Mediaboss Marketing

February 2: Today, more than 450 million people in the country are using smartphones. Due to this, social networking platforms have become an integral part of human life. The social media platforms have given opportunities to the common man which no one could have imagined a few decades ago. These platforms have become flag bearers of free speech and an integral part of democracy. They have given unimaginable powers to the person standing at the last end of the society to connect with the mainstream of the society and express his views openly. With great power comes great responsibilities. Winds of positive change can be brought in society today through these forums, but unfortunately, they are more in the news for their criticism. Social media, their infringement on privacy and their biased nature have become a big issue.

In fact, in the present times, the role of social media has become to spoil social harmony and promote the thinking that divides the society instead of uniting. Be it Twitter or Facebook, YouTube, or WhatsApp, almost all social media platforms have become a heaven for promoting cyber-bullying. These foreign platforms, which have become a means of spreading fake news and hate speech, are playing a big role in spreading hatred increasing anti-national activities in society. They are pushing society towards a bigger and unseen danger. Not only this, the risk of cyber-crimes like hacking and phishing etc. has also increased through them, as is evident from the following:

1. In the last year, there has been a lot of allegations on Twitter for allegedly promoting anti-India tweets that spread hatred and violence. A petition was also filed in the Supreme Court regarding this. The petition has sought directions from the government to enact a law for social media platforms so that Twitter can be prosecuted for anti-India tweets. One needs to understand that this all did not happen overnight. It is as if a plan of action is underway to gradually tarnish India's image at the global level.

2. Spreading fake news through social media has been a major reason behind the riots in many parts of the country. Thats why governments are compelled to shut down the internet to curb riots. Whether it is the Delhi riots or the case of spreading violence by disturbing the communal atmosphere in Bengaluru, such tasks are carried out under a very careful and well thought out strategy. The fake accounts on Twitter propagate and promote casteism, communalism, regionalism, extremism, and separatism. Intentions are made to break the unity and integrity of the country. These matters are not resolved even after complaints to Twitter.

3. India has been under attack by social media platforms that specifically targeted the Indian civilizational values of VasudhaivaKutumbakam. Hostile countries like China and Pakistan have left no stone unturned to spread anti-India content on social media. Be it the case of a clash with China on the border or the case of blaming India in the false incidents of ceasefire, or the terrorism and human rights violations in Kashmir related to Pakistan.

4. Not long ago, Indian security agencies identified more than a thousand Twitter accounts backed and supported by Khalistani sympathisers &Pakistan. These accounts were trying to malign Indias image by taking advantage of farmers' protests. These shared and disseminated misleading information to the public and provocative remarks about farmers' demonstrations. The trending hashtags and handles reveal that a conspiracy to kill farmers was hatched to incite violence and affect public order. Enemy countries have always tried unsuccessfully to derail the country from the development track by systematically attacking India's secular society, democratic structure, and social harmony. Unregulated social media has given a big boost to their breaking India plans.

5. This is not only an issue of Twitter, but others are also in the same category. Because while WhatsApp wants to make a privacy policy mandatory in which it will share the data of all its users with the parent company Facebook for marketing and advertising, it refuses to implement the intermediary guidelines. In such a situation, the government retaliated strongly when messaging apps like WhatsApp went against the IT laws of the Government of India. The Indian government has asked WhatsApp to withdraw its privacy policies which are violative of the Indian laws.

6. The research team of Instagram discovered that the Instagram application impacts teens. It leads teenagers into depression and anxiety. These social media platforms claim that they are committed to tracing and removing illegal practices like child pornography, suicide, drugs, extremism, and fake news. But till now, it seems to sound like a mere tokenism with no effort on the ground.

7. Twitter shadow bans and suspends accounts on slightest provocation citing its community standards but terrorist groups like the Taliban tweet without hesitation. Twitter has done nothing to take off their accounts, and these terrorists keep on peddling their terror agenda without any hindrance.

