NPR's Social Media Policy is Worth Emulating

NPR has been gracious enough to make its Social Media Policy available online. While much of it is centered around ethical journalism, building product manufacturers would do well to examine it. As more and more relationship-building happens online, companies need to participate, and to do so wisely.

Increasingly, lines between employees' business and personal lives are blurred, and social media is an especially blurry place. One case study, entitled "There is No Privacy on the Web", illustrates any company's nightmare:

Imagine, if you will, an NPR legal correspondent named Sue Zemencourt. She’s a huge fan of Enormous University’s basketball team and loves to chat online about EU. She posts comments on blogs under the screen name “enormous1.” One day, an equally rabid fan of Gigormous State (“gigormous1”) posts obnoxious comments about EU.
Sue snaps. Expletives and insults fly from her fingers on to the webpage. They’re so out-of-line that the blog blocks her from submitting any more comments — and discovers that her i.p. address leads back to NPR. The blog’s host posts that “someone at NPR is using language that the FCC definitely would not approve of” and describes what was said. Things go viral.
The basically good person that she is, Sue publicly acknowledges and apologizes for her mistake. But that doesn’t stop The Daily Show from satirizing about the “NPRNormous Explosion.”
Damage done.

Be circumspect about your behavior, even when the exchange feels private or anonymous. Even an email to a trusted recipient can be made public, with or without the recipient’s knowledge or consent.

In fact, a big part of the chapter on "Honesty" is, in fact, the putting on and taking off of the work identity. Because many NPR employees use their real names on the radio, they're encouraged to use screen names that don't identify them in the personal realm.  And when they're off duty and they find themselves working, they must put their work identity back on.

If in their personal lives NPR journalists join online forums and social media sites, they may follow the conventions of those outlets and use screen names that do not identify who they are. But we do not use information gathered from our interactions on such sites in our reports for NPR. If we get ideas for stories, we treat the information just as we would anything we see in the “real world” — as a starting point that needs to be followed by open, honest reporting.

Your business, even if it's far less public, may wish to explore policies about how employees present themselves in their off-work interactions. For instance, American Widget Co. may decide to allow its product reps to use their real names online in private, but ask that they not identify their employer in their Facebook or other profiles. Or, they may simply prohibit the use of AmWidget or AWC in screen names except for social media used for business. By the same token, when representing Widget, employees should make that clear in their profile names and follow the company's communication policies.

The best part of NPR's guidelines, in my opinion, is their understanding that social media conduct continues to be a moving target. Even if a manufacturing company's policy is far simpler, NPR's review process is worth emulating:

We rely on the contributions of every NPR journalist to ensure this handbook remains current and relevant to the situations you face each day. If you encounter decisions for which you feel the guidance in this book is inadequate, have questions about interpreting what you read here, or suggestions for how to improve the handbook, we encourage you to send a note to Ethics.
Twice a year, the Standards and Practices Editor will convene an ethics advisory group to consider all suggestions, review the Handbook, and make any additions or revisions necessary.

How do you want to be seen online? Take a look at your company through this lens and see if you're inspired to make any changes to your social media policies.

How NOT to schedule an email

This one's on me.

Recently I was reviewing the analytics on an email campaign we did a while back. I wrote the email, designed the layout, double checked the coding, and it was ready to go. The question then came up, at what time should it be delivered?

The audience was mainly contractors, so I figured it should get to them early, before they start their work day, to have the best chance of getting read. The team agreed; we scheduled it to start mailing at 6:30 AM EST so all the recipients would have it by 7.

If you live in or have done business with the West Coast you probably already see where this is going. See, the email list had not been sorted by time zone. When I got into work and checked my email there was an "unsubscribe" email waiting for me. The message was short, simple, and very instructive:

"3:30 AM emails are NOT cool."

Turns out he keeps his phone near his bed at night, and my email became a pre-sunrise alarm clock, leaving him understandably unhappy.

Lessons Learned

Timing an email across multiple time zones can be challenging; planning an international campaign makes it even more so. If your email client charges based on number of contacts rather than number of campaigns, it is worth the extra effort to schedule each time zone separately. Especially if the subject is time-sensitive, or if you find you get higher open rates at certain times of day.

