reports in its latest national telephone survey asked Likely U.S. Voters how angry they are at five segments of society regularly in the news, and most voters expressed at least some anger at all of them. But the intensity of that anger was strongest for Congress and the bailed-out banks.

via www.rasmussenreports.com

Adidas reports 'sophisticated' cyber-attack on several sites

The popular sportswear manufacturer Adidas has suffered what it is referring to as a "sophisticated, criminal cyber attack" made against a number of its websites.

Affected sites include adidas.com, reebok.com, miCoach.com, adidas-group.com and various local eCommerce shops.

via nakedsecurity.sophos.com

Fortune 500 are putting the brakes on social media, study says

An annual study by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts concludes that social media use by the largest companies in the world has stalled, or perhaps is even retrenching.

via www.ragan.com

CIA's 'ninja librarians' are keeping tabs on our opinions

McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- In an anonymous industrial park, CIA analysts who jokingly call themselves the "ninja librarians" are mining the mass of information people publish about themselves overseas, tracking everything from common public opinion to revolutions.

The group's effort gives the White House a daily snapshot of the world built from tweets, newspaper articles and Facebook updates.

The agency's Open Source Center sometimes looks at 5 million tweets a day. The analysts are also checking out TV news channels, local radio stations, Internet chat rooms - anything overseas that people can access and contribute to openly.

via hosted.ap.org

German hackers aim for stock exchange, hit rugby fan site instead

German hackers attempting to attack their country's stock market index hit the wrong target and took down the fan site of a French rugby team instead.

The hackers were aiming for DAX, a blue chip stock market index comprised of 30 major German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, but their sights were apparently off, and what they actually hit — and quite successfully — was Allezdax.com, a website for fans of Union Sportive Dacquoise, also known as US Dax, a rugby club located in the southwest of France.

via www.securitynewsdaily.com

The short, happy sainthood of Steve Jobs

It was almost inevitable ...

The Steve Jobs backlash began as quickly as the mythmaking had. Candlelight vigils were just starting to form outside Apple stores worldwide when bloggers began their assault.

via www.nytimes.com

BofA chooses the "we're responsive" strategy | #CrisisPR

It took awhile, but Bank of America decided to respond to customer complaints and withdraw plans to charge a fee for debit cards:

 

“We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee,” David Darnell, co-chief operating officer at Bank of America, said in a statement. “As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so.”

via www.nytimes.com

 

Chicago Board Of Trade: “We Are The 1%” | #CrisisPR

Hard to imagine what these folks were thinking. You can't manage outrage downward by giving your antagonists something to rally around.

Traders at Chicago’s Board of Trade Building scrawled a missive directed at the Occupy Chicago protestors with signs taped on their eighth floor windows declaring “We Are The 1%”. Chicago’s branch of the Occupy Wall Street movement are calling this response, “Wall Street’s 1st Large Scale Response in Chicago.”

via www.mediaite.com