All is not that bad as now the common man is waking up to the ills of foreign social media platforms. People have realised that while using social media to connect with the world, they are compelled to pay the price. They are exposing their personal data, getting addicted and even risking national security. As we head towards another year, selfies and new year messages are shared widely. Another year will bring some new protests, and their online support groups will be created; signature campaigns and trending hashtags will lend support to the protests. But there will also be voices protesting the protests. Social media should not decide the moral and legal aspects of any protest. They should act as a neutral medium. Hopefully, this year terrorists will be banned from Twitter, and no victim will be punished for asking for help. Hopefully, WhatsApp will not infringe our privacy, and YouTube will not shadowban a video for exposing the truth about forced conversions. Hopefully, in 2022 social media will be a better and more neutral place.

Apurva Agarwal is a well-known lawyer, founding partner of Universal Legal and angel investor. He is an expert on socio-political and economic issues. An alumnus of NLS Banglore, he also pioneered social projects as the president of Rotary Club of Mumbai Nariman Point

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2021 was the year of exposing crooked social media tricks: Apurva Agarwal - Free Press Journal

Something for the Weekend, Sir? "Is it in yet?"

There you go! It's working now! "There's no need to push it," I explain calmly. "Just put it right here and it should insert itself automatically, see?"

Mme D is trying to connect two social media accounts so she won't have to upload the same photo twice. Frankly, she doesn't even want to upload it once. She'd rather not have to deal with it at all.

Mme D does not do social media. Never has; never will.

This is a little tiresome because she needs to have an active social media presence to promote awareness of her brand new local business. Oh yes, social media is an absolute necessity. All the influencers say so, and we should always do what influencers tell us to otherwise they won't be influencers any more. And, well, that would be a disaster, wouldn't it?

I once tried to impress on her the importance of UGC. For weeks afterwards she looked at me in a funny way until we eventually cleared the air by establishing that UGC does not stand for Universal Genital Castration. Given that 25 per cent of user-generated content comprises dick pix, this was a misunderstanding too far.

"Social media is a time-wasting pit of crazies, pornographers, criminals, and perpetually angry nobodies flinging insults at each other," she replied.

For someone who doesn't do social media, she has a remarkably strong insight into it.

The argument that won the day, however, was when I suggested the alternative was to print hundreds of leaflets and go door-to-door posting them into letterboxes. Or buy advertising space which would need to be online and backed up with a posh website.

Let's start with just a couple of social media accounts, I said, and we'll connect them so that you can upload your photos to one and then they'll appear in the other by magic! It'll only take five minutes!

Here we are, five hours later, still trying to get it to work.

The first hour was wasted choosing a username. Strictly speaking, she needed two usernames one for each platform but they needed to be the same, or as similar as possible, so that people would recognise them as being related to the same person. There's no point being Jesus_Forgives411 on one platform and Hail_Satan666 on the other; it tends to confuse the message. But registering the same username on two social media platforms these days turns out to be trickier than I remembered from when I last did it more than a decade ago.

By "trickier", I mean impossible.

We kept two browser windows open side-by-side, trying to synchronise names. As soon as we'd found one that worked on one platform, it would be unavailable on the other. I even clicked on the button "Suggest a username" and got DABBS_354168. Who'd have thought there were so many Dabbses? Well, apparently there were even more of them on the other platform as it insisted Username DABBS354168 is already taken. Blimey, common as muck, we are.

Eventually armed with the memorable DABBS_9571684884194295615498, we set up a content link between the two platforms. Great, let's try it out!

Mme D says she is bored with social media already and insists we take a break as she is not yet sufficiently acclimatised to adopt the social media power-user convention of pissing in empty cola bottles under the desk rather than step away from the screen for two seconds. I acquiesce.

After lunch, we sign back in so she can upload her first ever social media post. What ought to be an auspicious occasion is marred by a message when she logs into the first platform.

Your account has been blocked due to a breach of our content rules.

