The REport

The amplitude of the Internet was proven once again last weekend when WikiLeaks released approximately 92,000 classified documents on the war in AfghanistanWhite House officials are no doubt revisiting their handling of classified documents in light of this.  What is your policy on protecting important business files from ending up on the Internet?

What a contradiction!  Just as Facebook officially reached 500 million users, it also received an “abysmal” rating (64 out of 100) on the 2010 American Customer Survey Index, which measured 30 online companies. Respondents cited privacy, commercialization of the site and technology changes as the primary reasons causing discontent.  What score would you give the site?

Speaking of Facebook, Mashable published a list of fascinating facts on the social network. Among them, the average user has 130 friends and California is the most social state. Interesting!

It is no surprise that Gartner has a new report concluding that “the majority of consumers rely to some extent on social networks to guide them in their purchase decisions.” The well-respected research firm surveyed nearly 4,000 consumers in the last quarter of 2009.  Word of mouth has truly become “word of mouse.”

In the Internet age of buying a house, images certainly play a major role as buyers check out photos of homes and the surrounding community.  Google Image Search — which has one billion page views a day — recently underwent a transformation.  Images will now come up in context.  Try a search for your community and, if the results are not up to par, work with local businesses to update!  It could potentially lead to a sale.

How many times have you sent an e-mail or text in the workplace and had its tone misinterpreted?  ToneCheck, an email plug-in that scans the content of your emails and flags words or phrases that may be misunderstood or interpreted as particularly negative, is now available for Windows.  Give it a try (and I don’t mean that in a demanding or accusatory way).

Finally, are you following AJ, the Ford Fiesta that tweets?  By using the “Auto”matic Blog app, tweets sent from the car can combine real-time traffic notices regarding congestion, for example.  Or using GPS can alert friends when you are in the area.  A car that says “you’ve arrived” … literally!

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