A Dallas firm has sued an anonymous “Ben Doe” who allegedly wrote a negative Google Review about the firm, a case that highlights the difficulties lawyers face when trying to address online comments.

The Lenahan Law Firm seeks to collect $50,000 from “Ben,” who wrote the review that reads, “Bad experience with this firm. Don’t trust the fake reviews here,” the plaintiff alleges in its petition in In Re “Ben Doe.”

“Discovery will include an investigation into the identity of ‘Ben,’ ” the firm notes, adding that a “subpoena will be served upon Google immediately.”

In the petition, filed Dec. 22, 2011, in Travis County’s 98th District Court, the firm alleges the review is defamatory because it “implies professional incompetence” and “alleges dishonesty and fraudulent conduct by the Plaintiff, though the ‘fake reviews’ were written by actual clients and are bona fide.” [See the Lenahan petition.]

Lenahan Law Firm partner Wes Black says he does not even think “Ben” was a client of his firm. The firm found a review of a cleaning company written by someone under the same online profile. Based on that, Black thinks the reviewer lives in Oregon, and the firm has never represented a person in Oregon.

@AndrewHazen

How much is a tweet worth? And how much does a Twitter follower cost?  We may soon find out as Noah Kravitz’s former employer, Phonedog.com, is claiming ownership of the Twitter account he started at the company and is suing for damages.

The question is: Can a company cash in on, and claim ownership of, an employee’s social media account, and if so, what does that mean for workers who are increasingly posting to Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus during work hours?

A lawsuit filed in July could provide some answers.

In October 2010, Noah Kravitz, a writer who lives in Oakland, Calif., quit his job at a popular mobile phone site, Phonedog.com, after nearly four years. The site has two parts — an e-commerce wing, which sells phones, and a blog.

While at the company, Mr. Kravitz began writing on Twitter under the name Phonedog_Noah, and over time, had amassed 17,000 followers. When he left, he said, PhoneDog told him he could keep his Twitter account in exchange for posting occasionally.

The company asked him to “tweet on their behalf from time to time and I said sure, as we were parting on good terms,” Mr. Kravitz said by telephone to the New York Times.

And so he began writing as NoahKravitz, keeping all his followers under that new handle. But eight months after Mr. Kravitz left the company, PhoneDog sued, saying the Twitter list was a customer list, and seeking damages of $2.50 a month per follower for eight months, for a total of $340,000.

It will be quite interesting to see how the California court handles this case…I will keep you posted!

@AndrewHazen

Ever wonder if your opinion REALLY counts? Do companies REALLY care what you have to say about their products and services?

Believe it or not THEY DO! Check out this video for more info

@AndrewHazen

The Twitter bandwagon continues adding 300,000 new users per day, making the trendy microblogging service a hot commodity in the web world. CEO Ev Williams revealed this week that the company now boasts an impressive 145 million registered users, up from 105 million just four months ago.

Williams also revealed another interesting numbers tidbit in that sixteen percent of new users join the site via a mobile device rather than the the web. Mobile apps and the recent debut of Twitter for iPad could also help rope in new members accessing the site on the go.

@AndrewHazen



How do the 288,945 most heavily trafficked sites on the internet stack up against each other?  Take a very close look at this chart to find out!

This was taken from Gizmodo.com – pretty cool eh?

@AndrewHazen

There’s no question that the PGA Tour is one of the most idolized golf tournaments in existence. Some golfers would give their left arm just for a chance to play at the PGA Tour. Others, like Jim Furyk, would prefer to sleep in.

Jim Furyk’s cell phone alarm did not go off Wed. morning making him late for his pro-am tee time at the Barclays, the first of four FedEx playoff events. According to the PGA Tour rules, if you don’t participate in the pro-am you are automatically disqualified from the PGA Tour. Here are the sequence of events that took place during Jim’s hectic morning (via Yahoo.com):

• Furyk woke up at 7:23 AM, 7 minutes before his official tee time.
• Jim threw on whatever clothers were lying around and arrived 12 minutes later.
• There was a shotgun start at 7:30 AM and Jim was starting at the 11th hole making it nearly impossible for him to make it on time (and he didn’t).

Fortunately for Furyk, he sits at #3 in the current standings and is expected not to fall too far below the standings because of today. Still, you bet that for round #2, Jim will be hiring every wake up call service in America.

Obviously, Jim did not get his mattress from Sleepy’s nor 1800Mattress.com as this would never have happened with a great night’s sleep!!

Now see who else has Been Caught Sleeping

@AndrewHazen

Facebook launched a feature Wednesday evening allowing members to share real-life locations with online friends, as expected. The feature, Places, along with an iPhone app, rolls out in the U.S. first, but the plan is to launch the app in other countries and on other smartphones.

The feature requires using the new iPhone application or logging into the touch.facebook.com smartphone site on a phone that supports GPS auto-location. The product has been in a test phase for the past several months.

From Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and founder, explained how Places helps members share their location, allows them to see who’s around them, and provides a discovery tool for new businesses nearby.

This should play out very interesting once you start “bumping into” ex-lovers, bosses, etc.; especially when you are with your spouse and family!! Of course the Check-In offering is optional….be careful!

@AndrewHazen

Read a good article this morning from iMediaConnection which reiterates some best practices in eMail marketing such as including social media links/icons; sending emails that includes test (not just images); put the Call To Action above the fold, etc.

I am constantly amazed how many companies do NOT conduct subject line testing nor have any method to their send/drop dates!  And when I ask if they look at the analytics of their dates/times sent, subject lines used, Call To Action, button color, etc., etc. they look at me like I am from outerspace….enough said!!

Enjoy the article from iMedia Connection

Have you ever caught yourself falling asleep in a meeting? in a classroom? boardroom? or on the job?

We recently launched a new client site called BeenCaughtSleeping.com – this hilarious destination will have you rolling in laughter as you get a glimpse of people who have Been Caught Sleeping!

Please feel free to submit your photos and videos – the ones with the most votes will win cash prizes!