The next level of effort is to dive into Facebook’s privacy control panel.
Among the major adjustments made as the firestorm of controversy raged is
control over what is available to other applications and Web sites. Hyper
modern sites like Facebook make it easy for a programmer to tap into its
content and use it to inform other services. Pandora, a music streaming
service, looks at what a Facebook user has listed as his or her favorite music,
then uses that to create a customized playlist. Facebook is social, permits
access via its application programming interface, and contains information about
a Facebook users’ actions and persona.
Can a mere mortal configure Facebook’s privacy settings? In a
word, no. Most business-centric Facebook pages will not contain personal
information in most cases, but the same privacy interface and options apply across
Facebook accounts. A casual click through of the settings may not be
sufficiently rigorous for an organization. Configuring the privacy settings is
a job for a person with Facebook savvy and knowledge about what the company
wants exposed. A useful first step is to navigate to the All Facebook blog and
read “Time to Audit Your Privacy Settings. Here’s How,” published by Fast
Company. (Source)
Another problem is that the word “privacy” may have one meaning to a team of
20-something programmers and another meaning for a 45-year-old restaurant
owner. Privacy has become a boundary between generations of online users.
While the company has taken a publicity hit, it hasn’t shown any signs of
slowing. Protests and government investigations have had little or no effect on
its growth.
Facebook’s advertising business is booming and the Facebook site vies with
Flickr for pictures and YouTube for video.
The basic content for a business page on Facebook should be objective
information about your organization. Other useful content to put on your
organization’s Facebook page includes photographs of products, services, and,
in some cases, facilities. Pictures of an office party or a golf outing may be
misinterpreted. Lean toward conservatism, and when in doubt, leave it out. If
your organization has a blog with an RSS (really simple syndication) function,
you can push the blog content to your organization’s Facebook page. The key to
making these features work pivots on the individual managing the Facebook
presence and the time invested in your presence there.
Two years ago, a business had to work around Facebook’s system to create a
presence in its community. Today, Facebook wants businesses participating.
Will another service topple Facebook from its lofty position? Based on the
company’s fast growth and its users’ indifference to management
high-handedness, Facebook has an unobstructed path to a pot of advertising
gold. For the foreseeable future, Facebook may be running a digital Disneyland.
Walt Disney would have understood Facebook’s determination to take necessary
steps to ensure that the company dominates its business sector. It lacks
Disney’s cheerful public persona but with 500 million members, Facebook is
doing something right.
Stephen E. Arnold is a consultant.
His Web site is www.arnoldit.com. His new
Google monograph about Google’s nontext initiatives will be available later
this summer. A sample chapter is available at www.theseed2020.com/gbt/.
