Caveat collator: Sharer Beware!
How long do you pause to think before ‘sharing’ something on social media, or forwarding a circular email? Do you take tweets and posts at face value and pass them straight on to your trusting fans and followers? It’s so easy to hit that button, but what does fast and furious sharing tell people about you?
In the same way that you would take care to re-read something you post or email, take a moment to think about what you share. Once you hit that button, it is part of your Digital Footprint. Can you always be sure of the source? Will your sharing always promote a sympathy or interest which fits with your carefully constructed business profile? Or will that itchy trigger finger compromise your position, and rebound on your reputation?
Libel in the Twitterverse
Twitter users who recently discussed and retweeted allegations about an innocent individual are counting the cost as legal action is rolled out against thousands of users who jumped on the bandwagon of scurrilous gossip. For most, a small donation to a charity has been enough of a warning and a slap on the hand – but around 20 ‘high-profile’ tweeters are apparently facing libel action from Lord McAlpine. This is an extreme case: but it demonstrates the dangers of not thinking about what you want to be linked to your profile.
Warnings and Scams
A phenomenon which has been around longer than Twitter or Facebook is the proliferation of apparently helpful messages warning about scams, phishing, and viruses. Of course you want to share this with your fans and followers, don’t you, just as you used to send on the emails that circulated the globe, protecting others from harm? It shows you care…….
…..well, actually, it shows you haven’t checked out the detail. A very useful website to visit if you ever read or receive such a message is Snopes, the Urban Legends Reference Site. Only yesterday a friend of mine on Facebook shared an article about reversing your pin number if you are forced to enter it into an ATM, to generate an automatic distress call. Snopes says: false, and this story has been circulating on email since 2006! Facebook users regularly see panic posts about ‘how your Facebook privacy is being compromised’, with complex instructions on how to fix the problem. These are all timewasters: for fun, keep an eye out for the spoofs that come round from time to time, such as ‘Facebook will cause the earth to plunge into the sun if you don’t change the ‘sundive’ setting’. So next time you go to share a helpful article, take a moment to check and think about what you are putting your reputation behind!
Drama in the Natural World
At the end of June 2012, a supercell storm struck Newcastle upon Tyne, causing incredible damage and spectacular scenes. One of thefirst images to be circulated online was this ‘Toonflood from the Air’ shot, apparently taken from a plane heading for Newcastle Airport. It’s been shared countless times, but its source is unknown, and close inspection begs a few questions: since when was the Tyne canal-straight? That’s a lot of arable farmland? And where is the coastline?
As the UK battens down the hatches for another round of storms and floods, Mashable published a round-up last month of shared pictures of Superstorm Sandy battering the East Coast of the USA. Grab a cuppa, get comfortable in the dry and warm, and have a look at this selection of great images – which are not quite what they claim to be.