Case Studies Blog #2 – What changes your opinion?

In my case studies in PR Class, our instructor, Signy Gerrard asked me and my classmates to answer three questions in relation to public opinion.

What has made you change your opinion of a public figure, organization, or brand?  Please give one example.

A change of behaviour influences my opinion of a public figure, organization, or brand.  A behaviour change could be either acts of generosity or injustice that can sway my opinion about a public figure, organization, or brand.  Some organizations may over and beyond the call of duty to craft messages that create a positive memorable experience for their target audience or public.  At the same time, some organizations may do quite the opposite to intentionally deceive the public from their unscrupulous behaviour.

The organization that changed my mind is the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), primarily the community involvement of figurehead and professional wrestler John Cena with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  Cena, the WWE, and the Make-a-Wish Foundation have worked together to arrange memorable experiences for children with life-threatening medical conditions.  Regardless of one’s view of the WWE, one can truly respect the community work and involvment of the organization and brand.

What factors have influenced your decision to do or not do something?  Please give one example.

The most important factor that influenced me to do something is when that issue or concept personally affects me.  Signy Gerrard admitted that in general, people are inherently selfish.  When people feel that they are personally affected by an issue or idea, they will increasingly take action to change it.  People take action when an issue or topic will have a direct positive or negative impact on one’s personal life.

The example I chose was being an active participant of the social committee in the Public Relations and Marketing Program at the University of Winnipeg.  I decided to become part of the program’s social committee to contribute to the ways myself and fellow classmates engaged with each other.  By becoming an active member of the social committee, I felt that my views contributed to the decision-making process that had a direct impact on the event-planning process this academic year.  At the end of the day, I felt that my contribution would enhance my experience in the program.

What has made you think differently about an issue?  Please give one example.

I will think differently about an issue if it directly affects me or a large number of people.  The greatest example in my lifetime has been the lasting effects of September 11, 2001, when two planes slammed into the Twin Towers in New York City.  The world stood still.  This was the first time in my lifetime that a truly global issue of terrorism affected us at home.

People travel by plane on a daily basis with the underlying expectation that they will arrive at their destination in one piece.  Planes crashing into buildings is unnatural.    Never before had I thought that two commercial airliners would crash into skyscrapers.  When the buildings came down, it made me think differently of the world and our role within it.

The right to bear arms in question?

An interesting video on the United States 2nd Amendment.  What do you think?  Was Charlton Heston right or wrong?

Canadian-United States 500 year friendship

An amazing video showcasing the Canadian-United States 500 year friendship.

Canadian spy agencies under investigation

How do you feel about the Federal Government watching your every move on the internet?  Should Canadian spy agencies be allowed to monitor your behaviour?

According to reports by Edward Snowden, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Canadian Security Establishment Service (CSEC) have been monitoring travellers at Canadians international airports.

Canadian Government denies monitoring of Canadians

John Forster, the chief of the CSEC, stated that the Canadian cybersecurity agency does not monitor individuals, countering the reports released by U.S. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.  In Forster’s view, by looking at long-term trends in internet communications, the monitoring program becomes a necessary steps to prevent threats to National Security

According to the Stewart Bell from the National Post, “the head of Communications Security Establishment Canada defended the collection of “metadata” on Monday, saying it helped identify foreign adversaries without snooping on the private communications of Canadians.”

Forster denied all charges that CSEC has watched the private communications of Canadians.  Forster states that denied “allegations of overzealous government electronic surveillance that have arisen as a result of leaks by Edward Snowden.”

According the Laura Payton of the CBC, “Metadata can reveal a trove of information, including, for example, the location and telephone numbers of all calls a person makes and receives. It does not include the content of the call, which would legally be considered a private communication and cannot be intercepted without a warrant.”

CSEC and CSIS seek patterns of behaviour

Forster describes CSEC operations in terms of communications to a photograph, “the picture is the content. But what comes with that picture is other bits of data around the date, the time, the focal length, the aperture, the pixels, so it’s data about it, but it’s not the picture.”[1]  Forster makes it clear that the Canadian intelligence agencies are not watching individual Canadians.

“The latest allegations came last week in the form of a CBC report claiming that CSEC had used airport Wi-Fi to track Canadian travellers, but Mr. Forster provided Senators with an unusually candid explanation of what he called the “exercise” in question.”[2]

Forster said that CSEC created a model to analyze collected data in public areas.  CSEC desires to understand Internet communications to better predict and forecast threats from foreign terrorists, hostage takers or intelligence agents.

