Twitter Looks to Put a Cork in Illiteracy

Twitter has been largely responsible for the unwillingness of many people to read anything longer than 140 characters. That's why I'm not that surprised that the microblogging site is partnering with Room to Read, a non-profit from San Francisco-based that promotes literacy around the world.

But what does surprise me is Twitter's approach. They are selling bottles of wine for $20, with sales benefiting Room to Read. The wine is a Pinot Noir called Fledgling, and is set to be bottled at the end of the month.

Is it a good cause? Definitely.

Do I like wine? Sure, I've made that clear before.

But is selling wine a good fit brand-wise for a social networking giant that has nothing to do wine? That's where they lose me.

While I'm by no means denouncing anything that raises money for a worthy cause, this promotion raises some eyebrows if you look at it from a public relations brand management standpoint. And although I do like the name of the wine, a clever name does not a great campaign make.

However, I'm sure Twitter will be able to utilize it's success and size to put a cork in world illiteracy.

How Much Privacy Can We Expect Online?

Earlier this week, a security researcher/blogger created a program that hacked 170 million Facebook profiles and organized them into a downloadable file. Ron Bowes, the blogger who hacked the data, claimed the readily-available information is "a scary privacy issue," because if certain privacy settings are not enabled, anyone can access someone's photos, friends and other profile information using their name and profile URL.

But was the information really "hacked," when it's already available in other online search engines? The profile names and URL's were taken from the site's public directory, which users can opt out of by adjusting their privacy settings.

All the discussion that surrounds Facebook and privacy seems counterproductive, especially in this case. Social networking is intended to facilitate sharing of information, and those who don't want their profiles accessible via search engine can adjust their privacy settings accordingly.

However, some would argue, being found by friends on the site is, well, the point of subscribing. To those people, I would say, that we almost always trade privacy for convenience. Take online bill pay for example. In exchange for the convenience of not having to write a check every month, we give up some privacy by allowing companies access to our banking information. Facebook is no different: in exchange for the convenience of connecting with friends online, we trade the privacy of having our names/photos publicly searchable.

Not that I don't also understand the perspective of Facebook users who don't want grandma or potential employers to access photos of them pounding tequila shots. But should those photos be posted online anyway, regardless of your privacy settings? Content posted on social networking sites will essentially live on the internet for years to come, and users should stop tinkering with their privacy settings and ask themselves if they want their content to exist in the sphere of public information that is the internet.

Those who gripe about privacy on Facebook, should stop complaining and unsubscribe.

Location-Based Fan Interaction

NFL training camps are now underway, which means that football season is tantalizingly close. And for Minnesota Vikings fans who want to watch their favorite players prepare to start the season, that means making the trek down to Mankato, MN where the Vikings have held training camp for decades.

And to help capitalize on this annual flood of purple and gold, the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau has created a SCVNGR promotion called Jared's Journey (after Vikings star player Jared Allen). Jared's Journey will challenge fans to explore the community, completing challenges and earning prizes along the way.

This is a win-win for everybody. The Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau gets people into parts of Mankato that might otherwise be missed by football fans while building buzz for the upcoming football season, which is great for the Vikings.

And although the Vikings aren't the first NFL team to use SCVNGR to help connect with fans, they are one of the early adopters of this location-based fan interaction. Regardless of the success of the promotion, it will give the team valuable experience for future social media promotions.

Even more importantly, this gives a football geek like me a chance to talk about my favorite team.

Axiom Wines and Dines at the Arboretum

Many of us from Team Axiom spent yesterday evening at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for their Toast and Taste in the Gardens event.

The Toast and Taste in the Gardens is a fundraising event for the Arboretum where people can sample food and drink from Minnesota restaurants, wineries and breweries.

The good:

• The Savgn Blanc and Sweet Red wines from the Cannon River Winery were fantastic.
• Schell's Brewery had a 150th anniversary dark beer that was great, and I'm usually not a fan of dark beer.
• When it came to food, the bruschetta-wrapped scallops from Crave were my personal favorite, and the food from LocoVores BBQ was a big hit with us as well.
• The biggest surprise for me was the zucchini bread cupcakes with goat cheese frosting topped with an edible snapdragon flower garnish. I don't really eat zucchini-based baked goods, flowers, or anything with goat cheese, but it was actually really good.
  

The not-so-good:

• There was a basketball-sized wasps' nest near one of the walking trails. And even though the wasps seemed well-behaved, I hate wasps and did my best not to scream like a girl when I saw them.

Wasps' nests aside, it was a fun night of wine, great food and lots of beautiful flowers and trees to walk around and look at. Add in the fact that the weather was gorgeous, and it's hard to imagine the evening going any better. Be sure to check out our Facebook page to see all of our photos from the event.

Questioning Facebook Questions

There's been quite a bit of buzz building around Facebook's launch of Facebook Questions. Currently in beta testing, the feature will allow users to post questions that can then be answered by the Facebook community.

The format sounds like it'll be very similar to Yahoo Answers or the question section on LinkedIn, but with one major exception: a few hundred million more users.

I have some reservations about how Facebook Questions will be received, because there is a strong possibility this feature will either become a platform for harassment (like we see in the comments sections of website across the Internet) or a sea of promotions and advertisements from companies.

The reason why I think the second one is likely is because most of this buzz around Facebook Questions has been from corporate and business blogs discussing its promotional potential.

Obviously, we have to wait for Facebook to open Facebook Questions to all 500 million users before we can accurately gauge its impact. And until that happens, the future of Facebook Questions will be a question in itself.