Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments.He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions. He is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. Aaron is also a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law, and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs. In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

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Aaron is the chair of our Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data– and technology–intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud computing, AR/VR, AI, gaming, healthcare, consumer electronics, social media, e–commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin–offs, and private equity investments.

Aaron P. Rubin

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in both California and New York. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

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Lawrence Gallick

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

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Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

Anthony M. Ramirez

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Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

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Lawrence W. Gallick

Social Links: If the Suit Fits

Social Links: Age Verification, X Appeal, and the Great White North

Social Links: Fake Reviews, Real Rulings, and an Epic Fail

Lawrence W. Gallick on Toth v. Everly Well, Inc.

Social Links: Going Back to Cali

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Conversations around AI continue to dominate the headlines in early 2024 and show no signs of abating anytime soon. Here are few of the stories and trends we’ve been tracking at Socially Aware.A deepfake technology scam cost a multinational company’s Hong Kong office upwards of $25M earlier this month. The scam involved an employee who was duped during a video call that involved AI-created likenesses of various company employees, including the CFO, who instructed the employee to transfer funds to five different Hong Kong bank accounts. This event has reinforced persistent concerns in the technology community and beyond about AI’s use and its role in tricking people into believing AI-generated images, likenesses, and audio recreations are real.Media giant Fox is contemplating using its blockchain protocol known as Verify, an open-source protocol that emerged out of Fox’s Blockchain Creative Labs, to help companies “track how their content is being used online,” according to an Axios report. Blockworks added that “Verify uses digital signatures to allow publishers to put media on-chain, making it easier for everyone to trace the original source of the content.” Fox’s hope is that this technology will help consumers and other content producers trace the origins of any piece of content that is included in the protocol.Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued new guidelines on AI tools and their potential misuse by practitioners in its administrative tribunals. In a recent memorandum from the PTO, Director Kathi Vidal cited potential issues around AI-generated submissions to the PTO, stating that “[a] submission (including an AI-generated or AI-assisted submission) that misstates facts or law could also be construed as a paper presented for an improper purpose because it could ‘cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of any proceeding before the Office.’”Finally, the Chief AI Officer, 0r CAIO, is trending as one of the hottest new job titles across industries and sectors, and, particularly, the federal government. With that, there are two schools of thought on where an organization’s AI responsibilities should reside. Some believe it should be concentrated in a singular executive C-suite role, while Axios reports that some organizations are looking to distribute AI strategies across several executives and functional areas rather than concentrate those responsibilities within one department or role. Leading AI expert Ryan Heath believes that “AI strategy should be everyone’s job” within an organization. With the rapidly expanding role that AI continues to play in commerce and society, we will be keeping a close watch on how companies and individuals grapple with this emerging dominant technology.

Social Links: March 2024

Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.

Aaron Rubin

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions.











Anthony Ramirez

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.

Social Links: March 2024

Conversations around AI continue to dominate the headlines in early 2024 and show no signs of abating anytime soon.

