In politics, there’s a term – even an organization - built around this.  In business, there may not be an organizational body to fact check, but there is usually a way to determine what you are reading or hearing is true or slightly skewed.

Recently, I came across a few social media studies that had similar topics, but different conclusions – and with the data to back them up!  I could not help but wonder if there were vested interests involved.  Following below, is what I came across.

1. Is social media use increasing or decreasing?
Last week, Pew Internet headlined that “65% of online adults use social networking sites” (.pdf). Interestingly, earlier in the same week Gartner released a study that consumers are “Fatigued with Social Media.”

2. On Twitter, do consumers talk more negatively or more positively about brands?
I compared these two studies about how consumers interact with brands on Twitter.  One report stated that most consumers react negatively, while the other claimed the opposite.  Both reports were published within weeks of one another.

3. Who drives more social media traffic – StumbleUpon or Twitter?
Game changing news came out about how Twitter revamped how their referral traffic can be analyzed on Wednesday the 19th (more reader friendly version here).  This move has the potential to significantly increase their referral traffic numbers, yet on the same day news lands about StumbleUpon being the number one social media traffic generator.

Coincidence?

In the first example, we see that Gartner is very specific with their inquiry: “…with the aim of examining usage trends and how enthusiastic users were about social media in general across a range of countries,”  and zeros in on very specific segments: some users in certain segments are showing “social media fatigue.”  Pew, however seemed to use open-ended questions and asked users to respond with one word answers.   In the second example, clearly it is how the information was gathered that may account for the disparity in conclusions.  And the third, is just a  matter of timing (the StumbleUpon report came out just when Twitter was just getting started with the “t.co” wrap, so there has not been much data to quantitatively support any conclusions).

What is interesting is that in each account the information represented is actually true.  But, because there may have been a desired outcome, the methods designed around those made for a self fulfilling prophecy.  In the end you only get a snapshot of the full picture.

A course in media literacy can help in identifying propaganda, rumors, and bias.  By training yourself to ask questions about what you hear, read and watch you will develop critical analyzation skills that will help you to form better conclusions.

What do you think?  Have you ever felt that something that you’ve read or heard was not the entire picture?  Let me know.

Some of the examples listed showed how others may try to take advantage of your account on Twitter. Complimenting yesterday’s post, I found a great article that talks about how an insider exploited Facebook to gather information on unsuspecting users – and I’ve seen those ads!

So, go ahead and take a look at that article it’s full of a lot of information…and…WYB!!!

As netizens connect and grow, so do more unsavory individuals look to take advantage of those communications.

Having a background in technology, I’ve seen many cases of users unknowingly causing computer problems which easily could of been prevented if they new more about the computer environment.

With this in mind, imagine what can happen to an individual who unknowing falls prey to a computer virus or a phishing attempt, that could of been prevented if the knowledge of the characteristics of such attacks could of been recognized.

Social Media Literacy (SML), permits us to identify such threats.

SML goes beyond the knowledge of  pushing your content through different social media channels; it involves the critique of received media.  If media literacy broadly applies to digital media,  then SML would be specific to social media platforms.

Tips

Here are some suggestions for Twitter:

- If you see many of your friends sharing the same strange new Twitter icon, or tweeting the same strange message, it’s probably a hoax, or they’ve already fell victim to one.

- Be weary of tweets that contain news or calls to action, without having links.  This may be a prank/hoax, and the joke may be on you.

Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!

- If tweet contains all CAPS or multiple symbols, take heed!

- “Think before you click.”  Is this too good to be true?  Do you know the user?

- Mouseover the link and make sure you can verify the link (enable status bar in most web browsers).  If you can’t see it, or the link looks like bad news (IP number, instead of URL), the WYB!

- Does the persons tweets have a lot of links in many of them?  They have an incessant need to get you somewhere.

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve used the ‘block’ feature on Twitter.  This is because, I spend so much time on the internet that I’ve developed a heightened awareness of what looks right and what looks suspect, so I don’t spend too much time blocking people from my feed…I just unfriend them.

If someone is trying to take advantage of others, and you want to take the extra step then, submit their name to Twitter Help for investigation.

Has anyone experienced, or have more suggestions for Twitter or any other site?