6.5 Million Encrypted LinkedIn Passwords Leaked Online [REPORT]

It’s not a good day for LinkedIn. After reports that its iOS app potentially violates user privacy by sending detailed calendar entries to its servers, comes a report that 6.46 million encrypted LinkedIn passwords have leaked online.

A Russian forum user claims he has hacked LinkedIn, uploading 6,458,020 encrypted passwords (without usernames) as proof.

The passwords are encrypted with the SHA-1 cryptographic hash function, used in SSL and TLS and generally considered to be relatively secure, but not foolproof. Unfortunately, it also seems that passwords are stored as unsalted hashes, which it makes it much easier to decipher them using pre-computed rainbow tables.

In simple terms, this means an attacker might be able to crack many of the passwords using very cheap resources in a relatively short amount of time.

While there’s a possibility that the password collection is not genuine, some reports on Twitter add credibility to the story. LinkedIn said on Twitter it’s looking into the issue.

Finnish security company Cert-Fi has posted a warning about the incident, saying it is “likely” that whoever hacked LinkedIn possesses the accompanying user names as well.

If you’re a LinkedIn user, we recommend you change your password right now. Furthermore, if you used that password on any other online service, we recommend you change those passwords as well.

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10 Social Media Secrets from the Social Scientist

There are some secrets regarding social media that I’d like to share.





I’m a bit of a hard-core social media user and I’ve been doing web and content development for many years now. Because I have been online for a very long time (pre-graphical Web), I am pretty attuned to what constitutes authentic and cooperative behavior online.

There are things that set apart the altruistic contributor (check out this cool thing!), for instance, from the self-serving ones (buy my stuff!).


If you do nothing else this year, consider shifting your social media strategy to encompass increasingly pro-social guidelines. The more you give, the more the community will give back, but it needs to be done with a sensitive hand. Think of communities as gardens to be cultivated, and your social media activities then have structure, focus and value. Without a doubt, value is the currency on the Web, and the more value you create, the more people will flock to you.


Here are ten ways to create maximum info value with social media:

#1. Make your social media more about you.

Make your social media less about them and more about you.
This is a very counter-intuitive principle, but it’s an important one. You can opt to use social media as tools for yourself, your organizations and your followers – to enhance communication, meme sharing, bonding, etc. It is okay to promote yourself and the things you love, but do it sensitively and with thought to the value you are creating for your community. If they are a community of gut-busting punners, then by all means, pun all day. But if it’s a professional community, it’s best to be very judicious. I frequently lurk for a while to get the vibe before I start making contributions myself.


I use Twitter and Pinterest primarily as social bookmarking tools. This goes back to my love affair with Delicious, an early social bookmarking and meta-tagging app.

Twitter:

I’m an info slinger, so managing info is a big issue for me. Twitter’s hash tags are super easy and allow me to expand the potential relevance of a find to much broader groups of people. Twitter is also great for creating transparency around internal organizational dialogue (the positive and potentially public bits) regarding project themes, methods, etc. It’s also great for demonstrating how well you know the space you occupy, just by virtue of knowing who’s who and what’s what. This lets you leverage other people’s contributions and that promotes them and saves you work. I have one or two Twitter presences that I really only use to retweet as a way of archiving and sharing.

Pinterest:

I love Pinterest because I can unite a bunch of interests in a visually pleasing way. Exactly like those scrapbooks of pretty papers, pressed flowers and ephemera that the ladies used to make and share. I used to use Google Notebook a lot, but it had nowhere near the level of visual appeal that Pinterest does. Just the sheer uniformity and quality of images on Pinterest sets it apart from nearly every other user generated content spaces I have encountered. Remember those early MySpace pages and the love affair with animated GIFs? The Web was formerly a pretty ugly place. Pinterest applies order to chaos with elegant results.

#2. Create orbits

When you think about your social media strategy, think of yourself establishing orbits around things you love and creating magnetism (good contributions) for others to orbit you. Document your finds and your learning journey into primers for the uninitiated. I have infiltrated a couple of communities by using that strategy. The Web quickly rewards people who create value and fresh perspectives. Leaving comments in blogs, tweeting, sharing, etc. are all pretty low effort ways to establish yourself. It’s important to use a consistent identity, though, and avoid the flame fests at all costs.