According to the Bell, “The collection of metadata is authorized under the National Defence Act, and is done according to conditions set out by ministerial directives, Mr. Forster said, adding the program had been reviewed regularly and found lawful. Another such review, covering 2012, is now underway.”[3]

Comments?

How do you feel that the Canadian government is monitoring your internet usage?  Could there be other means to gather and monitor data?  What could they be?  Please let me know in the comments below.

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[1] http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/03/harpers-top-security-advisor-denies-illegal-eavesdropping-of-canadian-travelers-using-airport-wi-fi/

[2] http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/03/harpers-top-security-advisor-denies-illegal-eavesdropping-of-canadian-travelers-using-airport-wi-fi/

[3] http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/03/harpers-top-security-advisor-denies-illegal-eavesdropping-of-canadian-travelers-using-airport-wi-fi/

Professionalism at the workplace

Professionalism is a set of instructions and values that employees adhere to, both inside and outside of an organization.   If caught in violation of those values, it will result in a reprimand from one’s superiors or worse, dismissal from an organization.

Professionalism is important because it is a code of socially acceptable behavior that will preserve and possibly improve the image and/or brand of the organization.  People with high standards of professionalism are generally considered to be more credible and more trustworthy.

Conduct unbecoming of an officer

Time reported on December 19, 2013, that United States Air Force Major General Michael Carey is the latest to suffer from an episode of unprofessionalism resulting in his eventual dismissal as “commanding all land-based U.S. nuclear missiles after Pentagon investigators concluded he drank too much and cavorted with “suspect” women last July during an official three-day trip to Russia.”

According to US Air Force investigators, Carey’s unprofessionalism breached the Uniform Code of Military Justice of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.”

CNN reported in December 21, 2013, that “he was relieved of duty in October because of loss of confidence in his leadership, the Air Force said at the time without providing specific details.”

Social media and professionalism

Professionalism also extends into social media.  Countless stories have been published about employers disciplining their employees as a result of inappropriate behavior posted on social media networking sites.  A social media policy is a template outlining how an employee should and should not act on the internet.

Firefighters fired

According to the Toronto Star, “three Toronto firefighters have been fired following a month-long investigation into tweets and other social media posts seen as degrading to women.”

In November 2012, Toronto Firefighter Matt Bowman “tweeted a seven-year-old line from The Office: “Reject a woman and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind. Also weak arms.””

As paid employees of the City of Toronto, “firefighters are required to follow the city’s social media guidelines.”

The Toronto Star reported that “Toronto Fire Chief Jim Sales said tweets from three fired firefighters was not in any way acceptable for city employees.”

This incident could have been avoided had the firefighters adhered to the City of Toronto’s social media protocol. The Toronto Star reported that “these guidelines state employees should “not engage in harassment, personal attacks or abuse toward individuals or organizations,” and “not use language that is discriminatory, hateful, or violent towards identifiable groups or that incites others to discriminate, practise hate or violence.””

17 people who were fired for using Facebook

Professionalism is a serious matter.  Reread your company’s code of ethics and social media policy, as not knowing it will ruin your reputation, prospects for promotion, and credibility.

Should employees be given warnings on their first offence?  Where is the line drawn between a reprimand and dismissal?  Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Privacy and social media

The Canadian government has decided to monitor all forms of public social media in the country.  CTV news reported that “soon tweets, public Facebook posts, and YouTube videos could be subject to scrutiny round-the-clock by the federal government.”

According to a procurement notice, Supply Arrangement with Public Works and Government Services Canada seek a “supply arrangement with Public Works and Government Services Canada to provide a range Media Monitoring Services to meet the needs of Federal Government Departments and Agencies on an “as and when requested” basis.”  The Federal government will examine the content of each social media post and predict the outcome of their influence.  The project will run from February 2015 to January 2019.

CBC News reported that “Big Brother is watching you — on just about every social-media platform you can imagine.”  Digital public affairs analyst Mark Blevis of FullDuplex.ca says analysing social media acts as an “early warning system” to inform agencies of potential criminal activity.  “But then on another level, it’s open data, it’s open information. If it’s publicly accessible, why should the government have any less privilege accessing it than anyone else in the public eye?”

Canadians and privacy: survey

In an April 2013 report by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, “Canadians are increasingly anxious about privacy in the face of new technology.”  The study surveyed 1,513 Canadians from October 25 to November 12, 2012.  With regards to online privacy, the study found that “a majority of Canadians are very concerned about posting information online about their location, contact information, personal photos and videos, information about social activities, and personal opinions.”