Problem is, email addresses do not contain any information about time zone; they also do not tell you when your contact is traveling, or if they moved. That means that, despite all your efforts, they might still receive it at the wrong time. Best defense against this, if it is a concern, is to aim for early-midday. Odds of waking up West Coasters are low, but you still catch the East Coast before lunch.

The other important lesson was about how people use their technology. One of the first things I did when I got my iPhone was set it not to check email between midnight and 6 AM. I also turn off all notifications except the ringer during those options because I don't want to be awoken by my insomniac friend's Facebook updates. Not everyone does that, though, either because they have not taken the time to adjust the settings, or because they want to be sure they are reachable in case of emergency.

That represents a change in the way people use email. It took me a while to figure out why this guy was upset about receiving an email at 3:30 AM. In the past it would not have mattered; the email goes to your computer, and you see it when you login in the morning. Now, though, technology is becoming more integrated into our around-the-clock lives.

We, as marketers, benefit from this because it allows us greater access to our customers. We must be respectful of that access, however, because abusing it will anger customers faster than any junk mail, spam, or telemarketer could.

Time to update your passwords!

Yesterday a major data breech was announced by third-party marketer Epsilon. They claim the information stolen "only" included the names and emails of people that have done business with over 50 very large companies.  Hopefully most people will not have any problem worse than temporary increases in spam, but PC Magazine has a helpful article about ways to protect yourself (and your company!). Their most important advice is:

Main rule of thumb - don't provide any personal information. Best Buy is not going to ask you to click on a link and enter your credit-card information. Citi will not ask you to confirm your Social Security number via email. When in doubt, don't. Call the company to double check, and forward the email to spam@uce.gov.

This is also a good opportunity to change your key passwords, if you have not done so recently. Create strong new passwords, and be sure each site has a unique password to limit damage in case one does get hacked. Lifehacker has several useful articles on creating - and remembering - strong passwords.

Court rules Twitter "Not Private"

A UK court recently ruled that Twitter messages are not private, and the press (and by extension anyone) were free to use them without consent.

...the PCC said the potential audience for [the Plantiff's] tweets was much wider than her followers, because each message could be forwarded by others, known as retweeting.

It also agreed with the newspapers' argument that Twitter was publicly accessible and that the complainant had not taken steps to restrict access to her messages and was not publishing material anonymously.

As a result, the commission ruled that the articles did not constitute a breach of privacy. 

Of particular note in this case is that the tweets in question were from her personal account, and used to shine a negative light in an article about her employer, the Department of Transport. A good reminder that, no matter what distinction you may make between your home and work communications, the Internet sees no difference.

My recommendations for dealing with this are to be very conscientious about what you post on behalf of your company, or in a professional capacity, and maintain high privacy settings on your personal accounts. (I also recommend the general guideline Vivian uses that you shouldn't say anything online that you wouldn't say at a cocktail party.) This is not a perfect control, as your posts may be copied or repeated without your consent or knowledge and privacy standards tend to change suddenly with little warning, but it should be enough protection for most people.

If you keep a personal blog, consider using a pen name (like "Lulu Brown" does on her blog). For most people this is probably an unnecessary step, though.

Despite the paranoid tone of this article, I want to encourage you to continue using your personal social media in a personal way. These are important tools for building and maintaining relationships, and it is ridiculous to cut out curtail these social interactions just because it might come back to haunt you at work. Just keep in mind that what you say to your friends may travel beyond them, so be cautious saying anything you would not want your boss, or your clients, to hear.

Internet Privacy: Meet Little Brother

Big Brother has gained renewed life in the internet age, as the specter of governments and corporations observing our every move gets continually larger as more and more of our life is online. We all know this and are learning how to protect our privacy. But now, as a guest on marketing podcast The BeanCast puts it, the greater threat may be coming from "Little Brother".

Little Brother is an amalgamation of all the people we give our information to voluntarily: family, friends, co-workers, etc. All the people we have no qualms about sending our contact information and embarrassing pictures. The risk is not that they will sell or use your information maliciously, but that they may inadvertently make your private information public. And building product marketers and sales reps are part of the problem.

