In the latest internet con game, tens of thousands of users have been tricked into joining Facebook fan pages that claim to be giving away gift cards of up to a $1,000 for big-name companies, Robert McMillan of IDG News Service reports on SFGate in “Facebook Takes Steps to Deal with Gift Card Scams.”

The bogus pages feature fake posts from other users suggesting that the giveaway offers are real, but the sites typically lead to affiliate marketing websites that try to collect data and generate Web traffic for advertisers, according to Simon Axten, a Facebook spokesman. He advises users to be suspicious of any online activity that “feels strange” — unfamiliar links in messages from long-silent friends or a promise of financial reward if you invite friends to join a group.

Such gift-card scams have been around via email for years, says, McMillan, but are fairly new to Facebook, which says it removes the pages as they are found. But “because anyone can set up a fan page for virtually anything — and many pages do contain legitimate gift-card offers — it’s a thorny problem for Facebook to solve,” he adds.

The SSN take: As long as new ways to scam people come on the scene, there will people taking advantage of others greed or gullibility.

John Sniffen, April 21, 2010

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Those who scoffed at what you wrote as not being real literature or true journalism. I was pleased to find makeuseof.com’s recent article, “Top 5 Online Resources for the Citizen Journalist” as not only a great resource but a very thorough listing of tools for the writer in all of us.  At the top of the list and justly so, is a product of that early concern for journalistic integrity – Journalism.org. This site is a tremendous source of not just research but guidance. Another gem in this list is RefDesk – a source for facts, figures and statistics. If you need to quote how many adults and children are living with cerebral palsy symptoms in the United States, the Facts Search Desk feature will tell you the United Cerebral Palsy Association estimates that figure to be 800,000.

Melody K. Smith, March 19, 2010

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The 18-34 crowd, or the 35-54 one? Statistics like these, while sometimes overwhelming, can be useful to companies targeting specific sectors on social networks, and the National Retail Federation has recently released a ten-page RAMA 2010 Social Media Research report highlighting valuable information about the U.S. demographics of social media usage. Pest Control Technology’s summary, “New Research Sheds Light on Social Media Use” grabs some of the top findings: in the social media realm, women regularly log-in to Facebook more than men, but more men prefer cell phone use after a product search to discuss the findings with their buddies. Not surprisingly, users prefer to give product advice via networks rather than receive it, and Facebook beats out all other social media sites like MySpace or Twitter, for total usage. The full report also discusses face-to-face interaction and its effect on social conversations online.

The SSN Take: Take a quick scan of the report for some relevant data pertaining to your target audience.

Samuel Hartman, March 15, 2010

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Social media is the key for marketers in 2010, and several new tools, usually free with subscription-based premium capabilities, have sprung up to help. Alterian SM2, a “social media monitoring and analysis solution,” is designed to help companies manage their brand, and reputation, online. An alternative is Radian6, a full-on platform to monitor all forms of social communication including comments, microblogging, and video sharing. But if this all seems overwhelming, consider going with a company like KARMA Media Labs to strategize and create your online social media presence. A couple odd-ball, though strangely hip tools are Sendible, which integrates text messaging and e-mail, and Foursquare: a mobile-based app that lets users “check in” at destinations and receive awards for multiple visits (privacy issues aside, an invaluable tool to track customer behavior). Wrap-up: Don’t just use social media for business – track, analyze, and follow it.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 26, 2010

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