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Facebook and the dangers of ‘TMI’

A recent Associated Press article ignited debate over employers asking for potential employees’ social media passwords, the combination of letters and numbers that open the door to the presumably personal worlds of accounts on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The report set off a flurry of privacy-minded legislative action since first appearing in March. In April, Maryland became the first state to pass a law banning employers from asking for social media passwords; the bill is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Legislation also is being considered in a number of other states, including Minnesota, Illinois, California and Washington, and is under review on the federal level.

In addition, Facebook slammed the practice, noting in a blog by Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan that it’s actually a violation of Facebook’s “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities” to share or solicit a Facebook password.

To begin with, it's worth noting that nobody is really certain how many private-sector employers are requesting applicants’ Facebook passwords or “shoulder-surfing,” asking an applicant log into their account during an interview in order to peek at their profile. (The AP report does note that the practice is utilized more for public sector positions, such as police officer or 911 dispatcher.)

After the AP story ran, a blog on U.S. News & World Report said that this perceived password-privacy invasion was, in reality, “extremely rare.” Wired also questioned how widespread the practice really is.

The attorneys I spoke to had differing opinions on its pervasiveness.

Joy R. Butler, a Washington-based attorney whose area of practice includes Internet law, said she has heard a number of anecdotes about employers implementing password-asking practices, particularly in the public sector. It has spilled over into the private sector as well, though Butler says she doesn’t have any statistics on exactly how widespread it is.

“I think it’s not being blown out of proportion. It’s a matter that needs to be addressed,” she says.

Conversely, Alastair Gamble, of Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, says he has a sense the practice is not used as widely as the media might lead people to believe, though he allows that, “It may be going on all the time and I don’t know about it.”

One point that both attorneys agree on, however, is that employers need to tread very carefully when factoring social media into the hiring process. Don’t delve into potential employees’ social media accounts on any level unless you have a solid, documented reason for doing so, they say.

Gamble says to him, the largest potential problem is that it makes employers privy to information such as a person’s sexual orientation, religion and marital status--factors that, by law, cannot be considered in the hiring process. “All of those things might be at the forefront of somebody’s Facebook page,” he says.

If an employer decides not to hire someone after looking at their Facebook page and learning that, for example, they are Muslim or gay, they open themselves up to a potential lawsuit, even if those factors didn’t play a role in their decision.

To try to avoid liability, Gamble says he advises his clients, instead of relying on Facebook, follow up with references, perform a criminal background check and/or institute a longer interview process.

Butler brings up another interesting angle--that having additional information about a potential employee puts the employer at risk because it gives them access to too much information.

This is a state better known in this heyday of Internet slang as “TMI.”

The more employers know, the more they can be held liable for if something goes amiss with a new hire. Without access to Facebook, the universe of information that the employer could know about their employees “shrinks a little bit,” she says.

Pandora launching e-commerce site in Q4

I wanted to circle back around to an item in Pandora’s rather lengthy 2011 Annual Report that caught my attention and certainly seems to be a piece of information that would interest retailers that carry the brand.

Pandora disclosed plans to launch an e-commerce site in an undisclosed test market in the fourth quarter, an item mentioned briefly in our story on the report.

While I wasn’t able to obtain many more specifics, Pandora spokesman Kasper Riis did tell National Jeweler that, “An action plan has been put in place to ensure that Pandora will deliver on its long-term strategy. One of the specific actions identified is to outsource an e-commerce site, which is being launched in a test market by Q4 this year. We have not yet disclosed in which market this is planned to take place.”

Now, I know this is not the first we’ve heard about this popular jewelry brand potentially selling online, but it certainly will be interesting to see how the site fares.

Riis said that Pandora did conduct an e-commerce pilot project in Germany and Poland for a limited amount of time, and the company will use what it learned from that experience when it launches its next e-commerce site later this year. Tuesday marked the first time publicly that the brand disclosed specifics on this fourth-quarter test market launch, he said.

I remember when I started here four years ago that the mention of brands even considering selling online rankled jewelers.

