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Social Media Helps Police With Drug Sales on Social Media

While social media has done some great things, there is one that isn’t so great: selling drugs just got easier.A simple hashtag such as #hmu (hook me up), #kush, or any variation including a drug name can get some attention. Surprisingly, simply posting these kinds of messages are legal; it becomes an illegal act once a sale is made.

How can social media monitoring help? There are tools now that have enhanced the way law enforcement can monitor social activity – through geographical monitoring using simple geographical fences coupled with hashtags or keywords, police can easily identify where this type of activity is happening, which can assist in identifying and stopping illegal activity.

Using our social media monitoring platform, we did a quick search for people posting images and content with the hashtag #kush – another name for marijuana. The heatmap below shows where people are posting content, and the frequency at which these posts are occurring across the country:

This can easily drill down to a specific state, city, or street block to see where content is coming from. This is extremely useful for law enforcement, and is another tool they are adding to their arsenal to help fight crime.

While this example highlights the ease in which drug seekers and/or sellers can be identified, it can also be used in many other ways, including:

Create a “fence” around a crime scene to identify possible witnesses that left the scene prior to police arriving.
Monitor content to be proactive in identifying potential school violence.
Identifying and monitoring gang activity, which can include location specific information

What once was seen as a tool for brands to connect with customers has morphed into an all encompassing tool. Law enforcement agencies are seeing the value of using social media monitoring, and specifically location based tools to assist in their efforts.

#Consent: Are You Sure You Have It?

Social media monitoring has made marketing a bit easier – with the birth of Instagram, Facebook, and the other myriad of image based social sites, customers have taken to documenting every move they make with pictures, whether it’s a nice dinner out, visiting an amusement park, or even running errands.

This is great for marketers, as often times customers’ pictures and commentary are better than any marketing content you’ve created. The additional win is the fact that you can engage with these customers, use their pictures & comments, and create a relationship.

But, is it that easy?

Yes and no. When you find a customer who has a great picture with a great caption, you think you’ve hit gold, since it completely mirrors your upcoming marketing campaign. Since you found it on social media, in a public space, you’re free to use it, right?

Not without consent. But, how do you define consent? Are customers giving consent by tagging your company in an image, or using a company generated hashtag? Possibly, but only if you’ve made it explicitly clear that by tagging or using a hashtag, customers are giving consent to use those pictures on the website, in marketing materials, etc. And it gets more murky if this disclaimer is not clearly visible on your site or social sites where this happens.

Below are some steps you can take to make sure you have consent before using those pictures. Some of the tips are even great for engagement purposes – after all, engagement IS part of the goal for social media marketing!

Create a consent based hashtag: despite being the subject of a recent news article on this subject, Crocs created a hashtag (#CrocsOK) that is used when a customer posts an image on a social site and Crocs comments on it. By replying with #CrocsOK” customers are giving their consent for the company to use the image and/or comments.
Comment publicly on the user’s image and ask for permission: this is a double whammy of positivity; first, it is out in the open that you are asking for consent to use a customer’s picture, and, when the customer replies, consent is easily proved. The added benefit? If other customers see that your company actively seeks out and uses customer images, they may be more inclined to post their own pictures and engage with the company’s social sites. Definitely a win-win situation!
Create a terms & conditions page and keep the URL handy: while many customers don’t tend to read the fine print, or even visit a company’s social site before posting their own pictures, it’s not a bad idea to create a page that lists your company’s social media usage terms & conditions. Include the URL on your social sites for added protection.
Be proactive: when you find customers who are talking and posting images around your brand, engage with them! Comment, like, and share posts, and encourage them to connect to your social sites. From there, create contests – in your post, be sure to state that the content shared may be used in marketing, and that by replying to the post, users are giving consent to this possibility. It’s no surprise that many customers talk about brands and are not connected to their social sites; this is where social monitoring and engagement come in handy to build relationships and follower bases.

Customers love attention from companies they support; in the majority of cases, customers will be thrilled for you to share their pictures in your marketing efforts. It’s when you use them without asking when it becomes a problem. Always take the side of caution and proceed carefully – the goal is to create relationships with customers, not damage them.

Schools Monitoring Social Media: Good Move or Creepy?

Social media has become a new form of communication for teens. While mostly good, it has unfortunately comes with its down side too. While there is plenty of education aimed at teens about social media use and responsibility, they are still teens, not fully thinking though their actions, and at times posting content that they don’t realize the potential consequences of.

The two most common aspects talked about are cyber bullying and content indicating trouble for teens. Prior to social media, bullying was an issue of course, but the internet has made this easier. Several years ago, kids relied on what they perceived as the “anonymity” of online activities. I recall a student in one of my children’s classes who took to email around that time, before social media became so popular. She created a gmail account and sent an awful email to a classmate, likely thinking that it could never be traced to her. Parents and the school got involved, and this was quickly addressed, and it launched a discussion of internet responsibility and safety.

Then came social media, and things changed again.

This is why schools are turning to social media monitoring services to assist. With these programs, schools can continually monitor online conversations to try to pinpoint potential safety issues, like students threatening other students or teachers, or making threats toward the school. It can also be helpful to monitor content for indications of a student’s emotional health – that is, if ominous posts are made about self-harm, for example, these can be collected and identified to hopefully circumvent the issue and get the student the help that is needed.

