The FTC May Soon Crack Down On Social Media Credential Fraud

The FTC may soon crack down on Social Media Credential Fraud because it is a growing problem that will drastically harm monetization opportunities in the social media industry. Social Media Credential Fraud may occur when someone utilizes social media to create a false impression that they are an expert in their profession for commercial gain. Under the FTC's Advertising Regulations, it is crystal clear that engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices is unlawful.

This past summer the FTC sought input for revising its guidance to business about disclosures for online advertising. I submitted a comment requesting that the FTC take action against those who are practicing Social Media Credential Fraud.

On April 18, 2011, I stated that non-practicing attorney/self-described social media evangelist Adrian Dayton has a Twitter account that appears to indicate that he has a rock star like Twitter following to follower ratio. In this post, I discussed how Mr. Dayton had previously talked about why he un-followed 47,000 people on Twitter. The reason he gave for un-following almost 50,000 people went something along the lines he no longer could focus on new followers or qualified prospects because they were lost in the noise.

At that time I stated: "Having to follow at least 54,533 people in order to receive only 41,026 followers in return is not very "expert like." Mr. Dayton's Twitter activity demonstrates that he is a social media expert at one thing: following tens of thousands of people on Twitter and un-following tens of thousands of people on Twitter. That is it."

On January 13, 2011, Mr. Dayton was following 4,417 and had 41,049 followers.



On September 13, 2011, Mr. Dayton was following 8,613 but only had 41,203 followers in return.



During an 8 month period, it appears that Mr. Dayton increased the number of people he followed on Twitter from 4,417 to 8,613 (an increase of 4,196). However, during this time frame it appears that Mr. Dayton's number of followers has only gone up from 41,049 to 41,203. This is a net plus of a paltry 154 new followers. Are these the numbers of a bona fide social media strategist or evangelist?

Why would Mr. Dayton want to follow 4,000+ more people when he previously stated that he un-followed thousands of people because [he] was following so many people that [his] Twitter stream was filled with content that was at best irrelevant and at worse distracting? Could part of the answer be that Mr. Dayton is trying to keep at least 41,000 followers?

If you divide 4,196 by 154 it appears that Mr. Dayton may need to follow 27.25 people before 1 person will follow him in return. If you multiply 41,203 by 27.25 that equals 1,122,782. Therefore, it is possible that Mr. Dayton has had to follow 1 million plus people in order to receive only 41,000+ followers in return. Since Mr. Dayton's Twitter popularity is presumably at an all-time high now he may have previously needed to follow 30, 40, or 50 people before 1 person followed him back.

As I stated on April 18, 2011, I challenge Mr. Dayton to dispute my findings. If I was previously wrong Mr. Dayton would have publicly disputed me and/or threatened to sue me in the same manner that it appears he previously threatened lawyer Brian Tannebaum who pointed out some issues with Mr. Dayton's background.

Therefore, I want to reiterate, caveat emptor when hiring "experts". Don't be a sucker. At least perform a Google search to learn more about an "expert's" credentials. Just because someone calls himself/herself an expert and/or has a social media profile that appears "expert like" that does not make it so. As Malcolm Gladwell states, it takes at least 10,000 hours to master a craft.

To learn how to avoid violating the FTC Advertising Regulations you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.

Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Do Marketing Ethics and the FTC Advertising Regulations Matter in the Social Media Age?

P.T. Barnum is credited with the phrase, "There's a sucker born every minute." Social Media provides entrepreneurs so many new opportunities to expand their brand and footprint in many exciting and fun ways. However, social media also provides snake oil salesmen and others whose ethics are questionable the ability to defraud in ways not imagined until a few years ago.

After a recent speaking engagement, a lawyer approached me and said, "I think I have been duped the way Oprah was by James Frey." The lawyer told me he had bought a book on Amazon.com that had an amazing initial editorial review. For the record, the book's official editorial review states, it "is a 'must-read' for all law firms. Indeed, it should be studied avidly, not only by lawyers, but also by any professional service firm that wants to grow its business fast using Web 2.0 techniques. As a successful New York attorney turned social media guru, [name removed] deals with his subject comprehensively and with an easy authority." The author of the social media book that the lawyer bought is self described social media expert Adrian Dayton.

With the above editorial review along with Mr. Dayton's celebrity like Twitter Following to Followers ratio, the lawyer told me he believed that he was buying a book from a real social media expert. The lawyer said that he thought that anyone who had around 50,000 followers but only had to follow several thousand people in return must be an expert in teaching others how to harness the power of Twitter to build their business.

After listening to me discuss Social Media Credential Fraud, the lawyer told me he was angry at himself for blindly believing Mr. Dayton's official biography without doing any further due diligence. He stated that despite following Mr. Dayton's recommendations for the past 9 months, that tweeting will build your book of business, he doesn't have any business development progress to show for his efforts. I told the lawyer that since I have been tweeting from @bradleyshear on June 15, 2009, I have not had a single legal client contact me and say, "I love your Tweets, you're hired!" I have tweeted more than 2,000 times from @bradleyshear.

Attorney Brian Tannebaum's blog posts about Mr. Dayton on November 9, 2009, November 26, 2009, December 3, 2009, June 16, 2010, and February 9, 2011 reveal that Mr. Dayton may be embellishing his credentials and may have a problem with truth in advertising (i.e.Rule 7.1 of New York's Rules of Professional Conduct and the the FTC's Advertising Regulations). Last year, Mr. Dayton un-followed at least 47,000 people on Twitter. As of this writing, Mr. Dayton is following 7,533 people and has 41,026 followers.

If you didn't know that Mr. Dayton has already un-followed at least 47,000 people on Twitter, you may have the impression that he has an organically created rock star like Twitter Following to Followers ratio. However, the numbers don't lie. Mr. Dayton has followed at least 14,000 more people than are following him back. Having to follow at least 54,533 people in order to receive only 41,026 followers in return is not very "expert like." Mr. Dayton's Twitter activity demonstrates that he is a social media expert at one thing: following tens of thousands of people on Twitter and un-following tens of thousands of people on Twitter. That is it.

I challenge Mr. Dayton to dispute Mr. Tannebaum's and my allegations. I take great pride in being a lawyer and like thousands of other lawyers I made many sacrifices to become a lawyer. I find it offensive when a non-practicing attorney such as Mr. Dayton continues to mislead the public without any repercussions. Since first writing and speaking about Mr. Dayton's activity without naming him, I have not had a single lawyer state that Mr. Dayton's conduct is ethical or legal.

In previous blog posts, I initially did not name Mr. Dayton to provide him the opportunity to take corrective action (he started following me again on Twitter recently so I am sure he has read my April 1, 2011 and April 8, 2011 blog posts about Social Media Credential Fraud). Unfortunately, Mr. Dayton has not yet taken corrective action.

Caveat emptor when hiring "experts". Don't be a sucker. At least perform a Google search to learn more about an "expert's" credentials. Just because someone calls himself/herself an expert and has a social media profile that appears "expert like" does not make it so. As Malcolm Gladwell states, it takes at least 10,000 hours to master a craft.

To learn how to avoid violating the FTC Advertising Regulations you may contact me at http://shearlaw.com/attorney_profile.

Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.