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Smile, You're on Social Media

8/9/2018

17 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

"When it's least expected - you're elected. You're the star today. Smile! You're on Candid Camera!”  It used to be that a hidden camera TV show was the only way others might see our most embarrassing or intimate moments.  Thanks to cellphones and social media, millions can now easily watch outtakes from our lives, whether we like it or not, which is what one unsuspecting airline traveler recently experienced.

A few weeks ago, Helen (last name unknown) was settling into an Alaskan Airlines flight from New York to Dallas when another passenger, Rosey Blair, asked if she’d switch seats.  Blair wanted to sit next to her boyfriend, Houston Hardaway, who was in the row behind her.  Helen obliged, which put her in front of Blair and Hardaway, and next to an attractive stranger, who later identified himself as Euan Holden, a former professional soccer player.
 
As the plane took off, so did an apparent romance between Helen and Holden.  The unexpected seatmates’ casual conversation turned flirtatious and eventually the two were touching elbows on that ambiguous middle armrest.  When the flight landed and passengers deplaned, the two could be seen strolling through the terminal together.
 
Given 40,000+ flights in the United States each day, how do we know so much about the interaction between two ordinary air travelers?  We’re privy because Blair chronicled everything about the blossoming relationship from the row behind them.
 
Around 15 times, Blair tweeted about things she saw and overheard such as the couple discovering that they were both personal trainers and vegetarians.  Pictures and videos accompanied some of the tweets, as well as the hashtags #PrettyPlaneGirl and #PlaneBae.  In very little time, Blair’s tweets amassed 630,000 likes and 250,000 retweets, then mainstream news media began to share the touching tale.
 
Sounds like a relationship and social media success story, right?  Not quite.  Helen was unaware of Blair’s inflight antics and was very unhappy to be flung into the national media spotlight, especially after the attention led to online harassment and the need to delete her social media accounts.  Helen issued a statement through an attorney that included: “I did not ask for and do not seek attention. #PlaneBae is not a romance - it is a digital-age cautionary tale about privacy, identity, ethics and consent.”

Wow.  That’s a strong reaction, but did Blair do anything wrong?  After all, it’s legal to photograph people in public places where there is no “reasonable expectation of privacy.”  The incident occurred on a commercial airliner, apparently in coach, where hundreds of people are packed like sardines.  It’s hard to get much less private. 
 
“Reasonable expectation of privacy,” however, is subject to interpretation.  Yes, a commercial airliner is a rather pubic place, but most passengers wouldn’t expect the people behind them to be eavesdropping on them throughout an entire flight or photographing them from above and between the seats.
 
An even bigger issue involves Blair’s occupation.  According to her Twitter page, she a plus-size fashion, lifestyle, and travel blogger, which means her livelihood depends on sharing content on social media.  Gaining likes, shares, and followers is key to her success, and to have a post go viral is golden.
 
Blair’s profession matters because it reframes her motives and recontexualizes her actions.  She’s no longer just a person sharing with friends a few photos she took of strangers.  She’s an entrepreneur employing visual and verbal accounts of others to advance her business interests.  She’s a marketer using Helen and Holden, without recompense, to build her brand.  Jayson DeMers describes such situations in a 2014 Forbes article:
 
“The danger in using photos of individuals for your online marketing purposes is that your efforts could be seen as commercial. The rules when it comes to using photos for commercial purposes differ from when you’re merely sharing vacation photos with your buddies. Even if you aren’t directly making money off of the usage, a photo in a social media campaign can easily be seen as similar to using a photo in a print brochure or billboard ad.”
 
What Blair did was not clearly illegal, but her actions could easily land her on the losing end of a lawsuit, as DeMers continues to explain: “If your subject believes his likeness was used to sell a product without his permission, you may find yourself on the losing side of an argument in front of a judge.”
 
