Category Archives: WorkUpdates

In our video we here at Digital Tattoo discussed the implications of the new Facebook graph search. It appears that this was just the tip of the iceberg for Facebook’s new search functionality. Sources are reporting that Facebook is looking into the addition of hashtags.  Hashtags (or pound signs for the rotary phone generation) have been used extensively on other social networking sites such as Tumblr, Instagram and of course, twitter.

The addition of hashtags would have large implications for Facebook’s privacy features. Insiders from TechCrunch think the hashtags will line up with graph search making status and comments easy to search. Clicking a hashtag could take the user straight to indexed graph search results. The next question is Facebook’s silver bullet, privacy. Would clicking on a hashtag pull up all statuses with that same hashtag, like Twitter, or would it be restricted to open profiles? Will clickable discovery help you browse from wall to wall or #will #it #bog #down #the #fb #experience?

We all know people who currently use hashtags on Facebook despite their lack of function. It appears they did understand Facebook all along, they were just a little ahead of the curve.

Do you use hashtags in your social networks? Would you use them if they were added to Facebook?

In a recent blog post, we discussed common personality types that exist across a variety of social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These personalities, as illustrated in MyLife’s Infographic, are derived from common online behaviour and poor social media etiquette among users. 

Based on our diverse experiences in the realm of social media, the Digital Tattoo student team has compiled five top social media types for you to reflect upon and enjoy.

Do you recognize any of these common social media personalities? Do you judge others based on what they share online? What do your social media profiles say about you? 

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The New York Times recently published a piece on the new direct to Netflix hit, House of Cards. The political thriller stars Kevin Spacey and is directed by The Social Network’s David Fincher. The show has become a smash hit and is Netflix’s most streamed content in over forty countries. The key to the shows success is more than a top notch cast and crew, it’s the hints from the big data gathered by Netflix on its users watching habits.

Netflix tracks data on not only which programs you chose to watch but when you pause, rewind or quit watching a program halfway through. This information is compiled to create a perfect concoction of television. This creative use of data collection doesn’t stop there, Netflix targeted different users with different ads for “House of Cards” depending their entertainment choices. The New York Times writes that, “[f]ans of Mr. Spacey saw trailers featuring him, women watching “Thelma and Louise” saw trailers featuring the show’s female characters and serious film buffs saw trailers that reflected Mr. Fincher’s touch.” This next level of complete personalisation depends on the users  agreement to share their personal likes and tastes with the search algorithm.
Advertisements geared toward individual users is nothing new. As any GMail user knows ads are targeted toward individual users search history. Netflix users might be unaware of how much data the company is collecting and this affects the users individual experience with the product.  In February 2012 the U.S District court charged Netflix that it couldn’t legal hold on to its customers data for over a year. This is according to the Video Privacy Protection Act which was “signed into law in 1988 by then-President Ronald Reagan after a Washington, D.C. newspaper outed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork’s Blockbuster rental history during his Congressional approval hearings.” The Toronto Star confirms that this ruling also applies to Canadian users.

What does this mean for your digital identity? While your personal viewing history won’t be shared outside of those who have access to your account. The interactions you have with a company like Netflix is molded to your tastes. As this customization becomes more integrated it becomes more important to have a positive digital identity as it changes not only how others see you but how you perceive others.

Do you notice more personalisation in your interactions with products? Do you think it is possible to build the “perfect product”?

If you’re a social networking aficionado like me, you can probably group your friends into categories based on their online behaviour. There’s the political activist. The guy who thinks #Facebook is #Twitter. The animal lover. The diehard sports fan. The foodie. The list goes on and on.

Recently, MyLife.com, a website that helps more than 60 million members establish connections and manage their online social identities, conducted a survey of 890 adults and identified common social media behaviours. The study revealed some eyeopening facts about poor social media etiquette, depicting that the majority of online users are guilty of social faux pas that associate them with common online personas. For instance, 88% of young parents (aged 18-35) are likely to post updates and photos of their children at least once a month. Another 25% of surveyed users are guilty of “vaguebooking,” by posting intentionally vague updates to incite others to inquire for more details. The survey’s infographic also reported that one in ten people have actually lost friends due to prolific political posting, illustrating how some chronic online behaviour may result in negative consequences for social media violators.