Nowhere is there an explanation of what rules have been broken or how, or indeed what to do about it. We spend the next couple of hours searching the customer support pages [ha ha ha, sorry, it always makes me laugh when they call them that], followed by general Google searches, calls to the Citizen's Advice Bureau, and a telegram to the Vatican. Nobody has the faintest idea, although at least I did manage to confirm that Francis took in that Amazon parcel for me. He says he'll pop it round on Sunday after work.

For further amusement, albeit not ours, we hunt for a contact email address or phone number at the social media platform to ask what to do next. I even try asking on social media itself but of course that doesn't get us anywhere at first: all that happens is that a bunch of people jump on my post to tell me I am "just like Hitler" before sending me photos of their privates.

But then, as I'm scrolling through them, I spot a reply from the feed moderator [Curation: Richard Intimate Photography, I guess the official job title goes] who's pasted a shortened URL we should click on for help. I click on it and and we find ourselves looking at an unblockage request form. At last.

Our reclaim form completed and sent off, we while away the next hour awaiting a response. Mme D goes back to work. I skim through the online news, preferring to remain in front of my computer for a bit longer now that I have lined up a row of empty cola bottles under my desk.

The reply comes back in an instant. The social media moderators had been poring over our case for at least ooh, I dunno a good four seconds before delivering their final verdict.

Your account has been blocked due to a breach of our content rules. You may not contest this decision.

I am disappointed but not surprised. The case almost certainly had not been looked at by a human with a brain but by an AI without one. There is no way to get past this barrier except by trying to kick up a fuss on the public support feeds. I'm loathe to do this as you end up looking like just another shouty arse along with everyone else in social media.

It's funny, though, how social media companies claim to be eradicating so-called "bad actors" and hate-speech posters from their platforms on a regular basis. I say "funny" because they usually quote big numbers in the thousands or tens of thousands, but nobody ever seems to challenge who is included in these regular purges. Has anyone ever asked to look at the list?

I am asking for a friend: specifically, on behalf of DABBS_9571684884194295615498, who has found herself rubbing shoulders with assorted bad actors and haters. She is now banned a lonesome vagabond on the surf of sershal meejah; a pariah of posting; rendered hungry through a lack of feed.

I ask: what the heck did you put in your feed to make them go postal on you like that?

"I haven't posted anything yet," she replies. "We had lunch instead, remember?"

And there you have it: Mme D's social media feed managed to irrevocably breach social media content rules within minutes of creating her account without actually having any content in it.

Hoorah for AI! And hoorah for those tens of thousands of banned accounts! The world feels safer already.

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How to get banned from social media without posting a thing - The Register

RICH tech giants should be forced to PAY victims of heartless scammers running wild on their sites, the Government has been told.

Flimsy laws at present "make it easy" for fraudsters to rip people off using dodgy adverts on platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, MPs said.

2

The Treasury Committee warned that con tricks and economic crime have surged at an "alarming rate".

They think tech firms will take the problem seriously if they had to reimburse anyone duped into parting with their cash.

It comes as people lost record amounts during the pandemic, as vicious tricksters jumped on fears around testing, lockdown, jabs and even postal deliveries.

Overall fraud crime rose by 36% last year, with more than 420,000 offences recorded, according to Action Fraud.

Angela McLaren, Assistant Commissioner for Economic and Cybercrime at the City of London Police said between 2019 and 2020 alone social media featured in more than 39,000 crime reports, resulting in losses of 120 million.

"If we look at the types of fraud that are most emergent at the moment, the vast majority of them will rely on some form of social media platform," she told MPs.

"That applies whether its romance fraud, investment fraud oronline shopping.

"The consistent theme through all these frauds is, obviously, the use of social networking and social media sites."

Facebook and others were also slammed for profiting from adverts by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) designed to make people aware of scams.

While tech firms offered the regulator some free advertising credits, Google still pocketed more than 690,000 from the FCA, while Facebook-owner Meta earned over 364,000 and Twitter took home 161,000.