Source: Canadians and Privacy Survey, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Level of personal privacy

Interestingly, Canadians stated that they are extremely troubled about their level of personal privacy.  “Concern about privacy protection (scores of 6-7) was higher among women (45%), college (46%) and university graduates (44%), and Ontarians (48%) compared to Quebeckers (39%) and British Columbians (35%). It also increased with age (from 27% of those under 25 to 46% of those 55+).”

Source: Canadians and Privacy Survey, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Justified cause for concern?

The American government has been monitoring the Internet for several years now.

Wolf Blizter, journalist and CNN television news anchor, says “that the scope of the American government Internet monitoring programs is immense.”  It is a program designed to examine and evaluate threats to national security.

Source: NSA Spying By Political Cartoon Gary Varvel

On the one hand, Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary for U.S. President George Bush, states that the American surveillance programs are generally designed for a sweeping overreach of the online system.  Fleischer says that the general public and the media have misinterpreted the true intent of the monitoring program.

The government will only act when something has gone terribly wrong, in much the same capacity when officials reacted after the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013.  Fleischer admits that TV surveillance following everybody may be an infringement of our liberties, however “when trouble hit, it was because of that technology that we [law enforcement] were able to only target those who committed the crime and catch the killers.”

Source: Boston Marathon Bombings

With regards to online monitoring, Fleischer describes the monitoring as a satellite system that takes “pictures of a predictable river patterns.  The government will only react when a large [objects] disturbs the [natural] flow of water in that stream.”  Fleischer believes the American government has done the right thing by monitoring all activity and that any action will be done when America’s national interest is threatened.

However, according Jim Walsh, Research Associate at MIT Securities Program, the federal government should not be collecting information from law abiding citizens.  Walsh suggests that social network analysis is the government’s attempt to understand and decode social network patterns .   He states that that even if the government is not reading individual emails or listening to telephone calls, the fact that agencies know who we email and call should make people feel nervous.

Privacy is a modern phenomenon

Privacy as we know it now 2013 is a modern phenomenon.  Vint Cerf, Google’s chief internet evangelist, stated that “it’s the industrial revolution and the growth of urban concentrations that led to a sense of anonymity.”  According to Peter Nowak, reporter for Canadian Business, privacy issues are a modern and “relatively new invention.”  Nowak further states that the modern definition of privacy has been misunderstood.  “The earliest people huddled together in caves and therefore had no expectations of it (privacy). Each successive technological invention that affected how people lived increased that (privacy) expectation slightly, to the point where we now consider it an alienable right.”  The notion of privacy is social constructed and deserves further study and investigation.

Source:  Vint Cerf

The right to privacy emerged as a hot-button topic in the late 19^th century, when technology such as the telephone, photography, heating, and electricity, slowly integrated into mainstream culture.  Nowak also states that, “when the telephone came along, it was first deployed as a sort of shared utility. Up until the Second World War, party lines – where several houses would share the same line – were common. Each house might have had a special ring to indicate calls destined for its inhabitants, but otherwise people were free to eavesdrop on each other’s call.”  Moreover, it was the milestone 1967 when the U.S. Supreme court case recognized privacy in the case of Katz v. the United States.  As a reminder, Katz “used a public pay phone booth to transmit illegal gambling wagers from Los Angeles to Miami and Boston.”

Comments?

How has online privacy affected your behavior on social media?  Do you worry about the government tracking your every move?  What would you suggest be an alternative to the monitoring of online space?  Let me know in the comments below.

The History We Learned as Kids was All Bullsh%t

World pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination

Prime Minister assassinated.  President assassinated.  How would you react to either of these headlines?  Canadians, Americans, and people all over the world asked themselves that question the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

50th Anniversary

This week marked the 50th Anniversary of American President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, which many people across the world paid tribute.  Newspaper dailies in Great Britain, Canada, Israel, and Germany, among many others, reflected on the historical significance of a former American President.

The front page headline of the Winnipeg Free Press on November 22, 1963 stated, “Kennedy Shot.  Rushed to Hospital.  No word on his condition.”[1]  According to The Winnipeg Free Press, Kennedy had been downtown in Dallas when the bullet hit him.  Jackie Kennedy, his wife, had cried out in horror.  Conspiracy theories emerged shortly after the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK’s alleged assassin, who was then later killed by Jack Ruby two days after.

