Coulson received ongoing health insurance coverage, a company car, legal advice and severance payments from his old employer during his time as an advisor to David Cameron, according to the paper.

Coulson and The Conservative Party ‘categorically denied‘ any such payments when asked about them.  A parliamentary investigation will follow.

This saga leads to another question for me, which is to wonder what NI received in return for the continued support for its ex-employee, who now found himself at the heart of the British Government with unfettered access.

There must have been some justification for this considerable financial expense – what was it?

Britain’s Progressive Future has begun with the election of Ed Milliband to the Labour Party Leadership.  So called Red Ed, a tag he denies, beat his brother David to become leader of the opposition.  Personally, I don’t see why a more left wing perspective is such a bad thing.  The Conservatives have finally got the excuse they need to dismantle the welfare state, thanks to the problems caused by their friends in the city.  They got their because of the Labour Party’s failings, not on their merits.

I wrote an article in favour of these guidelines for Mumbrella.

BzzAgent refers to its network members as volunteers.  I thought volunteers worked for not-for-profits.  I think its inevitable that the WOM agencies will have to make full disclosure and transparency core to their service offering in order to stay on the right side of the FTC and similar enforcement agencies in other countries and for the reasons that I pointed out in the article for Mumbrella.

This graphic from BzzAgent provides a neat summary of the obligations under the FTC Guides and the steps that PR professionals and marketers can take to ensure compliance.

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1. Wayward Dominos’ employees in Conover, North Carolina
2. The UK Labour Government’s political smear campaign

I have heard much discussion about the brand and political impact of these unfortunate exposes and lots of experts talking about the need for the victims (or culprits) to engage social media to clean up the mess caused by these indiscretions.

All of this is interesting to a point.

I have heard commentators sprouting the following nonsensical claims; that organisations will withdraw from social media programs as a result of the Dominos experience – in particular. And that Dominos in particular needs to get out there – i.e. into social media – to address the issue. Something that they eventually did.

Let us face the facts.

• Employees in fast food restaurants mess with food.
• Political smear campaigns are as old as politics.

The community is so obsessed with social media at the moment that we are failing to address or consider the underlying and age-old stories and issues here.

Social media has become the story – for everything. Its like a veneer that corporations and institutions can paint over their shoddy and unethical practices to make everything alright.

We’ll quickly move onto the next thing but I doubt that much will change at Dominos or within British politics.

Social media can be a means to an end (i.e. changing stuff) but its not an end in itself.

Do you know who I am?

The Access Card was the latest attempt by Federal and State Governmentin Australia to introduce an identity card.

The world has changed significantly since 2006 – we’ve seen a major shift in consumer attitudes towards personal information as a result of mainstream social networking.

Internet companies now have access to vast amounts of data and in a wide variety of formats, take Google Street View for example.

Companies like Salesforce.com are tapping into social networks in order to cross reference the information that is readily available there with the information that they hold in databases and CRM systems.

Governments around the world have invested heavily in bail-outs and stimulus packages sending many into deep deficits.  Will the heightened need to ensure that public funds are spent wisely strengthen the argument for citizen accountability via an identity card?

One wonders if these developments will compromise attempts to oppose the introduction of an identity card – or equivalent – in the future.

Huh? What’s the point of social media if no-ones listening?

Blogs, forums and other forms of social media provide Government with access to a large amount of public feedback and sentiment. Of course they should be monitored. They provide a litmus test of public opinion. The Government needs to invest in the ‘comprehensive digital monitoring service(s) for print and electronic media’ in order to do this.

One would like to think that advisors and Ministers are listening to online conversation as this enables them to shape legislation and details to respond to the needs of the community.

Or perhaps the Government wants to monitor in order to identify sources of opposition and stiffle dissent.

Social media is driving community, media and our institutions through a transition. Governments are more than happy to use social media during election campaigns to gain power.

The real question should be: What are the Government’s objectives for social media monitoring? One can’t help but be a little cynical in the context of the Federal Government’s Internet Filter.

K-Rudd’s online activity has declined signficantly since coming into power.

The future of social media will be bright as long as Governments and corporations recognise the value of online discussions and the insights they provide rather than seeking to control or place limits on what can and cannot be discussed online. The conversations are occuring (and have always occurred) – heavy handed Governments will drive the online discussion underground (in a digital sense) which is the worst possible outcome.

I see nothing wrong with monitoring per se. It’s essential.

There are numerous free and paid tools out there for managing and monitoring social media. We use Radian6, which is by the best tool that I’ve come across (and I’ve seen quite a few).

Do you think the Government’s Internet Filter will filter out dissenting and opposing voices in addition to the pornographic and illegal content (its stated aim)?

This post takes issue with the not very popular Senator Conroy’s seemingly contradictory statements on the issue of social media monitoring. Conroy and K-Rudd will be announcing the winner of the NBN tender next week.

Here’s a snapshot of social media discussions that may be of interest to Minister Minchin:

Personal freedoms seems to be taking a bit of a battering too.

Britain seems listless. It is struggling to find a new identity and the apparent politico-cultural transformation that has occurred in the US is in stark comparison to an arrogant, out of touch and un-elected leadership in Britain. We’re stuck with two political classes that are yet to truly modernise in a way that seems relevant and compelling to the community and more importantly to the wider world, within which Britain has traditionally enjoyed leadership and great respect.

Vee are vatching you!!

The financial services sector represented a relatively large chunk of the total economy in the UK and Britain is suffering more than others as a result of the current crisis. In October 2008, a bank rescue package totalling pounds500 billion was announced by the British Government. More recently, Gordon Brown’s Government announced plans to print money with a quantitative easing program while The Guardian newspaper investigates the tax gap.

This is rightly a BIG issue in the UK but for many observers the financial crisis is a diversion from a m0re worrying trend.

My Mother has complained about the increasing prevalance of rules and regulations in British society. I remember her citing the example of our local supermarket, which had started to restrict the sale of alcohol to over-30s only. The store had been caught out by a few under-18s and responded in this way to ensure that it would not be caught out again.

CCTV is another cause for concern for many in Britain – as is the British Government’s commitment to data collection. There are 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain – approximately one for every 14 people.

This is a theme that has been picked up in the No Agenda podcast. John C. Dvorak is tracking news stories that demonstrate the increasing pervasiveness of the UK Government and the rise of the Nanny state. Here are some headlines and links from the Dvorak Uncensored blog.

It’s laughable but scary. I am always promising more and never delivering but I do intend to pick up on this theme with some follow up posts this week. One will paint a picture relating to the future of technology and another will discuss the medium to long term impact of the Government bail outs on personal freedoms and information in UK and around the world.

Here are the headlines:

• Cops Arrest ‘Terrorist’ Fisherman for Scaring Ducks Away with Laser Pen
• Stasi HQ UK… where your travel details are secretly logged and kept for a decade
• 2 Yr Old Sent ASBO Usually Reserved for Football Hooligan… Does it Really Matter?
• New Law in UK Makes it Illegal to take Pictures of Police
• UK’s New Food Police: Nanny State Sez You WILL Eat Everything On Your Plate

Are you concerned about a reduction in personal freedoms wrapped up as something else, e.g. anti-terrorist legislation?

The sad thing about this approach is that it doesn’t address real issues but instead attempts to deal with problems at a superficial or cosmetic level to give the impression that the Government is in control and relevant when in actual fact the opposite is true.