by Erik Sass on May 30, 11:16 AM
"So this is America; they must be out of their minds." Ringo Starr's first words on landing in the U.S. rang truer than ever today when I perused data from a survey of 500 U.S. adults by 140 Proof and IPG Media Lab, showing that among the 52% of Americans who use multiple social networks, 23% (or 12% of the total) uses seven or more social platforms. To repeat with emphasis, they use seven or (and this is the really crazy part) more social platforms -- like the true number will never be known because the survey respondents ran out …
by Erik Sass on May 29, 1:40 PM
Nearly 2,000 children, some as young as nine years old, have been investigated by police in the U.K. over the last three years for potentially criminal activity on social media, including abuse, threatening messages, and online bullying, according to a report from Sky News. Furthermore out of the 1,932 children investigated, 1,203 of these -- again, including children as young as nine -- have either been charged with a criminal offense or given a warning or fine.
by Erik Sass on May 28, 11:37 AM
A large majority (80%) of adults ages 20-40 in the U.S. and U.K. believe that total privacy is basically impossible in today's digital world, according to a new survey of 2,012 consumers in that age range conducted by Accenture in both countries in March and April of this year. An even higher proportion (87%) said they don't believe adequate safeguards are in place to protect their private information. Furthermore 70% of respondents don't believe businesses are transparent about how their personal information being is used.
by Erik Sass on May 27, 2:34 PM
Social media has pretty much upended the traditional job search, as employers look for talent (and would-be employees seek to display it) on professional networks like LinkedIn as well as general use networks like Twitter and Facebook.
by Erik Sass on May 23, 11:37 AM
If you're one of those people who agonizes for hours over what photos and comments to post on Facebook in order to construct a perfect portrait of your awesome life, then this new social network may not be for you: it's called Voycee, and it is billed as a "history-free" social network, because you are only allowed one post -- and every time you create a new post, it deletes your previous post.
by Erik Sass on May 22, 12:37 PM
Okay, I admit that nowadays my usual reaction when a new social network or app launches is "meh that's nice." But this one actually looks kind of cool. Called Tunepics, it's a new iOS app that allows users to share images with an accompanying song -- a sensory combination that is perfectly designed to evoke an emotional response and therefore allow you to share your "mood" with your friends.
by Erik Sass on May 21, 1:10 PM
Financial advisers have been understandably cautious in their approach to social media, due to regulatory issues and concerns about privacy, liability and professional reputation. But over the last few years, more of them are seeing value and embracing social media for communicating with existing clients, finding new ones, recruiting and gathering information.
by Erik Sass on May 20, 12:44 PM
Ecommerce and social media are two great tastes that (so far do not taste great together, according to U.S. consumers. That's the conclusion of a survey by Custora, which looked at orders to retail Web sites in the first quarter of the year to determine where the orders originated.
by Erik Sass on May 19, 12:33 PM
Social media apps are favorites with U.S. Hispanics, who are also very likely to recommend them to family, friends, and coworkers, according to a new survey by The Latinum Network. This research confirms other recent studies showing that Hispanics over-index in both social media and mobile device usage.
by Erik Sass on May 16, 3:26 PM
Americans are split on the issue of whether bosses should be able to discipline employees for posting inappropriate content on their personal social media accounts.