Virtual Vantage Points » Social Media Best Practices

The FDA Encourages Pharmaceutical Companies to Keep Off-Label Discussions Off-line

Virtual Vantage Points — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:12:53 +0000

The FDA offers guidance for drug companies on responding to unsolicited requests for information on off-label product use.

The FDA provided marketers and communicators in the pharmaceutical industry a holiday gift last week by releasing guidelines on how to respond to unsolicited requests for off-label product information. The FDA issued guidelines for both “private” and “public” requests, drawing a distinction between “private” and “public” for the first time.… Read more »

C U @ da riot 2nite or Icanhazlooterpics?

Virtual Vantage Points — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:17:18 +0000

“To Alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” – Homer Simpson

If Homer Simpson were in London this week, he might be using that refrain for social media instead of alcohol. As riots broke out across the UK, beginning in Tottenham following the protest around the shooting of Mark Duggan by the Met police, the use of social media has been at the forefront of dissecting the organising potential of different communities.

As the riots broke, rumours were rampant that the skirmishes had been organised through social media, particularly on Twitter and Facebook. As the days progressed, Blackberry Messenger was pegged as the main organising force for rioters, while Twitter was identified as inciting the violence with shared images and details that may have caused others to take to the streets. Regardless of the tools used, there is little doubt that social sharing through technology allowed those taking part in the riots to coordinate and communicate with one another.… Read more »

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them: The Future of Media Convergence

David Wescott — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:09:32 +0000

We often joke that if we want to understand the latest new techno-gadget, we just ask our kids. Turns out we might want to ask our kids about the next new techno-gadget and quite a bit more. If we listen to the youngest among us we will hopefully understand that “media convergence” isn’t simply when TV stations use Twitter or how Craigslist has replaced old-school classified ads. True convergence will take place when the virtual merges with the physical in almost everything we do. And it will be here sooner than you think.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Kim Gaskins, Director of Content Development at Latitude, an international research consultancy based in Massachusetts. We discussed a new study she helped write called Children’s Future Requests for Computers and the Internet. From the release:… Read more »

Protect Your Social Investment from Hackers

Evan Kraus — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:06:35 +0000

On July 4, 2011, a group of hackers by the name of Scriptkiddies gained access to Fox News’ @FoxNewsPolitics Twitter feed, tweeting several notices that U.S. President Barack Obama had been assassinated in Iowa. In one day, we saw how a simple prank can turn into a national security threat involving the Secret Service.
… Read more »

The (First) Social EQ Webinar

Evan Kraus — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:50:50 +0000

On December 8, Eric Hippeau, the CEO of the Huffington Post, and I co-hosted a webinar-based panel discussion about Social EQ with about 50 top executives of companies across the United States. We had a great set of panelists:

Brian Mayer, vice president of website and social media at the Apollo Group, the holding company for the University of Phoenix (the largest university in the United States)
David Godsman, vice president of... Read more »

Please Explain Apple and Google to Me

Evan Kraus — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:21:12 +0000

I’ve had the great joy over the last month of meeting with a lot of digital marketing, social media and corporate communication professionals across a wide spectrum of companies about Social EQ. We have not only received great questions and strong validation of the need for a higher-level method of assessing effectiveness, but also great feedback for the next time we head back into the field.… Read more »