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Like it or not, we are in the middle of a social networking revolution. And of course, thats hardly news. Endless ink, digital and otherwise, has been spent on worrying over whether Facebook, Twitter, and their rapidlymultiplying ilk are the best or the worst thing that has ever happened to humankind. A recent story about car-pooling appshighlights the fact modern technology, including social media, has a role to play in making markets more efficient. And since efficient markets are generally a good thing, this counts as a big checkmark in the plus column of our calculations concerning the net benefit of social media. Carpooling is a great example, because the relative lack of carpooling today is a clear instance of what economists call market failure a situation in which markets fail efficiently to provide a mutually-beneficial outcome. Think of it this way. There are lots of people in need of a ride. And there are lots of people with rides to offer. The problem is a lack of information (who is going my way, at what time?) and lack of trust (is that guy a potential serial killer?) Social networking promises to resolve both of those problems, first by helping people coordinate and second by using various mechanisms to make sure that everyone participating is more or less trustworthy. With regard to car-pooling, the obvious benefits are environmental. But the positive effect here is quite general: just about any time we find a way to foster mutually-advantageous market exchanges, weve done something unambiguously good. This is one example of the ethical power of social media. Another big enemy of efficient markets is monopoly power, or more generally any situation in which a buyer or seller is able to exert market power, essentially a situation in which some market actor enjoys a relative lack of competition and hence has the ability to throw its weight around. Social media promises improvements here, too. Sites like Groupon.com allow individuals to aggregate in ways that give them substantial bargaining power. The general lesson here is that markets thrive on information. Indeed, economists formal models for efficient markets assume that all participants have full knowledge that is, they assume that lack of information will never be an issue. Social networks are providing increasingly sophisticated mechanisms for aggregating, sharing, and filtering information, including important information about what consumers want, about what companies have to offer, and so on. So while a lot of attention has been paid to the sense in which social media are bringing us together, the real payoff may lie in the way social media render markets more effici ent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/technology/technology-makes-car-pooling-safer-and-easier.html?_r=1
violating privacy. DoubleClick, the online advertiser since acquired by Googlefound this out in 2000 when they attempted to combine offline purchase data from consumers with their online persona. [DISCLOSURE: I worked for DoubleClick as Director of Promotions at the time.] Facebook has stepped on the privacy landmine numerous times by repeatedly changing the types of personal information automatically shared. Even when these breaches are unintentional and not malicious, they scare consumers away. 4. Overly Enthusiastic Employees Your employees have been engaged in social media as individuals for longer than you have as an organization and some of them may have established reputations and strong bases of fans or followers. They may be inclined to spread word about the great things your brand is doing. If they do so without acknowledging their connection to the company they are violating consumer trust. Beyond that, theres a real risk of employees inadvertently disclosing material information about your public company, risking myriad legal implications. Last month, a Google employeeaccidentally published a scathing critique of Google + on Google +. Best to train employees carefully about disclosure and have a clear policy in place. 5. Using the Online Community to Get Free Work: Brands call it UGC User Generated Content but in creative circles its becoming known as WFF Working For Free. The story is familiar a brand holds an online contest allowing ordinary consumers to submit copy, designs or even produced commercials. The company picks a winner, gives prizes and uses the creative in traditional media. The dirty little secret of User Generated Content is that its mostly not your neighborhood plumber who wins but real creatives: often freelance or unemployed. These are professionals who should be paid for their work. Another troubling spin on this trend happens when companies put out a request for proposal for a social media campaign, gather all the most creative ideas that come out of the process and use them without hiring the particular agencies who created them. Overall it is fine to engage consumers and to reach widely for the best creative talent. But theres a fine line between that and trying to get your creative done for free. Step on the wrong side of the line and youll ultimately find it difficult to source good creative, because the creative community is relatively small and very well networked. Avoiding these 5 Deadly Sins wont keep you completely safe in social media because you can still do something foolish completely intentionally. But it will reduce your risk, and thats the best any marketing leader can hope for.
monitoring software to hack and crack the networks, track e-mails of their rivals and perform other covert activities. Many employers said they have invested significant amounts in installing spying gadgets in their office establishments to monitor Web site connections, phone calls and records, e-mails and review computer files of their employees and maintain a record. Demand for spying gadgets in the country is rising at about 30 per cent and the market for spying equipments is currently poised at about Rs 4,500 crore with over 20 per cent of the market being controlled by CCTVs. Other spy gadgets included audio/video surveillance devices, GPS tracking systems and other such tools.