The problem is simple: we are using social media to become part of our clients' online networks. We are becoming the trusted people that get access to their profile. Which means it is incumbent upon us to ensure we are not endangering their privacy through our own actions.

This requires a higher level of scrutiny than merely maintaining your own digital privacy hygiene program. You may have gone through all the Facebook privacy settings and throttled the data fire hose down to a drippy faucet, but if your clients have not done the same then any apps you install may have access to their data through you. Other sources of risk include forwarding messages to the wrong people, tracking cookies, and sharing publicly something given to you in confidence (or in assumed confidence). Not to mention one of the classics: having Facebook notifications pop-up when using your computer for a presentation.

Avoiding Little Brother is not about anti-malware programs or privacy settings so much as it is about developing certain behaviors and awareness. Privacy breeches happen online (see my key rule on internet privacy), that's a given. But if your clients feel the breech came through your action or inaction, you lose them as a Friend. And lost Friends are lost clients.

Privacy Issues with QR Codes

My basic philosophy of internet privacy is this: if you put it on the internet, it's not private. Period. Doesn't matter how many passwords, firewalls, or encryption keys you put in front of it, if someone somewhere can see it on their screen - including you - it can become front page news on Google tomorrow. As new internet technologies break out, it is important to remember this maxim applies to them as well. We may not understand what the privacy risks are with some new medium, but rest assured they exist; be careful about what you post, and as new privacy implications are discovered act accordingly.

Which is why this post on QR Code Magazine is a must-read; it highlights potential privacy risks in proprietary QR readers that most users may be unaware of:

When you download a scanning app that can resolve proprietary 2d codes...it will contain a unique identifier. Every time you scan a code the app will send that unique identifier to be logged and passed on to whoever was allocated the code.

As with much of this type of data collection there does not seem to be an overt connection with your personal identity (it won't be linked to your name or home address), but it will create a unique profile based on all QR codes scanned by your phone or other device. There is, of course, buried in the user agreement for these scanners, a line granting the company the right to sell and use your data as they see fit.

Roger points out that all QR codes send some form of identifying data - every visit to any webpage does - but for non-proprietary codes that data is non-unique and mainly used to help display the page correctly. My computer, for example, comes up as a laptop running WindowsXP browsing the web with Firefox 3.6 and displaying pages in English; not enough to build a strong profile around, in other words.

Implications for Marketers

The implications are two-fold: your prospects might block your message while protecting their own privacy, and there could be backlash if they later find out you helped "steal" their data.

First, many net citizens, and especially early adopters, are getting good at using privacy protection techniques, combining software and behavior. One way or another, this means they may be unwilling or unable to use your QR codes if they contain proprietary formats known to create and sell these unique user profiles.

Second, if it later comes to light that the QR codes they've been using for years - yours - have been building this profile all along there is potential for a major backlash. This is the type of thing that got Facebook into trouble this year; people started learning that their personal data was not as private as they expected, and they got pissed. It has not hurt Facebook's overall market position, but it generated tons of bad PR.

The indirect, proprietary codes are enticing to many companies because they come with strong campaign tracking and management tools. I understand that appeal; paying for a pre-made service can be much more attractive than trying to design your own system for free. Weigh in these hidden costs, though; what will the user experience be with the proprietary service? Are they getting a better experience in exchange for your money, or just the same service with more annoyances?

Construction evolving around high-tech: Emerging technologies will spur new types of buildings—and construction marketers must develop new alliances

As part of long-range corporate planning, I’m looking at how high-tech information technologies such as computers, digital communications and the Internet will affect the construction industry. What do you foresee during the next decade? C.P., vice president

The effect of new technologies on the construction industry will be felt in both the way the industry works and the types of projects it undertakes. The information highway itself will create many construction jobs as a new infrastructure is built. Every home and office will need fiber- optic cables, necessitating the rewiring of houses, office buildings and public structures. But, despite information highway hype, it is not an unprecedented change, just the latest wave in an ocean of technology.

