The Dark Side of Social Media

• March 22nd, 2011 by SEM Contributor

Social media has many uses and has long been championed as a cause for good. Like many new communications methods that preceded it however, social media, that is Computer Mediated Communication using social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook, has long been dogged by accusations that it is the harbinger of doom and the end of mankind as we know… Read more

Social Networking Insurance for Businesses: A Trending Topic

• February 16th, 2011 by SEM Contributor

The general insurance unit of AIG – Chartis – has announced that in the future, they will offer insurance for businesses who wish to protect themselves in the event of any confidential company information ending up on social media website such as Twitter and Facebook. The insurance company will cover expenses that will help limit company reputation damage and financial… Read more

Big Brother IS Watching Social Media

• October 21st, 2010 by Tisha Tolar

And I don’t mean through the peep hole. The Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) even has a report on it! With its catchy title “Social Networking Sites and Their Importance to FDNS” (Office of the Fraud Detection and National Security) security agents with the FDNS are instructed how to use social media networks for surveillance… Read more

Divorce Attorneys Using Social Networking Profiles As Evidence In Contested Divorce Cases

• October 18th, 2010 by SEM Contributor

Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are intended to act as online communities where people can publically share information about themselves and connect with others.  Many individuals choose to share photos or comment on their day-to-day activities but may not realize that information posted on social networking sites can be used as evidence against them in a… Read more

Tubri: In Real Life People Aren’t Always Friends

• August 30th, 2010 by SEM Contributor

Most modern lives are made up of many complex social bonds to different groups of people. In the real world there are certain social conventions which we uphold, often behaving very differently depending on whether we are talking to our boss, partner, friends or work colleagues. In cyberspace though things have become a little bit more open, with conventions and… Read more

FBI Uses Facebook to Track Down Criminal

• January 11th, 2010 by Orrett

By now you’re probably aware that whatever you do on social networking sites, you should never do anything illegal as big brother is watching you. But what if you’re in another country? Well same rule applies as a certain Colombian youth has realized.… Read more

At Last, a Leak

• June 3rd, 2009 by Ann Smarty

In what has basically become a bizarre, corporate-sized version of, “He said, he said”, Erick Schonfeld of techcrunch.com has opened a big yucky can of worms. His February 20, 2009, report that CBS subsidiary Last.fm divulged privatized, detailed user preference information has been incendiary, to say the least. The commentary on his post, “Did Last.fm Just Hand Over User Listening… Read more

A Real Clear Conspiracy

• May 26th, 2009 by Ann Smarty

President Obama has set a trend with his promises of “transparency” and real democracy in our federal government. It seems everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Suddenly it is en vogue to demand total honesty and forthrightness from an entity, whether it be business or government. Take for instance a blog post by Brent Csutoras, which claims there has been… Read more

Russian Social Network Involved in Privacy Scandal

• January 2nd, 2009 by Ann Smarty

Odnoklassniki.ru (translated as ‘classmates’), Russian most popular social networking site, has been in the center of information privacy scandal.… Read more