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Social Media Best Practices (and some other good ones, too)

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Poster with a womans cleavage and a padlock holding her shirt closed and the caption says NSFW modeThe ASACP just released their Social Media Best Practices to help guide those of us in adult entertainment to make sure that children are not accessing unsuitable material. It is not just children we are protecting.  If someone accesses inappropriate material at work, they could get fired.

A friend of mine once bought a DVD boxed set of B movies from the 60’s and 70’s.  During holiday celebrations, he popped in the first disc to sit down and watch one with his entire family. His parents, brother and sister-in-law, nieces, nephews and daughter were all there.  When the movie came on, he realized that this was an old porn.  Whoops.

Social media is trying to help insure that you know what you are about to see, so you can make sure that you are in the right place at the right time, and not “accidentally” stumbling across anything inappropriate.

Listen to Joan Irvine talk about Social Media Best Practices in her blog radio interview on Sin 2.0.

Social Media Best Practices

  • Label all sexually explicit ‘social media content postings’, including but not limited to: text, video, audio, images or widgets enabling any software functionality.
  • All social media content postings should indicate “Age-Restricted” or “Sexually Explicit” based on the content.
  • When you direct people to age-restricted content or commerce on or from online social networks & mobile devices, ensure that all of your social media and mobile pages from blogs, ads and e-commerce tools to videos, fan pages, apps and widgets are labeled with the Restricted to Adults – RTA website label (http://rtalabel.org).

Additional Good Practices

  • label your tweets or posts with #nsfw (not safe for work)
  • Make sure that you have a landing page that is not explicit, that lets people know they are about to enter an explicit website.
  • Set an age limit of 18+ on your Facebook fan page
  • If you have a Facebook profile, create a group for your explicit postings and restrict all explicit talk and postings to the group. Make sure to make your group private.

Let us know if you have any other good practices to add to the list!

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RTA – Get it? Got it? Good!

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RTA label

Recently the ASACP released their “Social Media Best Practices“. It is extremely important to keep children away from age inappropriate websites. The ASACP makes that much easier with the RTA Label.  The RTA label is a free label that identifies a site as being unsuitable for children. Not only does it identify your site, but it shows that you have done due diligence to protect children and it will help your SEO (search engine optimization) ranking.

How RTA works:

RTA means “Restricted to Adults”.  When you put the RTA label on your site you are embedding code in the header of every page that tells child protection monitoring systems that this site has adult content and it will allow the site to be automatically filtered. By alerting the plugin, your browser will not let a child go to that site.  Most browsers have safe surfing options built into their security options. There are also tool bars, plugins and widgets you can use for further security.

Why use RTA?

RTA is important to help prevent children from accessing adult sites.

RTA is also beneficial from an SEO perspective. When you use the label, you have to verify that you have properly installed it on your site.  The ASACP spiders your site to make sure that every page has the label, to prevent any accidental entry by a child.  The site is then checked to make sure that there is no content or text that would indicate child pornography or exploitation.  Once the site has been verified it will be approved.

The RTA is approval is excellent for SEO.  Getting good SEO ranking in search engines is notoriously difficult. However the ASACP has been working with the search engines to garner better search results for sites that use RTA.

Adult Entertainment supports RTA

In the adult entertainment industry we have a responsibility to make sure that our children are not exposed to inappropriate material. Adult entertainment is meant for adults over 18.  These types of images, content, videos, audio and chat rooms need to be restricted.  Parents have a responsibility to make sure that their children are surfing the net safely. But the industry also has a responsibility to make sure that we are putting up the proper safety precautions as well.

RTA is primarily funded by the adult entertainment industry.

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Sex and Facebook Ads

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scantily clad girl in a christian singles ad on facebookIf you thought having an adult Facebook page was hard to accomplish, try running an adult ad. It is almost impossible. Even running content that is considered family friendly can be really hard to maintain due to the strict rules set forth by Facebook.