Computer scientist and legal scholar Nick Szabo first proposed the idea of “smart contracts” in 1996. Szabo published his initial paper on the topic in a publication called Extropy, a journal of transhumanism, a movement seeking to enhance human intellect and physiology by means of sophisticated technologies. At the time, the idea was nothing if not futuristic.Fast forward 22 years, and even if the actual use of smart legal contracts remains largely in the future, the idea of them has gone mainstream. What follows is our list of the top five things you need to know about this quickly evolving area.<ol><li> <h6>Their Name Is Somewhat Confusing</h6> </li></ol>When lawyers speak of contracts, they generally mean agreements that are intended to be legally enforceable. In contrast, when most people use the term “smart contract” they’re not referring to a contract in the legal sense, but instead to computer coding that may effectuate specified results based on “if, then” logic.Advocates of smart legal contracts envision a day when coding will automatically exercise real-world remedies if one of the parties to a smart contract fails to perform.. For example, if an automotive borrower were to fail to make a car payment, coding within the smart loan agreement could automatically trigger a computer controlling the relevant car to prevent the borrower from driving it, or could cause the car to drive autonomously to the lender’s garage.Even then, whether coding itself could ever satisfy the requirements of a legally binding contract is up for debate.<ol start="2"><li> <h6>They Are Works in Progress, But Hopes Are High</h6> </li></ol>Smart contracts also aren’t particularly smart. For one thing, the “if, then” logic of their coding typically relies on an external source of information, a so-called “oracle,” to state whether a certain event has occurred and a prescribed remedy should thus ensue. In most cases, connections between the coding and the oracles are works in progress. Likewise, connections between smart contracts and the means to exercise real-world remedies for nonperformance are still being built.Smart contracts’ relatively early stage of development has not dimmed hopes that they will ultimately play a large, even central, role in much commerce. Some proponents have claimed that they will revolutionize business arrangements by offering a more efficient alternative to conventional contracts, dramatically lessening enforcement costs while limiting the government’s role in contract enforcement.<ol start="3"><li> <h6>Major Projects Are Percolating</h6> </li></ol>Work on smart contracts has begun in earnest. For example, a smart-contracts consortium, the <a href="https://www.accordproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Accord Project</a>, has begun work to develop “techno-legal standards” and open-source software tools for smart contracts. And a syndicated loan industry group, the <a href="https://www.lsta.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Loan Syndications and Trading Association</a>, has released a <a href="https://www.lsta.org/news-and-resources/news/lsta-releases-final-part-of-blockchain-white-paper">detailed white paper</a> exploring how smart contracts might allow parties to transact more efficiently and securely.The <a href="https://www.isda.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Swaps and Derivatives Association</a>, the derivatives-industry trade association, has <a href="https://www.isda.org/2017/08/09/the-legal-aspects-of-smart-contracts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">begun work to identify legal and documentation issues</a> that may arise from smart-contract technology. And certain smart-contract functionality is now offered on Ethereum, an open-source, blockchain-based distributed platform.<ol start="4"><li> <h6>They Will Likely Rely on Distributed-Ledger Technology</h6> </li></ol>Smart contracts are distinct from distributed-ledger technology, such as the blockchain system, but are often discussed in the context of that technology, which permits the sharing of synchronized digital data geographically over multiple sites without any central administrator. Distributed-ledger technology is expected to facilitate the use of smart contracts by permitting the relevant coding to be embedded in the shared ledger while preventing either party from altering that coding.<ol start="5"><li> <h6>Regulation May Be on the Way</h6> </li></ol>While certain proponents of smart contracts may wish to limit governmental involvement in the realm of private contracts, it nonetheless seems likely that <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/state-state-smart-contract-laws-aint-broke-dont-fix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smart contracts will engender their own regulation</a>. From a legal perspective, much of the novelty of smart contracts is the automatic nature of the exercise of remedies for breach. Legislators and regulators may well wish to limit the remedies that may be agreed in advance or exercised without human intervention.

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Five Things to Know About Smart Contracts

Five Things to Know About Smart Contracts

Computer scientist and legal scholar Nick Szabo first proposed the idea of “smart contracts” in 1996. Szabo published his initial paper on the topic in a public