Ethics, however, is not simply a matter of ‘legal’ or ‘illegal.’  It’s about doing the right thing no matter what the law says.  In that light, a good question for Blair or anyone in a similar situation to ask is “Would I want someone else to eavesdrop on my conversation, take pictures of me without my knowledge or permission, and share those things on social media?”
 
Most of us would say, “Of course not.”  So, if that’s the kind of consideration we’d like for our own privacy, we should obey the Golden Rule and show the same respect to others.
 
Everyone makes mistakes, and Blair seems to recognize that her social media sharing of two strangers’ personal interactions was wrong.  She has offered an apology; although, she failed to delete most of her tweets about the incident.  For this reason and all of the above, Blair’s creation and promotion of “Plane bae” should be considered “Single-Minded Marketing.”


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17 Comments
resume writer link
8/27/2018 09:27:43 pm

I don't understand these people who do not have good intention but to shame people on social media. I mean, there are way better options you could have resorted too than putting up the content online. It was frustrating that people think that everything should be vented out in social media as if the problems they have would be solved there. What Blair did was totally disgusting and she really has to apology for what she did. This should be a lesson for everyone.

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Emmett Shotts
9/13/2018 05:53:45 pm

I remember seeing this all over Twitter when it first went viral. I never saw anything wrong with it because both of the people in question (from what I remember) can never be heard, and their faces are never shown. Anything that was actually identifiable about them wasn't in the videos. I'm not sure how Helen was identified to the point where she was harassed, unless Blair had divulged any identifying information on her tweet (I had seen a repost that did not include everything).
That being said, I agree that this was a simple-minded thing to do. While Blair got great publicity for herself and her blog by doing this, she never took into account how the "couple" in her media would feel. She took initiative to show something to the public that most people don't like to discuss or show to others that they don't know well (the "how we met" story). She should have stuck to sharing her own travel experiences instead of focusing in on people without their permission in a rather creepy manner. Filming them between their seats and eavesdropping was a very clear violation of their right to privacy.

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Brent Coward
9/26/2018 02:24:01 pm

In the case of Blair and Helen I would say that Blair is in the wrong. Like the article said, this was not an illegal act, but ethics are based off of right and wrong not legal vs illegal. Blair used this story of Helen to promote herself and her online media presence which in a way could be considered as selling a product (the story) to self-promote her social media campaign. Even though Blair never made any money off this post her reasons for posting about it were unethical. She did not have permission to talk about a private conversation that she was eavesdropping on. Even though she was in a public setting it was not her place to talk about what two other passengers were talking about. I just think that if I was on Helen’s shoes I would be very upset to come to learn that details from a private conversation that I had with someone had gone viral. I would not want someone to document and post things about me with out my permission. Also, if a case like this were to go to trial Blair would most likely loose the case because what she did was a violation of privacy. Because of this I agree that this was a simple-minded decision made by Blair and even though Blair got great publicity from these posts, she never took into account how the "couple" in her media would feel about the things that she was posting, therefore making an unethical decision.

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Reshawndra Sands
9/26/2018 03:28:57 pm

I agree that Blair’s actions stated in this article was simple – minded marketing for the reason that it did not uphold societal values despite creating stakeholder values. It was unfair for Blair to post about the couple without their knowledge. Like the article says persons hope to be in a state of privacy but in today’s society it is not always the case. Many persons are secretly videotaped and are posted on social media but it was just unfortunate that when Blair did it, her actions had consequences. Helen spoke up and decided to speak to an attorney, because of the impact the post had on her life. Blair was not making an ethical decision because it was not right for her to post despite the expectations of her career.

