Employers & Social Media Passwords: Less Than a Love Story
In the last few weeks there have been several news stories about employers requiring prospective employees to provide their passwords to social media accounts, Facebook specifically. Why any company would do that is beyond me. Here are just a few reasons why this is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea:
- Too much personal information is available. Most users have at least one of the following in their profiles, yet if an interviewer were to directly ask about any of these during the hiring process, he would find himself in a heap of trouble:
- Marital status
- Sexual preference
- Religious affiliation
- Age
- Family size
- Marital status
- It creates an environment of distrust. How happy is your employee going to be if he thinks you are logging into his account everyday to see what he’s “hiding”?
- It violates Facebook’s own terms of service.
- It sets a dangerous precedent; what’s to stop an employer from asking for personal email passwords?
- It’s practically begging for discrimination lawsuits
Maryland has already banned employers from doing this and California isn’t far behind. My guess is that most, if not all, states will follow suit.
Do employers have a valid concern?
Perhaps. Instead of attempting to pry into employee’s profiles and Big Brother them, here at Intrapromote we’ve created a social media usage policy that covers both use during work hours and overall expectations. If an employee presents himself as a representative of the company on his social media channels, then the company can set expectations. Be careful here, too. You can’t dictate exactly what your employees say, but you can have some safeguards in place that can protect the company.
Remember, if you’re a good employer and treat your employees well, you won’t have to worry about what they are saying about you on social media channels.
Automotive SEO – How One Dealership Dominates Local Search Results
These days, automotive online marketing is so complex and so multi-channeled that it feels impossible to do it all. What’s worse, most auto dealers feel like they’ve got dozens of different people coming at them, each handing them one metaphorical bag of LEGO bricks and one metaphorical sheet of instructions, and they say, “Build this.”
What they don’t see right away is that these metaphorical LEGO bricks will eventually all combine into one awesome metaphorical LEGO car.
To pull the metaphor back to reality, the “car” is a complete online marketing system at a dealership, a balanced and harmonious blend of as many available channels & media as a dealership can handle. (At Intrapromote, we call this Integrated Search.)
If you need an example of the kind of LEGO car I’m talking about, check out Acura Columbus. This dealership dominates their Google pages for critical regional-specific searches like “acura columbus” (see below). They are at the top of the paid listings, top of the organic listings, they comprise 8 of the first 10 organic results, and their business page on Google shows nearly eighty customer reviews across four well-trusted third-party websites.
See here:
The top bill at both paid and organic lists come from strong SEM and SEO efforts. What’s really interesting is the other seven organic search spots they fill: one is their blog page, two are for third party review pages, two are for video-centric social media and two are their dealership’s pages on two of the world’s biggest and most active social media platforms. This shows us they are actively creating new videos, engaging on Twitter and Facebook, and soliciting positive word of mouth. What this shows car shoppers is that they are the clear number one choice for Acura dealers in Columbus, OH.
Note – the importance of Local Search Engine Optimization is not lost here – a dealership can only expect so many customers to come from far away. Strong focus on the regional results will tend to bring in regional customers.
Additionally, their business page shows us two things: one, that they really took time and care to get their business properly listed on Google itself; and two, it shows us they are successfully getting customers to write positive reviews on third-party sites. These reviews not only pay off handsomely on their respective sites, but also improve the SEO efforts they are already working on.
All these channels work together to create a very strong and clearly-branded online presence. With 98% of car buyers today using the internet for research and decision-making, a car dealership’s online presence is crucial to their business.
That’s why I say that when life gives you a bag of LEGOs and an instruction sheet, go ahead and build it! Sooner or later you’ll have your LEGO car, and when you do…oh, life will be so, so sweet.
To All IP Moms: Thank You!
Many of us wouldn’t be here without our moms. They’ve guided us along our crazy journeys and they’ve always been there for us when we needed them.
This Mother’s Day, we want to take just a minute and thank our moms for everything they’ve done for us over the years.
Thanks to my mom, Donnamarie Hehn, for teaching me what it means to be a strong person. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without your guidance and influence. No matter what you always have a smile on your face and a laugh people can hear a mile away. Love you! - Katie Hehn
Search results make me enraged.
The results are very hard to gauge.
But I type M-O-M
In the search bar and then
I see you at the top of the page!
Happy Mother’s Day to you Mom and all IP Moms! Thanks for everything!
– John Castronova
To My Mom, Thank you for always being there for me. You’ve always brought joy to our entire family, and carried us through the tough times. I couldn’t have asked for a better Mom. Love always – Kyle Misencek
Thank you to my Mom, Teresa Berick! The best cook I’ve ever know, and there’s no doubt that her family is the number one priority! She goes to great lengths to spend time with her kids and gather everyone together. She even embraces all of my Geek-dom, and occasionally joins in. Who else’s mother would wear Joker makeup and go see The Dark Knight at midnight? – AJ Allen
On this Mother’s Day 2012, I am breaking with tradition to pay tribute to three special women in my family. My “daughters” Jennifer, Amanda, and Amy make every day special for this Mom and Nana. Enjoy your special day ladies! – Linda O’Neill
Hey Ma (pronounced M-eaah – Mom for Vietnamese — since this is what I called you growing up)…Thanks for being such a great mom! Even though I felt like I could never do much as a kid, there was so much that you and Dad instilled in me that made me the person that I’m proud to be today. Happy Mother’s Day! – Bobby Pham
And last, but certainly not least, to my own mom. A woman of grace and elegance who has not only overcome so much in her own life, but given me guidance and strength to overcome my own challenges. You are my hero, role model and one of my best friends. I love you Mom!
