06/17/12 by Marina Romero | Blog, Social Media Management | Comments Off on LinkedIn Security Breach: Millions of Passwords Compromised and What You Should Do About It
On June 6, 2012, LinkedIn announced publicly that may have suffered from a security breach that compromised the passwords of many of its members. On June 9th, they confirmed that the security breach definitely occurred and may have effected up to 6.5 million users. They say they are working with the FBI to track down the criminals involved.
Information You Should Know About This Breach
- LinkedIn says that they have disabled the passwords of members they believe to have been at risk.
- LinkedIn does not believe that the actual accounts have been breached because of the stolen passwords.
- According to Rapid7.com, many of the passwords that were cracked were simple words like “link”, “god”, “work” and number patterns like 1234.
If Your Password Has Been Disabled
As mentioned, LinkedIn has disabled the passwords on the accounts they believe have been breached. You should have received an email notification on how to reset your password.
NOTE: There are no links in this official email to help protect you from phishing attempts…you should never follow links in an email to reset your password if you didn’t specifically request it. Instead, if you got the email from LinkedIn. You should open your browser, go directly to LinkedIn.com and then follow the instructions on resetting your password.
If Your Password Has Not Been Disabled
Even if your password has not been disabled by LinkedIn, it’s still a good idea to change your password. Here is how to change your LinkedIn password:
Go to https://www.linkedin.com/uas/request-password-reset?trk=pwbanner – to reset your password.
You will then get a notice that tells you to check your email for a password reset link.
You CAN click on the link in this email because you specifically requested it. It will include your full name that you used for LinkedIn account. The email will look something like this:
Once you’ve clicked the link in the email, you’ll be taken to a page that asks you to enter and confirm a new password.
Click “Reset Password” when you’re finished and the process will be complete. You will see the message below on the screen. You will also receive an email confirmation of the reset.
Tips for Secure Passwords
- Use different characters and not just letters.
- Capitalize a letter or two in your password.
- Avoid keyword patterns like 1234 and qwerty.
- Avoid using a simple word or phrase that is easy to guess and never use a single word.
- Always create a new password for each log in you create.
06/16/12 by Marina Romero | Blog, Social Media Management | Comments Off on Sudden Twitter and Pinterest Email Digests: How to Opt Out
You may have noticed that in the past few weeks, you started receiving digest-type emails from Twitter and Pinterest. While these emails may contain some information that is useful to you, they may have come as a surprise. This guide shows you how to to opt out of these emails if you wish to.
Twitter
On May 14, 2012, Twitter announced that they would be sending out weekly email digests that claim to share “the most relevant Tweets and stories shared by the people you’re connected to on Twitter.”
The digest also includes what they call, “also features the most engaging Tweets seen by the people you follow, even if you don’t follow those who wrote them.” You can click through on these and see the details of who retweeted or favorited those tweets.
If you want to opt out of these emails, simply go to your notification settings. At the bottom of this page, you’ll see the settings for “Updates.” The weekly digest is the bottom option. Uncheck that box if you don’t want to receive them.
Don’t forget to click “Save Changes” when you’re done.
Pinterest
Late in May 2012, Pinterest began sending out weekly emails that include:
- Your Weekly Stats: How many people started following you and who they are.
- Popular Boards: These appear to be boards that are popular amongst Pinterest in general and seemingly related to the interests you’ve indicated
- Pins You’ll Love: These appear to be popular pins from people that you follow.
If you don’t want to receive these emails, you can find a link at the bottom of the email to change your preferences. Or go to “Settings”:
Choose “Change Email Settings”:
There, you can turn the digest email settings to “Off”:
Don’t forget to click “Save Settings” when you’re done.
06/15/12 by Marina Romero | Blog, Social Media Management | Comments Off on Pinterest Announces Better Image Attribution: Flickr, Behance, Vimeo and YouTube
One of the more perplexing problems for the social network, Pinterest, is attributing images to their source. To help in this regard, Pinterest has announced improved and automated attribution for Flickr. They also noted on their blog, that they are rolling out similar features with Behance, Vimeo and YouTube.
How Flickr Attribution Works
If you go to Flickr and do a search for “cute kittens” for example, and then you use your Pin It bookmarklet to choose an image to pin, a few things happen.
First, Pinterest will show you which images cannot be pinned because their creators have chosen not to allow sharing on Pinterest (we’ve blurred the image that can’t be pinned).
When you choose an image that can be pinned, Pinterest will automatically include a pin link that shows the image as coming from the link you found it at.
In this case, because attempted to pin from a search results page, the pin is linked to the search page at
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=cute+kittens&f=hp#
Instead of it’s actual page at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24415376@N06/2313403012
A description of the pin is also automatically added that includes the photo’s description, the creator’s Flickr username and it’s source (Flickr). This information can be edited or deleted, allowing you to crete your own description.
However, this is simply the pin’s link and description. The actual attribution statement appears below your pin and you cannot edit the attribution statement at all. In this case, you can see the attribution statement beside the red arrow:
The “Cute Kitten in Pocket” links to the photo’s actual location:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24415376@N06/2313403012/
The username “PicturesOfCats” links directly to the user’s profile at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24415376@N06/
And Flickr, links to well…Flicker.com.
All in all, this creates a more sure way for image creators to receive proper attribution for their work. There is no indication on when other attribution integrations will be released, but Pinterest has announced that they’re coming.
06/14/12 by Marina Romero | Blog, Social Media Management | Comments Off on Social Media Events Calendar – 12 Events for Summer 2012
If you’re looking for some fun and informative social media events to attend, we’ve got you covered. Here are a few you might consider over the next couple of months.
