The Social Media Problem
Social media and smart technology really started to take flight at the turn of the century. In the short time since, it has become so easy for an individual to post virtually anything on the world-wide-web and leave their mark on society, be it for positive or negative reasons.
What society failed to realize was that in the search for its '15 minutes of fame', individual privacy was disregarded and the long-term effects of advertising one's life were not taken into consideration.
The Millennial Generation was the most affected by this as for many of them, they entered high school already ingrained with social-media and by the time they graduated from college, they left an eight-year trail of content for any employer to search and make an assessment of their character. For those young individuals that do not have the proper guidance or direction in managing what they post online, it is all too common to see that very same content come back and potentially hurt them with regard to applications for college, scholarships, internships and full-time jobs.
STATE OF MIND recently had the privilege to speak with Ryan Ozonian, the Co-Founder (along with Mark Cuban) & CEO of Cyber Dust, on the topic of ‘Millennials and The Social Media Problem’. (Ryan was recently honored as one of Forbes ‘30 under 30’ in the Sector of Consumer Tech.)
A high profile example is that of recently drafted L.A. Laker, Larry Nance Jr., who tweeted disparaging remarks of teammate Kobe Bryant regarding his 2003 sexual assault case. Although those remarks were written when he was early in his time at the University of Wyoming, yet they came to light once he was drafted into the NBA.
SOM: What are your thoughts on this incident and how does this relate to the average college student?
Ryan Ozonian (RO): The incident shows how anything written on permanent social media can be taken out of context and come back to bite you. Every time you press ‘send’ on a social media post or a text message you lose ownership of that post or message but you retain responsibility for it. Permanent storage of the content you send impacts everyone from college students to senior citizens. Everything you say digitally can be discovered, we created Cyber Dust to solve that problem.
SOM: Why is social media so often taken out of context w/o benefit of the doubt given to the sender?
RO: Because people want to create headlines and stories. Ratings are built on drama. So if someone can twist something you wrote to make it more dramatic they will. If someone is trying to gain something from you, they’ll take whatever you said out of context for their own advantage. You have no idea who is going to believe what at that point. That’s a shitty situation to be in. You might as well not put yourself there in the first place.
But situations like the one above effect can everyone. For example, many of today's Millennials, will one day consider a career in politics. With the recent Republican & Democratic National Debates, imagine if every candidate and journalist started bringing up content that these Millennial politicians released into the cyber-verse when they were high-schoolers or in college? It would be reality TV at its worst with campaigns being smeared and potentially destroyed before they even take off. This would extend to individuals looking to be elevated to senior management or C-level positions who have extensive background checks conducted. An errant tweet or Facebook post made in someone's twenties could be held against them and be the difference between selected or rejected over another candidate. Finally, imagine a show like Shark Tank where an inventor invests his blood, sweat and tears putting his heart, soul, time, money and resources into a product he believes in. Upon looking for funding, potential investors do a background check and decide to pass on his invention because they have already made a character assessment of him.
SOM: As a society, have we given away our privacy and if so, is it possible to reclaim it?
RO: The amount of data and content tracking is growing. You don’t have any idea who is doing what with all that info you enter into your computer or device. We are definitely giving up a lot of our privacy without realizing it. In order to reclaim it you must first understand that it’s a problem and then step-by-step consciously use technologies like Cyber Dust that help you stay in control of your privacy.
SOM: For the future leaders of the world, be it in Politics, Business or even Religion, what concerns do we as a society have to address with regard to having access to information on virtually anyone? Are we now entering a whole new world of brand management/image experts?
RO: As individuals we have to do as much as we can to protect ourselves. We have to be conscious of what’s being tracked and who is tracking us. That’s the first step.
SOM: Are we now entering an age where the ability to make mistakes and learn from them is becoming virtually impossible for young adults?
RO: No, everyone makes mistakes and learns from them. What we can all do is be smart about where to minimize the risk of a mistake coming back to bite you…especially in the digital world. Cyber Dust helps you minimize that risk.
SOM: Looking at your own personal and professional trajectories post-college, did you face any issues with respect to how you managed your online activities, specifically on social media? If so, how did you manage it?
RO: I didn’t face any specific issues but I’ve seen friends in situations where they may or may not have gotten a job based on what was on their social profiles. Every company these days will Google, Facebook, Twitter search, etc. you. What lives there forever becomes your first impression. What you said three years ago may not be who you are today. So again, it’s about minimizing your digital footprint.