#3. Share more

Something we humans have been doing for a very lone time. Online it translates into share, share, share, and share some more. But make sure that what you’re sharing is relevant to your audience.


Your childhood friends (Facebook, most likely) care about adorable videos of your children – your Linked In colleagues? Not so much. But Linked In can be a great vehicle for establishing cred quickly in a space. You can ask questions or answer them, post useful updates, comment in groups, etc.

#4. Join the social network nirvana

There are a couple of best kept secrets in the social media verse and Quora is one of them. It’s certainly not everyone’s bag, but for generalists it’s Nirvana. The quality of contributions tends to be very good, there is a “Be Nice” policy, and a real names only policy, and moderators who occasionally step on toes. But something about it seems to work, in the creating-order-from-chaos kind of way.


Information chaos is one of our biggest challenges and having a place where you know the cream rises can be very handy. It’s also the place where you can ask literally ANY question and expect a reasonable response from VERY knowledgeable people.

#5. Engage

Internet people crave opportunities to engage.


Everyone loves rewards. We should be thinking more about how to reward people for their contributions online, both tangibly and intangibly. Pinterest contests get people pinning your content. A $40 gift card can go a LONG way in motivating semi-volunteer content developers and community managers. And it goes a long way towards letting them know how much you appreciate them.

#6. Leverage yourself

Think about how to inter-connect your social media outlets and efforts. Facebook, Twitter and Linked In all offer easy integration with each other, and there are many widgets available such as widget box, that allow you to embed your real-time streams into other locations.
This is great because it keeps your content fresh, without having to do a bunch more work.

#7. Aggregate your social streams

If you are one of those people or organizations who is heavy into social media, there are a whole crop of tools that make stream management so much easier. About.me lets you aggregate your streams in one place for easy viewing (by you or others). Some are focused more on publishing (TweetDeck), others on analytics and other influence/reach metrics:

#8. Don’t get too attached to any one platform.

It’s pretty likely we have no idea what the Facebook-equivalent social media site will be in say, 2020. Our excitement these last few years is that many of the tools have also allowed a range of social phenomena we have really never seen before.


One of the lovely things about humans is that we will adapt a new tool to many anticipated and unanticipated outcomes. Early movers (celebrity tweet auctions, etc.) can sometimes find a massive advantage with one clever idea. Things occasionally go viral and enchant millions. This is a level of reach and connectedness we have never known. Obama sends me emails and Lady Gaga posts Facebook messages telling me what TV she is watching.


What’s incredible about social media is what they enable in our culture, not whether it’s called Facebook or Twitter. Just because you have a hammer, it doesn’t make everything else nails and thinking it does will limit you from acting nimbly on new opportunities.

#9. Some industries suit social media

Certain industries really benefit from social media and are natural innovators as a result. If you’re looking for ideas, check out sectors like food & beverage, travel and video games – anything with a passionate following that can be leveraged into a vibrant and self-sustaining community.

#10. Make social media your front line

Social media networks are your front line to your most wired communities. Getting to know those people via comprehensive observation can help you find opportunities to engage and enchant, in ways you’ve probably never thought of. But those people can also be your biggest advocates and informants, even the grouchy ones. Listening and converting (by responding to questions, requests and concerns) are incredibly powerful tools in building a community that is enthusiastic about you. But there are also many practical benefits, like the ability to provide quicker/better support, educate potential customers, promote causes and efforts that are meaningful to you. These are magic tools in the right hands, but their mastery requires a lot of trial and error. In this case, the best way to learn is to jump in. Social media coordinators are great, but even better if you are the CEO or someone working on potential products/services.


Many real life empires rest on social media these days. But try thinking about the people whose info needs you serve, and win by serving them better and better, a bit every day.


































































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What 3 Types of Facebook Marketing Apps Drive the Most Viral Sharing?

Everyone business or marketer has a secret desire that their marketing goes “viral”.

It is the holy grail of marketing. Firstly because it generates high velocity sharing and secondly because its often seen as free.