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Joe Crocenzi
9/26/2018 08:12:22 pm

First and foremost I hate social media. Now that I got that off my chest here is what I think. This is very much a legal grey area. Blair is simply doing her job yet she is invading someone else's privacy. One of the main rules in using social media is to only post something that you wouldn't mind everyone seeing. Yet this is a much different situation because Helen is not using social media. Someone is eavesdropping on her and posting it for their personal gain without getting Helen’s permission. This is an invasion of her privacy. Even if it is not illegal, eavesdropping on someone sharing it to the world is ethically wrong. This is something that should be understood and accounted for by all people that use any social media platforms. I do not believe that you can make a law to combat this. This is a very complicated issue and there is no clear answer. However, I believe that one thing all people should do is to use good judgement and be ethical when deciding what and when to post.

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Ben Writer
9/27/2018 12:25:20 am

Last summer, I remember scrolling through Twitter and seeing pictures of Helen and Euan’s in-flight anecdote. Initially I did not think much of it. As I am not typically one for a love story, this thread did not really interest me. However, after some careful thought I realized that this thread is more than just a love story. First off, this story is truly a sign of the times. For millions of people to be able to see these two lovers is not only amazing, but very scary. I’m sure Helen and Euan thought they were acting in near privacy. I realize that they were in public, but to be observed and photographed in an intimate moment such as there’s is an invasion of privacy. In the recent past this event would’ve been a cute story told between a group of friends. Instead people across the country heard about their airborne love. In today’s high-tech society, anyone could be the victim of a viral post. However, this is just going to have to be a truth that modern people should have to learn to deal with. I believe that the government should not restrict cell phone or photography use in public. I think Blair should’ve had more decency in this situation as well. By simply asking for their consent to post the pictures after the flight or to mind her own business would have been much more moral and acceptable. Due to Blair’s actions I agree with the rating of single-minded as this clearly does not uphold societies values. In conclusion, one should not do anything in public that they wouldn’t want to become viral because there is always a chance that it may. Additionally, I believe that our society should show more respect towards others when using their cell phones in public or private.

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Nicko McMillen
9/27/2018 01:49:33 am

I do agree that her actions single-minded overall, but not exactly that she was wrong. Today privacy is something most people have accepted is almost non existent. Once you walk out the door of your home you could be taken a photo or video of by any person who owns a phone or camera. Sometimes even to have that blow up like this situation did.
With my field being along the lines of video and photography often times we will take pictures of strangers without their permission. We are almost encouraged to do so, even by professionals and our professors. The only thing we are told is "don't get caught." Because unless you are caught, people won't find it wrong. We spend hours a day scrolling through instagram looking at photos and videos of people that many could not even have had permission to do so by the subject. Overall, because our entertainment is put above others people's privacy. A majority of people will find that Blair did nothing wrong, because it gave them something to tweet about.

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Anthony Salomone
9/27/2018 09:29:25 am

In general, I am not a huge fan of social media. I refused to sign up for one until it was required for work, and even then I still did not get one until the end of my senior year. I think the initial intentions of social media were good. The idea of trying to connect with people you haven't seen in a while and bring back long lost friendships is something that I see as a good thing. However, it has very quickly turned into a platform on which everyone tries to outdo their 1,000 "Facebook Friends." Instead of showing people the aspects of life, people have stopped living and just try to get likes and views on social media. Everything revolves around social media nowadays and intentional or not, somehow everyone is going to end up on it. Society has taken the core concept of reconnecting relationships and turned it into a popularity contest similar to those in high school, except these are mostly grown adults participating in this childish activity. This culture makes it difficult for anyone to anything publicly and not get posted on social media, whether good or bad. I think this case is a perfect example of society's obsession with social media. Blair didn't take pictures, videos and make posts about the couple because she thought it was sweet. She did it to gain popularity and increase her followers. By doing this she definitely got attention, but for all the wrong reasons. Taking advantage of people certainly shouldn't get you popularity, but in this day and age, it does. I am very grateful that I did not spend high school on social media and rather just enjoyed the experience because it only happens one time and I didn't think I should waste that time trying to win a non-important online popularity contest. I think this case actually falls under mindless on the Mindful Marketing Matrix. Blair certainly didn't uphold societal values by secretly taking pictures of strangers and I don't believe she created stakeholder value. I know if I was one of her followers, I definitely wouldn't be one anymore and I would hope that most people would feel the same way because this behavior shouldn't be encouraged but rather discouraged.