Now I think many retailers, though not exactly pleased, are no longer as shocked and angered by announcements such as this. They have come to expect it and have adjusted their business plans accordingly.

To jewelers that carry Pandora, and even those that don’t, what do you think of this latest announcement of a brand going direct to consumers online?

Put a pin on it

I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about Pinterest, starting at the recent JA New York Show when an industry colleague, and budding jewelry designer, was showing off her boards in the press room.

The topic of Pinterest arose again yesterday when I was interviewing Dan Gordon, of Samuel Gordon Jewelers in Oklahoma City, for a separate story.

For those of you don’t know Dan, he is one of the most forward-thinking jewelers in the industry when it comes to the use of technology and social media. The way he has used social media to broaden his reach has been the topic of countless articles, both in this publication and elsewhere. If there is something new that’s going to be relevant coming up in the social media space, Dan knows about it.

After speaking with Dan, I decided to try out Pinterest myself, to see what all the buzz was about regarding this new photo sharing site.

Pinterest, to me at least, is akin to an electronic, 2012 version of the cork bulletin board I had in my room when I was a teenager. I would cut out quotes, beauty tips, pictures of my celebrity crushes, etc. out of magazines such as YM and Sassy and pin them to the board.

The same concept applies in the case of Pinterest, but instead of being visible only to the handful of friends who entered my teenager lair of solitude, millions of people online can see it.

On Pinterest, you can search by keyword -- say, jewelry or rings -- and see the items other users have pinned because they want to do make, see, do or buy them. You can then re-pin them to your own boards. And, just like Twitter, you can “follow” your friends, customers or simply people whom you think post interesting content.

Pinterest also lets you pin things from outside websites, such as this beautiful, custom star ruby ring or these turquoise and brown diamond earrings I pinned from Greenwich Jewelers here in New York to my “Jewelry I like” board. While I simply cut and pasted the direct links into Pinterest, there is a little piece of code retailers can use to install a “Pin it” button on their website, allowing browsers to denote a piece of jewelry as a favorite that then gets shared on Pinterest.

This past holiday season, Gordon said he held a Pinterest-themed contest, offering a $500 gift certificate to one randomly selected person who pinned at least one item from SamuelGordons.com to their Pinterest page. The more items you pinned, the more times you were entered to win.

Gordon said website traffic spiked as a result of the contest.

“It’s a huge discovery tool and it becomes addictive,” he said. “From a marketing standpoint it has a potential of being a huge traffic generator.”

Somebody’s following me...

It took me a while but I finally got there. I just surpassed the 1,000-follower mark on Twitter.

For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows users to share status updates, links to stories and even pictures, just as long as they find a way to do in it 140 characters or less.

I don’t remember exactly when I opened my account (@michellemgraff) on Twitter but I know it’s taken me a couple of years to build up this many followers, many of whom are involved in the jewelry industry in some way.

The other week, though, something happened that made me reconsider the value of each follower. I tweeted that I was heading to the much-rain-delayed U.S. Open to, hopefully, seen some tennis. Less than 30 seconds after I tweeted “tennis,” I had a new follower, a New York-based tennis instructor.

It seems this person used some kind of auto-follow function to latch on to anyone on who mentions "tennis," which is not a great social media tactic, says Dan Gordon, the most social media-savvy jeweler I know. “I guess sometimes it can work out, but it’s a creepy feeling to get followed because I said something. It’s, in a sense, kind of a form of spam,” he said.

Creepy, yes, and completely ineffective; I am not interested in ever learning to play tennis and, while I am happy to go see a match live, I have nominal interest in the sport.

My strange tennis follow had me wondering how many other followers I have who have no interest in the jewelry industry. To answer this burning question of the social media age, Gordon directed me to two services, SocialBro and Sprout Social.

I had a little technical difficulty getting started on SocialBro but I found it well worth the wait once I was able to download this tool.

SocialBro really breaks down you Twitter account. It tells you who isn’t following you back, how many of your followers are considered influential (have more people who follow them than they follow) and warns you of potential “spammers” you might be following or who might be following you.

