You would have to live in a bubble to not know about the recent scandal with former Senator Anthony Weiner.  The past month has been an on-going explosion of his social media mistakes that for some reason he thought would be kept private as long as they were not sent from his personal account.

For a quick synopsis on Weiner’s case:  A lewd photograph was sent from his personal twitter account to a woman, not his wife.  After a preliminary denial, Weiner admitted that he lied about someone hacking into his account along with several other inappropriate encounters and relationships on social network sites like facebook and twitter.

Weiner is not the only one getting busted these days .  It seems that people have constant issues either with posting too much personal information or not being able to distinguish between personal and public or work life.  Examples range from Weiner, to several corporate employees, to a school teacher who got fired simply for posting photos of herself with drinks in hand on a trip abroad.

Here are two examples of people tweeting something personal on a work twitter account…

The first is when Kenneth Cole tweeted about their new collection on the same day that violence erupted in Egypt.  They tweeted “Millions are in uproar at #Cairo.  Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online.”  The tweet was later removed followed with several apologies.

The second example is when a worker for Chrysler’s outsourced media company tweeted on the Chrysler account (@Chrysler Autos) “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to F***ing drive.”  Apparently he meant this post for his personal account…too bad because he was fired shortly after.

What can we learn about these social media mistakes you may ask?

It seems simple but these tips can help anyone not to get caught in one of these increasingly common sticky situations…

Keep in mind…

• There really is no distinction between personal and business accounts
• Nothing is really private on the web
• Be aware of how you post and to whom you share your posts
• Protect your security
• Be careful of the content you post

http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/the-weiner-principle-plus-5-more-social-media-meltdowns/

http://www.powerhomebiz.com/blog/2011/06/what-congressman-weiner-can-teach-small-businesses-about-social-media/

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/21586641/detail.html

http://www.learningfrombigboys.com/2011/06/learning-from-the-social-media-mistakes-of-rep-anthony-weiner.html

We’re all aware of the power of twitter by now, and if we’re not, maybe this list will convince you. Business Insider reports that “Over the last 12 months, Twitter grew by more than 100 million users, who helped the network pump out more than 25 billion tweets.” So how powerful can 140 characters or less really be? Check out the 5 most powerful tweets of 2010:

#5 @Precidencia_EC Gobierno declara estado de Excepción #Ecuador #30S

When civil unrest in Ecuador increased dramatically after a new law cut benefits for public servants, President Rafael Correa accused opposition and military forces of a coup attempt, and used Twitter to declare a state of emergency in a Tweet. Leaders across Latin America and the world tweeted in response to show their support for the people of Ecuador.

#4 @BPGlobalPR Catastrophe is a strong word, let’s all agree to call it a whoopsie daisy.

It was a parody account, not BP’s official Twitter account, that defined the discussion–spoofing the company’s attempts to improve its public image. “Gulf Oil Spill” was the #1 Trend on Twitter in 2010.

#3 @LeighFazzina I’ve had a serious injury and NEED Help! Can somone please call Winding Trails in Farmington, CT tell them I’m stuck bike crash in woods.

Twitter to the rescue: When she crashed her bike in a forest with no cell phone reception, a gravely injured triathlete saved her own life when she tweeted out a desperate call for help.

#2 @whitehouse Welcome to @twitter President Medvedev! RT @KremlinRussia_E: Hello everyone! I’m on Twitter, and this is my first tweet.

Even the Russian President has joined the Twitter bandwagon. The White House immediately reached out to welcome him to the Twitterverse. Obama’s quote: Red phones no longer required.

#1 @AnnCurry @usairforce find a way to let Doctors without Borders planes land in Haiti: http://bit.ly/8hYZOK THE most effective at this.

After the devastating earthquake, Doctors Without Borders flew in a team of physicians to assist the wounded, but they were unable to get clearance to land the plane. Reporter Ann Curry used Twitter to convince the U.S. Air Force to allow the flight to land. And it worked.

To get the full top ten list read the full article here: http://www.businessinsider.com/twitters-top-tweets-2010-12#

Tuesday night Twitter unveiled its new platform and features for both users and advertisers. The changes include ability to more easily post and view photos and videos as well as endlessly scroll through tweets without hitting the “more” button. Twitter announced deals with providers including YouTube, Flickr, Twitpic and Ustream – in an effort to make the experience of viewing media and sharing it more seamless.

The platform changes are within the Twitter “timeline” which now moves to the left. The new right “pane” will host the geography for an expanded look at whatever the user is clicking on- a detailed bio of a tweeter, a list of people who have re-tweeted the original tweet, or a photo/video linked to in the tweet. Users can now view content without moving off the timeline page.

For the advertisers on Twitter, it will give new visibility for sponsored tweets and trends, as well as content distributed by marketers.

If you think this sounds a lot like another familiar site, you’re not alone. Users alike are commenting that these Twitter changes have existed for years, on Facebook.

“@GallagherMeow i’ve been using the #newtwitter for years now. it’s called facebook. RT @kangollove”

Other users wonder if the “micro-blogging site” is focusing too much on interactivity and “the user experience” and if that change is going to change its central element.

