What do Barack Obama, Britney Spears, and Bill O’Reillyall have in common? All were among the 33 celebrities who had their Twitter accounts hacked yesterday.

This followed hot on the heels of the weekend’s Twitter phishing attempts, and a number of reports of people being DM’d affiliate links and marketing tools.

What can you do?

• Treat your Twitter account like your email, don’t give out your password to third party sites.
• Change your password regularly.
• If you receive a spammy DM from a friend, check if they really sent it. It could be that their account is compromised without their knowledge.
• Beware of phishing. Check the URL of the site. Be sensible!

We’ve seen the first hiring via Twitter, the first house sold on Twitter, and now an engagement:

Ah, the power of love!

Congratulations to both Sean and Tara – hope you’ll both have a wonderful life together.

Join the Lowcountry Twitter List

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Twitter. It’s currently both my favorite waste of time and my most productive outlet. For fun, making contacts, publicity, research and much more, Twitter is simply the best right now.

But…

While it’s easy to make contact with those in your field, or with similar interests, it can be kind of tricky to find those geographically close to you. You can try TwitterLocal, or search for mentions of you city, but it’s still a bit hit or miss.

So, inspired by the Official Nashville Twitter List, we decided to start the Official Lowcountry Twitter List. If you’re looking to make local contacts, we’re here. If you want to make yourself known, please send us your info via the form or contact @simonashton on Twitter . Feel free to copy or share the page, the more the merrier, and any suggestions or comments are more than welcome.

Hope to hear from you soon.

It is often pointed out that one of the major problems with social networking is the blurring of lines between the private and public.

Sure, it was funny when you passed out on the floor at the party, and even more so when your friend uploaded the photos to Facebook – but do you also want your boss seeing that? Or your mom?

A CareerBuilder.com survey published last week shows that 20% of employers are now researching social networks when considering job candidates:

“Top areas for concern among these hiring managers included:

• 41% – candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs
• 40% – candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information
• 29% – candidate had poor communication skills”

It’s very easy to forget in the ever-connected world that anyone can see what you’re doing – as Lyn found out recently – and it’s more important than ever to watch what is said or posted about you online.

However, even more worrying for me, is when people deliberately publish something which would be better left private.

That is why I was stunned by something I read about the Rocky Mountain News yesterday. A tragic accident in Colorado led to an illegal immigrant killing two women and a toddler. Naturally it was a high-profile incident that generated a lot of public interest, but how clueless did the editor have to be to think that live Twittering the funeral of a three year old would be a good idea!?

“RMN_Berny: family members shovel earth into grave
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:40 a.m.

RMN_Berny: rabbi calls end to ceremony
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:28 a.m.

RMN_Berny: rabbi chanting final prayer in hebrew
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:27 a.m.

RMN_Berny: earth being placed on coffin.
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:22 a.m.”

Naturally this has upset many people. Michael Roberts at Denver Westworld Blogs, called it “self-satirizing in the most morbid, inappropriate way possible.” The Guardian (UK) said it was “Going straight to the top of our Inappropriate Use of Technology chart”, while Samuel Freenman, professor of Journalism at Columbia University said, in something of an understatement,

“A memorial service for a murdered, for a slain child is not a fit subject for play-by-play updates”

So, why did they do it? Basically because they could. The same ease which allows you to tell the world how drunk you got last night without thinking of the consequences, allowed the reporters to overlook whether or not what they were doing was actually a good idea.

There is a lesson here for all of us: In an online world, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

(and if so, how?)

This is a question that Bud, Lyn and I discussed for our clients at Step Ahead. Being pretty evangelical about Twitter, we wanted to try and figure out how best to use it. Short answer? We don’t know.

Rodney Rumford has a great post ‘33 Brands that Suck on Twitter‘ – the basic premise being that most top brands, Budweiser, Disney, Marlboro, etc have either had their Twitter name hijacked, or they’ve claimed it and then failed to use it.

My initial thought was, what a waste! Here are a whole host of companies that are failing to interact with their customers. They’re missing the boat, stuck in the past, and many other cliches, but after giving it some thought, that might be too harsh.

There are a few companies that are doing Twitter well – Comcast and Dell both received press for using Twitter to respond to customer complaints for instance – but, not coincidentally, they are both in the tech field, where many Twitterers are. They can monitor for “Comcast sucks!” and try and help. But how exactly would that work for Marlboro?

Further, it isn’t specifially DELL that is writing, but Richard at Dell. He can engage in conversations without having to worry about misrepresenting the corporate overlords. Similar to the way Matt Cutts can blog about being a Google insider, and offer tips, news, etc, but all the while he makes it clear that the opinions are those of him as an individual not those of Google as a publically traded company.

So, how can companies use Twitter? Well, possibly as a replacement for RSS -linking to their latest blog post, or news release – which, while not groundbreaking, I actually find quite useful for keeping up to date on things. I don’t necessarily need to have a conversation with everyone! Beyond that, it’s time to use your imagination, think about who you want to attract and give them what they want.

I looked at a few top brands that *are* using Twitter to find out how they are approaching things.

• Quickbooks seem to be using it as a somewhat interactive training tool, with links to webinars, Q&As, videos and things.
• M&Ms have tried to use Twitter to create an identity of the Green M&M character, which I’m not sure works perfectly, but at least is an attempt at something different.
• Whole Foods is probably the best corporate use I’ve seen. They are actively engaging in conversations with their followers, joining in rather than just selling, and it seems to work for them – at the time of writing they have over 2600 followers!

So, we’re back to the begining. Should Brands Twitter? Maybe. I guess it depends on your brand and customers, but like with blogging, I think you’d be much better to not Tweet at all, than do it half-heartedly…I’m looking at you, MGM Grand!

I’ll be honest. Whenever I hear of a new ’2.0′ tool I tend to try it out so I can stay up to date, but I’m usually not overly impressed. A few stick for me, Facebook and Jott for instance. Many more don’t – Stumbleupon, Disqus, etc are very popular but they just didn’t grab me. I was highly sceptical of Twitter.

Microblogging? Why? What’s the point? Well, let me share a few things that I like about Twitter:

1. It’s so easy! It takes seconds to set up and you’re up and running. Yes, you can customize your profile page if you wish, but it’s not necessary. Got something on your mind? Just say it!
2. Follow the experts in your field. I read Matt Cutt’s blog but not daily as perhaps I should. On Twitter though, it’s much easier.
3. You don’t feel daunted by a long post which you know is going to suck up time that should be spent working. It’s 140 characters or less. For someone who claims “Brevity is the soul of wit“. Twitter would suit Polonius perfectly “@QueenGertrude I will be brief: your noble son is mad”. Done!
4. It’s not all work, work, work. I follow some people purely for entertainment: SlashFilm for movie news, and Guardian Football for soccer news – chances are, whatever your interest, you can find something on Twitter.
5. Ask the Audience. I’d guess around 10% of the Tweets I get are requests for help with something. And people are usually very happy to help.