Yes, Reg FD was one of the first things I learned about securities law. You would think the CEO of a major public corporation would be aware of it too.
Unless he actually considered -- and truly believes -- his argument that the information wasn't material because of previous disclosures of views "close to" a billion per month. But to me, that's not very wise thinking, because 1) when it comes to compliance, if it might cause trouble, probably don't do it, and 2) why not just issue the press release first and get it in the news, THEN congratulate the guy on Facebook? Wouldn't that be better PR anyway?
But the question we should be asking is that what was he thinking when he posted that information on his FB page?U thought a person of his status would have develop the habit of allowing management to review his information before posting them on his FB page.
So does Hastings FB page carries the same weight and authority as the corporate FB page of Netflix?
@Alison: Agreed! Netflix just can't seem to get social media right as Joe pointed out. I took a peek at the link for "(again)" and just as I suspected, it was in regards to Qwikster.
It's funny -- Netflix got flak for not saying enough on social before, and now they're getting flak because they're still not saying enough yet saying too much at the same time!
Hastings needs to take one of Internet Evolution's 7DEE courses!
Reed Hastings was wrong to post that information to Facebook. Sure, he had 200,000 friends there by some reports, which is hardly private. But social media is fragmented, and businesses can't count on all their investors being on any given social platform -- not even Facebook.
Material disclosures should be made through accepted channels.
Business financial reporting is still one of those things like school summer vacations that seem based on the agricultural cycle of Druids. Quarterly and yearly information? Business are formed, grow and die in 3 months! No, I think Hastings was on the right track. If the financial markets are ever going to gain respectability again, as something that a regular guy could put his money in because he reads up on a company and thinks its a good stock then we have to start considering the heterogeneous information such as that in Facebook as part of it all. So it's not so much that Hastings only made it available to the 1 billion Facebook users worldwide, but that the SEC and other regulators have to go a step further and say, yes, this all part of the picture, and one that augments, and doesn't detract from, those quarterly reports. In fact, we need to start seeing real time "health monitors" for business that are updated each and every hour. Look, busineses spend money every second. In an instant they can make a decision costing or earning millions. Shouldn't even the guy with a Scott Trade account know this as soon as the guy sitting in the building next to the NYSE knows it?
This is one of those worries that companies have - and rightly so, apparently - when it comes to social media. In this case, it's the head of the company and the SEC. In others, it's a lower-level employee and a public relations nightmare. We keep hearing about mistakes that happen when people say something they shouldn't on a company FB or Twitter page; now that more employees have the freedom to post in their organization's name, this is only going to become more of a challenge for organizations to handle, I'd imagine - whether it's a legal/financial issue like this or another costly error that happens in the court of public opinon.
This is hard for me to digest. Believe me when I say I have never been in any sort of an executive position, my knowledge of SEC regulations is superficial at best, but even I, Bolingbroke Know-Nothing or Nearly Nothing, am aware of the requirements regarding news important to stock holders, heck this SEC 101, it's one of the few SEC rules even I am aware of and I've never run anything. Is this SEC rule news to anyone reading this?
So what the heck is Hastings doing?, is this the result of him hearing the news right after maybe one too many Michter's rye. Does this man have any handlers?
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Businesses often struggle to decide which domain to use. When it comes to purchasing a domain name, you have plenty of extensions to choose from, ranging from .com and .net, to .me, and even .mobi. But which one should you pick?
I've been writing about how the next evolution of the Internet might just be an advertising revolution, and how corporate IT can stay involved as the enablers and providers of the technologies that make this possible.
In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M.
The smartphone market reached a significant milestone, a breakthrough that may cause vendors to celebrate but could strain the capabilities of IT service desks.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
