Woman Loses $4K to Scammer Posing as Friend on Facebook

By Lynn Eastep on September 8th, 2009 • Identity, Legal Issues, Social Networks, Uncategorized • 2 comments

Jayne Scherrman, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, was the unfortunate victim of a scam that turned her compassion and trust into a $4,000 profit, the AP reports. A still unknown crook hacked the Facebook account of Jayne’s friend Grace Parry and began to send Jayne messages, purporting to be Grace and claiming that she and her husband had been detained in London and were in need of money.Jayne figured if the couple could reach her only by Facebook, then they were in dire straits, indeed, and quickly wired $600 as per the scammer’s instructions. As is common in these kinds of schemes, subsequent messages were sent requesting additional funds. In this case, the huckster blamed the exchange rate when explaining the discrepancy between the funds needed and the amount initially requested.

All in all, Jayne eventually sent $4,000 via Western Union to the impostor before realizing that she had fallen victim to a scam. On August 26th, she alerted the authorities.

This tactic has been used before, but there ways to avoid a snakey scammers:

  • First and foremost, never wire any money without speaking directly (on the phone, not via e-mail or Facebook) to any friend who requests your help financially.

  • If you believe there is a plausible reason this friend cannot reach you by phone, don’t be afraid to ask them to confirm their identity. Ask questions that only they would be able to answer.

  • Don’t ask about birthdays or hometowns, facts that could be readily ascertainable online, but instead about where the two of you first met, first boyfriends, or high school mascots.

  • If you know or suspect a friend’s account has been hacked, try to alert that person directly. Then, warn all of your mutual friends, and finally contact the site’s administrators regarding your suspicions. Both your friend and shared pals will be thankful.

Follow these basic guidelines, resist your immediate urge to blindly offer help, and you’ll avoid falling victim to the widespread 419 scams that have taken a more personal twist when crooks ditched their Nigerian princess roots. [From: AP/Yahoo! News]

FYI PPL: Understanding the Communication Styles of Teens

By Lynn Eastep on September 2nd, 2009 • Behaviors, Teenagers • 2 comments

The other day, I received the following IM from my 14 year-old niece: “So, wats up? How ru? Gtg … mom is callin me. C ya l8r k? Byee.” (Translation? “So, what’s up? How are you? Got to go! Mom’s calling me. See you later, OK? Bye.”) To say that I’m concerned about my niece’s academic future — based on her communications skills — is an understatement. Recent research, however, has reassured me that while teens are heavily embedded in a tech-rich world and craft a significant amount of electronic text, they see a fundamental distinction between their electronic social communications and the more formal writing they do for school or for personal reasons.

According to a Pew Internet Project study , teenagers are utilitarian in their approach to technology and writing, using both computers and longhand depending on circumstances. Their use of computers for school and personal writing is often tied to the convenience of being able to edit easily. And while they do not think their use of computers or their text-based communications with friends influences their formal writing, many do admit that the informal styles that characterize their e-communications do occasionally bleed into their schoolwork.

  • 57% of teens say they revise and edit more when they write using a computer.
  • 63% of teens say using computers to write makes no difference in the quality of the writing they produce.
  • 73% of teens say their personal electronic communications (email, IM, text messaging) have no impact on the writing they do for school, and 77% said they have no impact on the writing they do for themselves.
  • 64% of teens admit that they incorporate, often accidentally, at least some informal writing styles used in personal electronic communication into their writing for school. (Some 25% have used emoticons in their school writing; 50% have used informal punctuation and grammar; 38% have used text shortcuts such as “LOL” meaning “laugh out loud.”)

All of this matters more than ever because teenagers and their parents uniformly believe that good writing is a bedrock for future success. Eight in ten parents believe that good writing skills are more important now than they were 20 years ago, and 86% of teens believe that good writing ability is an important component of guaranteeing success later in life.

So, next time I receive an IM from my niece, I can be assured that her informal writing style is not indicative of her future academic success. OMG, I <3 that.

Facebook To Comply with Canadian Privacy Law

By Lynn Eastep on August 27th, 2009 • Identity, Legal Issues, Social Networks • No comments

Facebook will enhance its social-networking site’s privacy features over the next 12 months as a result of a set of recommendations from the Canadian government.

Facebook will increase the information it provides to its users about its privacy features, as well as make technical changes to tighten privacy controls, the company said Thursday.

The changes come as a direct result of a review of Facebook’s privacy policies and controls conducted by The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada . Facebook cooperated with the Canadian agency’s study, which lasted more than a year, reports Reuters. Specifically, Facebook will update its privacy policy so that it more clearly explains its privacy practices. Facebook will also reach out to users, prompting them to review their privacy settings. Canada’s privacy commissioner had previously threatened to take Facebook to court if the company did not resolve “serious gaps” in the way it handles users’ personal information and retains data from deactivated accounts.