Finding that President Trump’s Twitter feed constitutes a public forum, a federal judge in New York City held that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/business/media/trump-twitter-block.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it’s a First Amendment violation when the President or one of his assistants blocks a Twitter user</a> from viewing or responding to one of the President’s tweets. As the New York Times points out, the decision “is likely to have implications far beyond Mr. Trump’s feed and its 52 million followers.” A blog post on the online version of the monthly magazine Reason provides some <a href="https://reason.com/blog/2018/05/24/tips-for-politicians-with-social-media-a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tips for politicians with social media accounts</a> who want to stay on the right side of the law.Speaking of President Trump, the former secretary of a federal judge is claiming the President got her fired. Okay, not exactly. The secretary, Olga Zuniga, who worked for a judge on Texas’s highest criminal court, filed a lawsuit alleging that the judge—a member of the GOP—terminated her employment because he found Facebook posts in which Zuniga criticized President Trump’s and other Republican politicians’ immigration policies. A post on Popehat, a fellow <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/11/30/socially-aware-named-one-of-the-best-law-blogs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABA Web 100</a> honoree, explores the strength of Zuniga’s case.Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect last Friday, May 25th. Now that the dust has cleared, if you are interested in up-to-date information regarding GDPR developments and compliance insights, check out our GDPR Resource Center. If you want details on what GDPR means for your outsourcing and other vendor agreements, you might want to attend our upcoming webinar.The impact of GDPR is being felt across social media platforms in all sorts of ways. For example, in a move reportedly prompted by GDPR, <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/05/twitter-accounts-that-were-made-when-a-user-was-under-13-are-being-banned.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter has shut down accounts of those users who, at the time that they joined Twitter, were under 13 years of age, based on date-of-birth information voluntarily provided by such users during the registration process</a>.Facing an inbox full of companies’ privacy policy updates? You can blame that on the GDPR too. In fact, the onslaught of GDPR-induced privacy-policy updates inspired some pretty <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/gdpr-the-eus-new-data-privacy-law-has-inspired-some-epic-memes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creative memes on Twitter</a>.Wait… the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/05/24/614195844/new-eu-data-protection-law-could-affect-people-who-take-pictures-with-their-phon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GDPR will also affect tourists taking photos with their phones</a>?Instagram is expanding its anti-bullying initiatives by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/technology/instagram-bully-filter.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using a machine-learning algorithm to filter out harassing comments</a> and reviewing the accounts with an especially high number of blocked comments to determine whether the owners of those accounts have violated the platform’s community guidelines.The still-unprofitable <a href="https://digiday.com/media/unskippable-six-second-video-ads-coming-snapchat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snapchat will begin running six-second advertisements that its users will not be able to skip</a>. These un-skippable commercials will not run during users’ personal stories, only during select Snapchat Shows—highly produced three-to-five minute programs from well-known entertainment companies.The fascinating story of how Wired <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/wired-lost-bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost a small fortune in Bitcoin</a>. . . . (Well, the Bitcoins are <a href="https://blockchain.info/address/1BYsmmrrfTQ1qm7KcrSLxnX7SaKQREPYFP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, but the key has been destroyed.)The Royal Wedding was a bigger topic on Pinterest than it was on Facebook. FastCompany speculates that it’s because Pinterest’s audience is predominantly women and <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40574125/why-the-royal-wedding-is-a-bigger-deal-on-pinterest-than-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reveals the subject of most of the Royal Wedding pins</a>.

Social Links: Laws affecting politicians using Twitter & tourists taking photos; the GDPR takes effect; lost Bitcoins

Finding that President Trump’s Twitter feed constitutes a public forum, a federal judge in New York City held that it’s a First Amendment violation when the Pre

Social Links: Laws affecting politicians using Twitter & tourists taking photos; the GDPR takes effect; lost Bitcoins

Last year we covered a wide range of online legal and business subjects intended for readers ranging from Internet entrepreneurs to social media marketers, from online shoppers to e-tailers, from networkers to influencers (and the brands that pay them).The topics of our blog posts covered a myriad of cutting-edge subjects, including a new federal law <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/08/10/consumer-review-fairness-act-is-live/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">limiting a business’s ability to stop patrons from posting negative online reviews</a> and <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/06/13/court-decisions-limit-ability-to-sue-in-federal-court-for-alleged-violations-of-nj-consumer-protection-l/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a court opinion that gave online retailers some cause for celebration</a>.As interesting as those topics are, they weren’t the subjects of Socially Aware’s most widely read articles from last year. Here are the most popular posts that appeared on Socially Aware in 2017.<ol><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/02/06/repeat-infringer-policy-requirement-for-key-copyright-safe-harbor-for-online-service-providers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Second Circuit Clarifies “Repeat Infringer” Policy Requirement for DMCA Copyright Safe Harbors</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/04/10/new-yorks-new-cybersecurity-regulations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">N.Y.’s New Cybersecurity Regulations: What Financial Services Companies Need to Know</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/02/16/the-hague-district-courts-whatsapp-decision-creates-concerns-for-mobile-app-developers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hague District Court’s WhatsApp Decision Creates Concerns for Mobile App Developers</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/02/23/google-ordered-foreign-stored-user-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Ordered to Comply with Warrant for Foreign-Stored User Data</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/04/25/limiting-statutory-damages-in-internet-copyright-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Limiting Statutory Damages in Internet Copyright Cases</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/05/03/court-orders-google-foreign-stored-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Court Orders Google to Turn Over Foreign-Stored Data</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/08/30/zazzle-fizzles-website-operator-denied-copyright-safe-harbor-protection-for-its-sale-of-physical-products-featuring-user-generated-images/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zazzle Fizzles: Website Operator Denied Copyright Safe Harbor Protection for Its Sale of Physical Products Featuring User-Generated Images</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/03/28/delaware-paves-the-way-for-blockchain-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Delaware Paves the Way for Blockchain Technology</a></li><li>Brands Beware: FTC Continues Campaign on Social Media Influencer Disclosures</li><li><a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2017/02/14/rules-for-cross-device-tracking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FTC Report Reinforces the Rules for Cross-Device Tracking</a></li></ol>