SOM: What is the future of social media for Millennials? Talk to me about the role of a ‘Data Scientist?’
RO: Millennials don’t want to be tracked constantly but they still want to share their lives with their friends and family. They also want things to be convenient and quick. We will see a lot of rising technologies that cater to those points. Cyber Dust is one of them. In the very near future, analytics will be integrated into social media platforms to the extent that computer algorithms know more about you than your actual connections. With all the data Facebook/Snapchat/Twitter/etc. collects, you are now seeing products follow you around on social websites, differentiating from the core value prop of the social network – connecting with friends. As a result, data scientists are being sought after at a higher demand daily. The role of a data scientist is being able to perform cohort analysis to really find the valuable data on what people’s interests/dislikes are. A data scientist will analyze an individual's content and how they are communicating with other individuals. We don't track people's content or who they are talking to. We want people to know they are safe while using Cyber Dust that’s why our user base continues to grow.
SOM: What advice would you give to current high school & college students and recent graduates in regards to managing their online activities and protecting their identity, brand, reputation and privacy?
RO: Understand that everything you share and text is a representation of you. If you don’t want all that information you share daily to constantly be a direct reflection of who you are then be smart about which platforms and applications you use. You never know what a potential employer will think about what you wrote that’s publicly saved and displayed somewhere. You could be the hardest worker on the planet but if you post a photo of yourself with your friends partying, a potential employer may think all you do is party. Do you really want that to have an impact on your career?
SOM: ?How does Cyber Dust address the issues addressed above?
RO: Cyber Dust is the ultimate platform to stay in control of your privacy. You can message freely without worrying about your messages coming back to bite you. It breeds honest and untraceable communication just like a face to face conversation. You can also share content to many at once without worrying that it will live forever. There are no backend servers collecting data on you, advertisers can’t find out the last thing you’ve looked at, etc.
Cyber Dust also has an advantage in that it can be used to expand user engagement. You can exchange messages with Cyber Dust users. You can ask for responses. What makes Cyber Dust very unique is that the messages you receive or send are truly ephemeral. Once they disappear they are gone for good. Not even the NSA can retrieve them. The importance of this feature is that privacy leads to honesty and greater engagement. People will open up. They are more willing to connect to friends, brands, and others. That creates a stronger connections.
Cyber Dust users use the platform as a way to connect with others in an honest environment. Cyber Dust users use the platform as a way to be reminded of the amazing content happening everyday that they didn’t have time to see on a friend’s Facebook or Twitter timeline.
There is no other platform where you can blast out stories, links and/or messages to millions of users and respond to them individually. There is no 140 character limit. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, you reach 100 percent of your followers. Unlike Snapchat and Instagram, you can add links to messages sent to all your followers. There is no limit on the number of people you can reach. You can customize text, pictures and videos with live links.
SOM: What was the impetus for? Cyber Dust in a market already saturated with social media platforms?
RO: There is no other social platform that doesn’t permanently store your content and data. On Cyber Dust you can be completely private without worry. Here are the problems with Twitter and Snapchat for Millennials and Brands:
Twitter: Cyber Dust is like Twitter with users following their chosen content sources. The problem with Twitter are several. First they use a timeline approach. Which means when you miss a tweet, you have missed it. Which leads to the very annoying practice of having to post tweets multiple times.
Twitter also fails because of its troll problem. Everyone has to be scared of the wrong troll or being the wrong troll. Anything you post can be traced back to you. And used out of context at any time. This is the most nerve racking thing that Millennials should be aware.
SnapChat: Snapchat benefits from the fact that like Cyber Dust, the messages are inline and from a source. In other words, they are there in the app until you open it. Or in our case, you must open the message within 24 hours. Which in Cyber Dust leads to your followers seeing every message
With both Cyber Dust and Snapchat we both can send pictures or videos to all followers.
Where Snapchat fails miserably is that you have no ability to send text based content simultaneously to all your followers. Even worse, you can’t send a link to any external content. Cyber Dust does not have those limitations.
For those interested in learning more about Cyber Dust and/or the topic of responsible social media, you can reach out to Ryan on Cyber Dust at +ryanozo or myself (Krishna C. Nadella) at +kcnadella.
We've also established a new YouTube Channel, STATE OF MIND on Cyber Dust which talks to the trials and tribulations that one goes through from an entrepreneurial standpoint. As always, please like, share and subscribe!
Krishna C. Nadella
(Cyber Dust: +kcnadella)
Host, STATE OF MIND with Krishna C. Nadella
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