To run a successful ad campaign on Facebook you have to start with the content of your page. Your content has to be deemed acceptable, and Facebook has some pretty strict guidelines. Many of these seem pretty simple and straightforward. But the reality is, when you are on the network and doing your thing, it can be pretty hard to color within the lines.

Facebook Rules for Advertising:

General Rules:

  1. Ads must directly relate to the content on the landing page.
  2. Ads must clearly represent the company, product or brand that is being advertised. Products or services promoted in the ad must be directly available on the landing page.
  3. Ads cannot insult, harass or threaten a user.

Translation:

  1. You cannot have an ad that is advertising something different than the page it is linked to.
  2. You cannot pretend you are a different company or a different person than you actually are.
  3. You cannot tease or taunt people in your ad to get them to click on the ad.

Landing Pages:

  1. Ads that contain a URL or domain in the body must link to that same URL or domain.
  2. Landing pages cannot generate a pop-up (including “pop-overs” and “pop-unders”) when a user enters or leaves the page.

Translation:

  1. If you show a web address in your ad, the ad must link to that web address. So you cannot have a web address but have the link go somewhere else.
  2. When you click on the ad it cannot take you to a page that has pop-up ads or pop-up pages.

Targeting:

  1. Any targeting of ads based on a user attribute, such as age, gender, location or interest must be directly relevant to the offer, and cannot be done by a method inconsistent with privacy and data policies.
  2. Ads with adult themes, including contraception, sex education and health conditions must be targeted to individuals at least 18 years old. Platform ads should do this via Demographic Restrictions, not by obtaining user data.

Translation:

  1. When you target an ad to your audience, it has to be directly related to the content you are advertising. So if you are advertising a dating site, it has to be directed to singles.
  2. Any ad with adult content can only be directed to people 18 and older.

Prohibited Content:

  1. Adult content, including nudity, sexual terms and/or images of people in positions or activities that are excessively suggestive or sexual, or provocative images in violation of community standards;
  2. Adult friend finders or dating sites with a sexual emphasis;
  3. Adult toys, videos or other adult products;
  4. Ads must not be false, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive.
  5. Ads will not be permitted in cases where a business model or practice is deemed unacceptable or contrary to Facebook’s overall advertising philosophy.

Translation:

  1. Porn. Naked pictures. Sexual pictures. Naughty words. Violence…in a nut shell. Nope, probably no nut-shells either.
  2. Dildos, vibrators, strap-ons, lube, and pretty much anything you would find in a sex shop.
  3. You cannot lie in your ad.
  4. You can’t go against the code of ethics in the Facebook Terms of Service.

Most people in the adult industry will find advertising on Facebook pretty difficult. Some of you will be able to do it, depending on what your website or content is, some might not. Learning the rules are the only way to know if you can.

Stay tuned for the next post on porn stars advertising on Facebook and learn some tips and trick on how to run a Facebook ad if you are in porn.

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Does Facebook own my photos?

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girl wearing a plaid skirt, with no top on and a banner going over her breasts that says "Facebook is hotter than me."Facebook owning the rights to our photos is something most of us never think about when we use it. But if your photos are part of your business or professional image, then this might be a big concern for you.
The Facebook Terms of Service state:

  1. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

What this means is that when you post photos on Facebook you give permission to Facebook to use that content, however they only have the right to use your photos in connection with Facebook or Facebook promotions, like television or internet ads.

The exception to this is if you have your privacy settings to only show your photos to your friends list. Facebook will respect your privacy settings.

When you delete your account, Facebook no longer has rights to use your photos. But there is a catch. This is only true if you have all your photos set to be visible only to your friends. If they are visible to friends-of-friends, networks or the public, then Facebook has rights to use them whether you have an account or not. Also, if you post a picture on a friend’s wall, and they do not have their profile set to private, then Facebook has the rights to those pictures too.

The likelihood that Facebook is going to use your photo is pretty slim. And if they do use it, it will only be used on Facebook or for Facebook promotions.

