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Sharing Pictures? Be Careful…

Sharing pictures of your special events, travels, and even mundane activities has become the norm. Have a great breakfast with a friend? Is it your kid’s first day of school? It’s become almost second nature for many to snap a picture and share on their favorite social media site.

There is cause for pause when posting those pictures too readily, at least without taking some precautions. A recent CNBC article shares how posting pictures can lead people to know when you’re not home, or in other cases, where you are traveling and what you are doing.

It may seem extreme, but it has become fairly easy for people to look at images on social media closely and, in a few clicks, figure out where you live, what hotel you are staying in, or where you are traveling.

How can you avoid this? Below are a few simple steps to protect your images on social media:

Keep your privacy settings up to date – check all of your social sites and make sure your privacy settings are at the level you want them to be. In Facebook, for example, having more stringent settings and “only post to friends” will keep your images more private. Of course, that is if a friend whose posts are set to be viewed by the general public doesn’t share your images on their timeline.

Check the social media apps – when you set up a new app, it will disclose what phone features it will have access to. Disable the location and camera options so that the geotagging is not activated when posting pictures. This will make it more difficult for others to use tools to identify your location.

Turn off your location services all together – at least if you’re not using valuable features like maps or “find my phone” services. It’s not a bad idea to turn off location services when you’re posting to social media if you’re not in need of them at that moment.

Just like social media site privacy settings, taking an extra moment to double check your phone and app settings is important. As social media content continues to be an every day part of life, there will be those individuals who will find ways to use it for unsavory purposes.

Can Social Media Content Be Used in Trial?

Social media content is now being used for more than sharing with friends and family – its use has grown, and it has already made its way into the courtroom. There has been a lot of discussion around the use of social media content as evidence in a trial – while it is becoming more commonplace, there are best practices and things to be aware of when doing so.

A recent article discusses the fact that social media content will play a key role in proving a Houston area man was in fact attempting to provide support to ISIS. The article shows that Facebook posts, as well as messenger conversations may be brought as evidence. Typically, public facing information is just that – available to the public. Facebook messaging conversations are private, however, and fall into a more gray area.

So, what is and is not okay to use as evidence?

This is still a murky area, but there are some best practices evolving, especially centered on what type of content and how that content is found. Here are some highlights:

Keep it focused on public information: users are given opportunity to control their privacy settings, whether they realize it or not. Therefore, whatever is public facing, meaning it is easily found through a Google search, for example, seems to be fair game in the investigative process.

Find the content using the proper channels: there is a difference between finding public content and obtaining content that is behind privacy filters under the guise of “friending” someone on a social network. By becoming a connection with someone on a social network, it often times means you will have access to content that is not available to the general public, Should this come to light during a trial, and you are using this content as evidence, it may get thrown out. This also applies to friends and family members becoming connections with others on social media sites for the purpose of gathering content on your behalf.

Back up your evidence with evidence: in order for social media content to be considered relevant and useful in a trial, it has to be authenticated. Specifically, courts will look at the metadata behind the post – the who, where, when, and how the content was posted and discovered. Many social media monitoring tools, especially those geared toward working with law enforcement, lawyers, and the such will provide metadata information as part of the file. This will easily show when the content was created, the author, and potentially any modifications to the post. This metadata support will greatly assist in assuring the court that the content was not altered in any way prior to being presented as evidence, and that the content was in fact that of the author in question.

Despite social media being around for several years, this is still new terrain; following standard rules of evidence will help gauging the use of social media content. I anticipate the courts will also focus on more standards with this arena of evidence as well in the coming years, making its use more clear as evidence in a trial.

Educating Students by Taking Social Media Conflict Offline

Educating teens on social media use and responsibility is quite the challenge – with the immediacy and constant availability of social media, teens tend to use social media to vent frustration, share conflict, or even sometimes with the intent to harm a classmate’s reputation. Most times, teens don’t have malicious intent – they are simply posting their thoughts to social sites because that’s what they know.

In Alberta, they are taking a more focused approach to taking social media content offline to resolve content and education both parents and students. As they realizing that most social media postings and conflict are not necessarily criminal in nature, but need to be addressed, they have focused on intervention techniques that take the social conflict offline for resolution.

The RCMP, who is heading up this initiative, does not (yet) monitor social media to identify such content; instead, they rely on parent and student reports of content that is deemed problematic. From there, they formed a community justice forum which brings teens (and parents) together to discuss issues raised online. A recent article sums up teen social media conflict quite nicely:

“A lot of the issues are interpersonal conflict being dealt with in an inappropriate way,” says Kading. “Even as adults we are learning socialization skills all the time. I think a lot of the time, the conversations (our officers have) on an informal basis with young people can serve more effectively than if we have to go a formal route.”

Schools can learn from this example and even take a more proactive approach through social media monitoring. While it’s almost impossible to capture any and all conflict, location based monitoring can help monitor social media content that is posted while within the school boundaries. By identifying potential issues, schools can proactively engage at risk students or address student conflicts as they arise. This can help educate students on the reality and permanent nature of online content, and make them think before they post. The schools can provide students with tools for handling conflict offline, thus building relationship skills among their student body.