Facebook announced plans to give users more control over how their information is shared with third party developers, as well as offering a clearer option for users to deactivate or delete their accounts.

“Giving people more control over what information they share and with whom is at the heart of how we think about privacy at Facebook,” the company wrote in its blog. “As people better understand how information is shared and gain more control over it, they become more comfortable and confident in sharing.”

Facebook has about 12 million Canadian users. It has a total of more than 250 million active users worldwide.

Enough About Me. What Do You Think of Me? Study Suggests Social Media Is for Narcissists

By Lynn Eastep on August 26th, 2009 • Identity, Studies & Research • 3 comments

Gen Y really is “Gen Me,” as suggested by a San Diego State University study. The study, conducted by Jean Twenge, an associate professor of psychology at SDSU, and Youth Pulse LLC, goes on to conclude that Gen Ys are narcissistic: focused only on themselves and incapable of acknowledging or appreciating others’ points of view or circumstances. Nearly 60 percent of college students polled by SDSU agreed their age group uses social networking sites for narcissistic, self-promoting and attention-seeking reasons.

“College students have clearly noticed the more self-centered traits of their peers — it’s fascinating how honest they are about diagnosing their generation’s downsides,” Twenge said. “And students are right about the influence of social networking sites — research has shown that narcissistic people thrive on sites like Facebook, where self-centered people have more friends and post more attractive pictures of themselves.”
Ninety-two percent of students who took the poll said they use MySpace or Facebook regularly, and 84 percent said they go online several times each day.

Detractors criticize Y’s (individuals born between 1980 and 2000) as products of a misguided parenting movement designed to buffer children from the negative effects of competition and build self-esteem — an approach, they argue, that has filled them with false self-confidence. Some claim that self-esteem without achievement to back it up has produced an unmotivated and self-aggrandizing generation.

What do you think? Are Gen Ys really narcissistic?

Twitter’s 140-character limit not enough? Try Woofer’s 1,400-character minimum

By Lynn Eastep on August 25th, 2009 • Fun, Publishing • No comments

For anyone too garrulous for Twitter, please meet Twitter’s evil twin: the macroblogging site, Woofer.

While Twitter limits users to 140 characters per tweet, Woofer requires each post to have a minimum of 1,400 characters. Similar to Twitter, Woofer counts down the amount of characters you have inputted with a big number at the top right of the screen. But you’re not allowed to post anything until you hit 1,400, according to Network World.

While Woofer claims no affliation with Twitter, Woofer’s user interface is near identical to Twitter. Woofer challenges users to post a 1,400 minimum character requirement for public posts and see what people did with it. The site instructs users to “Be eloquent, use adverbs and DEA (don’t ever abbreviate).”

The farcical Web site is run by Join the Company, a small company in Washington, D.C., which specializes in launching “entertaining websites that change the way people use the Internet.”

For the most part, it appears “copy and paste” is the preferred method of Woofer users to reach 1,400 words. Some of the first woofs reached the minimum by reciting the opening paragraphs of Moby Dick, the Gettysburg Address and the Old Testament.

As of Tuesday morning, 1720 users had posted 2059 “woofs” –for a whopping total of 39,683,934 characters. If you’re wondering, that’s about 20,000 characters per woof.

Pssst…. Have You Heard the Buzz? Word of Mouth Continues To Grow Despite the Economy

By Lynn Eastep on August 25th, 2009 • Industry News, Word of Mouth • No comments

In the midst of the worst economic and media recession in more than a quarter-century, Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing has continued to flourish despite ad spending cuts across most media.

WOM activities have played a bigger strategic role as marketers are seeking cost effective ways to engage in conversations with consumers. Word of mouth marketing is one notable sector that has bucked the trend and continued to grow, increasing 14.2 percent to $1.54 Billion in 2008, according to PQ Media.

WOM is still a relatively small sector, but growing fast. PQ Media estimates that WOM spending this year will reach $1.7 billion, up 10 percent from 2008, at a time when outlays in most of the key media sectors are down, reports Ad Week.

By category, consumer package goods marketers spend the most on WOM campaigns, accounting for more than 17 percent of spending in 2008, according to PQ. Other leading product categories were food and drink, finance, business-to-business services, electronics, telecommunications and retail, per PQ. The researcher said that the automobile sector likely would have been a top-five WOM category last year but for the financial woes that beset the industry. PQ projects that spending next year in the WOM sector will reach $1.9 billion, up 13 percent. For the five-year period leading up to 2013, PQ forecasts that annual spending will climb an average 14.5 percent, reaching $3 billion.

Why the surge in WOM? Ed Keller, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, a New Brunswick, N.J.-based market research firm that specializes in WOM, explains it this way: “The number-one way that consumers make decisions is through word of mouth. Brands realize that consumers are willing to engage with them in conversation, and they realize that they have no choice but to participate if they want to be a part of the consumer decision making process.”