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2017: Our Greatest Hits

Last year we covered a wide range of online legal and business subjects intended for readers ranging from Internet entrepreneurs to social media marketers, from

2017: Our Greatest Hits

In order to comply with a new German law requiring social media sites to take down hate speech, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/twitter-facebook-anti-muslim-posts-germany-afd-767869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter and Facebook removed anti-Islamic social media posts authored by a German far-right political party</a>.The <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-team-did-some-extreme-vetting-of-muslims-before-trump-new-documents-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obama administration’s screening of social media accounts of aspiring immigrants</a> from majority-Muslim nations yielded little actionable intelligence, but the Trump administration is building on the practice anyway.Over the first half of 2017, Facebook received 32,716 requests from law enforcement for user data, with 57% of those requests containing non-disclosure orders that prohibited the social media giant from notifying the user.In other Facebook news, the social media giant is now <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/12/managing-your-identity-on-facebook-with-face-recognition-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using its facial recognition technology to notify users</a> whenever someone posts photos of them on the platform.Last year Twitter dealt with a variety of missteps, including failing to include women on its tech and science follow list and an incident in which a rogue Twitter employee temporarily disabled President Trump’s Twitter account. Here’s a month-by-month look back at <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/2017-twitter-missteps-and-apologies?bftwnews&utm_term=.gmAvobKpa#.woQdaZJY5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter’s tumultuous 2017</a>.Many <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-biggest-youtube-stars-are-seeing-a-massive-slowdown-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube celebrities’ new-subscriber and monthly-view numbers aren’t climbing nearly as fast as they once did</a>. Possible explanations include bugs resulting from changes in YouTube’s algorithms intended to reduce inappropriate content.Stock exchanges are testing <a href="https://internationalbanker.com/brokerage/stock-exchanges-utilising-blockchain-technology/?utm_content=buffercfd61&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the use of blockchain technology</a> for mutual-fund trading, proxy voting, issuing shares in private companies and facilitating shareholder communications.<a href="http://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Your-childs-favorite-social-media-app-could-land-them-with-felony-charges-if-used-the-wrong-way--468918313.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snapchat’s disappearing message feature</a> doesn’t prevent law enforcement from identifying the authors of threats sent using the app.Some people are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/style/instagram-thirst-traps-dating-breakups.html?hpw&rref=fashion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-wellhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/style/instagram-thirst-traps-dating-breakups.html?hpw&rref=fashion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using Instagram to connect with romantic prospects</a>, creating portfolios intended to catch the attention of desirable dating candidates and gauging and expressing interest with likes, comments and Stories views.   .

Social Links: Facebook ups its facial recognition game; retracing Twitter’s 2017 missteps; YouTube stars’ fan bases reach their saturation point

In order to comply with a new German law requiring social media sites to take down hate speech, Twitter and Facebook removed anti-Islamic social media posts aut

Social Links: Facebook ups its facial recognition game; retracing Twitter’s 2017 missteps; YouTube stars’ fan bases reach their saturation point

