Cisco Social Software Lets You "Stalk" Customers 123
coondoggie writes "Cisco this week unveiled software designed to let companies track customers and prospects on social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other public forums and sites. Cisco SocialMiner allows users to monitor status updates, forum posts and blogs of customers so they can be alerted of conversations related to their brand. The software is designed to not only enable enterprises to monitor the conversations of their customers but to engage those that require service, Cisco says."
Re:Doesn't matter to me (Score:5, Informative)
As if I needed another reason to not have a facebook account. If there's not an anonymous option I just create a temporary fake account for whatever forum I'm wanting to comment on and then forget it. I have more hotmail, yahoo and gmail accounts than I can count. In the last 15 years I'll bet I've used hundreds of temp accounts.
I've run my own mail server for, well, probably close to twenty years now, and I just create addresses like "junk0001", "junk0002", etc. whenever I create an account on a site or forum that I don't trust. That also lets me see who is actually selling my personal information, and lets me easily block any spam that results. It's remarkable how many sites that claim "we don't sell or release any of your personal information to any third parties" do exactly that as soon as you click the SUBMIT button. I've literally had spam appear in my inbox from some of these throwaway accounts within minutes of my signing up for some forum or other. Everything from payday loan offers to V!agka. Fuckers.
I agree with you about Facebook. I don't have an account and am not ever likely to have one.
Re:'service' should be in special quotes (Score:3, Informative)
I think to get the creepiness quotient expressed properly, 'service' should be in special quotes there.
This stuff is nothing new. [wsj.com]
I think its repugnant that a customer needs to make a public sqwak in order to get good service (and thus have your complaining be a permanent public record for data-mining corps). But, on the other hand, at least customers are now better enabled to sqwak in the first place.
Re:Caveat emptor (Score:3, Informative)
Rule #1 of buying stuff: the vendor is not your "friend", on Facebook or otherwise.
Rule #2 of buying stuff: Don't buy stuff from douches who spy on you.