Tag Archives: Internet culture

Would you ask your Facebook friends to track down a stolen car?

I commented in the The Townsville Bulletin about a Townsville woman turning to Facebook in an attempt to track down her stolen four-wheel drive.

Flag image source: freeaussiestock.com

Excerpt: University of Queensland social media expert and strategic communications lecturer, Dr Sean Rintel, said social media posts travelled further in tight-knit communities.

“If you have a couple of hundred friends, then the reach from your friends and their friends is about 60,000,” he said.

“If your post is then posted by several of your friends, it just keeps rippling.”

Dr Rintel said personal stories and pleas for help were more likely to go viral than messages from authority figures and that more people were likely to give social networking a go to track down their own stolen vehicles.

Read more at:

Higgins, K. (2012, June 12). Theft victim turns to Facebook. Townsville Bulletin (Online).

Related posts:

Rintel, S. (2012, May 31). Mindshare is still Facebook’s biggest asset. The Conversation (Online).

Tin, J. (2012, March 17). In love with the F word. The Courier Mail (Online).

Australians are most comfortable Liking Facebook

I commented in the The Courier Mail about the continued dominance of Facebook versus Twitter for most Australian users.

Flag image source: freeaussiestock.com

Excerpt: Dr Rintel said Twitter often saw large spikes in new users during emergencies and disasters, with usage rapidly dropping once the event is over.

“People don’t need to do much more than ‘liking’ things … they’re more than comfortable clicking that button,” he said.

Read more at:

The Courier Mail | The Sunday Mail

Tin, J. (2012, March 17). In love with the F word. The Courier Mail (Online).

Related posts @  Are Facebook and Google+ limiting your opinions? @ TheConversation

Rintel, S. (2011, July 18). Are Facebook and Google+ limiting your opinions? The Conversation.

Rintel, S. (2011, November 3). Unthink rethinks online identity – and fronts up to Facebook and Google+. The Conversation.

Do privacy settings work in the age of online reputation management?

TheConversation published my article about online reputation management.


Never the twain shall meet. Dave Makes

Never the twain shall meet. Dave Makes

A UK employment tribunal recently ruled that posting derogatory comments on Facebook merited a gross misconduct dismissal for one Apple Store employee. [... the  ruling] establishes some worrying issues for users, social network sites, and the public relations practice of reputation management.

Read the full article @

Do privacy settings work in the age of online reputation management?

Rintel, S. (2011, November 4). Do privacy settings work in the age of online reputation management? The Conversation (Online).

Read the syndicated version @

Social media's faux privacy protection @ Technology Spectator

Unthink rethinks online identity – and fronts up to Facebook and Google+

TheConversation published my article on the new social network site Unthink.

On October 25, Unthink invited public beta users to put aside their YASNS (Yet Another Social Network Site) fatigue. [...] But Google+ is experiencing roller-coaster metrics and Facebook’s metrics are levelling out or even falling. So what does the Orwellian-sounding Unthink have to offer that’s different?

Read the full article @

Unthink rethinks online identity

Rintel, S. (2011, November 3). Unthink rethinks online identity – and fronts up to Facebook and Google+. The Conversation (Online).

Read the syndicated version @

Fostering a Facebook Killer @ Technology Spectator

The piece was also commented on in another Technology Spectator post:

Adhikari, S. (2011, November 3). Social media superheroes. Technology Spectator (Online).