MyLife CEO, Jeff Tinsely, thinks that social media acts as a hub for common and unpleasant social faux pas due to the unrestricted nature of the channels. He believes that “users need to become more aware of their online behavior, and keep in mind how their self-expression is perceived by their online communities.” His hope is that greater awareness of these bad habits will serve to eventually eradicate them.

Do your friends need a lesson in social media etiquette? Which bad habits flood your news feed the most? 

Discover your social networking persona via MyLife’s Infographic, and check back soon for the second video of our webcast series where we will discuss 5 common online personalities and what they mean to you.

In January 2013, Facebook first rolled out its new Graph Search feature. For the users who signed up for the beta run Facebook was transformed into their own personal search engine. You could suddenly pinpoint all of your friends who checked in at a certain location, was tagged in a photo with a another friend or liked a celebrity. While most users had an inkling of how much information Facebook held, they could barely conceive of searching through it themselves. With natural easy to use language, Facebook graph search lets the user search other users likes, places, music, photos, groups, current cities and more.  It is important to remember that Facebook applies your current privacy settings to graph search. This means that if you have your profile set to only friend or only in my networks those groups of people will be the only ones who will see your information in their searches.
This just scratches the surface of the new search feature. Watch our new video to find out more.

What do you think of the new Facebook Graph Search? Will you be signing up for beta? Discuss in the comments below.

Remembering that your employees could read your twitter or Facebook posts is the first step to controlling your digital identity. News stories like “Rio policeman loses job after tweet”  or “Indie developer releases game critical of his workplace, loses job”  have become just another element in the modern work place. While personal twitters are watched by friends and coworkers alike, at least we don’t have to live under a social media microscope like politicians and celebrities. Former Massachusetts Republican senator Scott Brown was accused of drunk tweeting when he posted a stream of nonsense and “Whatevers”. The congressman has hence deleted his tweets but the #bqhatevwr meme will live on in infamy.

Twitter could also be used by individuals to corrupt the identity of their employers.   Less common than companies or journalist getting a hold of incriminating tweets, David can also use twitter to take down Goliath.

On January 31st, a disgruntled HMV employed started to live tweet the companies mass layoffs. The tweets started off with “We’re tweeting live from HR where we’re all being fired! Exciting!!!”  and moved on to explain the motive of the tweets as “Under usual circumstances  we’d never dare do such a thing as this. However, when the company you dearly love is being ruined…”. The tweets were being widely re-tweeted when twitter crashed. When the account came back an hour later, the HMV account was back in the hands of the company. This is when things started to become interesting as the anonymous employee who was using the HMV twitter account made a statement on her own personal account (@poppy_powers) that she had originally set up the company twitter as an unpaid intern and wished “to show the power of Social Media to those who refused to be educated”. She publicly rebranded her digital identity as either a troublemaker or a protector of free speech, depending on whom you ask. The hashtag #hmvXFactor now includes several different perspectives about the incident from “ someone needs to give @poppy__powers a job”  to labeling the entire event “ completely unprofessional”.

Where do you stand on twitter biting back? As more and more young people get jobs in social media do you think the power of social media is being underestimated?  Whose digital identity should you value more: yours or that of your employer?

Personal klout or branding can be derived from sharing your information and options online while attaching this information to your identity. While many people share aspects of their real life, others flourish in what they believe to be anonymity.  These people often want to be under surveillance as long as their anonymous internet identities can not be tied back to their actual ones.

Enter contemporary philosopher and media expert, Jimmy Kimmel. His wildly popular segment “Celebrities read mean Tweets” is just a comical example about how the hate which is spewed out into the internet rarely loses it’s sting and often finds it’s mark.

 

Video Credit: Youtube channel Jimmel Kimmel LiveInternet giant Google is trying to convince users to use their real names as their Youtube ID. This attempt to cut down on the blind hate and trolling that comes along with anonymous surveillance is an important first step in creating consequences for those who don’t “play fair” online.

