Last month I had an article (‘It’s about who knows you’) published in InTheBlack, CPA Australia’s monthly magazine. I was very happy with that for two reasons – firstly it was a paid commission article, which is always nice, and secondly they kept my title. In all my experience of writing articles and publications, that has almost never happened.
The June 2008 article is about the issues around social networking and what can happen when people aren’t careful with such websites. Since InTheBlack paid me for it, I’ll wait a little before I post the whole article – although my favourite pull-quote that was used was:
“Some people do not like candid photographs of themselves pole-dancing or imitating a fascist dictator being made available online”
The first one is a veiled reference to a certain swimmer, and the other is a reference to… well, a company that I contacted at least four months ago and said that perhaps they might be embarrassed about that photo. Apparently, so far, they’re not. Which I happen to think is silly – particularly given the sensitivities of some of their clients – but perhaps I’m overreacting. Still, I’d personally rather keep my renditions of Deutschlandlied and impersonations of Joseph Goebells at cocktail parties quite private thank you very much.
At any rate, the second article has now been published (‘Virtual water cooler’) and I have to say that by the time the InTheBlack graphic guys have finished with it, they always come up looking like roses. I like the introduction they added at the top of the article:
“Ignore social networking sites at your peril. Keeping an ear out for quiet murmurs of your customers online is a better strategy than waiting for them to yell“
So this month’s issue is out – I’ll post the full article in about a month or so. Look for it in your mailbox:
