For example, did you know that your Google + profile image will be downloaded to all the smartphones that download your contact info? I didn't either.

Dear Google, I like your services, I even drafted this post in Google docs, so I’m into it. Just don’t be that guy.

When Google + launched it’s beta version a few months ago, I decided to research  what kind of licensing rights users were signing away when posting photos on Google +.  In addition to scoping out the shot for personal empowerment as a photographer, I also wondered: as a brand, what kind of copyright considerations should you consider before launching a user generated content (UGC) campaign?

Long story short, you shouldn’t post any photos you don’t ever want to see on the front page of some other website, as Google + grabs worldwide rights in perpetuity to use and sub-license your photos. As an artist, I find it alarming that Google would be so brazen to just grab the IP of everyone who participates in their show. By doing so, Google is basically creating a huge royalty-free database of sub-licensable images that they can do whatever they want with, whenever and however they want, forever.

For context and comparison’s sake, I’ve outlined and explained a few licensing agreements from some major social networks:

Facebook:

“You grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.”

Tumblr:
“Subscriber shall own all Subscriber Content that Subscriber contributes to the Site, but hereby grants and agrees to grant Tumblr a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable right and license (with the right to sublicense), to use, copy, cache, publish, display, distribute, modify, create derivative works and store such Subscriber Content and to allow others to do so (“Content License”) in order to provide the Services”

Google +:
“By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.

You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.”

However, there is a grey area because they also say:
“11.1 …This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.”

What it means: Facebook can use your photos as long as you have them posted up, but they cannot sell or license them to third parties or do whatever they want with them in perpetuity. With Google + and Tumblr, however, they own the rights of your photos whether you still have your images up or not.

Mark Zuckerburg posted a response to the outcry over the terms of service, where he explained: “Our philosophy is that people own their information and control who they share it with. When a person shares information on Facebook, they first need to grant Facebook a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they’ve asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn’t help people share that information.”

What does this mean for brands?

From a brand perspective, this licensing is something to consider and pay attention to. If you are running a campaign culling UGC and user involvement, remember that unless you have specific fine print, you don’t have rights to the content either. If your users are active on social media sites, it’s safe to say that they’ve accepted the fact that they have given up their licensing rights to Facebook, but keep in mind that there might be the slight off chance that someone will learn about the fine print for the first time and get annoyed.

Take a look at one example of a brand that addressed this issue. Beer brand Stella Artois worked in additional language that ensures they can use UGC images and content freely in the future without penalization. This is smart on their behalf, but as a user, would you want to sign this?

“By submitting Content to this site, you: … (b) grant Anheuser-Busch an unlimited, perpetual, royalty-free, sub-licensable, transferable and irrevocable license to use, modify, or adapt the Content for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to incorporating the submission into content copyrighted by Anheuser-Busch, whether or not such Anheuser-Busch content is commercial in nature…”

Personally, I think if more people read the fine print, there’d be less photos being shared on popular social networks and UGC campaigns.  Let’s face it though – in the grand scheme of things, social networks command our attention and focus. If you aim to impress friends and garner user involvement and UGC, post away! As an artist and photographer, if your goal is to promote your own fine art photography with the intention of later selling those photos, be forewarned that those images could very well be used, regardless of your consent, feelings, and creative ownership.  Keep in mind that once you upload an image, granting any of these social networks non-exclusive use, you can no longer license that same image for exclusive use with anyone else.

While there is certainly a benefit in getting your photography out there and shared through social media, just remember: uploader, beware!

1. Sharing

Social media is built on the foundation of exchanging information. Or, as Wikipedia defines it:

And sharing is instinctively social. Whether it’s sharing advice, a funny joke or the latest gossip, people want to come across to others as helpful, knowledgeable or simply the first to know about something.

see: viral videos, chain emails, gossip, social currency

2. Status

A double meaning! It can indicate “What am I doing right now” (as in Facebook status), or represent a person’s prestige within their personal and professional circles. A person’s online status could range from informational, to too much information (“our baby just threw up the rug – how cute!”), to outright bragging (“I’m poolside at some tropical resort in January while you are all back home buried in 3 feet of snow – suckers!”). This has evolved into the realm of game mechanics, where users are motivated to gain “status” (or some embodiment of how influential or special they are) based on the social actions they take and achievements they reach.

see: status updates, tweets, Badges, Mayorships, Klout scores, “social capital”

3. Support

Another “S” with more than 1 definition. On a consumer level, it means real-time customer service conducted in public view, or consumer-to-consumer support via support forums where others have already found a solution . On a personal level, it means seeking the support or encouragement of others in times of need (loss of a loved one or job, motivation to stay on diet, or simply seeking sympathy because one woke up with a sore throat this morning). Social media has made people realize that the social web is one giant support group.

see: Twitter, customer support forums, Get Satisfaction, insight panels, Wikis

4. Shopping (and Savings!)

Social media relates to shopping in 2 ways – leveraging research and recommendations to make purchase decisions, and the emergence of new commerce models.

