Speech, Privacy, and the Internet...

This post is based on Prof. Lawrence Lessig's keynote speech on November 21, 2008 at the University of Chicago Law School.



Some random facts you (and I) didn't know about him until right now:

• He was a character (played by Christopher Lloyd) in the popular TV show The West Wing.
• Artist group Monochrom performed a "Love Song for Lessig" on Boing Boing TV.

Prof. Lessig speaks about 3 elements that currently drive change today and hit close to home with new generations:

Extraordinary explosion of data.

Accessibility of information is at unprecedented heights. We can basically find anything we want on the Internet when we want it. More stuff accessible than ever before. G-O-O-G-L-E.

Data (and its architecture) are inspiring us to much worse behavior.
Behavioral expectations have changed because everything we do online is captured and monitored. Thanks to this our actions and that of others have become more rebellious in nature.

Data survives forever.
This endless data makes it harder for us to erase than it is to keep. WORLD-WIDE-WEB. People, much to my surprise, still fail to understand the meaning of those words individually and collectively in terms of speech and privacy. Once you put something out there, there's no turning back and people often forget that.

Further, Lessig states that democratization of speech on the Internet has diminished our ability (instead, I'd argue perhaps our motivation) to keep things in the right context. This makes sense to me in a way that more (and faster) does not mean better. We feel entitled nowadays to have access to everything online. We've lost sight of the responsibility to contextualize news and articles and differentiate them from opinion pieces and garbage information. We (those of us a part of the Google, Facebook, and Twitter generation) read/skim snippets of text and automatically jump to judgments and conclusions without going further to see what is beyond plain sight.

Where's Rob?

Next time your out at a sporting event, see if you can get Rob's attention ... with the help of an entire section (or two, or three).

Thanks to groups like Improv Everywhere, you will soon be caught in so-called flash mobs. If you live in NYC, you're probably more familiar with them. No Pants Subway Ride. Frozen Grand Central. It didn't take long for companies to capitalize on this movement, check out this T-Mobile dance in Liverpool, England.

My initial thought when watching these videos was "I wish I would've been there." Certainly these events are meant to create unique experiences and lasting impressions, ask anyone involved (participant or bystander) in any of the above videos.

However, what I did not realize what the power of mobile devices in making this happen. These gatherings are organized via mobile devices, social media, or viral emails. Makes you wish you had more friends on Facebook in order to increase your chances of joining in the next flash mob. Think worldwide pillow fight - it's already happened.

The power of mobile 2.0 is scary. The negatives are obvious with security concerns about GPS enabled smart phones and Big Brother watching over you, hackers, stalkers, etc. But then you think of how thousands of people can gather in an organized fashion in a matter of minutes or hours to carry out an unusual (and most times, pointless) act for a short amount time and the real power to social media comes to life.

Most recently, a snowball fight erupted in DuPont Circle last weekend after the Snowmageddon made its way through DC. As everyone in DC knows, this is a town that is well-practiced in using social media to rally supporters at political events...but in this case, why not use Facebook and Twitter to host a few harmless snowball fights?

Corporate Blogging: listen, learn, engage...

BREAKING NEWS: Corporate America agrees that social media is essential to successfully communicating (and engaging consumers with) your brand in today's ever-changing global marketplace.

As consumers become more diverse, demanding, and connected than ever before, it's important for firms to understand the global trends and local conditions that define their environment (and the consumer's too!).

The new marketplace is now being defined in consumer terms. As such, blogs are an important tool in this new two-way communications world. With traditional media such as newspapers appearing to be that of Neanderthals (my apologies to the Geico cavemen), brands now use blogs to tell their story. And more importantly, they CONTROL the content.

However, just as important, firms cannot miss out on the CONVERSATION part. Blogging, or social media in general, is another promotional platform but it is as much about listening as it is about publishing content. Firms must understand that in order to catch the attention of their target audience, they need to be informative (or even entertaining), engaging, and true to the brands they represent.

Blogs. Facebook. Twitter. Flickr. Digg. YouTube. They're all great communications and marketing tools but they must be used efficiently. Firms should not SPAM social media, it will backfire. Instead, prioritize your efforts on sites where your audience may be looking for you and integrate/connect these back to your blog. This way, the brand message will be more authentic and meaningful to the consumer.


Articles:

Beckford, Avil. On Corporate Blogging: Interview with Don Martelli of MS&L. November 9, 2009.

Brogan, Chris. Shut Up - You're Helping the Customer! November 4, 2008.

Image from Savage Brands.

Real? Virtual? ... Both?

Mark Zuckerberg, in a post on his Facebook blog, states that "when we started Facebook in 2004, it was just a basic directory with some names, interests, contact information and a profile picture." Fast forward to 2009, we now have "the wall" and "live feeds" that put all of our "friends" right in our face.

On the other hand, Clive Thompson, recounts the differences between real-world social networks and virtual ones through the study of reality mining. Apparently, scientists are tracking people using location-aware devices like mobile phones or electronic badges to figure out how social networks function in the real wold. Really?? Am I in a lab and don't know it?? Not surprisingly, results show that the real world often works very differently than the virtual world thanks to that old tradition of face-to-face interaction.

Here's my problem: FB isn't just a basic directory anymore. I don't want the power to share EVERYTHING and I don't want to connect with EVERYONE. (baby announcements, the exact street address of where you will be at from 5-7 pm tonight, how you feel about Obama being left-handed, etc.)

Improving my ability to share and connect online also means improving security and privacy measures that allow us to do so in our own terms. Whether it's live feeds on FB or reality mining in the real world, why do I want others gathering so much data about me and vice versa? What's left to talk about if we know everything about everyone? (clients, bosses, love interests, etc.) We might as well just become robots. Wait for it...

I love spontaneity and so should you, it's what keeps us on our toes and makes life interesting. While FB (and YouTube, etc.) has proven to be many great things, like mapping our social network, it has also negatively altered our real world expectations. In the real world, you don't just earn someone's trust and friendship because your FB status is the same or you follow the same people. A firm handshake, eye contact, and credibility will always triumph in the world I live, which makes me wonder: am I the only one still living here? I guess the term "double life" changed from personal/professional to real/virtual.