If this is a concern for you, there are a few ways you can help prevent unwanted distribution of your photos.

  1. Put a watermark on your photo, or put a line of text on it that says “this photo is the property of…”

This will also help prevent people from snagging your images.

A watermark or line of text won’t technically prevent Facebook from using your photo, but it does greatly reduce the possibility.
  2. Change your privacy settings to “Friends Only”. 
This will only allow your friends to see your photos.  However, public figures like porn stars, dancers or prominent business people, most likely want their images available to everybody.
  3. As an adult star or dancer, you can use your publicity shots or teaser pictures exclusively in your profile, since you probably don’t mind if people share them.

Read about how not to get deleted from Facebook! More information on Facebook practices for Adult Entertainment.

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Is your name too porno for Facebook?

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Naked Man holding a sign that says Facebook in front of his groin

Many porn stars are on Facebook.  There are lots of people in adult entertainment that have profiles and pages.  One of the big issues with being in adult entertainment and being on Facebook is promoting yourself without getting your account deleted. One of the first things you have to ask yourself is, is your name too porno for Facebook?

To make sure that you are within Facebooks terms of service, the content of your posting has to be chosen wisely.  Keeping that in mind, the name of your Facebook Page also has to be chosen wisely.  So what happens if you didn’t?  Until very recently you would have been stuck with it.  Even worse, you might have to delete your page or have your account deleted.  If you have built up a following, then deleting your page is probably the last thing you want to do.

So what are some reasons you might want to change your page name?

  1. You notice a grammatical error
  2. You thought you were being clever and realized later that you weren’t
  3. Your company changed its name
  4. You had your agency in your name and you left your agency
  5. Your name is location-based and you move
  6. You think that you must have a location in your name, and then figure out that you don’t
  7. You have a date in the name and it expired, but your page didn’t
  8. You realized that you used a foreign swear word
  9. You realize that having F*$% in the title of you page is not the best idea ever
  10. It is clearly pornographic

Facebook is testing a new feature in Facebook Pages that will actually allow you to change your page name.  The catch is, you can’t have too many likes on your page.  What they are not telling us is how many is too many.  So if you have thousands of people who like your page, it is most likely too late to change the name. But if it is a newer page, you should still have time.

So consider the “porn quotient” of your Facebook page name. You may now be able to change it.

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Hypocrisy & Sex in Advertising, more from Blogworld

Hypocrisy riddles advertising when it comes to sex. Some interesting dichotomies were discussed at Blogworld Expo 2010 such as the portrayal of acceptable sex in the media. The delineating line in advertising being romantic sex is ok to use for sales but sex for the sake of sex is not. For example, KY Jelly ads always portrays married couples having sex. The message being, recreational sex is OK if you are married.

Of course this is not a new message or a new issue.  In the United States married sex is truly the only kind of sex that is OK to promote, whether it be recreational or procreational.  Sex between unmarried people for pure pleasure is frowned upon, at least in advertising.

Now outright sex might be frowned upon but implied sex, ie. provocative imagery, is not.  At least it is not frowned on for everyone.

The ability to utilize provocative imagery in advertising is inherently tied to the purveyor of the imagery. The brand is the ambassador not their image. So if the brand is respectable then sexually provocative imagery will be accepted, but if the brand is not considered mainstream acceptable then even conservatively provocative imagery will be viewed as innappropriate. This of course is a generalization. We do see backlash when even respectable brands push the envelope too far.  But they can still push the envelope much farther than so-called not respectable brands.

picture of a highway billboard for Adultcon

The image to the left is a Calvin Klein ad that is featured in mainstream magazines. Similar ads are on billboards in major cities, off highways and scattered across the country. The image to the left is a billboard for Adultcon, an adult entertainment convention. The Adultcon billboard was asked to be taken down because of its proximity to a school despite there being nothing provocative about the billboard. The only questionable thing it says is “Adult” and that word is not that questionable, though many would consider the inferred industry to be questionable.

