Week three of the competition already… how time flies when you’re having fun (literally).

What can we say other than a huge well done once again to all of this weeks’ entrants the standard has definitely not disappointed and once again you’ve made our heads spin trying to narrow it down to 10shortlisters!

However, at Maildistiller we love a challenge, so without further ado let me reveal this week’s lucky 10 shortlisters!

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After a serious amount of deliberation we have finally managed to come up with this week’s shortlist but believe me it was no easy feat!! Congratulations to the top 10 below, your responses will automatically be entered into the final on Feb 18th for the iPad, against the others shortlisted every Friday up to that date! Well done all of you because competition was fierce this week!

Drum Roll Please… This week’s shortlisted entrants and their reasons!

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Is blocking access to social networks in the workplace really the answer, when a business’s ability to flourish is significantly enhanced by these very sites?

As I’ve noted before in social networking – friend or foe, research into time spent on online activities has found social networks hogging the top spot, and I don’t envisage this changing anytime soon.

So what does all this time on social networks mean for business? Well undoubtedly the social network platform has opened up a whole new arena for businesses and other organisations to advertise, market themselves and generate leads for zero costs. In fact in certain sectors such as hospitality and events… you just aren’t cool if you don’t have a Facebook page. For many of us when we’re checking out a new hairdressers, nightclub, hotel, company or retailer, checking out their Facebook page is the first port of call. Here you can find out what other people are saying, avail of the promos dedicated to Followers or find out any other information you may need with regard to directions, services, opening times. Many of the custom fan pages even allow for you to book appointments, contact customer service or reserve rooms automatically and many also have a direct PayPal link so you can purchase goods or services directly from the page! It’s actually possible for a company to manage their entire business on a custom Facebook page… scary.

So with regard to social media’s contribution to businesses… well in my opinion it’s pretty high!

However… stats from IT firm Morse which reveal that 57% employees were accessing sites such as Facebook and Twitter for an average of 40 minutes per week, meaning that non-business use of the social networks is costing the UK £1.38 billion every year ($2.28 billion US Dollars) cannot be argued with.
There are clearly numerous employees who take advantage of the free access to social media sites and faster broadband speeds at the office to keep their social lives up to date and avoid doing anything productive in a work-related context.

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Business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning are fundamental to the wellbeing of an organisation. Such plans are intended to ensure continuity in the face of unforeseen or difficult circumstances. In the IT world in particular, downtime and data losses are common given the global and uncontrollable nature of the web. Although this cannot really be over emphasized, so many organizations still side step the issue, or have plans which are out of date or just unworkable.

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President Obama has declared October, Cyber Security Awareness Month urging citizens to back up files and keep their children safe online.

The declaration is part of a Global Online Safety Campaign urging digital citizens to protect themselves. McAfee, CyberDefender and Visa are among companies participating in the online security campaign.

At Maildistiller we are firm believers in the underrated importance of cyber security and fully support all attempts to keep online users of all ages safe from any harm!

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Social media’s role in Education

There is much debate in current theory over how appropriate it is for social media to be implemented in the recruitment processes of universities. Many argue that it’s a dangerous step given the additional management and time required to control the messages and opinions that are expressed. However, it cannot be denied that the social media sphere is where the majority of a university’s target audience hang out and so it would be idiotic to ignore the obvious potential…

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Social media’s role in Education

There is much debate in current theory over how appropriate it is for social media to be implemented in the recruitment processes of universities. Many argue that it’s a dangerous step given the additional management and time required to control the messages and opinions that are expressed. However, it cannot be denied that the social media sphere is where the majority of a university’s target audience hang out and so it would be idiotic to ignore the obvious potential…

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Social networking, (perhaps unsurprisingly) came out tops on a latest report from Nielsen wire of Americans online activity, followed closely by blogs, emails and gaming! Is this a productive use of the opportunities posed to us by the web in its entirety? Probably not but I don’t really think that’s the issue. The internet is a well-used resource for escapism or relaxing, and chatting to friends, sharing photos, ideas and stories is generally a popular way to do this. The problem though, which these figures suggest, is that in order to reach such a high percentage ranking in online activities, social networking is obviously being a used on a much more regular basis than simply to chill out for an hour on a lunch break or in the evenings…
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Critics the world over have had their say on the differences inherent in services marketing as opposed to traditional product marketing. Whilst some argue that they should be approached in a similar manner, the majority acknowledge the differences required for successful execution in the services market. However, I believe this is made much more difficult when the lines between product and service become blurred. Should a company’s product when it is presented primarily as a service, then be treated as a separate entity from the traditional definition of a product or a service?

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The latest KPMG Report revealed that online security was an issue for 90% of web users globally!! That’s a pretty high stat by any comparison and a suggestion that consumer awareness of online threats is most definitely growing!

Great… job done!

That was my somewhat flippant and hopeful first thought! In the security market education is the first hurdle, if people at least acknowledge the risks of online security and privacy threats, then our job of preventing these threats from manifesting into reality, is much easier!! Well that was the theory

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