Facebook Privacy and Branding
Social media giant Facebook has seen its own fair-share of challenges this year in the privacy arena. Millions of Facebook users were extremely upset when they learned that Facebook had allowed their personal data to be made available beyond friends, fans and family. As the media continued to inquire what Facebook intended to do to remedy the situation some people began to plan and stage quit Facebook rallies. Soon enough Facebook recognized the seriousness of the situation and recently implemented new updates and changes to its privacy settings in an effort to restore the faith of its users.
Facebook’s new privacy settings make it much easier for users to navigate and manage. For your brand this means that you’ll have a simpler time controlling what type of content your fans engage with. Another new feature is that you can view what your brands profile looks like to others. This is a big improvement because now web trollers can’t pull personal information from your page and add it to their spam banks or start a tidal wave of solicitation.
Additionally, you can also opt out of sharing personal data with third-party applications. This means that if you want to use the features of an application, but you don’t want to have your phone number, email address and other details shared with software developers abroad it won’t be. Brands will still be able to enhance their pages and interact with fans without sacrificing personal data in order to do so.
Because limited information will be made available through public views people will have to ‘like’ your Page if they want to learn more. This is great for brands because now truly interested fans will jump on board to support your brand and interact with you. In contrast, many people would surface scan your Page and move on instead of taking the time to listen to your conversations.
Overall, Facebook has done a decent job of empowering brands to police and monitor their own information. Choosing what details someone wants to share is a more appropriate way to engage with one of the most recognized social media tools available.
