Secura Insurance Companies is recruiting for a Social Media Claims Investigation Intern, whose basic responsibilities include:

• Utilize various social sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace to gather information for potential claims cases.
• Utilize other online avenues and Websites to obtain information on potential claimants.
• Monitor any online activity pertaining to specific individuals.
• Report suspicious online activity or information to claim representatives.

This helps illustrate two trends in social media: the use by third parties of social media to gather information about people, and the recruitment of the most junior possible personnel to perform social media responsibilities. (I won’t comment on the latter except to note that it seems asking a student to monitor people online ten hours a week for nothing — the Secura position is an internship — has the potential to lead to some interesting consequences.)

We’ve all read stories of people who learned that their employer, a credit reporting agency, a landlord or someone else had collected information about them using social media sources. Anyone who is surprised that this goes on has not been paying attention and only has himself or herself to blame if it happens to them. To repeat my favorite Marshall McLuhan quote on this topic: “Publication is self invasion of privacy.” In other words, if you don’t want the world to know about it, don’t post it on your Facebook page.

There have been many reports of law enforcement using social media as an investigative tool. In March of this year it was reported that the FBI was creating Facebook identities and then sending friend requests to people under investigation to gain access to their personal data and goings-on.

So far, rulings on whether these practices violate privacy have been mixed, but no doubt, these activities will continue. It is also inevitable that much of this will come to be accepted as legitimate use of social media. We live so much of our lives online that it would be difficult to expect the global village to be “off limits” for corporate and law enforcement use.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) are good sources of information on these topics and companies that wish to use social media in this way would be well advised to review the law and consumer reaction to these practices.

Tags: Secura Insurance, Social Media Claims Investigation

I read something that made me wonder about the state of social media in what might be called “the industries,” large business that don’t typically sell directly to consumers. Social media has definitely arrived in the media and entertainment industries. And its low cost of adoption and reliance on people power made it a natural for non-profits and others involved in cause-based marketing. Nearly every consumer segment is on board, with companies in air travel, the automotive industry, fashion and apparel, financial services and every other category having adopted social media in a big way.

But what about mining, metals, petrochemical, forestry, agriculture, ranching and farming? Are companies in these industries utilizing social media? How do they see their audiences?

Cattle Network (which bills itself as The Source for Cattle News) asks:

Farmers and Social Media?
Social media is emerging rapidly as the primary way consumers share their opinion with the world around them. While consumers are interacting with their real-world friends they’re also soliciting opinions from companies and brands. Social media users aren’t held to any ethical standards, which is why it’s crucial for America’s farmers and ranchers to have a strong, truthful and trusted online voice.

Cattle Network suggests “social media users aren’t held to any ethical standards,” so it’s up to ranchers to be the trusted voice of their industry. It’s an interesting idea and seems to me a novel way to view social media. Most wide-eyed social media idealists would have us believe that the voice of the consumer is the ultimate voice of truth, but the cattle industry, in this instance at least, believes that many of them are full of b******* in a very literal sense, and it is up to the industry to counter these unethical voices.

Do you know examples of large companies in non-consumer industries making use of social media?