June 11-13: Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco, California
Described as: “The must-attend conference for digital, social and mobile marketing is returning to San Francisco on June 12-13 to the Fort Mason Center.”
Cost: $299 for 2 days
Speakers: Kare Anderson, Chris Brogan, Kevin Akeroyd, Rick Bakas, Eric Boggs and more.
Website: http://www.inboundmarketingsummit.com/event/san-francisco/
June 13-14: Corporate Social Media Summit in New York, New York
Described as: “This is the premier meeting place for the latest best practice into social media strategy. Now in its 3rd year, it provides the ultimate learning and industry networking experience for the ever-changing marketing community.”
Cost: $1800 – $2895
Speakers: Representatives from large companies including Whole Foods, Citi, The Gap, Comcast, McDonalds, Adobe, Lego, New Jersey Devils and more.
Website: http://usefulsocialmedia.com/newyork
June 19-20: Corporate Social Media Summit in San Francisco, California
Described As: “The Corporate Social Media Summit is back for its second year, offering you 'the' conference designed for the corporate. We promise to help you advance your engagement strategies, exceed ROI expectation, and discover where social media going in 2012 and beyond… with exclusive case studies from 'front line' Social Media practitioners, including: eBay, 24 Hour Fitness, Walgreens and many more.”
Cost: $1800 – $2895
Speakers: Representatives from eBay, Walgreens, Whole Foods, EventBrite, Telus, General Mills and more.
Website: http://usefulsocialmedia.com/sanfrancisco
June 19-20: Emerging Media Conference in Seattle, Washington
Described As: “This unique social media conference is full of social, mobile, and gaming inspired topics from thought leaders that are intellectually influential in emerging technologies. Bringing hundreds of the most prominent decision-makers in the social, mobile, and gaming industry together to network, discover upcoming products and services, and share ideas about the future of emerging media.”
Cost: $398 – $718
Speakers: Speaker list is not published, but websites notes that some of the companies that have registered for the conference include The Home Depot, Expedia, CNN, Bing, American Express and T Mobile.
Website: http://wappow.com/emerging-media/seattle/
June 25-26: Social Media B2C Marketing Summit Europe in London, England
Described As: “Take your social media initiatives to the next level and boost performance. Add value to your brand, increase your online leads and most importantly increase ROI.”
Cost: £1295 – £2095 + VAT
Speakers: Representatives from Heineken, Unilever, Expedia, Tom Tom, Nissan, Honda, Nokia and more.
Website: http://usefulsocialmedia.com/b2c
June 28-29: All Facebook Marketing Conference
Described As: “AllFacebook Marketing Conference 2012 provides proven solutions for building brands and engaging prospective customers. Learn how to grow your follower base and deliver real revenue-generating results.”
Cost: $25 – $599
Speakers: David M. Adler, Duncan Alney, Brian Bond, Lisa Buyer, Bill Common, Robert Scoble, Peter Vogel and more.
Website: http://www.mediabistro.com/allfacebookmarketingconference
June 29: Mashable’s “Social Media Day”
(Meet Ups in 414 Cities, at time of this writing)
Described As: “We launched the event in 2010 as a way to recognize the digital revolution happening right before our eyes. We invite you to join fellow social media enthusiasts by hosting or attending a Social Media Day Meetup in your area.”
Cost: Free
Speakers: N/A
Website: http://mashable.com/smday/
July 1: Social Media Value in London, England
Described As: “For one day only, Brand Republic are bringing together those that are leading in the social space to delve into the biggest challenges facing the industry today; from demonstrating a ROI to exploring how the channels are evolving.”
Cost: £549 + VAT
Speakers: Anirban Saha, Price B. Floyd, Anna Hill, Laura Pierce, William Woodhams and more.
Website: http://www.socialmediastrategyevent.com/
July 26: Social Mix in Toronto, Canada
Described As: “Learn how to harness the power of social media marketing for your business. What it means to engage, share and build relationships. And why 'one on one' relationship building with consumers is crucial to your success.”
Cost: Early Bird to June 18 is $150. After that, it’s $299.
Speakers: Gary Vaynerchuk, Amber Mac, Geoff Livingston, Danny Brown and Gini Dietrich
Website: http://socialmix2012.com/
August 2-4: BlogHer in New York, New York
Described As: “BlogHer's 8th Annual Conference is headed back to New York City in 2012. Thousands of bloggers will come together to connect, learn and inspire.”
Cost: $79 – $598
Speakers: A huge list including Adria Richards, Alex Asher Sears, Andrew Wilder, Carol Cain, Cecily Kellogg, Jennifer Armstrong, Laura Galloway, Lynette Young, Melanie Edwards and more.
Website: http://www.blogher.com/blogher-12
August 21 – 22: Social Media Strategies Summit
Described As: “Whether your organization is just starting out or in the forefront of social media, Social Media Strategies Conference will take your social strategy to the next level. Through hands-on workshops, case studies and keynotes, our Denver conference will provide attendees with emerging strategies, tactics and the top do’s and don’ts of social media marketing.”
Cost: $395 – $1690 (non-profits get in for less)
Speakers: Representatives from Boston Market, NCAA, Sports Authority, Warner Home Video and other companies providing social media expertise.
Website: http://socialmediastrategiessummit.com/denver-2012.html
Sept 4-6: Content Marketing World in Columbus, Ohio
Described As: “Content Marketing World is the largest gathering of content marketing professionals in the world. Our 2011 event brought together over 600 marketing professionals from 18 different countries.”
Cost: $1295 – $1690
Speakers: Sam Sebastian (Google), Mitch Joel and Jack Hanna. Representatives from Kraft, Sears Intel and more. Other featured speakers include Brian Clark, Lee Odden and Michael Stelzner.
Website: http://www.contentmarketingworld.com/