It can accelerate a brand from relative obscurity to nearly famous.

It is “word of mouth” marketing enhanced and supercharged by the internet and social networks.

This “earned” media sharing that is seen as totally free is often initially sparked by paid media (such as banner ads, paid search marketing on search  engines or mass media such as television).

Viral Marketing is Often Not Free

Marketing that fits this ultimate marketing profile are campaigns such as “Old Spice“.

This campaign was sparked by a 30 second advertising spot during the Superbowl and then driven further by paid advertising on digital and mass media

Paid is often the catalyst to create the powerful free earned media that is seen in friends sharing on Facebook and  Twitter.

7 Facebook Marketing Campaign Types

Marketing on Facebook is one of the main social networking platforms that are employed by business marketers.

So what types of marketing campaigns can you design for Facebook and what are their strengths?
Wildfire (a social networking marketing platform with 200,00 users) looked at 10,000 campaigns that were run over 9 months.It looked at 7 major campaign types that companies and brands used to market on Facebook.



Each type of campaign has its advantages. Some campaigns will achieve greater participation rates (entries). Other types will result in more sharing and earned media. This is the powerful viral marketing that you don’t have to pay for. Also known as crowd sourced marketing.

The Top 3 Types of Facebook Apps to Drive Sharing

If your main marketing goal is to encourage Facebook fans to share then you need to use these three types of marketing campaigns and apps to drive Facebook sharing of content via the Facebook news feed .

• Favourites is the top app type at over 37%
• Quiz ranks second at 30%
• Trivia comes third at 27%

The Top 3 Types of Facebook Campaigns for Participation

Coupons are used frequently in marketing to provide an incentive for people to participate.Everyone loves a discount!

These three application types are the ones to implement if you are looking to have thousands of participants.

• Coupons rank clearly as the top performer with an average of over 3,000 entries per campaign
• Giveaways comes a distant second at 1,888 entries
• Sweepstakes is not far behind at 1,630to

Case Study

In looking at these results from the study then you need to provide a variety of marketing tactics and choices to appeal to the greatest audience. Just like people prefer different social networks and also will consume a variety of media depending on whether they will read an article or watch a video.

Delta Airlines is a great example of offering a range of tactics to create the highest level of participation and sharing.



In the example above, Delta has more than six custom content applications available for users to interact with. Each tab does something different, and while the activity offered on one tab will perform better at enticing user signups, another tab will be best for inspiring user-generated content submissions and sharing.

Takeaways

A strong social media marketing strategy is one that approaches the creation of branded content and applications for users from multiple angles

• Designing some owned media to achieve high consumption and participation rates
• Designing other owned media to influence high sharing activity (to generate the earned media that grows communities so successfully).
• Use paid media to amplify your owned content even further, and you’ll reach new users outside of the existing network, thereby generating many more opportunities for earned media.

What About You?

Are you implemeting these tactics for your Facebook marketing campaigns?

Are your goals to motivate sharing, participation or both?

What has worked for you? What hasn’t worked?

Look forward to hearing your Facebook marketing stories




































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The Beginner’s Guide to Tumblr

Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform that churns out more than 64 million posts daily. There are 57.5 million blogs on Tumblr, which might seem intimidating to anyone not already using it.


Tumblr could be useful to you for many reasons, depending on what you’re looking to get out of it, for example, inspiration, scrapbooking, communication or a portfolio.


The site is a mix of bloggers, brands and tastemakers. But to keep it simple, there are essentially two types of bloggers on Tumblr: those who create original content and those who curate, or re-blog posts.


Depending on how you want to utilize the platform, this guide will help you move from a Tumblr novice to power blogger.

1. Getting Started

Tumblr registration is simple: You only need an email address, password and username. However, considering there are 57.5 million blogs on Tumblr, it’s possible that you won’t get your first choice of username.


With Tumblr, you can change your URL later, so if you absolutely hate it down the road, that can be fixed — but keep in mind that change will affect SEO.


Be sure to upload a default image, too, to complete your profile.

2. What Do I Do With This?

Once you have an account, there are a number of following options, depending on how you want to utilize the site.


Some use Tumblr to write and create original content, for example, to document lifestyle, travels, milestones or to showcase work.


Tumblr hosts some hilarious parody and nostalgia blogs that cater to specific persons, places or things.
If you’re not creating your own content, Tumblr is also great for curating. Many users browse the web for the best and most interesting things they can find. It’s up to you to decide what that is: hilarious videos, inspiring quotes, breathtaking photos? Whether you like animals, fashion, art, music, film or just a random assortment of interesting finds, decide what you want to blog about before going further.

1. Quadro

From the font to the layout, the Quadro theme is a close tie with the Pinterest pinboard.

2. Kinley Lite

Kinley Lite uses a very similar pinboard layout, as well as a similar color and font style.

3. Star-Aurora

Star-Aurora is another mosaic-style option with a bolder font.

4. Meringue

The Meringue theme also has the same pinboard feel to it.

5. Nominal

This theme uses a crisp font, and has a clean, mosaic look.

6. Cargo

Cargo has the same mosaic asthetic as your Pinterest board, but it's a little more minimalist.

7. Canvas

This example includes text, however, it's still the same board-like layout. This theme also includes the infinite scroll option.

8. Tessellate

For Tumblr users who post mostly images, Tessellate is a no-brainer.

9. Photo Stack

When you hover over the scattered stack of photos, the theme organizes into a neatly arranged board.





Aside from suiting your blog to your personality, one of the most fun things about Tumblr is the ability to customize themes. Tumblr themes offer the ability to customize the look, feel and functionality of your blog.
Try to avoid the default theme, simply because there are hundreds more to choose from, and many talented designers have put a lot of effort into them.


Some themes are free, but if you really want your blog to stand out, consider paying for a premium theme that offers more personalized options.


Once you’ve selected a theme, you can customize further by editing HTML, changing colors or font type, adding a background image or adding pages.

4. The Dashboard

Tumblr’s dashboard is really user-friendly, no matter the format of content you want to post.


If you’re not ready to publish a post, or want to come back to it later, you can either save as a draft or schedule it in the queue. Both options are on the right side of the dashboard.


At the top of the dashboard, next you your profile picture, you’ll see a series of colorful icons labeled by format: text, photo, video, etc. Depending on what you’re trying to share, the options in each individual post box are really easy to figure out.


For added convenience, you can place the Tumblr bookmarklet at the top of your web browser. There are a number of other useful tips here.


The tabs at the top of the dashboard allow you to filter between views: either just your posts or those from people you follow. (We’ll talk more about your followers later.) If you want to see your posts in the back-end, click on your tab. To view it as your chosen theme, click on your profile picture.


Each post in the dashboard has a series of buttons at the top-right, which let you engage with others by re-blogging and liking their posts. (This is where the distinction between original content creator vs. curator is most prominent.) Most original content bloggers don’t re-blog very often because they are publishing to a certain style or subject.


However, the more followers you have, the more quickly their posts move on your dashboard — remember, there are millions of posts each day. If you want to keep all of your favorite posts in one place, the little heart at the right corner of each post is your friend. You can then click the heart tab on the far-right to access all of the things you’ve liked in one place.

5. Navigation

By now, you should be set up and ready to “tumble.” But half the fun is discovering what other people are posting, especially if you’re using the platform to curate, or re-blog. So, how do you find other interesting people and blogs?


Tumblr has a series of tags, which you can view in Explore, that separate individual posts by different interests — for example art, humor, music, fashion, television, etc.


A select group of people manage each tag and hand-pick posts best-suited for the category.
Additionally, Spotlight is a Tumblr feature that showcases various noteworthy blogs within each tag.





Tumblr is not just for self-engagment. There are a number of ways to connect with people you know and reach out to new people.


First of all, by authorizing Gmail, Twitter and Facebook, you can see which of your friends are already using the platform.


If you’d like to reach out to someone privately, see the envelope icon at the top-right, where you can send a message. The feature offers different styles of paper-themed backgrounds and fonts, which makes each message seem more personal.


Some users have also enabled the “Ask Me Anything” feature. Keep in mind the user can post any question on his site, but you can always opt to ask anonymously.