Just one note about the spammers, though: SocialBro classifies spammers are those who follow more people than they have following them. Thumbing through my list of so-called spammers, however, I spotted quite a few people I know have legitimate accounts but just don’t have that many followers. So I wouldn’t necessarily eliminate everyone classified as spam.

You can also request a report on the best time to Tweet, according to when your top followers are online, and search for people to follow by name, biography or location, and much more.

SocialBro is still in beta (meaning it is in the second stage of software testing) so it is free, for now. I would take advantage of that.

The also-helpful Sprout Social tells you how effectively you’re using Twitter. At the time of this writing, my “engagement,” or how well I am communicating with my audience, was rated fair with a score of 42 out of 100 while my “influence,” my growth and interest level, was good at 74.

It tracks how many followers you’ve gained and lost each week and allows you to create searches for people who are discussing certain things, are located in a certain area or have specific information in their profile.

Sprout Social doesn’t auto-follow these people. It just finds them. To quote Sprout Social: “Only you know what makes your perfect customer, but Sprout Social can help you find more of them.”

The service offers a free 30-day trial. After that it’s $9 a month or $49 a month, depending on which plan you choose.

There’s other, less time-consuming ways to make sure your maximizing Twitter. Every couple of days, I check my “Followers” list and follow back anybody I find interesting. I also block people who are questionable, such as those on Twitter whose profile indicates that they are looking for a good time. No thanks.

I also take advantage of Twitter’s “Who to follow” list, which contains some random sponsored users but also suggests legitimate people that may be of interest to you.

Hello, one-thousand.

New year, new Diet

I had the opportunity recently to chat with newly inducted California Jewelers Association (CJA) President James Orloff about a cool new initiative the CJA has launched to help get recession-flogged California consumers interested in fine jewelry again.

TheCaratDiet.com, which National Jeweler briefly mentioned here, is a consumer-facing Web site that features the best of celebrities and their red-carpet jewelry styles, trend tips, a diamond-buying guide and, best of all for retailers, a store locator.

Consumers can hop on site and covet a cool flower Amrapali ring sported by actress Emily Blunt or Rose McGowan's M.C.L by Matthew Campbell Laurenza earrings. They get the shopping bug and then plug in their ZIP code to find the jeweler nearest them. Inclusion on the site is free to all CJA member jewelers; it's part of what they pay for when they write their dues checks.

"The association needed to find a way to stimulate business in California," said Orloff, owner of Orloff Jewelers in Fresno, Calif. "The CaratDiet keeps jewelry in front of the public: 'This is what Angelina Jolie's wearing. This is what Jennifer Aniston's wearing.'"

"People identify with celebrities. They look at them because they're in the public. And they could get away with saying, 'I have something like hers.'"

While it's still early in the site's life--it only went up in October--Orloff said they've already had feedback from jewelers indicating that it's generating business. The number of hits on TheCaratDiet.com also has risen steadily, from just 50 in its launch month, to 1,200 in December to more than 2,800 in January.

It's a great Web site, not just in the concept but also in the execution. Orloff said the CJA brought on a Los Angeles-based marketing and communications agency MC Squared to design, launch and maintain the site, which they do with input from CJA leadership.

I think TheCaratDiet.com is also a great example of how state jewelry associations can help out their retailers, even in the post-Jewelers of America (JA) partnership world.

In June 2009, JA announced that the economic downturn was forcing it to "redefine" its relationship with the state jewelry associations. Historically, retailers paid one flat fee for membership to both JA and their state associations. Since the redefinition, they've had to either choose one or make the decision to shell out dues for both, a change that had smaller associations with already-shrinking memberships rolls worried about losing more people.

Orloff indeed admits that CJA's membership took somewhat of a hit when JA altered its structure, as the big chains, Zale, Kay/Jared, etc., chose JA. The launch of this site, however, wasn't prompted by the shift. "That's really not what it's about. For the jewelers in California, the business two years ago was starting to fade," Orloff said. "The CJA in itself is trying to perpetuate the value of the retail jeweler. This is for the California consumer."

Do you ‘like’ the idea of selling on Facebook?

In late December, 109-year-old retailer J.C. Penney took a bold social media step forward when it started hawking its wares on Facebook, a move that has been met with lukewarm reviews.

While nobody can begrudge the Plano, Texas-based retailer that the move was forward-thinking, this Dec. 29 article from BNet.com slammed the retailer’s Facebook shop for being “unimaginative” and speculated that the retailer might have blown a golden opportunity--being the first major retailer to sell on Facebook--by rushing into it without much thought. The Dallas Business Journal, meanwhile, noted that the “verdict [is] still out” on J.C. Penney’s Facebook shop.

J.C. Penney didn’t respond when I reached out to them asking how Facebook sales have been thus far. But I took a look at the store’s Facebook shop on Monday and I hardly thought the featured model’s outfit there was boring. I would say, however, the selection of clothes that I thumbed through didn’t blow me away. I also thought the photos were too small. I saw one dress that I liked, but the picture was too minute to see any of the outfit’s details, and there was no way to enlarge it or look at it from a different angle, which I feel is a pretty standard feature for retailers selling clothes online these days.

I haven’t see any jewelry retailers or brands selling on Facebook--yet. I am curious to know if anyone in the jewelry industry, brands or retailers, has plans to start pushing baubles on the social networking scene. Or, if you think that sites such as Facebook are better used as defined, for social networking.

I think there’s one clear lesson that can be gleaned from J.C. Penney: It’s good to be first but it’s even better to wait and really do it well.

I’d love to hear your thoughts at michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com.

Tech-focused displays

Working on the interactive display story this month gave me a fun taste of what's to come in jewelry retailing, and it’s something I'm very much looking forward to.

I love perusing jewelry in stores--who isn't attracted to bright, shiny things?--but I have to admit, I don't know that I would call it the most fun experience. I often feel slightly uncomfortable when I see that I’m being watched like a hawk, add to that, unlike in stores such as Apple, where I can test out products to my heart's content, I can't touch and feel the jewelry without the help of a salesperson.

I know that's simply safe jewelry retailing, but a few new technologies are helping to add more excitement to the experience.

 

   

At Geneva's l'Heure Asch, an interactive display located right in the store window helps to draw passersby indoors. Pressing a touch pad located on the outside glass turns the displays inside, allowing customers to see a greater array of timepieces.

Amsterdam-based retailer Ace Jewelers Group uses an augmented reality tool on its Web site. Customers who visit the site are invited to virtually "try on" rings on their own computer. They simply print out a marker item, such as a paper ring, put it on and point it at their Web cam. The user will then be able to select from various pave rings on Ace's Web site, and their chosen ring will show up on their hand onscreen, in the place of the marker ring. If customers like what they see, they can purchase the ring online or visit one of the retailer's stores. Devised by London-based Holition, retailers can use the tool on their Web sites or via in-store kiosks.

App attack

I personally don't own an iPhone and probably never will.
Instead, I have this phone called the "Instinct," which is basically Samsung's version of the iPhone and is a device so similar that it causes some people to actually envy me.
"Is that an iPhone?" they ask when I pull this sleek-looking black sheath of a phone out of my purse.
"No it's an Instinct," I say.
"Oh," they say, immediately losing interest in my generic excuse for a cell phone.
I only got the "Instinct" because it had been so long since I have upgraded my phone that Sprint practically paid me to get with the times.
And you want to know what? I don't do anything more with this phone than I did with my other phone, except pay a bigger monthly bill.
I really don't maximize the phone's potential, mostly because I'm too lazy/disinterested/busy to bother reading the instruction manual and figure out how to really use the thing.
I'll be switching back to a simpler phone (with a smaller bill) soon.
But I digress.
For those happy iPhone owners, there are at least two industry "apps" - that's iPhone speak for applications - out there already, and I'm sure we'll see more on the way.
The first jewelry industry "app" to come to my attention was what I like to call the "Rap app," because it just rhymes so nicely.
(The real name of the app is iDiamonds; you should use this name if you want to find it in the App Store.) 
Roei Kashi, son of Israeli diamantaire Moti Kashi, developed the iDiamonds app earlier this year, while still at student at Stanford University.
This useful device provides immediate iPhone access to the Rapaport price list, letting you see what the running price is for, as an example, a 1.5-1.99-carat, VVS2, E-color stone.
But take note: you have to have a RapNet username and password to have a "Rap-app" attack.
Read more about the Rap app here on IDEX.
The second industry app is by Stuller, called the "Live Diamond Try-On (brought to you by Red Box Diamonds.)"
While the title is not as snappy as the "Rap app," this is a really savvy application that allows consumers to, essentially, design their own engagement ring and virtually try it on by taking a picture of their hand.
They can e-mail, Tweet and Facebook the ring to get the opinions of friends and family, and can then use the "find a jeweler" function, which maps out the location of the nearest Red Box diamond retailers where they can go to physically purchase their virtually crafted rings.
Amazing, isn't it?
This app will be free and available to about-to-engaged iPhone users everywhere starting in late summer.
Read more about the diamond try-on here.
Then go out and buy your apps. If you need me, I'll be at the Sprint store, in search of a cheaper phone.

Selling jewelry on the Internet

Lots of jewelers attended the National Jeweler Network Online Retailing Forum at the JA New York Show a couple of weeks ago, including me.

Although I was asked to make a few remarks on one of the panels, I learned as much about online retailing as anyone in the audience.

Top honchos from Idex Online, Gemfind, Fred Meyer and Yahoo, among others, brought the jewelry retailer up-to-date on the latest Web tools and "analytics" (their fancy word not mine) to market to their best customers. If jewelers decide not to take their advice, or advice from other industry experts, shame on them.

But I think there is one more step that needs to be taken to have a successful Web presence.

Since all jewelers (er, most), will be using the Internet as a kind of catalog, won't they all be showing the same designs and styles? Won't they also be buying their diamonds and genuine stones from the same wholesaler(s)? Seems like a recipe for price competition—exactly what they want to get away from.

Maybe the answer is differentiation—different styling. The jeweler's computer screen is a window on the vast and magnificent world of jewelry design. Sourcing product from overseas is also an option. Although it's a little more difficult, margins can be much higher. Retail jewelers can even design their own styles—exactly what their customers want.

Jan Brassem is a founder of Eclipse Global Consulting LLC, a firm that assists jewelry retailers who are expanding into foreign markets and/or sourcing globally. You can e-mail him at Jan@EclipseGlobalConsulting.com.

Why does Cartier have a MySpace page?

Was MySpace's global deal with luxury jeweler Cartier the final blow in its war with Facebook?

Some say there is no competition; many users have pages on both social networking sites, and it's been noted that the alleged war is being waged by the media.

In side-by-side comparisons of MySpace and Facebook, Web and print publications that cover the technology industry tend to evaluate design, features and usability. News sources that cover business and finance beats, however, have turned the competition into a matter of class.

Initially, Facebook was launched as an exclusive Harvard University site. MySpace, on the other hand, was developed to increase the exposure of Indie music. Now that both sites have users outside of their initial niches, analysts are trying to distinguish which users go where and why.

Naturally, analysts say that Facebook, with its blue-blood background, attracts the upper echelons of society, while MySpace users are typically low- to middle-class.

Contrary to analysts' class theories, Travis Katz, managing director of international operations for MySpace, claimed in a recent Advertising Age article that its network reaches more users with a six-figure income than Facebook or Yahoo 360. Obviously, Cartier was convinced.

MySpace's successful history of promoting music and garnering fan support was probably a contributing factor to Cartier's decision as well. Music appears to be an integral part of the brand's Love campaign this year; Cartier even added 12 artists to its current list of ambassadors. Twelve additional artists are featured on its MySpace page.

The luxury jeweler may have also chosen MySpace because its word-of-mouth exposure beats Facebook hands down. On MySpace, the goal of acquiring friends on page profiles is taken quite seriously. Journalist Barbara Walters put out a plea for friends on her television show The View last year. Within days, Walters went from having 2 friends to more than 1,000.