A weird example of responding to negative social media publicity

Don’t ask what made me think of this, but I’m sure most of you saw all of the pictures floating around the internet a few weeks ago of the pink goo supposedly used to make McDonald’s chicken nuggets.  The article claimed the chicken was ground up, bones and all, sanitized with ammonia, then artificially flavored and colored. Yum!

At the time I didn’t realize it, but this was actually a good example of responding to the negative publicity you can get from social media.  While reading the comments, I noticed that someone from the American Meat Institute posted a comment saying that the article was false and included a link to meatsafety.org explaining what mechanically separated chicken really is. I find it interesting that I can’t find a response from McDonald’s to all of this.  Maybe they decided to take the Gregory Ng approach and let others defend them. Or perhaps they preferred not to “dignify it with a response.”

This is the original article – I notice it’s significantly shorter now and has an update clarifying the incorrect info. http://www.businessinsider.com/chicken-nuggets-are-made-of-this-pink-goop-2010-10

And here’s the link the American Meat Institute commenter posted – it’s actually quite informative! http://meatsafety.org/ht/d/sp/i/63266/pid/63266

Google Is Said to Be Poised to Buy Groupon

Google is known for it’s growth via acquisition.  Groupon would give Google access to a local advertising market.  I think it would fit into the Google portfolio well.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/google-is-said-to-be-close-to-buying-groupon/?src=twrhp

In the spirit of Black Friday

It’s safe to say there is no part of the world anymore that social media doesn’t make an impact.  Here’s a site that illustrates how social media can help you on black friday.  Of course, it doesn’t mean you won’t still have to get up at 3:30 in the morning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/black-friday-deals-2010-h_n_787982.html#s189762

Skype with Ingrid:Mason – We’re streaming Dec 1

Hi Guys,

Just had a Skype session with Mason that went well.  I did do an interview (of sorts) that I recorded while we were talking and I will attempt to cut that into smaller segments and post on my blog.  I actually like that he isn’t coming in that it affords me an opportunity to learn the streaming and video editing stuff more.

Problem:  I am still trying to figure out how we will live stream.  If we use Skype, then how do we project on the big classroom screen from my laptop?  If we could figure out how to use UStream and call in a Skype session from there, we could just use our individual computers to view the session via a UStream Channel I set up for this  🙂 

Any suggestions are very much appreciated and welcomed  ingrid.ward.mba590@gmail.com.

Bottom Line:  Streaming is a go and we’ll plan on using Skype in some capacity.  I won’t go as far as guaranteeing  success (could in fact easily fall on face 🙂  It is worth a try none-the-less.  

I told him I would send a schedule and it may be around 8ish (Claudia? mayby you can give me a time range).  I’ll repost when I get the video up.

Thanks.   Ingrid. 

PS.  Sorry for being off-line from this blog for a spell, lots of things were going on.

If you want a wonderful example of how NOT to do social media

If you want a wonderful example of how NOT to do social media, hop on over to the eMusic Facebook page today and check out the angst emanating from their customers. First they gave their subscribers 48 hours notice that they’re dropping some of the greatest indie music labels in the world (Matador, Merge, etc.). Then they set up an app to help their customers pressure the labels into renewing the very same unfavorable deal they are escaping.

http://www.facebook.com/eMusic?ref=mf

Free jeans with Facebook Places

Interesting blog post about a recent social media effort from the Gap – giving away free jeans to people who check in at the store with Facebook Places. They are obviously experimenting with how to use social media, but I don’t know that Facebook Places adds any additional value. It will be interesting to see if they have more Places promotions.

http://trendpost.blogspot.com/2010/11/gap-retail-social-media-pioneer.html

Details from Gap’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/gap#!/event.php?eid=159056334132258&index=1. Looks like they regularly post promotions for their followers. I don’t currently follow any retailers, but I might have to see if others offer social media promotions.

Facebook Firing Controversy

I found this article pretty interesting.  Most people agree that bad mouthing your boss on Facebook is a bad thing, but one woman is labeling her actions “free speech” and taking her company to court.  Her lawyers are stating that under Union rules, employees have the right to discuss their working conditions, including their boss, without ramifications.  I’m not sure I agree that her actions fall under this category….I mean, she made these statements publicly, that’s different than complaining about your boss over drinks or in the lunch room.  Maybe social media behavior should be addressed at employee orientation from now on?

Queen of England debuts on Facebook

Within four days of joining the social networking website, Queen Elizabeth II has over 1,40,000 fans.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/britains-royal-family-on-facebook-65260

Cleaning up Wikipedia

This article involves a former professor of mine at Iowa.  He’s working on software to clean up vandalism on Wikipedia so phrases like “Brad Pitt eats kittens” no longer appear

http://tippie.uiowa.edu/news/story.cfm?id=2462

Great article RE: How to Measure ROI w/Social Media

My wife brought this article to my attention (it’s really interesting being married to a librarian, let me tell you!) so I thought I’d share.  It really does a decent job of breaking out how to measure ROI for use with Social Media Campaigns.  Let me know your thoughts!

http://mashable.com/2010/11/05/calculate-roi-social-media/