Social media has shifted consumer behavior from the traditional “sales funnel” to what McKinsey refers to as the “Consumer Decision Journey”, where once a consumer decides they are going to buy a product, they move into a stage called “active evaluation”, where the number of brands they are considering *increases* (the opposite of the premise of the original funnel). This is the stage when the consumer is intent on purchasing and they are actively researching the product, and begin to rely on reviews and ratings, comparing prices and tapping into their social circles for advice.

Shopping in itself has become more ‘social’, with a number of copycat Flash sales, group buying, location-based “deals” and coupon code aggregation/sharing sites popping up over the past few years. Who pays retail anymore?

see: Online reviews, Groupon, Gilt, group buying, flash sales, Foursquare deals

5. Search (and SEO)

A secondary benefit of UGC (user generated content) is that social media driven content is weighing more and more heavily in search result rankings. Social SEO is defined as traffic to your website via search engines, based on the relevancy of consumer-generated content on your site to keywords. You can apply all sorts of SEO to a product page on your ecommerce site, but all of the “likes”, shares, and consumer-submitted reviews and ratings will play a big factor in your content’s relevancy. And the relevancy of that content can be short-lived as trends/memes come and go and your content isn’t dynamic and gets “stale.”

see: Google +1, social seo, Facebook Likes, twitter trends, reviews and ratings, Social Mention

6. Sweepstakes

Who doesn’t like winning stuff? In the social landscape (especially on more light-touch touchpoints such as Facebook and Twitter), an easy way to quickly amass lots of fans/followers is to conduct a social media-driven promotion. Brands are running contests and product giveaways, and those entries in turn virally promote the promotion to others (as well as increase exposure the brand). For other brands, they are seeing the opportunity to leverage social promotions as way to begin developing larger scale CRM and loyalty initiatives.

see: Facebook contests, Twitter giveaways, product samples

The final four “S’s” deal with the darker side of social media…

7. Scandals

It’s not that people’s behavior has changed much over the past 100 years so much as technology has brought into the public eye what has traditionally happened behind closed doors. And more often these days, social media has been the medium in which the scandals occurred. Politicians and athletes have always had affairs. Band groupies have always been around. But with the prevalence of camera-enabled smartphones, the public has become a mass paparazzi who can snap a compromising photo and post in real-time.

Also, social media has provided a direct way for celebrities/public figures to engage directly with the public, which has historically been a tightly controlled PR machine. Many of these forms of social media scandals are the result of spur of the moment actions – an insensitive tweet or a public message meant to be private. These public figures need to be given social media training in the same way they are trained to handle press conferences and interviews. Imagine if Joe DiMaggio, Bill Clinton, Robert Plant or John F. Kennedy had Twitter or Facebook around during their heydays?

But at the end of the day, the biggest social media “scandals” really didn’t become such until they were picked up by more mainstream media. How many actual consumers actually got worked up about the whole “Motrin Moms” controversy?

see: Wikileaks, Anthony Weiner, Brett Favre, Kenneth Cole, TMZ

8. Stalking (and over-Sharing)

Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that most people were afraid to use their real name or even post a real photo of themselves online? The social web has lifted the guise of online anonymity, as people have shifted from using online personas/usernames to their real identities. By connecting a user’s online profiles and social media-based actions with other data, companies can mesh your social data with online behavioral data so they could, for example, better target ads based on your gender, age, number of children, or interests you have shared through any number of social media touchpoints.

Law enforcement, collection agencies and prospective employers are now using this information as well to track people down, conduct background checks and catch people lying (“I can’t pay my credit card bill, but here are photos of me on a luxury vacation!”)

For minors, there are legitimate concerns for parents about their children’s use of social media, what information they reveal and who they interact with.

see: Facebook privacy, Spokeo, Rapportive, PleaseRobMe, check-ins, online bullying, online predators

9. Sex

The adult industry has always been on the bleeding edge of technical innovation because, quite simply, they’ve had to be. They pioneered anti-credit card fraud checks in the 90′s, online subscription models, online dating, video delivery (including secure video, video chat systems, etc.), anti-piracy and even were a key player in the success of the Blu-Ray DVD format winning out over HD DVD. Any new innovation that gains wide adoption was most likely pioneered in the adult space first. While the “old” guard adult publishers are fading out of existence, the online industry has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry. “Innovate, or die” indeed.

see: chatroulette, webcams, online dating

10. Scams (and Snake Oil Salesmen)

Not to end on a downer, but it was only a matter of time before unsavory types would jump on the social bandwagon and figure out ways to make a quick buck off of others.

