Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

The incident involving goofball Andrew Meyer that's getting him the attention he's evidently been seeking for a long time, underscores some of the dangers we all face in the new citizen journalism world.

For example, there isn't much difference anymore between citizen journalists or MSM. When video was put up online, it was cut to focus on the incident, with a lot of what happened before removed.

The difference here is ordinary people aren't necessarily trying to do it to make something look like they want (although some could), it's more they're trying to show what they think will be interesting to people and highlight the main aspects of the event.

The problem is when you start cutting video, you're cutting the story; you're taking the context out of it and presenting bits and pieces.

For businesses and any public figure, this could be extremely dangerous now and in the future. Mashups are becoming a way of life for the Internet savvy crowd, and most don't think of how it will impact those viewing it.

In the case of telling a serious story, it could present something that is out of context and disjointed, making something that didn't happen look like it did.

We face a new danger in that it can be used ignorantly or purposefully to present a story.

I think we're going to have to start having policies in place ready to conteract the new mashup world we live in. A mashup, for those not aware, is when people take pieces of content across the Internet or on their computer and put it together to make their own unique creation. Most of it is done in fun, but it can be used wrongly to make something look like what it isn't.

When you listen to this guy resisting arrest and the things he's saying during that time, it sounds like he had it scripted and prearranged. He's acting like he's dying and being tortured while he's resisting arrest, - overresponding and overstating during the entire fiasco.

We need to be aware of nuts like this out there that will in many cases script scenarios like this to move public opinion.

Whether or not this was the case in this instance, the event shows that it's definitely a danger to us and our businesses. We can't ignore these possibilities, where people create artificial circumstances to attack us.

Those companies without procedures in place to handle this, will find themselves in out-of-control situations in the future where they are acted upon in a way that they aren't prepared to battle. The first step is to recognize this threat is out there and very real, and put a policy in place on how to handle it.

Ignore this at your own risk. Look at this wacko guy and picture a group of people planning something like this for you and your company. The infectious spread of content on the Internet demands having policies and procedures in place to be ready to combat this.

Now that this nut has shown people this can be done, you can be sure it has already given people more ideas to attack what they don't like. Be ready if the one they don't like is you or your company.