Bank Privacy in the Social Media Age

Have you ever read the annual bank privacy notices that you receive in the mail? If not, it may be a good time to do so.  The FDIC has a website filled with information regarding how banks may protect or utilize your personal financial information for purposes other than account maintenance.

I recently updated some of my privacy choices for one of the banks I do business with and found it to be more cumbersome than anticipated.  I initially tried to make the appropriate updates online but the process was not consumer friendly so I contacted my bank.  The choices I made to help better protect my privacy and reputation included: Do not call with bank offers; Do not email with bank offers; Do not send me offers in the mail from the bank; and Do not share my personal financial information with bank affiliates or third parties.

I can't recall the last time this bank sent me an offer that was worth taking advantage of and I have never received an offer from one of this bank's affiliates or a third party that does business with the bank that was worth accepting.  In general, I have found these marketing offers to be worthless and a waste of my time.

The stronger your privacy choices are the less likely you will become a target of a scam. Protecting your privacy will help better protect your personal and professional reputation.    

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Online Reputation, Snapchat, Draymond Green, and Penis Pics

According to Webster's online dictionary, reputation is: "the common opinion that people have about someone or something."  One's reputation may be a mix of how you conduct yourself at home, at work, at the gym, at your place of worship, online, etc...

Over the weekend, NBA star Draymond Green accidentally posted a photo of his penis on social media platform Snapchat.  He initially claimed on Twitter that his account was hacked; however, he soon apologized and admitted to the mistake.  Green stated that he meant to send the photo as a private message but hit the wrong button.  

While the incident appears to be short lived, it was a distraction that didn't need to happen.  In addition to being a member of the Golden State Warriors of the NBA, he is also a member of Team USA's basketball team and is representing our country at the Rio Olympics later this week.  If this incident occurred during the Olympic games it may have become a much bigger deal.          

In general, unless you need to send a photo of your private parts to the doctor because of a medical condition you should not be taking photos of yourself naked or of others.  I have heard too many horror stories from too many clients about how they wanted to impress a significant other(s) so they sent naked photos of themselves only later to regret it.    

Kim Kardashian's sex tape success was an aberration in the naked fame game.  Her father had been famous for being friends with O.J. Simpson, and her mother's 2nd husband was Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner who was one of the most famous athletes of the 1970's.  So she had a well thought out game plan on how to create and capitalize on getting naked in front of a camera.  In contrast, there are countless stories of others whose lives were destroyed because of naked images of themselves were published for the world to see.  

Protecting your privacy is paramount in protecting your reputation. Therefore, its imperative to understand how to protect yourself from a digital mistake in the Social Media Age.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Restaurant's Reputation Harmed Over "Fatty" Receipt on Facebook

A Rhode Island restaurant recently fired one of its employees who identified a customer on a receipt as "fatty".  The former employee who was also the son of the owner is no longer allowed to eat at the restaurant or come onto the property. The owner immediately apologized for the incident and has tried to reach out to the upset customer to personally make amends. Unfortunately, after this matter has gone viral the owner is now receiving death threats and the incident has gone from local news to national news.    

There is no excuse for the now former employee to have identified the customer as "fatty". However, instead of first posting the receipt on Facebook why didn't the customer try to notify the manager about the situation? This incident will now be tied to not only the restaurant, the owner, and the fired employee, but also to the customer.  Not everything that happens to us needs to be shared and broadcast digitally for the entire world to see. The customer may now be forever tied to the term "fatty". 

The old adage that "sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me" still needs to be taught to our children because we live in a country that has strong protections against limiting the freedom of speech.  While name calling is childish and has no place in a professional environment, it happens.  How you respond to being called something that offends you goes into determining your overall reputation.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq.  All rights reserved.    

The New York Times May Be the Most Trusted News Source in the Social Media Age

The New York Times has been around since 1851 and is regarded as the newspaper of record for the United States. Its reputation is second to none. In the Social Media Age the Gray Lady is still a premier destination for news.

This past week has proven that real world reputation still trumps Facebook Likes, LinkedIn shares, Tweets, etc... If The New York Times reports on something it matters and the world takes notice. For example, on December 25, 2011, the paper reported on a lawsuit that may provide some guidance regarding who owns a Twitter account and what is the value of Twitter follower. Within 24 hours after the article was published the story went viral and news organizations around the world reported on this matter. I appeared on Canada's CTV News Channel last night to discuss the case.

While some may argue that because of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc... the story went viral, I disagree. The story went viral because the New York Times reported on it. The proof may be that it was reported online by a major business publication on November 14, 2011 and again on November 17, 2011. The articles were viewed cumulatively approximately 10,000 times online and shared approximately 1000 times via social media. Despite widespread viewing and social media sharing, this story did not go viral until it was covered by the The New York Times.

Reputation is not something that Klout, PeerIndex, etc....are able to accurately measure. Those who believe these companies can measure reputation remind me of the Emperor in the Hans Christian Anderson tale: The Emperor's New Clothes. The bottom line is that reputation is everything and not easily quantifiable.

To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.

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