While historically online scams involving Nigerian princes looking to share their wealth or phishing scams that would trick people into sharing their banking info were done my mass-emailing people and playing a numbers game (assuming that even 1/100th of 1% of people were fooled, that would still translate into millions of dollars), scams can now spread at scale by leveraging the social web and the trust of users among their social media peers (from “Free iPads” to fake Japan charity scams).

In marketing circles, an entire cottage industry of social media ‘experts’ have emerged who have little previous experience other than reading Mashable or some presentations on SlideShare (what the heck is a “Twitter coach”, anyway? Were there “email coaches” 20 years ago?). “Books! Speaking engagements! Consulting gigs!” Don’t buy into the hype. Check their CV and see what they were were going 5 years ago (most likely flipping real estate). Ask to see actual work and case studies, and less jargon and hand waving.

At the end of the day, if you come across something that is too good to be true, then it most likely is. Caveat Emptor.

see: social media scams, phishing, botnets, fake charities, consultants, Twitter coaches

What does social media mean to you? Do you have any additions to this list? Leave a comment below or drop me a tweet!

Recently, Chris Brogan’s article “Attention as Currency and Noise” briefly delves in to the concept of attention budgeting, as he explores the value of attention.  As social marketing “pros”,  we are attempting to catch the attention of our target audience in a manner that conveys trust and reaffirms our clients’ brand reputation.  For a busy social media professional it can sometimes be difficult to decide how to effectively manage all of the  “one-to-many” conversations you are having online, which Brogan describes as “where the real value of social media kicks in.”

As with most marketing functions, the first question to ask yourself is “what are my goals?”  Are you trying to grow fans, trying to influence key tastemakers, or trying to drive traffic to your brand’s website? Once you know your goals, you can begin to plan a strategy.  Every brand and every industry will have a different set of problems and solutions.  Since social media affects different industry verticals in different ways, you need to determine an overall social media strategy that works best for each client.

Within that framework you then must decide on a client-by-client basis how much time you should spend on audience development, and on which social platforms to focus your efforts.  Mark Tosczak offers some great ideas on how to determine this for your clients, including focusing on how much content you have, how much time you have to create content, and the importance of taking time to listen, read and interact.  He offers that you should concentrate most of your attention on the “20 percent of tools/sites/strategies that are going to yield 80 percent of your results.”

Once this has been done for each brand I recommend plotting out all your brands and categorizing them by: category/vertical (retail/brick and mortar, CPG, celebrity), goals (brand awareness, fan acquisition, generate UGC), social network (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc.) and then assign the amount of time per week associated with accomplishing each goal.  By placing everything in one place you can determine how much of your day and week you allow yourself to be sucked in to the world of social (which for some of us can border on addiction).

Of course, this is just one method of determining how to budget your attention.  I’d love to hear what’s worked for you? Let me know in the comments below.

These Vintage Prints feature iconic, greater outdoors inspired scenes and are available to consumers at no cost via their community site Blaze the Trail.

Recently, one of these posters found a new, large home on the Beverly Boulevard between Gardner and North Vista Streets in Los Angeles. The Moose, the first ever Consumers Choice Vintage Print (conceptualized by and voted to victory by consumers), will be hanging out proudly there apologizing to LA’ers for the horrible delays in traffic through the week of May 4th.

While we are happy to see this awesome artwork displayed anywhere loud and proud, the fact the Moose was the consumer-selected winner of a consumer-generated content contest is near and dear to our marketing hearts.  Consumers are open to always submit their creative visions for the next Redwood Creek Vintage Print, and we are always sifting through the ideas narrowing down finalists for the next time that we will nominate a few to face off, with the winner getting printed and distributed to consumers, for free.

Note: The Moose won’t be available online to grab for your wall  until the end of May. But we do hope you’ll pick one up then.

eMarketer released some big numbers last week on the growth of user-generated content creators and consumers.  The report estimates that by 2013 the number of UGC creators will reach 115 million (just over half of all internet users), up from 83 million in 2008.  That’s significant, and indicative of the growing popularity of user-generated content (specifically video) as a platform for fluent self-expression.  And as the quantity of content increases, so too does the audience.  An estimated 70% of all internet users, roughly 155 million, will be consuming some form of UGC by 2013.