For example, an old house I once remodeled had been rewired every 20 years. Its original gas lighting had been replaced first by knob-and-tube wire, then by flexible armored cable, which I replaced with grounded wiring in rigid conduit. But that was 17 years ago, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the current owner rewires soon for “smart-house” appliances.

Smart buildings open doors
For most of the 20th century, architectural theorists used imagery from the Industrial Revolution to describe buildings as “machines for living.” The model for the new century seems to be buildings as information systems, structures with nervous systems to monitor building status, provide feedback and control building functions.

The new construction model that integrates information processing into building systems has the potential to affect every building product category. Smart-house wiring systems will automatically adjust heating and cooling, sound, lighting and appliances to meet changing occupancy conditions. Computerized door controls, already found in most hotels, will monitor and control security and occupancy. Structural systems will be wired to monitor structural integrity and respond dynamically to changing loads. Windows will change opacity to control privacy and light.

Emerging technologies will alter the demand for and design of many types of buildings. Hospitals will downsize as it becomes easier to monitor patients in their own homes from a central location. New communication channels will create demand for additional broadcast and recording facilities to feed a growing need for content. Some children may even attend school via the Internet, reducing the need for new school buildings. Retail facilities will be redefined: For example, when almost any book can be purchased online, physical bookstores are becoming recreational venues, complete with espresso bars and conversation opportunities.

Truths and consequences
It’s difficult to predict the consequences of new technologies. If you had asked 50 years ago about the impact of air conditioning, I might have predicted increased work for sheet metal contractors, but I may not have foreseen the shift of population to southern states or the rise in indoor sports facilities.

Just as air conditioning led to geographic shifts in construction activity, high-tech communications may also stimulate geographic moves. Predicting these shifts correctly could help you locate new production and distribution facilities.

New information technologies make it possible for individuals in far-flung locations to collaborate, away from centralized offices and urban congestion.

The international connection
Even today, a colleague in Los Angeles is working on the architectural design for a building in the Far East. The working drawings are produced in Central America, where wages are lower, and contract administration is in Taiwan, where the building will be constructed. Although my colleague relies on couriers to deliver much of the project documentation, a large amount of information is transmitted electronically among project team members.

Just as the fax machine and FedEx made it easier for design and construction firms to work with out-ofstate consultants and contractors, new technologies will continue to expand the geographic spread of project teams.

New alliances for a new age
For construction marketers, the challenge will be to develop new types of alliances with sales organizations and distributors around the world. These connections may come from export divisions with worldwide vision, cross-licensing structures in which identical products are manufactured in several countries, or other innovative ways to view multinational marketing.

While individuals and businesses will have increased location flexibility, I don’t expect to see large-scale flight from big cities. People congregate for many social and economic reasons other than the need to work in groups.

However, if the number of people working from home continues to grow, we’ll need to build additional neighborhood- based facilities like Kinkos and Starbucks to provide the physical resources and social interaction found in offices. By carefully assessing niche building markets, you may be able to identify new product needs, building types, geographic areas and customer opportunities.

Waking up to the digital age
While hardly a comprehensive view of the future, these predictions may stimulate ideas to include in your long-range planning. But to really anticipate the changes to be wrought by digital technologies you need to look over the horizon and watch developments in unrelated industries.

In the retail sector, stores transmit daily sales information so that manufacturers can adjust their production depending on what’s moving off the shelves. Supermarkets can electronically track individual shoppers’ purchases and target their buying patterns. Some of these new technologies may have useful implications for the construction industry. But don’t bet the store on a single technology; business survival favors those who diversify their options.

Keep technology in balance
Computers and the Internet are only tools, not ends in themselves. The adaptability and resourcefulness of your human resources remain critical to your firm’s success. Don’t lose focus on product value in your rush to embrace high tech. If you had just awakened from a 20-year sleep, you might be surprised by the proliferation of computers in architectural offices and laser levels on the jobsite, but you’d find that construction fundamentals haven’t changed significantly. The best forecast we have for what our industry will look like in the future is the way it looks today.