Often derided as clickbait, listicles get a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/8-reasons-to-avoid-listic_b_4981787.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bum rap</a>. They can be light on substantive content, sure, but sometimes that’s a good thing, especially for the busy readers of legal blogs, who would do well to treat themselves to some easily browsable reading material once in a while.And so, at Socially Aware, we’ve made an annual tradition of curating a “List of Lists”—an inventory of the predictions, retrospectives and roundups that we think will be of most interest to our readership.We’ll update this page throughout the month as additional pertinent content is published.Happy 2018!Technology & Social Media Law<a href="http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/the_top_10_legal_tech_stories_of_2017/?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tech_monthly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Top 10 Legal Tech Stories of 2017</a><a href="http://www.cyberleagle.com/2017/12/internet-legal-developments-to-look-out.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UK Internet Law Developments to Look Out for in 2018</a>Social Media (General)<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-dominates-most-popular-social-media-apps-chart-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Most Popular Social Media Apps</a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/12/19/7-social-media-trends-that-dominated-2017/#1f03658d7055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 Social Media Trends That Dominated 2017</a><a href="http://mediashift.org/2017/12/rise-of-stories-facebook-global-domination-more-social-media-headlines-2017/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8 Things We Learned About Social Media in 2017</a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/12/27/7-social-media-trends-that-will-dominate-2018/#482fab0525fb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7 Social Media Trends That Will Dominate 2018</a><a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/300813" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 Social-Media Trends to Prepare for in 2018</a><a href="https://www.plannthat.com/top-social-media-trends-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8 Top Social Media Trends to Look Out for in 2018</a><a href="https://www.inc.com/bryan-adams/social-media-trends-to-watch-for-in-2018.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social Media Trends to Watch For in 2018</a><a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/top-social-media-trends-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Top 5 Social Media Trends to Put Into Practice in 2018</a><a href="http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/web_100_2017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Web 100</a>Social Media Marketing<a href="http://www.adweek.com/digital/linkedin-2017-top-voices-marketing-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Who Were LinkedIn’s 2017 Top Voices in Marketing and Social Media?</a><a href="http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/2017s-top-social-media-marketing-lessons/communications" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2017’s Top Social Media Marketing Lessons</a><a href="https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-predictions-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2018 From the Pros</a>11 Social Media Trends to Watch out for in 2018<a href="https://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2017/33139/top-nine-social-media-trend-predictions-for-2018-infographic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Top Nine Social Media Trend Predictions for 2018 [Infographic]</a><a href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/11-digital-marketing-predictions-you-should-ignore-for-2018/513834/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">11 Digital Marketing Predictions You Should Ignore for 2018</a><a href="https://www.digitalmarketer.com/digital-marketing-predictions-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Messenger Apps, Alternative Education, and More Digital Marketing Predictions for 2018</a>Social Media Posts<a href="http://buzzsumo.com/blog/the-most-shared-facebook-content-posts-videos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Most Shared Facebook Content 2017</a><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/instagram-most-liked-posts-year-2017-selena-gomez-beyonce-a8083166.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Most-Liked Instagram Posts of 2017 Revealed</a>Twitter’s 10 Most-Retweeted Tweets of the Year<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/6/16741044/top-10-youtube-videos-2017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Top 10 YouTube Videos of the Year</a>Cybersecurity<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2017/11/26/60-cybersecurity-predictions-for-2018/#2156682b73ff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">60 Cybersecurity Predictions For 2018</a><a href="https://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2017/33139/top-nine-social-media-trend-predictions-for-2018-infographic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Our Top 7 Cyber Security Predictions for 2018</a><a href="https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/12/14/cybersecurity-trends-2018-the-costs-of-connection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cybersecurity Trends 2018: The Costs of Connection</a><a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/forresters-top-6-cybersecurity-predictions-for-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forrester’s top 6 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2018</a><a href="http://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/the-top-18-security-predictions-for-2018.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Top 18 Security Predictions for 2018</a>AppsThe 12 Best Apps of 2017<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40503427/the-25-best-new-apps-of-2017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 25 Best New Apps of 2017</a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/05/top-5-free-apps-to-keep-you-healthy-in-2018.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Most Popular Free Apps to Keep You Healthy in 2018</a><a href="https://www.cnet.com/topics/mobile-apps/best-mobile-apps-ios/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Best iPhone Apps for 2018</a><a href="https://www.cnet.com/topics/mobile-apps/best-mobile-apps-android/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Best Android Apps for 2018</a><a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-iphone-apps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">These 100 Best iPhone Apps Will Turn Your Phone Into a Jack-of-All-Trades</a><a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-android-apps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 100 Best Android Apps Turn Your Phone Into a Jack-of-All-Trades</a>Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies<a href="https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/14876/blockchain-predictions-for-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blockchain: Predictions for 2018</a><a href="https://qz.com/1171977/ten-2018-predictions-from-the-founder-of-the-blockchain-research-institute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ten Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2018 From the Co-Founder of the Blockchain Research Institute</a>Technology (General)<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40503654/the-most-important-tech-trends-of-2018-according-to-top-vcs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Most Important Tech Trends Of 2018, According to Top VCs</a><a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/2018-tech-trends/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5 Tech Trends You’ll Be Talking About in 2018</a><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/2018-top-10-transformative-technology-trends_us_5a439af5e4b06cd2bd03dd5e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2018 – Top 10 Transformative Technology Trends</a><a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2018/01/01/ten-top-tech-trends-in-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ten Top Tech Trends in 2018</a>Miscellaneous<a href="http://www.valuewalk.com/2017/12/splashdata-worst-passwords-of-2017/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here Is the List of the Worst Passwords of 2017</a><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/13/technology/google-top-searches-2017/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google’s Top Searches for 2017</a>

