Archive for UK
Facebook Messaging Charges Good, Bad and Full of Potential
You've surely heard by now about Facebook's latest money-making scheme: charging to message non-friends. They started rolling this out in late December of 2012, but now with the rollout extending to Great Britain, it looks as though it may be here to stay.
Category: community, facebook, News, Social Customer, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, social networks, UK /
European Law Enforcement Agencies Launch Parallel Investigations Into Google Privacy Policies
1000 Words / Shutterstock.com
European authorities are now individually investigating Google’s privacy practices after a four-month deadline set by a joint body expired with no response from Google.
The joint committee’s mandate is at an end, so it delegated further handling of the matter to the participating national data protection authorities effective today.
The inquiries relate to Google’s move in March 2012 to unify user profiles across its multiple services with the same privacy policy.
“The ICO has launched an investigation into whether Google’s revised March 2012 privacy policy is compliant with the Data Protection Act. … Several data protection authorities across Europe are now considering whether the policy is compliant with their own national legislation,” the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement.
In October, the European committee gave Google four months to make clarifications to its privacy policy and provide and a more transparent opt-out process for its different services.
Google did not make the changes, and instead asked for a meeting with the committee in mid-March.
“Following this meeting, no change has been seen,” said French authorities in a press release.
A Google spokesperson said the company was complying with the process.
“Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with the DPAs [data protection agencies] involved throughout this process, and we’ll continue to do so going forward,” she said.
The bodies can slap Google with fines or could potentially bar the search giant, which handles 95 percent of all search queries in Europe, from operating there.
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UK Partnership To Bring YouTube To More TVs
Thanks to a new deal between Google and UK satellite television operator Freesat, UK television viewers will be able to tune into a dedicated YouTube television channel by the end of next month.
The channel, which Katherine Rushton of The Telegraph describes as “a full-blown YouTube television channel,” will allow Freestat customers to watch YouTube content via the main television programming guide. The YouTube application on Freesat is built on HTML5, to offer a fully interactive viewing experience, optimized for TV.
UK viewers have previously been able to access YouTube on their TV sets via connected-TVs, Apple TV and similar services, but this is the first time the services has been made available directly via a free to air TV service in the UK.
Emma Scott, Freesat’s Managing Director said in a press release, “In just four years we have established ourselves as a real challenger and genuine alternative to pay-TV. In that time we’ve delivered choice and quality, subscription free…We’re now delighted to add to our already fantastic customer offering with YouTube. They join Freestat at a time of rapid growth for our business and will offer our viewers an exclusive, first view of their latest version – previously unseen on free to air TV in the UK.”
YouTube Product Marketing Manager, Peter Sherman, said, “We’re happy to be working with Freesat so that Freesat users can now access YouTube from the platform. Our creator community is developing quality content that will delight and inspire viewers and we’re pleased to be able to bring it to people in new ways.”
Megan O’Neill is the resident web video expert here at Social Times. Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Aviva and Barclays Lead Sector in Corporate Social Media Use
By plotting these companies on the chart below, which maps their respective Awareness Quotients (a measure of status) and Engagement Quotients (a measure of participation and interaction), we see that only Barclays and Aviva occupy a leadership position. HSBC’s score seems mainly driven by status, with little social media engagement. However, RBS, Hargreaves Lansdown and Standard Chartered show higher engagement than awareness scores, suggesting a willingness to listen and participate.
Aviva and Barclays Lead Sector in Corporate Social Media Use
By plotting these companies on the chart below, which maps their respective Awareness Quotients (a measure of status) and Engagement Quotients (a measure of participation and interaction), we see that only Barclays and Aviva occupy a leadership position. HSBC’s score seems mainly driven by status, with little social media engagement. However, RBS, Hargreaves Lansdown and Standard Chartered show higher engagement than awareness scores, suggesting a willingness to listen and participate.
Aviva and Barclays Lead Sector in Corporate Social Media Use
By plotting these companies on the chart below, which maps their respective Awareness Quotients (a measure of status) and Engagement Quotients (a measure of participation and interaction), we see that only Barclays and Aviva occupy a leadership position. HSBC’s score seems mainly driven by status, with little social media engagement. However, RBS, Hargreaves Lansdown and Standard Chartered show higher engagement than awareness scores, suggesting a willingness to listen and participate.
Lord Fisher Coined ‘OMG’ in 1917
The expression OMG as an abbreviation for “Oh my God” first occurred in 1917 letter Lord Fisher, the admiral of the British navy, wrote to Winston Churchill, then a member of parliament, during World War I, the Anorak has uncovered. OMG!
The utterance appears to reflect Fisher’s belief that the Brits could easily overpower the Germans at sea.
Here’s the letter:
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Kickstarter to Host Workshops in London to Kickstart UK-Based Projects
Kickstarter today announced two new workshops to teach artists, writers, and other creative people in the UK how to raise money for their projects in the cloud.
The first workshop will be held on Friday, November 16 at the Barbican in London, which is the largest performing arts venue in Europe and the home of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Kickstarter’s Yancey Strickler will lead a basic tutorial at the free event, which is open to the public with no reservations required. Kickstarter community members including Emilie Holmes of the London-based Good & Proper Tea brew bar will also be there to share their experiences with the crowdfunding platform.
On Saturday, November 17, the team writes, “you can find us at the cozy Aubin Cinema in Shoreditch, where we’ll deep dive into structuring a campaign, what kind of rewards work best, how to spread the word, and other helpful tips. Please note seats for this event are extremely limited and RSVP is required.”
The New York-based company opened its crowdfunding platform in the UK two weeks ago. Already the creators are hard at work making “the rather bland luxury underwear market interesting” and other must-see projects.
Image of the Barbican Centre in London by Alex Yeung via Shutterstock.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Category: crowdfunding, Emerging Social Networks, kickstarter, Kickstarter best practices, UK, Workshops /
UK to Get Kickstarter Crowdfunding This Month
Britons will become the first non-Americans to gain access to funding through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter on October 31, the company said Wednesday. UK users can begin submitting their fundraising proposals now.
Kickstarter offers all-or-nothing funding, in which a project specifies a minimum amount it must raise from contributors on the website. If the project fails to reach its minimum, contributors aren’t billed. The service funds creative projects in areas such as food, film, music and technology. Since Kickstarter launched in 2009, it has funneled more than $380 million to roughly 75,000 projects in the United States.
UK and US projects will be listed together on the website. However, fundraising amounts for British projects will be listed in pounds, and donors will have to enter their payment information directly on Kickstarter. Amazon Payments processes donations for US projects. Kickstarter will also clarify international shipping options for projects that deliver a concrete product to contributors.
Response on the site and on Twitter has been positive. Twitter user and photographer David O’Coimin tweeted from Bristol, “Brilliant! Let’s go UK makers.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Cultural Differences: Why America No Longer Owns Digital Strategy
The argument used to be look no further than the U.S. for the best examples of digital Public Relations. And while innovation and ideas continue to proliferate within the fifty states, two years spent abroad taught me one simple fact: this is no longer the case.
