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MC Hammer is a Guest Speaker at the Social Media Conference

Harvard is holding a Social Media Conference today called Gravity.  You can watch it live on www. CNN.com/Live .

The conference runs all day.  MC Hammer just spoke about how he uses social media to run his business ventures.  They are now taking a lunch break and will resume a live stream at 1:30 EST.  I believe it will be available to watch after today at another location.

Check at the rest of the conference at  www.cnn.com/live

A message that has thousands angry.

Peta has just launched a billboard campaign in Jacksonville, FL which says- Save the Whales- Lose the Blubber- Go Vegetarian with the illustration of a heavy woman in a red polka dot bikini that does not fit.   Many people are  outragged by the ad message.  Yet PETA says it is a message about saving lives, because vegetarians are usually 10-20 pounds lighter than meat eaters.  PETA does not seem to care that they are now targeting a large population with a disrespectful lose weight message and now telling people what to eat.

What is more interesting than the ad, is what will happen online using Social Media as  bloggers, vloggers and pod casters post comments about this billboard and share the post.  Twitter and Social Networks will probably be flooded with this controversy.  That is what is so great about Social Media.  A billboard might only appear in one area and in years past, their may be a local or regional uproar about the ad, but that would be the end of it.

Today, with the use of social media, a topic or controversy and be picked by millions of people in a matter of hours throw viral efforts by sharing and commenting on the controversy on social networks like Facbook, Digg, and through Twitter.  Tons of blogs pick it up and post their take and more bloggers or readers pick it up and share it with their readers and friends.  Before you know it a controversy that would have once been local, is now national or goes worldwide by a few mouse clicks and an active user base at the ready.

To read the full story about the PETA billboard and their response click here.

Another controversy filled blog posts and twitter recently involving a story about Walmart, cookies and the Girl Scouts.  A writer wrote a piece after the BlogHer conference, and quickly the story became something of a blown up game of telephone and had bloggers says Walmart was trying to take on the Girls Scouts and their cookies.  The original article was a bit different but it just goes to show you that active users on twitter or other social networking sites or that blog, can post an opinion without all of the facts.  Often emotions drive bloggers into action and this case was no different. Read more about the Cookie Monster:Wal-mart and the Girls Scouts or check out the original post by CV Harquail here.

In many cases social change or cultural changes have taken place because of the power of hundred or thousands of voices commenting on a topic or issue.  There have been several ad campaigns that mom bloggers felt were distasteful or had a unrealistic image of women or products and they united through blog posts, tweets and social videos and their voices have been heard resulting in some ads to be pulled.  But I want to be careful to point out, often when some mom bloggers put up a blog post, video or podcast about a controversial topic, it is still only a limited number of total mom bloggers.  Check out this post by Maria Bailey regarding the Mortin Controversy last Fall and she points out the number of mom bloggers that where up in arms where much lower than people often note-click here.

But truthfully the question becomes, is lots of controversy over a topic better or worse for a company.  Well it depends on the circumstances and company.  For someone like Wal-mart it may not be in their interest to have hundreds of rants about them ripping off the Girl Scouts, but for PETA I think they believe controversy and attention, even if negative gets their message out to more people so they are happy for the exposure.

One thing is for sure,  social media can turn a story or opinion piece into a overnight sensation better than any other media today and for less money.  That is not to say the many other types of media are not important and effective, but instead to say that social media is playing a bigger role in buzz than ever before and it is continuing to grow.

Twitter

Here are a few recent articles that are worth reading, whether you are a mom blogger, business owner or using social media for your clients.

How to Create Compelling Content by Inspiring Action by Problogger- August 15, 2009

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/08/15/how-to-create-compelling-content-by-inspiring-action/

Check out these Posts on Mashable about How to get Retweeted More:

http://mashable.com/2009/07/02/how-to-get-retweeted/

http://mashable.com/2009/04/16/retweet-guide/

And Lastly check out how you can make s difference helping charities and your community with this post that appeared on Mashable and 100 other blogs this Summer.

http://mashable.com/2009/07/14/support-charity-sosg/

Social Networks and Your kids

So by now I am sure you have heard of Sexting (if not, it is sending a sexually explicit images (often nude or partially nude) via cell phone from one person to another).

With the start of another school year, now is the time to talk to your pre-teen or teenage kids about cell phone and texting rules, email and social networks.  Most schools have specific policies against students using cell phones during the school day.  A parent and student must know the rules and follow the rules.

Kids and parents also need to know what is and what is not appropriate content to text, email or post to a website or social networking site.  You should talk to your kids about the possible consequences of posting explicit photos of him/herself or others or showing pictures of alcohol, drugs or using inappropriate words.  The authorities and parents often check email and social networking sites to find those involved in illegal behavior and many employers have started searching prospective candidates online to see what information is available on a candidate.  Your kids need to understand that the photo a friend took of them at a party over the weekend with beer in the photo, may get them kicked off the school sports team.

As parents, we need to learn about the current technology and sites our kids are using and have access to what our kids do on their phones, email accounts and the web.  Make it clear to your kids that what they put on those devices is not private and as the parent you will review the information on those devices.  Another way to keep an eye on what your kids are doing is only have computers in common areas of your house.  This way you know when your child is online and what they are doing.  If a computer is in their room, or other device that they can use to communicate, you may not know what and when they are communicating with friends or others.

There are many tutorials online for parents, and we will be posting one soon, but you can also ask your son or daughter to show you how to text or set up a Facebook account if you do not know how to do so.  Or you can have a friend who is more tech savvy show you how.

It is an important topic to talk to your kids about and now is the perfect time as they are around lots of kids during the school year and often peer pressure increased.

Here are a few resources and articles to get you started on talking to your kids about Texting and Social Media:

Check out the American Academy of Pediatrics Guide on TALKING TO KIDS AND TEENS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA AND SEXTING
by clicking here.

This CBS story explains some of the consequences teens have faced for sending nude photos of themselves or others via cell phone, email or the web. -http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/15/national/main4723161.shtml

This site gives parents and teens a few tips to Prevent Sexting-http://www.connectsafely.org/Safety-Tips/tips-to-prevent-sexting.html