Have a question you'd like us to answer?
Send an email to michaelchusid@chusid.com

By Michael Chusid
Originally published in Construction Marketing Today, Copyright © 1998

How AT&T's limits on data use will impact A/E/C users

AT&T announced yesterday they are eliminating unlimited data plans, capping the "premium" plan at 2GB per month, with fees for additional gigabytes. Reports suggest Verison has a similar plan in the works. Some commentators are getting a bit melodramatic about this step, but there will be potentially serious impacts on the way we use mobile data, especially in an industry like construction where files tend to be large and graphic intensive.

In an interview Mike Collins, AT&T's senior VP of data and voice products, mobility and consumer products, explained the rationale behind this move. Sadly, despite all his nostalgic discussion of "The early days of wireless" and pro-tech, futuristic visions of "innovation", the company's motivations come down to this:

Overall this is a way to reallocate demand based on products and services that customers are willing to consume and pay for. It goes back to the phrase, what is something worth? It’s worth what someone is willing to pay you for it.

At a time when high data-use app development is soaring, smartphone adoption is increasing, and the best predictions suggest cell phones will become the primary mode of internet access globally within the next decade, AT&T redesigned their data plans based on last year's data usage.

Ok, maybe I'm a little upset. 

But what will this mean for the construction industry?

First of all, it will mean streamlined website development. Contractors in the field looking for product information won't want to pay for a big, fancy site to load. Additionally, successful manufacturers will offer mobile-optimized sites. Any large photos or documents will need two versions, normal and low-resolution, with the low-res version set as default. Hopefully your company is already doing this.

Secondly, it could chill the growing movement towards mobile CAD and BIM programs. Just yesterday I was listening to a podcast extolling the virtues of AutoCAD's iPad program. These will still be useful for working on local projects, but the cloud-based aspect of BIM could face limitations.

Basically, this will be a problem in the field -- which is usually where we need our smartphone data connections. WiFi connections will still provide unlimited usage, so using smartphones at your office, home, or Starbucks will be unaffected. But a lot of our work happens outside these locations, such as in clients' offices.

Will they be willing to share their wireless network so you can stream your presentation? Maybe; this might be the move that makes wireless data as much a public resource as the water fountain, restrooms, and coffee pot. That brings up a slew of privacy and liability issues, though. Maybe the government will finally get around to making WiFi a free public utility, but I wouldn't count on it.

Ironically, this may drive adoption of the WiFi-only iPad; or, as I call it, the affordable model. Originally I felt WiFi-only was too limiting on how I would use the iPad, but if data pricing continues along this trend then I have enough of an incentive to rely more on locally-stored files and WiFi hotspots.

How will this impact your smartphone adoption? Does it discourage iPad or social media campaigns?

Is the internet private?

The one fact everyone knows about lockpicking, gleaned from years of action movies and police-procedural tv shows, is that any lock can be picked; it's just a matter of time. I just finished listening to a podcast from South by Southwest, one of the major social media conferences, that reminded me the same is true of internet privacy.

Recently Facebook has been in the news again for privacy issues; some of you may even have observed Quit Facebook Day, a coordinated effort to get users to leave Facebook in protest of its new privacy policies. At the root of the issue is that most users don't even know they can change their privacy settings, let alone that they need or might want to. There is an assumption of privacy that is just plain wrong; the default settings share almost everything with the entire internet.

Michael and I presented a course on ethics for the San Diego CSI chapter last week, and group discussion focused strongly on the ethics of social media and internet technologies in the construction industry. Privacy issues will be a major part of this over the next few years, as we deal with issues of who is responsible for protecting specific information, who is allowed to release it, and who is liable when privacy is breached. Whether your company is fully immersed in social media or still using your original webpage design, these are issues you need to address now to stay ahead of the curve.

The issue of internet privacy keeps coming back to one simple concept: if you put it on the internet, it's not private. Think of it as a conversation on a crowded subway train; there's so much noise it will be hard for someone to eavesdrop, and if no one on the train knows you it's unlikely they will even care enough to try. Regardless, you just had a conversation in front of dozens of people, anyone of whom could have listened or recorded what you said. This is the privacy of the internet.