While this will always exist, finding ways to education the teenage set on social media responsibility and offline interpersonal relationships can be effective in raising responsible young adults.

Job Seekers: Is The Resume Dead?

Whether you’re just out of college and ready to start your career, or you’re looking for a change, you may have noticed that job seeking is changing. Part of it has to do with technology in general, such as online applications vs. postal mailing of resumes and cover letters, and another has to do with social media. In a way, the “human factor” is somewhat removed from the process, at least in the initial screening stages.

CNN Money recently published an article talking about these changes as they related to college students who are gearing up for graduation. The article talks about how fewer companies are conducting on campus interviews, instead turning toward automated screening processes for the initial phase of the application.

The reduction in on campus interviews stemmed from the recession back in 2008, but even as the economy stabilized, companies did not see the value in visiting campuses as much as they used to.

What are they doing instead?

Some are reporting that they rely on automated software programs such as HireVue, a software program that assists with employee selection. Some companies prefer this method for several reasons:

It is automated, meaning less time HR Departments spend sorting through resumes and applications.

According the HireVue’s website, software programs allow for company-specific application processes that are more streamlined and focused on the position candidates are applying for versus standard resumes.

Additionally, incorporating video introductions gives employers a quick glance into a candidate’s personality before they get to the interview process.

Companies are finding that resumes are becoming less effective in learning about candidates and predicting the success of a new hire.

In addition to such automated technology, social media is also giving employers a level of insight into a candidate at the beginning stages of the process.

The message is essentially this: companies are using technology and social media to lift the burden of traditional hiring processes, and job seekers need to be aware of this. In addition to being able to provide a strong application, job seekers must also take the following into consideration:

Resumes may be on their way out the door: when seeking a job, really think about whether it could be a good fit. Long gone are the days of mass mailing a resume to see what sticks. With automated processes, it will be important to make sure your qualifications align with the job you’re seeking.

Get comfortable with technology: just as automated screening tools are coming into play now, it won’t be long before video is the new job application. If you’re not familiar with web based recording, it might not be a bad time to get comfortable with recording yourself on video. It might be the best first impression you can make when companies request it!

Find out how employers may see you: companies are turning to social media as much as automated processes, so it’s best to make sure that your social persona online matches with who you really are (or at the very least how you want employers to perceive you!). You can do something as simple as a Google search for your name (or name and city/state if you have a more common name) and review the first 3-4 pages of results, or use a social media monitoring service to conduct an online background check.

Things are changing rapidly, and it’s important for job seekers to stay on top of the latest trends in hiring. It’s competitive out there; having any advantage possible can make a difference in landing that dream job!

Social Media: 1st Amendment Vs. Company Discretion

When it comes to social media, it can get tricky for businesses. When companies utilize social media to engage with customers, they always run the risk (and often deal with) negative comments. Some of it is warranted, and some of it not so much. The tried and true advice has been to not delete the content, and, when applicable, to address the issue publicly to show strong customer service.

However, a company does have a right to monitor comments, much in the way that message boards and forums pose the disclaimer that they have that right. Has a company been sued over this?

It appears that this recently happened. Earlier this month, the City of Beech Grove and the Beech Grove Police Department recently shut down their Facebook pages due to a lawsuit related to limiting freedom of speech.

So what happened?

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in late June on behalf of two women who say their Facebook posts were deleted by the police department. They also claim they were subsequently blocked from posting on the page.

The women claim this is a violation of their First Amendment Rights.

The City of Beech Grove states that the women posted content and/or questions on the police department’s page that were unrelated to crime or similar content, which was the purpose of having the Facebook page.

This is an interesting suit, and I will be watching to see how it plays out. The ACLU believes that people have the right to post any content they’d like on a Facebook page; the city believes that people have the right to ask questions and post negative content, though as it relates to the scope of the page. They do not believe that people should be limited with regard to their criticism, but instead state that there are other Facebook pages the city offers for people to offer more generalized comments, questions, and opinions.

Maybe they should not have removed the posts. The other option could be to reply to the posts with a link to the appropriate page to pose their question to. According to sources, the Facebook page in question did include a disclaimer as to the page’s purpose back in June:

“This Facebook site was created to pass on information to you and to try to keep you informed as to what is occurring in our City. We will not entertain negative comments towards anyone, nor will we host arguments between individuals. We do not care who you are, we are trying to inform you. If you decide to make unpleasant comments we will delete you.”

I don’t believe the lawsuit will win in court; there is free speech, thanks to the First Amendment, but there is also a responsibility of social media users to follow a page’s or site’s terms of service. Not unlike a message board or forum, unrelated content is routinely removed; if, in fact, the women who are suing posted content that went against the purpose of the Facebook page, the city had a right o remove it. However, in the name of customer service, it might have been better to address it with the women rather than simply delete without reason. At any rate, I do not think this will hold up in court.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!