According to research conducted by the firm, some 3.5 billion brand-related WOM conversations take place daily in the U.S.

Some of My Favorite Things: Musical Flash Mobs Brighten My Day

By Lynn Eastep on August 24th, 2009 • Fun, Industry News, Uncategorized • No comments

Let’s face it: I’m tired of people being mean online.

I’m tired of the cynicism of Perez Hilton’s blog, the overexposure of pseudo-celebrities tweeting, and just the overall schadenfreude of the online culture. Now granted, I do admit that I snicker at the occasional YouTube video that features the celebrity flavor-of-the-month falling on her face, but sometimes I miss the cheesy innocence of how entertainment used to be (“The Cosby Show” anyone?). When did everyone get to be so mean?

At the risk of sounding really, really old, I miss the sweet innocence of the good old-fashioned musical. Yes, I like the predictable “boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl-through-a series-of-mishaps-and-misunderstandings, and boy-gets-girl” formula. Don’t waste my time with thinly-veiled political message musicals; I love the saccharine Rodgers and Hammerstein dreams-can-come-true musicals. I am a romantic at heart.

So that’s why I love the YouTube sensation “Break Out in Song.” Break Out in Song is a New York arts organization that unexpectedly performs musical theater selections in outdoor public spaces. By combining flash mobs and YouTube with some song and dance, Break Out in Song brings Broadway to the street and surprises random onlookers to a free show. Its guerilla-style performances show us what it might be like if everyone actually knew the words to songs… and the dance moves.

So, is someone going to strip away my social media “cool” card because I openly admit that I really like Break Out in Song’s impromptu bursts of musical happiness? Go ahead. I’m tired of online bullies who endlessly spew venom to entertain legions of anonymous online fans. I want to bring “nice” back to social media*. Social media should be about connecting with others, building up others instead of knocking them down, and sharing in a way that helps others. Because, quite honestly, these are a few of my favorite things.
*Granted, there are major exceptions, such as war, poverty, political and social inequities, etc, but bear with me because I’m only focusing on “entertainment” here. Those other important and serious issues should be addressed separately in a different forum.

OMG! Check UR Facebook Page B4 Big Interview

By Lynn Eastep on August 21st, 2009 • Human Resources, Social Networks, Studies & Research • No comments

After months of searching for a new job, you’ve finally scored an interview for a position that doesn’t require you to say “Would you like fries with that?” So, when preparing for that interview, you start making a mental checklist: Resume? Check. Interview suit? Check. Removing “Girls Gone Wild” pics from your Facebook page? Uh oh.

According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45 percent of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates — more than double from a year earlier, when a similar survey found that just 22 percent of supervisors were researching potential hires on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The study, which questioned 2,667 managers and human resource workers, found that 35 percent of employers decided not to offer a job to a candidate based on the content uncovered on a social networking site. (The survey has no margin of sampling error because it was not drawn from a representative nationwide sample but rather from volunteer participants.)

More than half of the employers who participated in the survey said that provocative photos were the biggest factor contributing to a decision not to hire a potential employee, while 44 percent of employers pinpointed references to drinking and drug use as red flags. The top examples cited include:

  • Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information – 53 percent
  • Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44 percent
  • Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35 percent
  • Candidate showed poor communication skills – 29 percent
  • Candidate made discriminatory comments – 26 percent
  • Candidate lied about qualifications – 24 percent
  • Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer – 20 percent
Recently, a British woman was publicly fired on Facebook for defaming her employer.
The woman, whose identity was blacked out on internet blog Applicant, reportedly vented her frustrations about her boss and workplace on her Facebook status, according to World News Australia.

After posting “OMG I HATE MY JOB!! My boss is a total pervvy (sic) wanker always making me do sh*t stuff just to piss me off!! WANKER!” she was immediately fired by her boss. Unfortunately, the now-unemployed worker had added her boss as a friend, allowing him, and all other co-workers see her status. The boss then proceeded to identify her day-to-day mistakes while ending the post with a notice of termination: “Don’t bother coming in tomorrow.”

What’s the lesson here? Social networking is a great way to make connections with potential job opportunities and promote your personal brand across the Internet but, if not used appropriately, can hurt your job search and can lead to job loss. Job seekers need to be mindful of the information they post online and how they communicate directly with employers. Just because social media is all about transparency doesn’t mean you have to be transparent in everything you do. Transparency comes with a cost — in some cases, losing a job.

Twitter Has Hollywood Quaking in Its Jimmy Choos

By Lynn Eastep on August 20th, 2009 • Industry News, Social Networks, Tools & Resources • No comments

The weekend is almost here, so you decide that you want to go to the movies this Saturday. Do you make your movie pick based on advertising or do you ask a friend for recommendations?