"We would prefer that these ads were not published in the first place, to be really frank," said Mark Steward, the FCA's director of enforcement.

"The irony of us having to pay social media to publish warnings about advertising that they are receiving money from is not lost on us."

How to protect yourself from fraud

USE the following tips to protect yourself from fraudsters.

Google has since offered 2.2millon in free credits, on top of another 1.5million to support industry awareness.

Others have been urged to "follow Google's example" and pay the regulator back.

The wide-ranging report also recommended that there should be proper regulation for cryptocurrencies to ward off fraud and money laundering.

A rep for Facebook-owner Meta said: "Promoting financial scams is against our policies and we're dedicating significant resources to tackling this industry-wide issue on and off our platforms."

2

In other news, Apple has revealed a bunch ofnew emoji for iPhone, including a pregnant man and two saucy symbols.

Experts have warned that futurespace launches could be jeopardisedif "stupid" regimes like Russia don't stop blasting the skies creating debris.

And themost popular phonesince the millennium has been unveiled, with many shocked to find out it's not an iPhone.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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Millions of Facebook users could be PAID by tech giant are you owed money?... - The Sun

Is an open-bar strategy safe on LinkedIn? How harmful accepting connections can be? First, we must understand what exactly LinkedIn is and how it operates; LinkedIn is an online network building platform. It can be a goldmine for home-based businesses and freelancers because of the hundreds of professional opportunities it contains. Linkedin is not only business oriented but also helps its users with job opportunities as it is also used as an online professional portfolio. Unlike other social networks, Linkedins algorithm prioritizes posts that are relevant over posts that have been posted recently. This helps keep the user feed filled with content of their interests. Just like this, Linkedin displays articles and fresh job openings too that fit its user needs.

In short, this power of ranking signals can help users rub their elbows with other professionals. Generally, a larger Linkedin network means larger connection that results with more opportunities to be availed.

Users have different approaches to networking on Linkedin. Some are very reserved about their connections, an exclusive club approach while some believe that having hundreds of connections can give their posts a boost, which they call an open-bar strategy.

However, having too many strangers as in your connections can be a headache. As youll likely get a lot of spam messages asking for irrelevant favors.

Recently, SocialMediaToday asked users about their prefercnes on new LinkedIn connection requests, and it appears a lot of pro LinkedIn users know that having a small set of like-minded people can result in better opportunities instead of having thousands of connections who never get the chance to even explore your posts and profile.

In the response to SMT survey, a user said, "I may not accept all invitations to connect, but I do reply to them with a quick message: 'Thank you for your connection request. Typically I only connect with people Ive communicated with, may I ask how you found me?' Then Ignore the invite. If they respond, I may decide to connect or not."

LinkedIn also explains in a support page that "On LinkedIn, the basic type of connection is a contact you know personally and who you trust on a professional level."

Read more:
Is an open-bar strategy safe on Linkedin? How harmful accepting any/all connections can be? - Digital Information World

Want to make money online? Its no secret that influencer marketing has become a massive industry, thanks to people like the Kardashians. But these days, glitzy digital influencers are out. Creators are in. Equipped with a lot more gravitas, this new generation of creators is working to create a more positive internet culture. The New Yorker explained it best in a recent essay on the topic: Creator is a term with a more wholesome air, conjuring an Internet in which we are all artisanal blacksmiths plying our digital craft.

According to experts, there are more than 50 million content creators out there, working in the digital space and making money onlinethrough photography, writing, video, podcasting and moreand all contributing to the new creator economy. One of the architects in the space is Gigi Robinson, a 23-year-old Gen Z digital nomad who is helping redefine this new digital world from the inside out. When Robinson was 11, she was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, forcing her to give up her passion for competitive swimming and find a new hobby: photography.