Social media monitoring is not new; our firm launched the first social media monitoring program back in 2007. It was first used for brand reputation and monitoring, but as the wealth of information that can be collected has grown, it has gained popularity. Most recently, location based social monitoring has been incorporated – simply put, a school can put a “fence” around a school to monitor what conversations are happening within the school. This has been a game changer for education and has given schools even more tools for monitoring students’ online activities.

This has become a heated debate across the country, with parents divided. While some feel that it is “big brother” and the schools are trampling on a family’s privacy, others welcome it and encourage schools to monitor social media.

Personally, as a mother of three teenagers, I have no problems with this should the schools decide to implement social media monitoring. There are a few reasons why I think it’s important and vital in this social media age:

1. It takes a village: social media sites are popping up all the time. Whereas Facebook was the popular choice for teens in the past, that has now been taken over by Instagram and other sites. And then there was Snapchat – the amazing disappearing act of social media. Even if you think you know all of the sites your child is on, you may not. And even if your child isn’t on a particular social site, there may be another student that is, posting harmful content or images of your child. As parents, we can monitor and Google search until the cows come home, but we are limited by either knowledge and/or depth of our search. This extra layer of protection can be helpful – if a cyber bullying or similar situation should come up and be related to your child, and your child isn’t quite aware and/or isn’t sharing it with you, it may be uncovered through the school. It’s another layer of protection I am comfortable with.

2. It can keep students safe: how many times have we heard of a tragic school incident where we later find out that the people involved posted warnings, whether direct or indirect, on social sites prior to the event? While not every situation will come with a warning through social media, it seems that having the monitoring in place to alert to postings that could mean trouble do pop up more frequently than we’d think they would. Being able to capture this proactively is much better than finding it after the fact of course, and real time monitoring programs can give schools a head start on predicting and preventing potential issues.

3. It can help identify students who are hurting: those with mental health issues or those just going through a tough time may make cries for help online, either purposely or not. Classmates may or may not see this content, and may not tell their parents or a trusted adult, which is a shame, but unfortunately it happens. Utilizing a monitoring program to potentially identify students who are really struggling emotionally can be a turning point for them and their family. Monitoring can pick up content that may indicate an intent to harm ones self or others and the schools can be proactive in identifying this and getting the proper help for a student.

It may seem a bit “Big Brother” but unfortunately it is our new normal. I am all for continued education on social media, and helping students in this regard. Social media monitoring is one piece of the puzzle, and if schools can utilize it properly, I’m all for it.

Where do you stand on the issue? Good move, or a bit creepy? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

Heads Up To High School Seniors and Job Seekers

Times change, people change, and social media habits change. Regardless, when it comes to social media, our “past selves” live on indefinitely. While there’s been plenty out there that attempts to educate people on their “online persona” and serves constant reminders about being responsible and presenting your “best self” on social sites, people tend to get caught up in the activity without thinking much about it until it’s needed.

A good time to start looking at your online personality, so to speak, is when you are at a point where it matters. Two events come to mind – those who are entering their final year of high school and are already starting college applications, and those who are looking for a new job.

Why, you may ask?

It’s no surprise, if you’ve been paying attention, that college admissions offices and HR departments around the world are turning to social media research as another means to learn more about potential candidates. While applications, cover letters, and references tell part of the story, both industries are realizing that monitoring and researching a candidate’s social media activity gives even deeper insight and understanding of the people they’re looking at.

While you may think to yourself that you’ve got your social sites properly set with regard to privacy settings, and you’ve cleaned up your photos and even Googled yourself, it’s time to think a bit more about what recruiters, employers, and college officers may see and potentially use in their decision making process. Below are just a few examples:

1. Channel your “younger self” – this is especially true for the late teen/early 20’s set. Social media was new and “fun” back then. I’ve seen the transition in my own teenagers – they started years ago thinking Google chat was the be all end all, and then moved to Facebook, and finally Twitter and Instagram. It’s hard to keep up with all of the changes, and this set often has the “out with the old, in with the new mentality.”

In running a personal social scan for a young adult recently, data was pulled from a prior Twitter account they had since forgotten about. This was created in the person’s first year of high school, and they used it as a “secret” account – they had one that they knew their parents monitored, so, being a typical teenager, created a second account that the person used for conversations they didn’t want their parents to see. While there may not have been anything harmful on that account, it was good for the person to be reminded that it is still out there and delete it prior to graduating college and starting the search for a job.

Social media research can uncover these types of abandoned accounts that have long been forgotten, conversations on message boards when they were more popular, and other content that someone may have forgotten about. Using a third party service to conduct this type of research allows for efficiency in cleaning up one’s social profile before sending out applications.

2. Mistaken identity: while there is nothing you can do in a case like this, it’s good to be aware in case it’s brought up as a potential issue. Consider a young man who was applying for his first post college job. In conducting social media research, data was collected that showed someone with the same name in the next town over was arrested the year prior for a DUI. They were close in age and the similarities were enough that the young man was concerned. Going into the application and interview process, he was aware that this information existed. Should a potential employer discover this information, the young man was armed with the knowledge that it existed and would be able to easily speak to the fact that it was not him, and be able to provide further information to prove this point. Knowing ahead of time can make a difference in cases like this.

