Unwanted followers...

Have you recently dived into social networking applications?

Now that you are an established member of the community are you finding that your are being followed by undesirables?

A came across this image of Pac-Man being followed by the infamous ghosts on an undisclosed social network and - retro as the pic may be - I really felt like I understood what was running through Pac-Man's mind



I have been tweeting for quite some time now but only just recently joined facebook (as I'm a true believer in telephone calls and human contact) and within 24 hours of joining I received over 75 friend requests - half of which I didn't really want to accept.

The visual image of Pac-Man and his ghost followers made me feel somewhat closer to the iconic 80's arcade game figure... And made me ask the question - is it rude to ignore unwanted friend requests and block unwanted followers?

What are there etiquette guidelines for letting people down gently via social media networks?

And more importantly - should I be offended if someone considers me an "unwanted follower"?

Gossip and bullying - a fine line online

Last week some year nine youngsters were expelled from a presitigious Eastern Suburbs of Sydney all-girls private school for a raft of cyber bullying offences. Now despite my dislike for stories that take delight in tearing down private schools just because they're private - like bullying, cyber or otherwise, only happens to children with money - this article by Paul Sheehan for the Sydney Morning Herald really sums it up.

Bullying has always existed but the power of online communities and social networkings means the shame of the bullied and the mirth of the bullies is multiplied and recorded for almost perpeptual posterity. Paul also blames the gossip culture our little online social bubble has created, pointing the finger at some of my (I must confess) favourite blog sites (namely GoFugYourself and Perez Hilton) who make their money being mean to others.

The relative anonymity of the online sphere also gives rise to bubbles or pockets of negativity that can easily become a swarm. Paul gives the Gretel Killeen at the Logies example where the Twitter backchannel was harsh from the word go. And I know how easy it is to be critical in 140 characters, when I went to a Social Media Club Sydney event a couple of weeks ago we were invited to tweet our comments and questions along with the events Twitter hashtag (#smcsyd). I did so liberally but the urge was always to tweet a criticism, it's the first thing to spring to mind and it's far more exciting than being positive. So I know just how easily the echo chamber becomes filled with negativity, but the problems begin when it spills over into reality.

These school girls are unfortunate to have been caught out doing what our society is doing left, right and centre - everywhere from the websites of major news publications to TV - but I'm glad they were punished for their actions. And we should remember that one day we might be too!

Twouble with Twitters... (according to current.com)

Oh dear I think I can see myself in this video...

Found it a nice reminder that while we explore new communication channels it is important not to forget the traditional methods!

A picture of Australian MySpace users…

I just read the results of a census of Australian MySpace users on mumbrella which labelled users as “Calvin Klein-wearing, Corona-swilling, dope-smoking, teeth-brushing, Coke-guzzling, Lynx-spraying social networking machines”. The conclusion was reached based on a survey by MySpace into the opinions and attitudes of 2,000 of its 2.4m Australian users to build up the picture of their favourite brands.

The mouthful of a sentence conjures up a very interesting mental image and I can’t help but wonder - what would a photo of an Australian MySpace user look like?!?

The stats on Aussie MySpace users were quite interesting (I found the one on Colgate’s popularity – 81%! – to be of most interest, must be the ex dental nurse inside of me), and knowing many MySpace addicts myself I found the profile to be scarily accurate.

It all provokes some still unanswered questions about how brands are engaging with existing fan bases online for their own benefit. I wonder whether this level of brand advocacy is news to Colgate today?