Curated by Stuart Fogarty stuart@admaticallycom for AFAO'Meara Advertising, Streamabout The Video Agency and Admatic Ireland.
All comments will be posted - promise!
The Ashley Madison site hack, comes at a bad time for those who use it and for, Ashley Madison. The hackers, called 'The Impact Team', were able to take profile information and credit card detail (as well as "personal" details) in a high profile hacking - but this is coming only months after Avid Life Media (Ashley Madison, Established Men, Cougar Life and others) announced a 200 million usd IPO in London at the end of the year. The hack which took real life names, addresses is sure going to cause some embarrassment with an estimated 37 million profiles vulnerable but is likely to cause real difficulties for the IPO - probably rules it out completely. The hack seems to be aimed at "punishing" the site for some problems with a 'delete all' button where users could delete their profile history forever at a charge of 19 usd - or could they? The hack seems to be trying to show that 'delete all' didn't happen. The hackers say that if the site isn't closed, they'll release all the data and Channel 4 news, says it has seen some of that data as "proof'. Some of the names are seemingly, "high profile"....... What's really astonishing too, is that the "have an affair" site, had 37 million paying users to begin with. And that's only the second biggest site, behind Match.com
In 2014 it had 115 million usd in "sales' expected to rise over 150 million usd this year with 70% of users men (30% are women....wow!). Will they publish the data? Unlikely we'd think, although they might release some juicy profiles to create a greater stir. Life is short but if you're having an affair, use an alias!
No longer do you need to go to the bar, the solicitors office or the annual accountants festival to meet someone new, because Social Media is the place to be. According to a new survey in Mashable, 95.8% (you often wonder about the .8%...probably a short person) of people say they most often meet people online through Social Media. Dating sites, Apps, all play a role and it shows the huge potential for online dating businesses. Nearly 21% of people surveyed said they met "more than 100" others online - not a bad day at the office. Signs of interest are, people constantly commenting on your Facebook pic and updates, with a good tweet, a new way to get the ball rolling. To tweet is sweet (I just made that up but you get the idea). In one way it makes sense because the people you're connected to probably share similar interests which is why you connected in the first place. So the field is narrowed down. Your profile pic is the most important hook (which knocks me out) and then location, interests and your friends. 50% of the people also said they'd meet up offline when they get online interest - worrying issue for kids. 28% wait a week before going on a date and happily, 7% only wait a day! Users also use Social Media to connect with people they know offline in the hope of developing a crush. So I'm now disconnecting from Mark Zuckerberg in case he gets the wrong idea. But definitely Social Media is the place where it's at to meet up. And a dating online site can prove to be a fruitful business with results like these at nearly 96% of people prepared to "date" online. Tread carefully my friends.