The fact is the new changes are creating quite a Twitter buzz, the hash-tag #newtwitter has become the latest trending topic on the site and Twitter is looking for feedback from the small group of its users who are currently using the new platform.  If you haven’t seen the new Twitter yet, it’s time to get introduced http://twitter.com/newtwitter

It was the beginning of my sophomore year and the entire student body at USC had just gained access to the newbie social networking site. We learned that Facebook originated at Harvard, spread to the other Ivy’s and finally made the 3,000 miles journey west to Stanford, UCLA, and USC. My friends and I carefully crafted our retrospectively primitive profiles by adding birthdays, classes and other basic information. We agonized over the perfect profile picture because if you recall, users were only offered one pixilated representation.

Recently Facebook has undergone scrutiny regarding their privacy settings. It seems that people are suddenly feeling violated by the somewhat complicated privacy options. In fact, recently I have found myself defending Facebook’s honor whenever a disloyal user casually threatens to un-friend the online sphere. I stand by my conviction that social networking will only further infiltrate our society; there is no sense in fighting an inevitable. I’m sure there was much controversy over e-mail in its infantile stage; how impersonal! Can you imagine not using it now?

Honestly, having been a Facebook user for six harmonious years has afforded me the luxury of growing with the network. Mark Zuckerberg and his team have introduced countless changes and tweaks every year, which has made understanding what Facebook is today fairly seamless for long-time members, such as myself.

However, every one of those new additions was met with resistance from users, because people don’t like change. Some people might remember the controversy over the introduction of the news feed about three years ago. The modification took some adjusting, but right on its heels followed its cousin, Twitter.

But back to the privacy uproar of present. Yes, more information is available online; your information to be exact. However, skeptics tend to overlook that users are in full control of how much information is given. The only real requirements are your full name and email, which is a heck of a lot less incriminating than ordering a pair of shoes online.

While the sharing of personal information is admittedly a scary subject, it’s the future. I suppose I just don’t find our future to be bleak. The world wide transmission of information has led to so many wonderful reunions and created an easy way to connect. I personally keep in touch with literally hundreds of people I would have otherwise let fall to the wayside of my life. Aside from personal connections, I feel more connected to the world in general, and I don’t even mind being shown targeted advertisements every three seconds.

Bottom line: Next time you get frustrated/upset because you keep getting Farmville invitations or you just saw that your Ex is engaged…rethink pressing the delete button. The truth is you’ll only end up signing up again once you get bored/curious/over your Ex.

-Heather Sundell

Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone stated the other day “Twitter isn’t for sale. Although an IPO may be an option in the future, who knows.” He then went on to say that “we need to create value for our users/customers before we can create value for ourselves.”

Reading this article it struck me that not only do I love this guys name, I also love his view on creating brand value. He understands that if you create value and loyalty among your customers, you are creating company and brand value. I also respect Mr. Stone’s view because he understands this business value has to generate actual dollars sooner or later.

Beyond understanding what product or service we are selling, we all need to understand how we can create real customer value and actual/tangible results. We also need to grasp how we tie in the brand recognition with the revenue generation that is going to create leads, which will turn into real dollars and value that our companies are going to benefit from.

- Michael Doyle, President and CEO

The rumors are true, the famous Disney star and teen idol, Miley Cyrus, has deleted her twitter account leaving thousands of followers/fans feeling “neglected” according to an MTV.com article. It seems they will have to go on with their lives without knowing what Miley ate for breakfast, what song she’s listening to on her iPod, or what her dog just did. Stating that the site had begun to “blur the lines between her private and public life” she chose to terminate the account when she realized how much time she was wasting on the site.

So when do our tweets start to defeat the purpose of Twitter? And what even is the real purpose of twitter? I guess I’m not sure what its original intention was but it has become a mix of micro-blogging, instant messaging, and status updates built around different emerging social trends. For some Twitter users, it is a business tool, for others it’s simply a way to keep in touch with friends, and for many it has become a way to keep up on what celebrities are doing on a daily basis.

Many think that Twitter is just a way to talk about the mindless stuff people do all day and to stalk their favorite celebrities. My rebuttal to those people is that the glory of Twitter is you can make it what you want it to be. You don’t have to follow any celebrities, you don’t have to follow politicians, and you don’t even have to follow anyone you know. You can keep it to just your friends, just people in your industry, or just news sources. And if someone starts to tweet about mundane things that are boring to you, you can ‘un-follow’ them, never to receive a boring tweet from them again.

On the other hand, you can tweet about whatever you want. If you want to tell people what you did in your morning workout, what you are doing this weekend, or if you found a cool restaurant you want to recommend, it’s all up to you. I choose to tweet mostly to my friends, but I follow many news sources, travel experts, and all things Colorado. I constantly follow new people, and delete old people I am not getting any value from following. My advice to skeptics – don’t knock it till you try it. It may take time to find the perfect balance of tweeting and following but once you do, it can be both useful and entertaining.

- Kaitlyn Anderson, Marketing Trailblazer

No, this is not a headline in The Onion.  Someone I may or may not know was fired for twittering about how they were enjoying a day in which they called in sick.

Twittering.  Is it a fad we will be ashamed of in 5 years?  – OR – Is it a long-term, useful marketing tool?

Only time will tell.

Written by Mike Slife, Brand Iron Ranch Boss