7. Mobile

Once you’ve successfully navigated the basics of Tumblr, take your blogging on-the-go with the platform’s free mobile app — available for iOS and Android.


The mobile app’s features are pretty similar to the website, except that the dashboard appears slightly more minimal. Otherwise, all of the things explained above are available on mobile — you can still post all the same formats of multimedia, and even customize your blog.


Tumblr is as vast as it’s never-ending dashboard — there’s a lot more to the site, but this overview should give you a good head start.


What tips do you have for someone testing out Tumblr for the first time? Share your advice in the comments.
Image courtesy of Tumblr, silas216




































































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5 Ways Social Media Is Revolutionizing Talent Acquisition

 

Sajjad Masud is co-founder & CEO of Simplicant, a cloud-based social recruiting platform transforming talent acquisition and making enterprise-level recruiting technology accessible to companies of all sizes. Connect with Sajjad and the Simplicant team on Twitter and Facebook.


The way we communicate with each other has evolved rapidly over the last decade. Social media has further intensified the departure from traditional communication methods to redefine how people and businesses interact with each other.


In fact, more than half of companies on social media fail to have a social media strategy and in doing so, risk ignoring an increasingly dynamic and expanding audience. Recent social media stats show that more than 60% of adults are connected to one or more social networks, while 23% of online time is spent entirely on social networking activities.


While social media has seen rapid growth at the consumer level, the gap between consumer and corporate adoption is widening. Businesses are continuing to figure out optimal ways to harness the reach of social media and translate its usefulness into results.


One area where the benefits are already beginning to outshine older methods is talent acquisition and recruiting. The sheer number of active users on sites such as Facebook have made social recruiting extremely advantageous. With so many people using social media, especially for employment opportunities, companies are expected to use social media to recruit for more than 80% of job openings in 2012.


So just how does social media benefit the environment of talent acquisition? Here are five shifts that are taking place now.

1. It’s Personal

Hiring has always been concerned with people, and the relationships formed through social media between candidates and employers are even more imperative.


While candidates can reach out to key recruiters, companies form entire networks or talent communities to connect and engage with candidates. Social media is a tool that caters to sharing interests and engaging in conversation, making it easier to find a suitable candidate early on. After all, we do it so much everyday that it becomes a natural process.

2. It’s Transparent

Social media users tend to be self-aware of their brand because of how visible their activity and interests can be. Because of this, we must always anticipate some sort of reaction or feedback. No longer are your strategies and tactics a secret from those outside the company — they are fair game for criticism, even by the candidates themselves.


Though your recruiting activities can open a Pandora’s box of negative comments, it’s still a good way to find new perspective on what you may be doing wrong and how it can be better.

3. It’s No Longer Just For HR

Social media talent acquisition allows for entrepreneurs and CEOs alike to find candidates directly, quickly and with a reduced cost-per-hire — especially for startups that lack traditional HR personnel or funds for a recruiter. However, social recruiting is not to be taken lightly; just because you can find candidates on Facebook doesn’t mean you should throw away the rule book.

4. It’s Marketing

A solid plan, a target audience, metrics and data are all required for effective social recruiting. With the introduction of Brand Pages on Facebook, your organization isn’t any different from those selling a product — instead, you’re advertising a place of work.


Through brand management, content creation and engagement, candidates and employers alike see the value of social interaction for talent acquisition. It’s instantly measurable and targeted to something that older processes simply can’t match.

5. It’s Being Shared

Employees on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are contributing to the efforts of recruiting through their own posts and tweets. Not only are open positions getting distributed as pieces of content to vast networks of people, but it’s also facilitating the use of social referrals — one of the best sources of quality candidates. Job seekers are finding ways to take advantage of social referrals by keeping in contact and engaging with key members of companies.

Conclusion

Social media doesn’t need to be the absolute center of your recruitment strategy, but it would be ill-advised to ignore the trend completely. These five factors are changing and advancing the ways we approach finding the best talent and taking it to a more personal, open and collaborative experience.


What do you think? Does using social media mean less work for recruiting, or just more effective implementation of traditional ideas?
























































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