2018beach-gettyimages-855537238-600px-300x200.jpg

A List of Lists

Often derided as clickbait, listicles get a bum rap. They can be light on substantive content, sure, but sometimes that’s a good thing, especially for the busy 

A List of Lists

gettyimages-664324386_small-300x200.jpg

2018: Predictions From Socially Aware’s Editors and Contributors

2018: Predictions From Socially Aware’s Editors and Contributors

Happy 2018 to our readers! It has become a Socially Aware tradition to start the New Year with some predictions from our editors and contributors. With smart co

The government in Indonesia has warned the world’s biggest social media providers that they risk being banned in that country if they don’t block pornography and other content deemed obscene.A member of the House of Lords has proposed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/18/lords-push-for-children-to-be-protected-against-tech-giants-by-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an amendment to the U.K.’s data protection bill</a> that would subject technology companies to “minimum standards of age-appropriate design” such as not revealing the GPS locations of users younger than 16.A <a href="https://www.wpr.org/bill-would-make-online-catfishing-illegal-wisconsin">bill in Wisconsin</a> would make impersonating someone on social media a misdemeanor.Google’s general counsel wrote a blog post arguing that two new cases over <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/2015/05/28/status-updates-errand-apps-for-everyone-a-right-to-be-forgotten-update-your-entire-google-search-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">right-to-be-forgotten</a> requests and pending before the European Union’s top court put the search-engine company at risk of “restricting access to lawful and valuable information.”Trucking is a $700 billion industry that stands to save billions from automation, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/business/self-driving-trucks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> and will likely get self-driving vehicles on the road</a> sooner than most people expected.Social media platforms are often used to prey on potential sex trafficking victims, according to one FBI special agent.A recent study shows that searching for information from unofficial sources on social media during a crisis is likely to result in the spread of misinformation and anxiety. Researchers recommend that, to quash rumors, emergency management officials should stay in regular contact with people even if they don’t have any new information.This piece in Slate invites readers to <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/11/the_law_that_let_silicon_valley_stay_clueless_made_the_internet_we_have.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">imagine what the Internet would look like today if not for the passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act</a>, a statute that “says that in general, websites are not responsible for the things their users do or post.”An op-ed in USA Today compares to swift spread of infectious diseases that resulted from the concentration of populations in urban areas to the swift spread of ideas that accompanied the invention of the Internet, and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/11/20/social-media-threat-people-survived-disease-we-can-handle-twitter-glenn-reynolds-column/879185001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">concludes that traditional training in critical thinking is as necessary to survive the latter as nutrition was to survive the former</a>.By allowing companies to provide consumers with verifiable information about things like their diversity-driven hiring practices and their products’ supply chains, <a href="https://www.ama.org/publications/marketingnews/pages/what-marketers-need-know-about-blockchain.aspx?utm_content=buffer6765f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&sthash.K1Ob0wns.mjjo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blockchain is going to change the marketing industry significantly</a>, the American Marketing Association reports.A high school senior who was bullied in middle school <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-and-the-pursuit-leadership/201711/meet-the-teen-who-discovered-the-secret-social" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">created Sit With Us</a>, the phone-based anti-bullying app that helps kids find a welcoming place to eat in their school cafeteria.

Social Links: Proposed legislation to outlaw “catfishing” & protect young Web users; blockchain technology’s impact on marketing