Your friend, of course. And, as we know, the loose definition of “friend” now encapsulates social media peers. With the rise of social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook, word of mouth now moves at the speed of an iPhone. Think about it – as soon as someone leaves the movie theatre he or she can tweet instant raves — or pans — to hundreds of people just minutes after the credits roll. This phenomena has Hollywood quaking in its Jimmy Choos.

Gone are the days when TV commercials and newspaper ads dominated movie marketing. According to Nielsen’s “Trust in Advertising” study, only 14 percent of people trust advertisements whereas 78 percent of people trust the recommendations of their friends. Empowered consumers now have a greater ability to influence companies, brands, and yes, even movies.

Studios are trying to gauge the impact of an avalanche of tweets and how it affects the staying power of a movie. This summer, movies such as “Brüno” and “G.I. Joe” have had unexpected tumbles at the box office — just within their opening weekends — while “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” survived blistering critical reaction to become a blockbuster, reports The Washington Post.

What’s the learning from this? Word of mouth — particularly with turbocharged social media channels – is a real and powerful force that can’t be stopped. Studios now have the opportunity to engage in conversations and directly engage with consumers. People want real-time news, and suddenly a studio can give it to them in a first-person way. Also, this may prompt studios to create quality movies instead of shoving garbage movies down people’s throats through aggressive marketing campaigns.

MySpace “Owning” Music through iLike Aquisition is a Smart Move

By Lynn Eastep on August 19th, 2009 • Industry News, Social Networks, Strategy • 3 comments

MySpace is reportedly set to buy iLike, Facebook’s leading music application — for about $20M USD, reports TechCrunch. That purchase would put the application’s future at Facebook in jeopardy, while solidifying MySpace’s musical pedigree, one of the few domains where MySpace tops Facebook. For Facebook, who was hoping to advance in this realm, the purchase is seen as a huge problem for because iLike is so deeply integrated into the Facebook experience. Nearly 10 million Facebook users use the iLike application every month, and MySpace is now going to own that traffic.

iLike, which launched in late 2006, is a social music recommendation service that now has more than 50 million registered users. It tracks what you listen to and like and gives you recommendations on new music based on that data as well as what your friends are listening to. It’s the top music application on Facebook, Bebo, Hi5 and just about every other social network other than MySpace, which has MySpace Music. iLike also hosts band pages which are second in popularity only to MySpace Music.

From humble origins in 2003, MySpace turned the music industry on its head by changing the way a generation communicates. But even having 200 million friends and Rupert Murdoch as a boss won’t help when your website is no longer flavor of the month. MySpace’s loss of status is reflected in its usage metrics: MySpace had 124 million monthly unique visitors last month, a decline of 2 percent, according to comScore. Facebook, by contrast, had 276 million unique visitors, an increase of 16.6 percent.

By acquiring iLike, MySpace solidifies their already leading position as the most popular online identity for bands and perhaps stop the bleeding as Facebook continues to dominate the social media space.

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What is com.motion?

com.municate + com.mit + com.pel = com.motion

com.motion [kuh-moh-shuhn] is a full-service, integrated social media and word of mouth (WOM) agency. We use social media channels and traditional marketing tools to drive bottom-line results. com.motion helps businesses and brands amplify their marketing messages through the effective use of online communications channels in the U.S. and Canada.

To learn more about how we can help your brand or organization, contact us.

Leadership Team

Lynn Eastep
Senior Vice-President, com.motion North America

With more than 15 years of digital communications experience, I've delivered award-winning and sophisticated marketing solutions for Fortune 500 corporations, major government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and household-name consumer brands. I ensure the successful execution of digital and social media business strategies to build profitability and grow market share on behalf of our clients. I stay abreast of relevant new technologies in the Web 2.0/social media space in order to contribute a point of view while remaining focused on ROI to drive the right message to the right people at the right time.

I'm connected to the industry and trends, intuitive about people, a strategic thinker with intense curiosity, an eclectic user of information, and an engaging storyteller with strong interpersonal skills. I’m a team player who is passionate, curious, positive, and courageous. I have provided senior-level strategic counsel for clients such as Nestle, Bayer, AT&T and Visa.

eastep [at] causeacommotion.com


Ed Lee
Managing Director, com.motion Canada

I’ve been working in or around the social media revolution since 2005 and I am grateful to be exploring this new media landscape with com.motion’s clients. As managing director, my role is to guide our clients through the use of new technologies and to provide innovative ways to engage their stakeholders online. Shiny new Web 2.0 toys are great to play with but our recommendations are always strategic and focused on reaching the right people, with the right message across the right channels.

lee [at] causeacommotion.com

I was interviewed with Bob Pearson on BNN about the importance of social media for business. Watch the video here:


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