The study goes on to suggest that the growth in UGC may be unprofitable if the advertising climate for user-generated media remains stagnant, citing ‘unpredictability of UGC’ and ‘absence of ad standards’ (among others) as the culprits for these conditions.  While these issues pose a concern for a company like Google who are still seeking to profit on YouTube after its acquisition in 2006, marketers are presented with an amazing opportunity to reach their audience in an organic and credible way.

Marketing Vox covered an Ad-ology survey last week on the influence of video game selection.  The survey, called Fall 2008 Median Influence on Consumer Choice, reported that of consumers between the ages of 18-24 nearly 65% were influenced by online video.

“‘Gamers want to see new releases in action before they buy, and online video is an effective way to show actual game play,’ said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research.”

This significant level of influence of online video on video game purchases presents an opportunity for leveraging the growing number of UGC creators and consumers.  At Affinitive, we integrate online video, official or user-generated, into the majority of our programs when it makes sense, and have experienced a great deal of success in most cases.

For example, we recently executed a user-generated video contest for the release of an RPG-style video game.  The contest was set up to encourage those who bought the game to upload their best game play videos (see an example here), with the winner earning a gift certificate and autographed merchandise.  By the end of the contest (roughly two weeks after the game’s release,) the contest had received over 50 entries totaling 300,000+ views.

That’s not to say that every marketing campaign needs online video, rather I’m simply pointing out that the audience and creators are increasing, and the influence is there.  It is a growing opportunity that should be considered when developing an online marketing strategy.

In thinking about ways in this new year that I could better contribute to Affinitive’s blog, I got inspired by the blog over at everyone’s favorite minimalistic housewares company, SimpleHuman.

Their blog has become a must-read for me, not because they dish out the inside scoop on their latest and greatest, which I enjoy, but because their employees share their favorite finds in projects, web 2.0, other blogs, stories and articles, gadgets, movies, etc.

In reading their blog I feel like I really get a grasp of what an awesome company culture they must have and it definitely increases my affinity for their sleek (and often pricey) trashcans.

Taking a tip from the Simple Human employees, I am hoping to share from time to time some applications, case studies, videos, sites, products, gadgets, articles, and other random finds that I love.

I fully believe that when you are working in a creative environment, inspiration can come from so many varying sources. I do a daily scavenger hunt around the internet and think I am much better at my job for taking those few minutes out of every day to read my favorite blogs, check in on social networks and sites that I love, and new inspirational finds.

Without further ado…

I have been a sporadic Vimeo user for the past year. I don’t shoot much video personally, so I don’t have much to contribute to the artistic and creative Vimeo community but I enjoy watching videos on Vimeo and appreciate the format and what it provides versus the much more popular YouTube.

To explain the difference between the two in very simple, non-technical terms (and from my own personal experience), YouTube is where I would go to watch my favorite music video or try to find an awesome scene from Big Love that I want to watch again. Vimeo is where I go to get inspired by original content, created by aspiring videographers, directors, and Kanye West.

I was happy to discover yesterday that the White House has setup a channel at Vimeo and will be sharing Obama’s weekly video casts via the site.

After watching the tech savviness of both Obama and McCain’s campaigns with their utilization of social media tools, it shouldn’t be surprising that the channel has found it’s home at Vimeo.

But it still feels very refreshing and validating that the very tools that we assist our clients in leveraging as they spread their brand message or empower consumers to share User-Generated Content are platforms that are also being used by our new President.

Our internal company servers nearly flat-lined as we all watched the Inauguration Address online, as did the clients that we spoke to during that monumental time. It is nice to watch it again, on Vimeo, shared to us directly by the most well known white home in America.

No matter what your political affiliations are, the mainstream usage of social media platforms and tools such as Vimeo is inspirational to me as a marketer, and in this case, also as an American.

The game hit stores this week, and to celebrate the illustrious history of The Lord of The Rings franchise and to increase awareness for the new installment in the video game series, Affinitive coordinated a user-generated video contest to find the “Ultimate The Lord of The Rings Fan.”

Five finalists from a pool of impressive entries were chosen by the program’s managers, and were then voted on by the community. The winning video was submitted by “Thorgaz”, who showed us exactly what it means to be the ultimate fan (hint: creating your own set of Nazgul gloves and perfecting an unbelievable Gollum impression.) We appreciate his time and effort into making this video, and showing off his passion for the series!

Check it out: