Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz's Marketing Blog

Flickr Comments Stir Hatred – It’s Time to Speak Out

This post isn’t funny.

I’ve covered “Jewdar” in a couple recent posts, rather jokingly noting advertisers on Facebook trying to target people based on their religion, an option not available to these advertisers so it leads to some funny situations, and some tongue in cheek musings about it all.

For the second time in a month, I’ve come across another form of targeting based on religion: anti-Semitic comments on Flickr photos.

The first time, I reported the user to Flickr and deleted the alert about it. I see no record of the comment so it seems like Flickr deleted it. I have no record of it, something I regret now.

This time, I’m doing something differently: I’m sharing it. I can’t just wish anti-Semitism away, just like I can’t wish away sexism or racism or any other kind of discrimination or prejudicial hatred. I can expose this though. I can’t say I have a grand plan for why, but by getting this out in the open, and perhaps hearing what others have encountered, down the road something fruitful will come out of it.

Note: if you’re easily offended, stop reading here. I’m posting the comment below in text and in screenshots.

High Line Park - New York City - July 09 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.png by davidberkowitz on Aviary.

 

Here’s what “Mike Schatzel” shared with me:

High Line Park - New York City - July 09

mikeschatzel said (8 hours ago): Hey you are Jewish arent you? HAHAHA now thats funny...not because of your huge shnoz but because if you didnt shave you would resemble a retarded wookie...nice smile. No wonder your wife looks the way she does...hey look at me, I am wearing a Twitter shirt and i am Jewish...hahaha youre a jew? Hey look at me I am jewish and afraid of ovens!!!

Here’s the link to the photo. Note that Flickr may remove the comment at any time.

Here’s the screenshot of the email I received with the offending comment:

 

Here’s the comment as it appears on Flickr:

If you’ve encountered this before, or have anything at all to add here, I welcome hearing it, and I’m sure some others will too.

UPDATE August 4, 2009: The same poster struck again, with the same username no less. His account was apparently deleted by Flickr, finally.

mikeschatzel [deleted] says:

2009 bitch...you a dirty heeb too? I hate Jews...they are all just more retarded forms of wookie's...with money, that they use to turn off electricity to ovens out of fear...fear bitch!

The J-Files: Jewdar Theories

Everyone seems to have a theory on Jewdar.  

Last week, I  chronicled a resurgence in the mysterious religious ad targeting on Facebook. Facebook confirmed my suspicion about the limits of ad targeting on the social network. A spokesperson told me, "We don't extend the capability to target by religion. Therefore, advertisers cannot target users based on their identified religion in their profile." Still, how was this happening?

A number of readers shared their Jewdar theories on MediaPost's site, other blogs, or via email, and most have given permission for me to cite them by name. Most give Facebook too much credit, assuming the targeting options are far more sophisticated than what's really available. Here's a roundup:

THEORY 1: Facebook is using advanced behavioral targeting.

Uriah Av-Ron: Could the Hebrew ad for Mayor Mike have been prompted by the fact that you have friends on Facebook who do have Hebrew on their pages, or maybe someone once wrote you a message in Hebrew?

THEORY 2: Facebook allows targeting by name.

Roy Moskowitz: They're definitely targeting based on traditionally Jewish last names.

Mike Myers: Just wondering aloud, could the targeting be based on the new URLs that contain names? Perhaps they have a list of names they consider Jewish and are targeting based on profile names???

Jessica Hasenplaugh: Are you sure the advertisers are that sophisticated? Maybe they're just targeting anyone with "owitz" or other similarly Jewish-sounding suffixes in their last names. Incidentally, I don't receive any German-specific targeting, and I don't think that religion is implied in my last name.

Sergei Kogut: This is probably farfetched, but could it be simply because Facebook, unlike many other places where you're likely to see targeted ads, knows exactly what your first and last names are? If you filter just about any list of names for those that end in -itz, you'll get every instance of Leibowitz, Goetz and even Moskowitz. Add to that a similar first name filter, and you'll end up with a most probably 99% Jewish list. Of course it isn't an exact science, and no one would be able to anticipate all the name spelling variations, never mind the problem of name changes that happen when people get married or adopted, but overall a fairly large share of last names display a spelling pattern that could reveal the ethnicity of their owners.

THEORY 3: Facebook allows targeting based on users' social graphs.

Marcy: I don't actually believe that they have a Jewdar or whatnot-dar. It is possible that they add the network of those who are already in their network (check out common friends). If you have at least one friend in common, you'll know where they came from or who referred you. It's more likely for them to search people by city and not by religion or race. Maybe you're just in a city that's quite popular, or you probably have a huge network.

THEORY 4: The targeting is broken to begin with.

Cathy Taylor [not the fellow Social Media Insider columnist]: Your experience with targeted ads on Facebook is rather funny. I'm still wondering why FB is serving up single, white males (older males too) to me when I'm a single black female (not that old). I joked the other day that perhaps FB is suggesting that I try "Something New" until a friend who works as an interactive art director reminded me that Caucasian clip art is cheaper.

Edward Barrera: So then where are my taco, plantain and rum ads? I'm getting discriminat[ed against] by Facebook because I'm a Latino. Scandal.

John Jainschigg: Oy is right. (sigh) This automated inference seems amusing until, one day, it's not. One day, last year, I happened to use the phrase "anarcho-syndicalist" in a blog (I think I was quoting Monty Python), and watched as my Gmail was suddenly overrun with ads for Che Guevara t-shirts and red-diaper-baby memoirs. So we're already a couple lines deep into the famous poem: "First, they came for the communists ... " Not a pretty picture, if you're of morbid character.

THEORY 5: A few overzealous advertisers are making the most of what they have to work with.

Me: Here's a conundrum: you want to target members of a certain ethnic group online. For whatever reason, you think at least some of your target is on Facebook, and perhaps you like the self-service approach with low minimum bids. So you cobble together what you can. You make generalizations. You want Hispanics so you target people interested in Telemundo (16,000+ in the U.S.). You want African American college graduates so you target people who went to schools like Morehouse (5,700 for that college alone). Then, as you want to expand the campaign's reach, you target broader and broader until it gets less obvious.

When you do that, though, some people who notice the ad are going to wonder why it's so on-target, or why it's off-base. Someone might even compile theories about it. And some of those theories may reveal some people's concerns around online advertising. Then again, that's just another theory.

Turning the Tables with Tim Sanders - The Twitter Twinterview

I've interviewed Tim Sanders twice, both times when I was at eMarketer. On his press section, he even has my Q&A; with him about his book The Likeability Factor (great read, though for a Sanders newbie I'd recommend first reading Love is the Killer App, my personal favorite).

In a fun twist, Tim Sanders called me up the other day to talk about Twitter, a fairly new communications channel for him that he's wrapping his head around. One thing I love that he's done: one account where he'll follow everyone back (besides spammers) and occasionally check in on all the countless people who wind up in his stream. Then he has a separate account for the handful of people he wants to read.

As for my thoughts on Twitter, you can read the interview with Tim (or I guess by Tim, in this case) on his blog.

Facebook's Response to Jewdar Targeting

Yesterday, I mused about the Jewdar on Facebook - where advertisers kept targeting me based on my religion, even though such option didn't seem to be available.

Right as the post went live, someone from Facebook told me:

We don’t extend the capability to target by religion.  Therefore, advertisers cannot target users based on their identified religion in their profile. 

Most of the theories espoused by others were that advertisers targeted by last name. What do you think? Have any other theories? And have you seen advertisers using unexpected Jewdar? or Hindudar? Or Africanmericandar? 

I may also use this in a future column so if you don't wish to be quoted, please either email me at marketersstudio @ gmail . com with your take, or just stay anonymous/pseudonymous in the comments.

Oy! Facebook's Jewdar Returns - Social Media Insider

Today's Social Media Insider...

Why is it that the most egregious ethnic profiling I'm subjected to is on Facebook?

Consider the reelection campaign from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I receive brochures from him in the mail at least weekly, all targeting me as someone likely to be of a certain demographic or interested in a particular issue. Bloomberg's TV ads run constantly, all undoubtedly targeted to TV network, perhaps the content of certain programs, and the geographic area. But only on Facebook have I seen an ad for Mayor Mike with the candidate's first name spelled out in Hebrew. The evidence is pouring in: Facebook's Jewdar is back.

I first covered Facebook's Jewhavioral targeting a year ago. The advertiser that targeted me with an ad entitled "Hey Jew" turned out to have overzealously addressed his creative to everyone in large U.S. metropolitan areas. I hadn't seen signs of religious targeting since then.

I still don't list my religion on my Facebook profile, just as I refrain from listing my political affiliation. Yet something new happened last week: Facebook debuted ad targeting options for people who are connected to an advertiser's Page, event, group, or application. Right as this happened, Jewdar activity picked up. Did I miss some story about religious targeting as well, or was it all coincidental?

I reviewed my profile and discovered I still had some Jewish markers displayed -- my "favorites" include such decidedly Jewish masterworks as "Annie Hall," "Everything is Illuminated," and "The Daily Show." The groups I joined over the past year have been more secular. Just because Jeff Pulver seems to spend half his time in Israel, would I really be pegged a Jew just for joining his group "Friends of #140conf"? And what about the Pages? I became a fan of Zagat Survey, which you would hardly use if keeping strictly kosher unless you wanted to check out restaurant descriptions like "the waiter tells YOU what you're having" and "saltier than the Dead Sea." I also proudly became a fan of the non-kosher (and Southern Baptist) Chick-Fil-A, the one reason I never mind having more than an hour to kill in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, even if I'm spending the entirety of the subsequent flight wondering why I needed two fried chicken sandwiches.

The Jewish ads that tracked me down weren't just from Mayor Mike. Another ad beckoned, "Artistic Judaic Promotions: Contemporary Judaica for home, gifts and institutions." Then there was the one for "The New Jew" that urged me to "read this poignant and humorous story about how a Catholic girl from the Midwest became a New York Jew - a most unexpected journey!" And yet my journey had no end in sight.

Other forms of targeting on Facebook make more sense. I see a high percentage of ads targeting my association with my alma mater, which I have always displayed on Facebook, and it's easy to target ads by university and major. Other ads clearly target my geography and professional interests. But religious targeting on Facebook remains a "nisht nisht," as Sacha Baron Cohen's character Bruno would say. What's all the more puzzling is that I don't see ads even hinting of associating me with any other religion or ethnic group. How come there are no ads inviting me to add some awesome new Ramadan application? Why wouldn't I want to transcend time and space with other Buddhists?

I tested sample ads with the new targeting options in place. Facebook limits targeting to Pages, events, groups, and applications that you run. A group lobbying to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," for instance, couldn't target everyone who's a fan of Barack Obama. Similarly, Argentinean women couldn't target their matchmaking services to people who signed up for a Facebook event hosted by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Even if I was a fan of a Jewish-themed Page or a member of a Jewish group, Facebook's controls only allow the originator or moderator to run ads targeting me. And for the record, I'm not currently a fan of "The New Jew."

This brings me back to Mayor Mike. Along with the ad in Hebrew, other ads proclaimed support for him from Brooklyn and Staten Island, two boroughs in which I've never lived. It certainly feels like the campaign will try anything to reach me, and when it's wrong -- which it is, most of the time -- it leaves a bad impression. I'm still left to wonder, though, why I see his ads with Hebrew lettering and not Chinese.

The Truck Stops Here

Here's today's Social Media Insider, originally published in MediaPost. Photo credit: Me.

In the future, will all of our restaurants turn into roving trucks? You may not ask yourself that question every day, but answering it will reveal a few things about the evolution of social media.

This megatrend of trucks serving gourmet food is one of those cataclysmic events that can only be brought on by a slew of events that were never supposed to happen at the same time (think "The Day After Tomorrow"):

·  A recession that caused consumers to be thrifty when eating out while also giving the jobless and underemployed more time than they're used to.

·  GPS technology accurate enough to locate restaurants on wheels.

·  The advent of Twitter, which allowed truck-food proprietors to economically broadcast where they are, along with empowering consumers narcissistic enough to tell people they are on line waiting for a truck chef to serve them.

·  Finally, the emergence of Dr. Scholl's shoe inserts so comfortable that truck chefs can be gellin' without having their feet resemble snapshots from the podiatric-themed issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

New York City has a multiplying fleet of truck chefs. Battles for the streets have become so intense that one truck food purveyor told The New York Times a few weeks ago, "I should not have to carry a baseball bat on my truck in order to sell cupcakes." I've visited two trucks for food this month alone: Van Leeuwen artisan ice cream by the High Line park (after trying the vanilla, "artisan" must be a synonym for "bland"), and the CupcakeStop.com truck that I found via a colleague's tweet, which served the best red velvet I've had east of the Mississippi (either side of it, you can't top Sprinkes).

The most famous, uber-hip food truck isn't driving near my office anytime soon. It's Kogi, the Los Angeles-based Korean barbecue truck fleet with over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Proprietor Mark Manguera seems to have an Oprah-like command of his followers, with hundreds of them lining up for Asian-Mexican food whenever his trucks tweet.

How much further will this trend go? Here are a few ideas:

·  The locations of these trucks will be crowdsourced. It's the converse of the drive-thru: instead of the truck saying where it is and people tweeting about it, people will tweet and the truck drives to where the most buzz is.

·  Mobile applications will instantly show which food trucks are in your area. Trucks will be sorted by cuisine type, location, and the length of the line.

·  A market of line-savers will emerge. Someone spending $10 on dinner from a truck may well pay another $20 not to wait on line for an hour or two (I couldn't find anyone offering or requesting this on the Los Angeles Craigslist boards). A secure arrangement between the parties using SMS and PayPal could ensure timeliness and accuracy. A more sophisticated system could have the person on line periodically checking in via GPS to confirm their location.

·  Trucks will eliminate all of their selection and will tweet the day's option along with the location. One day, it might only be steak fajitas, while another it's shrimp tamales. And the same people who waited two hours to get what they wanted from the truck would wait four to have no options to choose from.

·  Trucks will tweet the wrong locations intentionally. This will weed out the fans from the superfans. Anyone can follow a truck on Twitter and find it and wait on line for food while telling all their friends about it. But imagine if people had no clue where the truck was, and even their friends tweeted the wrong locations to throw them off? The same people who waited four hours to eat food from a truck with only one menu item would spend another four hours trying to find out where the truck really is before waiting another four hours for food.

Thanks to social media and the mobile technologies facilitating it, these trucks may in time lead to a super-race of Twitter users. Consumers already too thrifty to gorge themselves will spend four hours running around after a truck and four hours longer standing in line, all to consume undersized portions designed to easily fit in their hand for on-street consumption. While engaging in these tweets and spending ample time with their fellow line-waiters, they're bound to comingle and eventually reproduce. These offspring will in turn exhibit the genes for fitness and tech savvy that will give them disproportionate advantages in the centuries ahead.

I'm not sure I'll be one of them. Sunday night, while walking home, I discovered a Vietnamese restaurant in my neighborhood and ate my first banh mi sandwich. I had read no reviews, whether by professionals or consumers. I saw nary a tweet about it, and didn't tweet it either. Monday night, I went back for another banh mi. It won't be my last. The whole time, the restaurant stayed in the same location, there was no line, and I sat down while waiting. I'm clearly not cut out for the future of truck-based food consumption, though if it's carrying red velvets, I may make an occasional exception.

Google CPG Blog Guest Post on 4 Questions for Social Media Marketing Success

Let’s Ask Four Questions, via the Weighty Matters Blog

A quick note: I have a guest post on Google’s official CPG blog today, a new one for me. I’ve been focused on this vertical quite a bit more lately so if you are doing some interesting work helping consumer packaged goods brands engage with consumers through social marketing, I welcome chatting more.

Here’s an excerpt:

When CPG marketers are assessing various social marketing opportunities, answering four questions can help determine whether or not the opportunity makes sense for the brand:

1) Does the opportunity meet your brand’s objectives?

2) Does the opportunity leverage your brand’s existing arsenal of assets?

3) Does the opportunity abide by the social media rules of the road?

4) Does it provide significant value exchange?

These questions, as well as other tips and best practices, are detailed in 360i’s recently-released Social Marketing Playbook, a freely available 56-page guide on how to develop, execute and measure a successful social marketing strategy.

The rest of the post looks at examples relating to all four questions.

As far as where the examples came from, I often hear some from multiple sources, but two came from conferences I’ve been to recently, one came from a personal contact with a vendor, and one came from reading industry trades. It does help having multiple arenas to draw from, and I always welcome personal connections to hear more.

Thanks to Tyson Foods, Red Bull, Oscar Mayer, and Vitamin Water, along with Facebook, House Party, and MySpace (it’s safe to say Twitter didn’t have anything to do with the Tyson execution while the other vendors played more active roles).

Craigslist Real Estate Scam Still Strong a Year and a Half Later

It’s scam week here, having covered the Facebook Western Union scam in a column and with the original transcript. Some online scams have proven to be especially enduring.

In December 2007, I posted about a Craigslist real estate scam, and then followed it up with even more details about the real estate scam soon after. These posts have attracted thousands of views and hundreds of comments; terms related to the scam continue to be top draws for the blog.

Here’s a very abbreviated version of how the scam works:

• A real person posts a housing listing on Craigslist
• A scammer poses a buyer from abroad claiming to be interested
• After a protracted conversation, the buyer sends a check for the deposit
• The check’s for too much money, so the buyer requests a certain amount back, up to a few thousand dollars
• The check the scammer sends is no good, so he’s hoping to receive the victim’s funds before the scammer is figured out

Even after all this time, the scammers still use a lot of the same names and professions.

Given how many people continue to search for information, I’ve posted a new exchange from a recent visitor. As with before, I’m doing this more for Google (and, hey, maybe for Bing) than current readers, since it’s most useful to those searching. But I do know people who have nearly fallen for this – and educated Internet users at that – so you may want to share this if you know of people posting real estate listings on Craigslist.

Here’s the recent exchange. Read from the bottom up. I’ve removed the recipient’s name and email address for her privacy.

Feel free to share your stories and other details in the comments, as Google picks up on those too.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From:
To: Allen James <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 8:58:20 PM
Subject: Re: Payment Information
I can not provide the information you requested below. You have not provide the documentation I've requested on my earlier email (pay sub, income tax returns, credit reports, bank statement). Also you did not answer my simple question on many kids you have. Obviously you do not need to move as quickly as you stated. You have been eliminated from my potential rental candidates. You've shown me that you are qualify to rent my house. Please do not waste any more of my time. Do not email me again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Allen James <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 5:07:37 AM
Subject: Payment Information
Hello,
Concerning the rent and deposit required to be paid in order to secure the rental of your home prior to our arrival to the united states,i would be needing some information from you to be forwarded to my financier so as to make payment to you as soon as possible..i will have the information's forwarded to my financier stating an instruction of payment to you. further more i need you to reconfirm the total move in costs,that is;the rent and deposit to be paid and if there are any other additional bills to be payed do not fail to notify me so that all payment can be sent to you at once.
you can have your information in which payment can be sent to you by my financier in this form
* Home/office address...........
* Payee name to be written on the check......
* Current cell phone/ office phone number.....
Due regards from me and my family,we are looking forward to meeting you
Rev Allen James.

----------------------------
From: Allen James <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 4:36:07 PM
Subject: RE: NEEDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Hello ,
Thanks for your response and here is a brief introduction about my self;i am a Pharmacist by profession and I am currently working with the Woodstock Pharmacy, Woodstock,United Kingdom. I will be relocating to the united states of America for the next one year and during my stay i will be working for the United States Implants & orthopedic Agency on a private research work. I hereby reaffirm my interest about renting your home and will be willing to offer you one month rent for a start, plus the security deposit in order to secure the unit prior to our arrival to the united states.
I have a financier based in U.S.A and he will be the one handling the rent deposit payment on our behalf,i will instruct him to send you a bank Check in payment for the rent as soon as you give me the go ahead to send payment to you. I'll be coming with my wife Due to the limited time that we have before our arrival and in line with my work schedule ,we are making arrangements with a furniture company to supply the home with furniture ,so we will need you to provide us with the accurate measurements of the living room and bedroom so that we can send it to the furniture company and they supply the unit with furniture that would fit in well... i would really appreciate it if you could send me some pictures of the living room and the bed rooms.
As regards the lease agreement form,you can have it forwarded to me for review.though i will have it filled and signed on our arrival to your place because am of the opinion that such vital document is best filled and signed physically. We can start the lease by 1st of June and it shall be for a period of 12 months. You can prepare the lease in my name and that of my wife(Rev James & Cheryl James).
Let me know how to move ahead as I intend to complete this deal before I move in a couple of days. I want all the arrangement to be solidified so I settle in comfortably when I arrive. I will let you know the exact date as soon as I get a booking on a flight to the states. I will look forward to your e mail with the required information.
Here is my phone number +Tel: +44-774-008-2424 Thanks and sincere regards from me and my precious family. I await your urgent response.
Rev James
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:39:23 -0700
From:
Subject: Re: NEEDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
To: [email protected]
Security deposit $$7,000
you will pay for all your own bills (water, electricity, garbage, cable and internet) except for Gardner.
I need make decison today so if you want to be consider for this...please call me right away. I have a few questions i'd like to ask.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Allen James <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 3:58:45 AM
Subject: NEEDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Hello,
I saw your advertised on craigslist.com and am interested in renting it. I will be signing a one year lease for it and want to know the requirements for renting it. i.e
Monthly Fees:
Security Deposit
Electricity/Utility Bills
I will be doing a one year research on pharmacy work while in the states I will appreciate it if i hear from you in time as i will want to conclude the rental process before the end of June.
Thanks

The Fastest Way To Lose Money: The Western Union Scam That Keeps Plaguing Facebook

An even worse brand endorsement than the Western Union Scam, with apologies to Getty Images and Pepsi

Here's today's column, originally from MediaPost, with more information on the scam alert I recently discussed.Oh, and MediaPost butchered my title - not the first time. They changed it to "SocialMedia: The Fastest Way to Lose Money?" I think that changes the meaning of it. Griping over, the column's below.

The Fastest Way To Lose Money

Friday night, a friend of mine instant-messaged me on Facebook saying he needed my help. On his profile, there were several messages urging people to contact him right away. I was of course concerned.

Soon it became apparent that it wasn't my friend at all. His identity had been hijacked by a scammer who posted the messages to his profile and IMed his friends. The Nigerian scam has been going on in this form at least since January, when Silicon Alley Insider and TechCrunch reported on it. It's a reminder that wherever consumers go, scammers and other malevolent elements will follow. In this case, it's also an unfortunate brand association with Western Union, as you'll see momentarily.

Excerpts of the conversation are below, and you can read the entire transcript on my blog. I've changed the name of my friend to Walter Jenkins, but otherwise it's verbatim.

Walter: I had to visit a resort here in London on vacation and I got robbed at the hotel Im staying... Its really sucks and scary here... I got robbed at a gun point and all my money and stuffs got stolen but im lucky I still have my passport with me. Well, can I ask for a favor?

David: what do you need?

Walter: What i need now is just some cash to complete my tix till im back home to refund you back. Can you help with some money?... $390 pounds is all i need more. I can get it from the ATM for you first thing as soon as Im back home... You can get it to me here using western union. You need just my name as written on my passport and the location here. Do you know how to go about with the western union thing?