Robinson has translated that passion into a bonafide online money-making business. She is the founder of Its Gigi, a creative media company focused on making ethical and intentional content for brands like Best Buy and Spotify, where she hosts a GenZ live audio show on Spotify Greenroom called Everything You Need Is Within. In addition, she has grown a healthy social media audience on Tiktok and Instagram, where she shares tips on mental health, chronic illness, body image and more. She also regularly lectures on social media literacy and branding to global companies (Meta, Reuters Pharma, Yahoo, Her Campus) and universities (UCLA, USC, UMass, FIT, Baruch).

Meet Gigi Robinson, a 23-year-old Gen Z digital nomad who who helps teach people how to make money ... [+] online.

Most impressive of all, she does it all while traveling the world as a digital nomad. I am able to find inspiration anywhere I goall I need is my phone, my camera, my laptop, my hard drive and a microphone, says Robinson.

Here, we caught up with Robinson to find out how she built her brand, how she has scaled in an ethical way, how she travels with a chronic illness, as well as her tips for how anyone can make money online in the new creator economy.

Origin Story: During high school in New York City, Robinson won award after award for her photographs, including Scholastic, the Dedalus Foundation and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When she got to college, she needed to make extra money to help pay for rent and school loans, so she used her photography skills to start a side hustle as a content creator. I had over 10 different brand ambassador roles, meaning I represented, created content, was an event planner and an overall face on campus for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Timberland and Smashbox, says Robinson.

Creating a Business: I got a BFA in graphic design and photography and am currently working towards my MS in integrated Design, Business and Technology from USC. I wanted to translate the learnings from my degrees into my career as a digital nomad and creator, says Robinson. I decided to combine my skills of critique and critical thinking and apply that to storytelling through digital mediums and social media platforms. Now, I teach others how to do the same.

My Mission: One of the pillars of Robinsons brand is to help other people feel less alone, whether its a struggle with mental health, chronic illness, body image or career. My diagnosis inspired me to become the person I wished I had to look up to during the rise of social media, says Robinson. Ive committed myself to making content that showcases positivity and confidence across platforms. I focus on how we do things and not what we do.

Social Media Literacy: Robinsons interest in social media literacy was sparked in 2020 when companies began posting their responses to social causes including Covid-19, the BLM movement, Asian hate crimes and antisemitism. To her surprise, many influencers were more focused on the paycheck from brands while brands were focused on engaging in conversations around ethical content creation. This sparked a flame in me, so I started teaching others how to cultivate community across social platforms by creating meaningful content that creates impact, she says.

Gigi Robinson is a digital nomad with a chronic illness that doesn't hold her back.

Traveling with Chronic Illness: As someone with a chronic illness, there are a lot of benefits to traveling and working remotely as a digital nomad. When I first embarked on my journey traveling with two suitcases (one with clothes and toiletries, the other with gear), I resisted acknowledging my chronic illness as a disability because I was ashamed of it. It took me a few years, but I eventually shifted my mindset from What if someone judges me for being wheeled through TSA to the gate to What if I dont have any pain during my flight. And that was the moment where I realized that accommodations are only there to help me.

The Benefits of Travel: Changing my scenery significantly helps my mental health, but also my physical health, says Robinson. Putting my body through traveling allows me to experience places, cultures and climates where I feel best. When I feel my best, I am able to do my best work.

Working and Traveling: One of the best parts of being a digital nomad is that I am able to delegate tasks to my team while I am traveling. We are completely remote and spread out across the country, says Robinson. I send off my content once I have the raw footage and let my team do the heavy lifting for me when it comes to editing and posting. This lets me focus on another pillar of my brandpublic speaking.

Getting Started: When you are brand new to social media, you have to test out what will work and what kind of audience are you trying to build, says Robinson. You should do research to calculate and predict who that might be and create content for that demographic based on your product or business. If you dont know where to start, begin by making a list of the top 100 creators and 100 pieces of content that resonate with you and your niche.Write out why and then generate a list of things you can write about or make graphics, photos or videos about. This list will evolve as you grow, but thats the whole point: You want to grow.