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Brynn Fieldhouse
10/23/2018 02:09:56 pm

This issue of eavesdropping in a public place is so difficult because it technically isn’t illegal, but in the case of Helen and Blair things clearly went too far. I think that it was unfair for Blair to use what she heard for her own benefit without asking for permission to post about them. She could have whether or not they were comfortable with her sharing what she heard asked after the plane ride. Honestly, they probably would have said no, but that still would have been the right, ethical thing to do.
Further, I agree that this fits into the single-minded marketing category because Blair was not thinking about the feelings or the privacy of Helen and Holden. It’s almost like she viewed them as fictional characters without pausing to think about the fact that they are real people and she is advertising and exaggerating their real lives.

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Marketing Student
11/3/2018 06:06:05 pm

This was such an interesting controversy. This post handled both sides of the issue well. What Blair did was not illegal, yet most of us don't want people listening in on our conversations and taking our pictures and then posting them on social media, without our consent. As the article mentioned, this is a matter of ethical principles.
What I also found interesting was that Blair was a social media influencer. This very fact changes the dynamics of the situation, because of her posts, she gain more popularity.

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Eliana
11/4/2018 07:04:45 pm

What Blair did was not okay at all, from an ethical standpoint. Posting pictures of other people having a personal conversation is not alright! Because Blair benefits from all of her posts on social media – as this is her career – she is more or less using other people for self-promotion. Ethically this is wrong, but it does allow he to gain value to her name and brand. Considering this “single-minded marketing” is definitely fair.

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Kylie Benzing
11/5/2018 12:11:11 am

This article does a great job of expanding on both sides of the situation. Blair’s actions were not illegal; however they were not necessarily smart. In my opinion, what Blair did was not ethical. As mentioned in the article, ethics, is not simply a matter of ‘legal’ or ‘illegal,’ it is about doing the right thing no matter what the law says. Because of Blair’s occupation, she had no right to post what she did on twitter. I agree that this situation fits into the single-minded marketing category because Blair did not take into account the feeling of the people she was writing about. In any marketing or advertising situation, it is important to realize how it will affect the people who will see it.

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John Rizkallah
11/5/2018 03:02:10 am

Social Media has made all of our lives entertainment. I do not know why I am intrigued by seeing my friend's day at the mall through her frequent social media postings. I shouldn't care but I do because I feel like I am part of that day. Social Media has become a TV channel and we the actors are unpaid and unknowing of their new fame. In the case of PlaneBae, the "actress" and "actor" found out after being harrassed on social media for something that an attention craving health blogger (paparazzi) posted. Social Media is at the forefront of marketing but I do not think that should allow people to be exploited for it. Their privacy matters and just because it is through a phone, does not mean it does not need permission.

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John Rizkallah
11/5/2018 03:03:29 am

I apologize for my grammatical errors, it is really late.

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Sage Wilson
11/5/2018 07:59:09 pm

It is clear that Blair did not act ethically in this situation and did not resolve the conflict with grace. On the Mindful Meter it would be single-minded because it creates value for the stakeholder but does not uphold societal values. Most people would agree that it was not acceptable for Blair to post Helen's experience, hence the lack of societal values. It will be interesting to see if any legislature is passed in the future regarding privacy in public.

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Michael
11/6/2018 03:44:50 am

After reading this ad, it made me understand about the importance of how we should bring up the problem of domestic violence to the public. It also an issue that we must not take lightly. Moreover, this blog post also discusses about how advertisers have the power to raise the public’s awareness without having to offend anyone. Although it’s hard to step up to domestic violence, I believe that by reassuring the public through mass media that stepping up is necessary, it will influence people to be braver.

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