The idea of doxxing users real identities creates backlash and many internet users say that it disrupts the right to free speech.  What many people don’t understand is that the multiple identities of the average user are already connected. For example an American  Congresswoman was subject to political attacks over her gaming hobby of playing World of Warcraft.  No online identity can be completely hidden. Like the celebrities reading mean tweets, individuals need to understand that the internet is very much like a elementary playground- teachers can always tell where the spitballs came from. This might become much easier, much sooner with Google’s help.

Wired Magazine writes that internet users may in the future use one device like a “smartphone or something like a Yubico key — and then use that almost like a car key, to fire up your web mail and online accounts.” This would compile all of my personal identities into one secure identity which  I could literally hold the key too. The convenience  of one identity online would force users to think before they acted and would break down the larges myth about the internet, the illusion of Anonymity

What do you think about anonymity on the internet? Is it a basic right or something that has ceased to exist? Would you be interested in creating a universal identity online?

 

Welcome to January 2013! As per tradition people around the world are celebrating the dawn of a new year by resolving to improve on the habits of the year before. In place of resolving to do a hundred sit ups a day (or in addition to), how about resolving to take control of your digital identity? Here at Digital Tattoo we rounded up five easy ways to put your best click forward in 2013.

1. Check your Facebook privacy settings. Again.
I know, I know. Didn’t you just double check these a few months ago? In a word of constantly shifting privacy updates you can never be too certain of who can see your profile. Go ahead check it again, do you want your Facebook profile to come up in Google searches? Do you want to keep Great-Aunt Sally from seeing your timeline? Stop postponing and go clean up your profile!

2. Update your profiles.
Has your online identity gotten a little stale? Refresh your Twitter and Linkedin profile pictures. Have you set your Twitter banner image yet? Creating a digital identity is only the first step. After creation profiles need to be consistently updated. This is especially important for those working on maintaining an active e-portfolio.

3. Compile and control.
It’s easy to get distracted on the internet. That’s why having all of your networks in one place is invaluable. Simply Zesty gives ten different tools to help you manage your online identity. Tweetdeck alone can save you the social media nightmare of tweeting something personal on your professional account or vice versa.

4. Reply more and spam less.
We’re all guilty of this. Sure you might want to post that cute instagram pic of your friends online but for some reason you’re not as willing to complement your friends pictures. Let’s not forget the word “social” in social media. Go beyond the like button and use these tools to connect with people.

5. Be smart both online and off.
You would hope it goes without saying but be intelligent about social media. Don’t write anything online that you wouldn’t tell a stranger at a bus stop and certainly don’t forget that everything you say can be legally used against you. Let us not start out 2013 like 18 year old Jacob, who was arrested for drunk driving after he posted it on his Facebook page.

Do you have any New Years resolutions? Would you agree that you need to refresh your digital identity as often as your physical identity?

Video Credit: Teamcoco.com

Twitter has been redefined  as a legitimate tool for communication within the last few years. John Stewart, once one of Twitters most outspoken enemies, currently has over a million followers. If these trends continue, it’s only a few years before our grandparents start hash tagging their latest book club book or Instagraming the buffet at breakfast.

Late night comedian Conan O’Brien portrayed this  dystopia  with comical look at the stereotype of the elderly using every tool available to  them to guilt their family.  The clip is one of a three part series about technology for seniors delivered with classic Conan dark humor. At first glance these clips make us chuckle while taking our lucky stars that Nana has yet to join our social networks. What if Grandma and Grandpa have lessons they could teach us about using social media? What can twitter newbies teach the veterans?

Each tweet should be written with an audience in mind. If it’s your friends in chem lab or your children rushing to your burning house, your tweets will be read. Keep in mind how each tweet (or any post on social media) adds to your digital identity. Think about your tweets before pressing send, chances are they’ll be read by people other than who you originally intended. Take a lesson from the seniors, tweet with intent!

Do you have any grandparents on social media? Has that changed how you interact with them on a daily basis?