Better Done Than Perfect: When Robinson is coaching people on social media strategy, her top piece of advice is: Have a better-done-than-perfect attitude. If you spend too much time ideating, you may never actually execute. You just have to start posting.

Goal Setting: When it comes to goals, I try to accomplish them within a reasonable amount of time and remind myself that my journey is different than other creators, says Robinson. Its easier said than done but you have to be patient.

Success Check: I like to write down or create a deck with everything that I've done in any given week or month if I feel like I'm not accomplished to remind myself how much I'm actually doing, says Robinson.

Robinson's number one tip: Have confidence in yourself.

Make Money Using Linkedin: Robinson uses Linkedin not only for networking, but also for content creation. The best way to make money on Linkedin is to network with people in your industry that may post opportunities, and reach out to people you may be able to work for. As a creator, I have successfully landed several partnerships by being connected with campaign managers, influencer and PR managers of companies that I wanted to work with, says Robinson. After establishing a good rapport with these managers, I take a shot and ask if they have any partnership opportunities. This could be done for any industry or for any role that needs to be fillednot just the influencer industry. Linkedin also has a team of creator managers (expanding rapidly right now) that invite and guide people that are already somewhat established with content goals and ideas. The managers are there to support creators and help them achieve their goals in expanding their professional presence.

Use Live Audio: Live audio is a new form of communication that most of the big social companies are investing in. Think of it as the new form of Snapchat Stories. When that first came out nobody thought it would stick on other platforms, but now its the norm. Now live audio conversations are dominating social platforms modeled after Clubhouse, including Twitter Spaces, Facebook Audio, Spotify Greenroom, Linkedin Live Audio and more, says Robinson. Live audio rooms are where someone can host conversations on the previously mentioned platforms. The best part: You will often be in a room with thought leaders and have the opportunity to ask them questions.

Podcasts: To start a podcast you need to figure out what your competitive advantage is and how you are going to distribute your message, says Robinson. Anchor is a free platform that allows you to upload audio tracks, cut, edit, add music, make a cover photo and distribute your show across streaming platforms through an RSS feed.

Recycle Content: Take the omnichannel approach: Anything that you have written can be repurposed into content to post across all of your social channels (Tiktok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight, Youtube Shorts). By doing this, you establish your personality or business across the internet, says Robinson. Everyone used to say that you should stay true to your niche on each platform and avoid reposting content. The truth is not many people are going to remember every post you make. Plus, if it was a best performing post, you never know who may have missed it the first time.

The New Resume: I personally believe that websites and social media accounts are the new resume, therefore you should have one singular place that displays your best work. I have found a website to be the most professional because it can showcase different content pillars in different mediums. For example, on my website I have a breakdown of the work I have done to talk about chronic illness on Instagram, body image on Tiktok, my podcast and an entire section where people can book me right on the spot.

Making Money With Video: You can find a way to monetize any niche of video content. For example, with food you can use tools to prep the food. For skincare/product/lifestyle it could be something as simple as unboxing or doing a voiceover. These are potential niches that a brand partner would sponsor through a paid promo. Stick with it, stay the course, build a niche and it will come.

Keep Your Videos Short and Scrappy: You dont need a 4K camera, a set with gorgeous lighting or professional editingyou can shoot right on your phone, edit in a free app (Inshot, Videoleap or Splice), says Robinson. All you have to do is make something snappy in the beginning, keep the viewers attention and repeat it. Post everywhere. And keep the videos short: three- to seven-seconds. Crazy, right?

Parting Words: If you are starting out on social media, my number one tip is to have confidence in yourself, says Robinson. When you dont speak about your business and your work, you wont grow, people wont recognize or see your work, and therefore you will not get opportunities to make money online. Even if the video gets zero views, stay the course and continue postingyou never know what is going to go viral and land you a partnership.

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How To Make Money Online: The New Creator Economy - Forbes