3. Ensure your privacy settings are correct: any social media content that is collected can only come from public content. That is, if your privacy settings are set correctly, your content cannot be picked up in social media research. If you’re congratulating yourself at this point because you recently went through your social sites and updated your settings, think back a bit. If you didn’t set up your privacy restrictions when you first set up the account, are you sure that content posted prior to updating your settings is really private? Sometimes it is, but sometimes it’s not. By utilizing a social media research program, you will be able to easily find out what information is readily available to college and/or hiring staff. With the constant changes to privacy settings and updates, it’s difficult to keep track of what is set up where. Before you start the application process, having a social scan conducted on your behalf will give you peace of mind that what is out there is what you want others to see, or, in some cases, give you the opportunity to clean things up.

Social media has given the world another glimpse into who you are, and, as we are learning, it can reveal much more than can be found on applications and cover letters. Because it is social, it’s more revealing, and colleges and companies are starting to realize this. Many are turning to social media monitoring programs to help with this process, an in turn, individuals are starting to see the value in running scans on themselves. Advanced preparation can go a long way to ensure that you land your dream job or are accepted into your first choice for college.

Best Practices For New Hires, Employees, & Former Employees

Social media adds a whole new layer to the employment process, particularly from a Human Resources and Corporate standpoint. It’s no longer “just” social media – the online conversations provide a wealth of information that is easily collected and used to make many decisions, and employment issues are no different.

From the hiring process to dealing with former employees, there are many key points related to social media that companies need to consider.

1. Pre-employment/hiring process: it’s no secret (or surprise) that Human Resources departments are turning to social media to learn more about candidates. This information is another layer that helps them make good decisions during the hiring process. More than a Google search, social media research can dig deep to find out more about a candidate through what he/she posts online. Here are some tips to make sure this is an effective process that keeps you safe legally:

Develop a written policy that explains how social media content is used in the hiring process. State what can and cannot be collected to be used to make a hiring decision. Aspects like religious beliefs and marital status, for example, cannot be used in the decision making process. Make sure the policy is clear and detailed so there is little room for potential candidates being able to sue on the basis of discrimination.

Use a third party to conduct the search: the hiring manager ideally should not be the one conducting the social media scan; this alleviates any potential or perceived bias. Using another individual to conduct the searches will provide a layer of protection, as they only provide relevant information that can be used in the decision making process to the hiring manager. This protects the hiring manager in that if he/she doesn’t ever see the other social content, they could not have used it. For this reason, many companies chooses to outsource the social media monitoring process, as these firms use sophisticated programs and are aware of HR laws, so you will only be provided with the most relevant, legally allowed information.

2. Current employees: your employees are a representation of your company. This is another area where monitoring social conversations can be important – do you have employees bad mouthing the company, or sharing proprietary information? It’s relatively easy to find out, and continual monitoring programs will help with this process. Here are some tips to make this an efficient, effective process:

Have a solid social media policy in place: employee handbooks should reference the company’s social media policies and expectations. Similar to signing consent for release of information and the ability for phone conversations to be recorded for quality assurance, employees should be required to sign a similar document stating that they reviewed the social media policy, understand it, and will adhere to it as outlined in the employee handbook.

Make clear the policy on different social aspects, such as employees connecting socially online with their supervisors, for example. This is the new workplace dating, and while social connections are simply connections and do not signal a deeper relationship in most cases, this is something that needs to be considered. In a similar vein, accounts like LinkedIn need special consideration – if an employee builds contacts during employment, what specifications are in place for post employment? Are those contacts “fair game” for former employees to contact at their new job? Does it depend on the contact? Make sure it is spelled out in your policy.

For further protection, some companies will require employees to post a disclaimer on their personal social content. Something along the lines of: “the content posted is my personal opinion and does not represent the opinion of XYZ Corporation.” Of course, this is something that would be more relevant for larger corporations and/or senior members of the company, but something to consider.

3. Post- employment: while former employees are on their own and no longer represent your company, social media monitoring can be useful to ensure in this area as well. Here are some tips on using social media monitoring for former employers:

Continue to monitor a former employee when non-compete/non-disclosure/non-solicitation factors come into play: this is one area where social media is extremely useful. Similar to insurance companies finding content posted by those fighting for workman’s comp that negates their claim, social media monitoring can help identify breaches.

Monitoring adherence to social media policy: hopefully your company’s social media policy outlines what happens when an employee leaves with regard to online content, connections, etc. Ensuring that what is considered “company property” is not being used by former employees can be tough, but again social media monitoring can help with this.

Social media has really impacted the employer/employee relationship, and, while the above sounds daunting and too much to monitor, the good news is that there are social media companies who can handle this for you. They have the time, expertise, and software platforms available to make this a painless process. Our company has worked in the social media landscape since 2007, and it’s been riveting to see the evolution of how social content is used, particularly from an employment standpoint.