“A terrifying experience”

JFK Inspired A New Generation

In the 1960s, JFK was a beacon of hope for many young Americans.  During his inauguration speech on January 20, 1961, JFK said, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  Here, he demanded that Americans reflect on their contribution to the nation.   It was the duty of every American citizen to protect the nation from itself, whereby citizens have an obligation to the security of its institutions and processes.

JFK was Irish Catholic, the only Catholic President to have served in the United States.  He captured the spark for a new generation, who could effectively communicate to Americans on televisions sets during an era of turbulence.

A Turbulent Period

The birth of Civil Rights movement, the Cold War, the Space Race, and Nuclear War characterized the 1960s.[2]   JFK’s domestic policy aimed at “federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, and economic aid to rural regions, and government intervention to heal the recession.  Most importantly, he promised an end to racial discrimination.” Foreign policy dealt with the Cuban missile crisis, Latin America, and South East Asia.  With radical domestic and foreign policies in the making, he was the figurehead for modernism in the United States.   His death not only affected the United States, but the entire world.

Time Stood Still

JFK’s assassination was a moment in time when people could remember what they were doing for years after.  “Grief and disbelief numbed the nation as most Americans spent the next four days in front of their television sets.”[4] The world stopped in much of the same capacity on September 11, 2001, when two planes slammed into the World Trade Center in New York.

Facebook and Social Media

4.7 million people on Facebook have expressed interest in John F. Kennedy.  In Canada, 62,000 people have liked JFK.  In the United States, 1.8 million people have an interest in JFK, 1.16million are between the ages of 13 to 50.  These statistics show that JFK still resonates through the minds of many people.  They have not forgotten.

Can you remember any moments in time that changed the world forever?  Please leave your comments in the section below.

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[1] http://archives.winnipegfreepress.com/winnipeg-free-press/1963-11-22

[2] Boyer, An Enduring Vision: A History of the American People.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002, 605-610.

[3] Boyer, 610.

Social Media and JPMorgan

How has social media changed your life?  Has social media affected the way you do business?  In our last two social media seminars, we learned that social media is a mechanism that can spur movements, increase awareness of public issues, and transform a molehill into a mountain.  Our assignment this week is to reflect on how a particular news issue or story has affected an audience.

TWITTER & JP MORGAN AND CHASE

JP Morgan and Chase, an American multinational banking Financial institution, was in hot water on the week of November 15, 2013, after cancelling a question & answer session on Twitter.

JPMorgan’s formula was simple:  provide an opportunity for Twitter users to chat with senior investment banker Jimmy Lee.  The result was an unexpected backlash of pointed questions and insults directed towards the investment company and Lee himself.  The social media session turned into a PR nightmare, which JPMorgan wished they never started in the first place.  Tweets to Lee demanded response to ethical implications of the firm’s investment practices, and how the firm exploited their clients for their own financial gain.

JPMorgan sought to engage the global community

JPMorgan sought to engage the global community by using social media.  The spirit of the Q&A session was to develop a better relationship with the general public.  According to a story by CBC.ca, “Many of the tweeters out there don’t like the multinational financial services firm. As in, really, really don’t like them.”  Social media activists demanded answers to JPMorgan’s investment policies, that included Enron, Worldcom,  an overcharge of active military personnel, and alleged manipulation of the energy market for the firm’s financial gain.  A quick Google search will show that JPMorgan is highly unpopular outside of their investment circle because of their questionable record of investment practices.

FACEBOOK STATISTICS

According to Facebook statistics, in Canada, approximately 96,000 people have liked JPMorgan and Chase.  In the United States, approximately 2.4 million people have liked the firm.  It is safe to suggest that as an investment firm, they have quite the social media presence.  Could they have not have thought of a better solution to the outcry other than to terminate all conversation?

Social media as a bridge

Social media acts as a bridge between you/your company and the rest of the world.  Prior to JPMorgan’s Twitter announcement,  policy analysts and public relations coordinators should have prepared responses to the global community.     Instead, JPMorgan could have stated they are unable to discuss those issues at the present time.  The firm did not have to speak to any of the allegations.  Regardless of the outcome or backlash, JPMorgan should not have closed discussion.

Social media is an opportunity

Social media is an opportunity to create and maintain lasting relationships.  Undoubtedly, word of mouth communication is paramount for any business or person.  However, with tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest to name a few, it is prudent to actively develop an online presence than to not have one.

Has social media changed your impression of organizations in the last 5 years?  What have you done to develop your online presence?

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Any comments?  Please let me know below.