Noted… Twitter on Censoring

As Twitter grows globally, it’s also crossing new bridges.  Here’s a lengthy excerpt from Twitter’s latest official blog posting…

One year ago, we posted “The Tweets Must Flow,” in which we said,

“The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact … almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits.”

As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.

Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.

We haven’t yet used this ability, but if and when we are required to withhold a Tweet in a specific country, we will attempt to let the user know, and we will clearly mark when the content has been withheld. As part of that transparency, we’ve expanded our partnership with Chilling Effects to share this new page, http://chillingeffects.org/twitter, which makes it easier to find notices related to Twitter.

One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice. We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can’t. The Tweets must continue to flow.

Google crossed a similar bridge not long ago when it censored, then uncensored, then eventually compromised search results for its Chinese users because of that government’s pressure to help it censor online content.  It’s too early to say if Twitter’s new ability and policy to censor certain kinds of content will be used, abused, practical, impractical, or eventually modified.  Twitter users will help the social medium decide, if they keep the tweets flowing on the topic.

“Terrific Job”

“You are doing a terrific job. We like the facebook, twitter, the new and improved email blasts and the web page.”

Mary Dellorso, President, Northeast Ohio Nurse Practitioners

Healthcare Social Media, Google Stats

  • It’s Friday and we’re digging into some Google Analytics for the first full-month performance of a website we manage.  Not only will this provide a baseline for future monthly and annual growth comparisons, what we learn from our breakdowns will help increase our client’s website’s relevance to its target market.
  • Tomorrow, our Social Media Consultant Stephen FitzGerald will make a presentation to the Northeast Ohio Nurse Practitioners about social media, nursing and healthcare, entitled “Intro to Social Media: Vital Signs?”

Remembered… Steve Jobs, ’55 to ’11

Movers and shakers covered by and of the media reflected on the passing of Apple’s Steve Jobs last year…

“Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO

“The world has lost a visionary.” – President Barack Obama

“The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come… It has been an insanely great honour.” – Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder

“He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it.” – Larry Page, Google Co-Founder

“Steve Jobs’ enduring legacy is to challenge assumptions, and forever change what we could expect technology to do.” – Murad Ahmed, The Times

“Steve was such an ‘original’ with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started.” – Bob Ibger, Disney CEO

“Many books were dashed off describing what a tyrannical person Jobs could be – how he took the parking spaces of the handicapped, how he reduced employees to tears. Those tales will fade like yesterday’s newspapers. What will stand erect like an indestructible monument are the things Steve Jobs created that changed our lives.” – Ken Auletta, The New Yorker

“The full legacy of Steve Jobs will not be sorted out for a very long time. When employees first talked about Jobs’ ‘reality distortion field,’ it was a pejorative — they were referring to the way that he got you to sign on to a false truth by the force of his conviction and charisma. But at a certain point the view of the world from Steve Jobs’ brain ceased to become distorted. It became an instrument of self-fulfilling prophecy. As product after product emerged from Apple, each one breaking ground and changing our behaviour, Steve Job’s reality field actually came into being. And we all live in it.” – Steven Levy, Wired

I needn’t add anything. Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.

Noted… 12 Tech/Social Trends for ’12

Wells Fargo has just released its Top Tech Trends list for 2012…

  • Rise of the Social OS
  • The Shift to Engagement Apps
  • Consumerization of IT Goes Mainstream
  • V5D: The Five Vs of Data
  • Digitizing Local Commerce
  • The Internet is Not Dead
  • Coming Soon – The Post-TV Era
  • Post-PC Era: Better, Faster, Cheaper + More Choices
  • Tech Levers Up
  • The Internet of Things – IP Everywhere
  • Cloud First
  • and Data as a Service

On first blush, there’s a lot to like and to embrace immediately. As experience teaches, when it comes to the place where consumers and users meet technology face-to-face… not everything is adopted as or when predicted. And there will be surprises that are not on anyone’s list. One thing is certain. This will be an exciting year for social marketing!

The Old Stone Foundation

“Thanks so much for ‘steering.’
Good work. Much appreciated.”

Arthur Mayers, The Old Stone Foundation
Cleveland, Ohio

Project Notes… Marketing Online

  • Rewriting online advertising copy for a law firm client in Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Setting up a more professional email account for a retailing client who sells handmade goods on Etsy.
  • Managing and posting to a client’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.

Hillary Clinton Likes Twitter

Did you know?  The U.S. State Department tweets.

Notes… Facebook Then and Now

  • In 2004, when Facebook was conceived, its founders could never have imagined its future growth.  At the time, Mark Zuckerberg hoped his fellow Harvard University students might like the online social network.
  • Coming into 2012, Facebook has about 800,000,000 users in general and niche communities around the world.  Facebook continues to grow geographically, globally and locally.
  • Pleased to be helping a Cleveland, Ohio client in the career coaching space manage her social media marketing, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

“The Positive Impact…”

“Wonderful feedback about the Mayor’s State of the City address to the Chamber of Commerce today. The positive impact is due in no small part to the work you have done during the past year.”

James Muth, Youth Services, City of Lakewood, Ohio

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