David: Using paypal to transfer funds won't do anything for you?

Walter: Im glad you are helping Dav. Western union is very easy to transfer money and to receive money. [An aside: this is just about the worst brand endorsement a marketer could ever receive, which would be topped only if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown drinking a Pepsi while jailing election protestors.]

David: If you're online, can't i just use paypal?

Walter: I don't have paypal acct [He's a technology entrepreneur. If the red flags weren't up already, they're signaling major alarms here.]

David: what's the location

Walter: United Kingdom London... Do you know any western union location around you?... You will be given a confirmation number

David: yes i found many locations. i can help. tell me more about where you are. [At this point, I'm stringing him along to get as much information as possible in case it's helpful later.]

Walter: I'll be needing it to pick up the money. You need just my name as written on my passport and my location here. Name:Walter Jenkins. Location United Kingdom, London

David: okay but there are many locations in london, tell me more about where you are

Walter: I can pick up the money at any western union location

David: Okay, great. so tell me why you only need 390 GBP if you were held up at gunpoint

Walter: I need it to complete my ticket and fly back home.

David: how about i just buy you the ticket? i'll go online and buy it for you. tell me which flight you want, which airports

Walter: I'll need the cash for some things more

David: Well if you already have some money for the ticket, use the money you have for the other things. i'll buy the ticket [This exchange went on for awhile, leading nowhere.]

Walter: Im in a library here using the comp here to get on facebook for help

David: a friend of mine happens to be at heathrow right now, i just IMed him. can i have him meet you there?

Walter: Well, Its okay if you can't help

David: i can help. what flight are you taking?

Walter: B.A. Why can't you go to the store and have it done now?

David: What time is your flight?

Walter: I don't think you really want to help. Its okay. the manager will be helping me to purchase the ticket here

David: oh that is SOOO nice of him, then you can use your money to buy whatever else you need. which library are you at? that way i can look up how far you are from heathrow.

Then it abruptly stopped talking. I managed to save the conversation just in time, as soon he defriended me. I still had access to read his Facebook Wall (though not post on it), so I emailed a few people who responded to the scammer's posts there and let them know. The next day, my friend had his account back and we were friends again.

If your account is compromised, Facebook will disable it. It can be reinstated after contacting them via a form. A Facebook representative told Silicon Alley Insider, "We're reminding users to be very suspicious of anyone, even friends, who ask you over the Internet to send money.  Please verify their circumstances through some other means than the web (e.g. call them or mutual friends)." You should also make sure they share information about themselves that isn't publicly available on Facebook or elsewhere.

As for Western Union, there's a section on its site about scams, but no mention of this one. That's a shame. In the meantime, the Walter Jenkins impersonators out there are doing a good job representing Western Union's brand. "Walter" is doing well spreading the word, as the top city by far searching Google for 'westernunion.com' is Lagos, Nigeria. If you run into him or his buddies, don't send cash. See if he'll go for a Facebook gift instead.

The Future of Digital Media: One Video, a Dozen Experts (and me)

Scott Hoffman, a great marketer and pundit with social network ad platform Lotame, recently shot a video at a Digiday event where he asked a bunch of smart people about the future of digital media. I must have been in the way or something because he included me in a pretty savvy bunch. He pulled it all together in one clip that may get your gears going; at the very least, it's a good intro to a lot of smart folks out there, Scott included.You'll also meet:

John Nardone – CEO of [x+1], Jeff Hirsch – CEO of Audience Science, Adam Broitman – founder A Media Circ.us, Eric Porres & Tom Hespos – founders of Underscore Marketing, Ben Barokas – Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer – Admeld, Raj Chauhan – VP, Ad Network Development – Rubicon Project, Michael Burke – Co-Founder & President – Appssavvy ,Tim McHale – The Madison Avenue Journal, Steven Kaufman – EVP, Client Service – MediaMath, David Honing – Co-Founder – media6, and Janet Balis – President – Digital Media Strategies

Be sure to catch more from Scott at Cliqology.com or @cliqology on Twitter.