Interestingly though, if you search “Porn Billboard Ad” in Google images, the first image you see is not some big breasted heaving porn star.  Nope Jenna Jameson was the third image! An ad by Calvin Klein is the first.

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Social Media & Sex: Adult Entertainment at Blogworld

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Pete Housley, Kelly Shibari, Nina Hartley and Jamye Waxman at BlogworldIt is safe to say that adult entertainment is under represented in social media.  However, that is better than not represented.  At Blogworld Expo 2010 among all the wonderful and informative panels on social media, blogging, public speaking, brand building and PR was an adult entertainment gem tucked away.

The seminar was NSFW: Exploring Porn and Social Media, with speakers Adria Richards, Jamye Waxman, Kelly Shibari, Nina Hartley and Pete Housley. Though most of you probably know, this panel made up a power house of social media in adult entertainment.

This should come as no surprise, but many traditional SM strategies were discussed as being the same in adult entertainment as they are in mainstream media.

  • Make sure you have a point of view you are always promoting, this helps establish a voice.
  • 80% conversation and 20% call to action
  • It is all about engagement

Adult entertainers are more discriminated against in social media than other public figures.  Pete Housley told a story of an adult star whose name was taken by someone else on Twitter.  The person who claimed the name was squatting with it and refused to give it up. The star had to assume a different twitter handle. Of course this means that the benefit of her brand recognition for her name is received by someone else.  She also tried to get her account verified by Twitter, so that her non-branded twitter handle would be acknowledged as the real adult star.  But because she is an adult star, Twitter did not address her issue.

Though Twitter does not specifically prevent adult entertainment from networking on their service, they won’t really go out of their way to help anyone out either.

What this means is that adult entertainers have to work harder and smarter to maneuver the social media sphere. Of course, if you have to think about and plan out a social media strategy then it is far more likely to be successful then they people who just wing it.

So maybe the inherent disadvantage will prove to be a marketing advantage in the long run? What do you think?

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Spam is definitely not Sexy

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TWAM

The different social networks fill various needs for its users. Linked In is better for B2B and professional networking. Facebook is your social circle online. Twitter is everything from friends to business to news. If you are in the Adult Entertainment Industry then you are most definitely on Twitter. In fact, you might not be on the other social networks because they make it so challenging to successfully market yourself.

So you are on Twitter,  how do you get people to visit your blog, your site, buy your product, vote for you, etc. In essence how do they become clients?

The biggest mistake people make is spam. We have all seen the people who get out there and talk about their product…all day…all the time…incessantly…ad nauseum. If you want to be ignored, do this. You will be hidden on Facebook and no one will read your tweets.

The adult entertainment industry is riddled with Spam. Hell, you could argue that it is a driving force behind the industry.  So what is the balance between marketing yourself and being flagged for spam.  If someone flags you as a spammer then you will be hidden, or unfollowed, or simply ignored.

If you want people to become clients, then you need to become friends first. You need to become a real person online.

  • Be the person who shares information.
  • Be the person who says good morning and wishes people happy birthday.
  • Be the person who re-tweets other peoples blog posts and pictures.
  • Be the person who offers good advice, for free, for no other reason other than you can.
  • Be the person who responds when someone mentions you
  • Be more than a pretty picture and a sexy link

Now you are dynamic. You are interesting. You are a source of information and you are someone people will look to. In the midst of all this good will, tell people about your website or video release. Ask them for to check it out. If you are looking for votes, then ask for support. Ask people to spread the word. And when they do, thank them. Pepper your own goals into your relationship development. Your friends will respond to your requests. They will read your posts, they will go to your site, they will give you their support. They will do this because you are multi-faceted and not all about yourself. They will do this because you have build real relationships with them. This relationship will drive them to spend more money, refer you to other people and will create a lasting (and profitable) relationship with your clients.

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