Social Media

What Has Happened to Continuity?

by Michael Sheehan on April 29, 2013

in General, Opinion, Social Media

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Was it something I said or did? Why aren’t you talking to me any more? Did I not do everything you asked? No, I’m not talking about dating here, although, in some way I sort of am. I am talking about being “dumped” by a brand. This is particularly painful if you are a blogger or content creator. Breakups are really hard, especially if you worked diligently to maintain the relationship. When it comes to commitment, you need to think about another word as well – continuity.

I have been very lucky. I have worked with a lot of amazing global brands like Sony, Ford, Intel, AT&T, Trend Micro, IBM (see some of the programs by clicking through the links) and plenty of smaller brands and firms. Some of these were longer-term projects and some were much shorter. Some were with other groups of bloggers or content creators like the Cast of Dads and other groups put together by brands or PR firms.

There is also another set of brands and vendors that I have worked with that are slightly different. These are sort of like the “summer time romances” where they are active for a while and then go away until the next project comes out. They provide me with new products to review from time to time or new experiences to participate in. Some of these brands are LG, Belkin, Microsoft, Logitech, D-Link, Jabra, Honeywell, Hyundai, Klutz, Nintendo, Norelco, and even Apple, among many others.

Continuity

Continuity

There is still one thing really irks me though. It’s when these brands go quiet…for a long time. They may come back, but often it is after an extended silence where much of the momentum and excitement that was originally present is lost due to a long period of “inactivity.” Don’t get me wrong though, I place an extremely high value on each and every program that I have participated in (or am currently involved in), regardless of whether they are long or short term.

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Social Media Policy for Families

by Michael Sheehan on April 10, 2013

in Family, General, Opinion, Parenting, Social Media, Social Networking

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Quite a few years ago, I came up with some Social Media Guidelines, primarily geared towards businesses. I realized I also seem to write a lot of tips and recommendations for parents on how they can help their kids with social media. That got me thinking. Perhaps, I should come up with a social media policy for families (kids and their parents).

Social Media Policy for Families

Social Media Policy for Families

Below are some ideas, rules and discussion points that you might want to implement with your children as they embark down the path of social media. Of course, you can and should pick the ones that are the most appropriate for you and craft some that are specific to your family values (e.g., “you will not do social media at all until you have your own job and even then, I will be watching”).

These “policies,” guidelines and promises are divided between parents and children. There is some overlap. And honestly, I feel sometimes the best way to approach this is with some humor!

Social Media Policy & Guidelines for Families

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5 Reasons Why Social Media Might Actually Be Good for your Child

by Michael Sheehan on March 25, 2013

in Family, General, Opinion, Parenting, Safety, Security, Social Media, Social Networking, Technology

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WARNING: The repeated use of Social Media can be dangerous to your child’s well-being. Should we have a Surgeon General’s warning label slapped onto each and every social media site out there? What about some sort of age rating system like we have for movies, music and video games? No, of course not. The Internet is all about freedom of speech and expression and is a wealth of knowledge. But we all continue to get the message that social media is dangerous for children. Even I have written a couple of articles to that effect.

Surgeon General's Warning: Social Media can be dangerous to child.

Surgeon General’s Warning: Social Media can be dangerous to child.

But as I reflect on it and watch how my children use social media, I wouldn’t be a balanced parent if I didn’t look at both sides of the argument. Sure, social media can be dangerous to children, but there are lots of caveats to that statement. In fact, the statement needs to be really qualified. “Unmonitored” social media makes that statement much more true than without the descriptor. But I won’t be dissecting that statement. Instead I will offer one that is potentially controversial: Social media might actually be good for your child.

I’d like to preface my reasoning however. I am not saying to just turn your child loose on social media. I am, however, saying that not all aspects are dangerous to them. In fact, I believe that some social media, in moderation, can have a positive influence on a child’s life.

5 Reasons Why Social Media can be Good for a Child

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13 Security Resolutions for 2013 – Follow Them or Get Hacked!

by Michael Sheehan on December 28, 2012

in Application, Family, General, How To, Opinion, Parenting, Security, Social Media, Software, Trend Micro

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With just a few hours left in 2012, it’s time to think about ways to make 2013 an even better year. I’m sure that all of you are planning on going to the gym about 20 times a day, or eliminating all fat from your diet, or working to become Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2013. I wish you all the best of luck with those grandiose goals of perfection and world dominance. My New Year’s Resolutions are a little less aggressive, but, as you might guess, they do involve technology and writing. So to kick off the New Year’s Resolutions, I thought that I would help you out a bit with some that you can put on your list and feel happy about accomplishing fairly easily.

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Let’s talk security. I’m sure for many of you, this isn’t really something that you think about often, but if you own a computer or laptop or mobile device, or, manage your entire family or business’s computer infrastructure like I do, you probably do want to keep your environments safe and secure. And while updating and maintaining the security of those systems can be a yearly project, it really should be much more frequently than that…at least monthly. For the past year, I have been participating in a program with other bloggers around the country called The Digital Joneses. Our corporate sponsor is Trend Micro who has been providing us with themed challenges to sharpen our security skills and be able to speak much more intelligently about things people should think about when it comes to privacy and security.

Basic CMYK

As part of my end of the year post, I thought that I would go back to the 9 other challenges that I have written about and compile a list of 13 items (for 2013) that I consider to be the top New Year’s Security Resolutions for 2013. If you implement even a few of these items, you are already making your digital life much safer than it was before, so good job! (I have linked to specific articles within each item should you want to read more – these are chronological, not ranked by priority). [click to continue…]

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Why It’s Important to Teach your Kids How to Cook and Use Social Media

September 19, 2012
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A recent post of mine which focused on an informal and potentially dangerous marriage between Instagram and Kik Messenger seems to have gotten quite a bit of attention lately. I’m always excited when I can share my ideas, opinions, insights and personal recommendations when it comes to educating kids about the evolution of social media [...]

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10 Tips on How to Avoid Losing your Digital Identity

August 30, 2012
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Our society is made up of all types of information. And the amount of “stuff” that is known about us is growing as speeds never before seen. Think back 50 or 100 years. What identified a person? Their names, their ancestry, their address and their bank. Eventually phone numbers and a few other bits of [...]

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Parents Beware: Instagram & Kik Messenger Are A Dangerous Combination & What Social Dangers to Check For

July 2, 2012
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Over the past few years, I have written about security and safety for the family, especially when it comes to protecting your kids from online predators and social bullies. My wife and I really try to practice what we preach. But as social networks and sharing services evolve, sometimes it is hard to keep up [...]

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5 Reasons Why You Should Repurpose Old Content from your Blog

May 30, 2012
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I have often been asked: why the heck do you have those automated tweets of old content coming from your blog? What is the reasoning? They are outdated and might not be topical, could be viewed as out of context and, in my case, might be talking about technology, products or services that are over a [...]

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