Digitized Thoughts

Do you like to “like” stuff on the web? Or check-in at your favorite coffeehouse in the morning? If you’re anything like me, it’s as much a part of your daily routine as brushing your teeth. Facebook is rolling out a new way for marketers to harness that information and use it as advertisements on the social networking behemoth. From Ad Age:

The unit will give brand-related action such as a “like” or a check-in a lot more visibility on Facebook by adding them to an ad unit in addition to users’ news feeds.

For example, if Starbucks buys a “sponsored story” ad, the status of a user’s friends who check into or “like” Starbucks will run twice: once in the user’s news feed, and again as a paid ad for Starbucks. Though clearly marked with the words “sponsored story,” the ad — which will include a user’s name, just like the news feed — is not optional for Facebook users.

First of all, this is sure to raise the chorus of voices saying Facebook continues down the shadowy path of privacy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: your privacy on Facebook, and the Internet in general, is not Facebook’s responsibility. Don’t want your info on Facebook? Then don’t BE on Facebook.

Secondly, this is an incredibly valuable tool for marketers. Imagine being able to harness all that word-of-mouth about your brand from all over the country and then TELL people about it; in those people’s own words. Obviously, the danger here is that some negative comments get through, which is bound to happen. However, common sense would dictate if someone is checking into your brand, the three most likely outcomes are: no comment, positive, or neutral. In other words, the benefit of the positive check-in’s far outweighs the potential for negative check-in’s. If you’d rather not take that chance, simply buy the page likes instead.

This is word-of-mouth marketing 2.0. Any REAL comment about your brand is infinitely more valuable than anything you can put in a standard Facebook ad. Or any other kind of ad for that matter.

What do you think? Will this change the face of marketing on Facebook, and potentially the Web, or will this slide by mostly unnoticed?

I hold a rather unpopular opinion currently. It’s my opinion that it is in Facebook’s best interests to make as much of your information public as possible. Facebook is a for-profit corporation that trades in the information of its clients; namely, you and me. The only information they have to trade on though, is what we give them.

The expectation of privacy on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, or whatever other social media or Internet site you use is a fallacy. ANYTHING you post online should be considered public information. Updating your Twitter feed or Facebook status is exactly the same as issuing a press release, or even turning your microphone on at a radio station.

Facebook started out with strict guidelines on the privacy of its users. That was when Mark Zuckerberg was in college, just starting his company. He’s now 26-years old, a multi-millionaire, and interested in growing his company. Protecting the privacy of his clients is not in the best interests of his company, so why would you expect him to do that?

I won’t deny that there’s been a major shift in Facebook’s privacy policy. It’s absolutely true. However, it hasn’t been a secret. It has announced every single change in that policy…and also what you can do to protect your own privacy on its site. That, really, is the crux of the matter.Who’s responsibility is it to protect your privacy online? Yours? Or Mark Zuckerberg’s?

By now, you’ll have guessed that I believe the cross is yours to bear. Maybe it’s because I was in the public eye as a reporter for several years that I treat what I consider “private” differs from most people. My birthday? Readily available (and gifts are always welcome). The city I live in? Readily available. Who I work for? Also, readily available. I’ve made the mistake of posting my home address online, and that’s available too if you know what to Google.

Is it any of those site’s fault that I listed my information? No. I did that, and I’ll have to live with the spam and junk mail that comes my way as a result. I’m willing to stand up and take responsibility for what I post online. In America, we have a great distrust of large corporations. Was anyone REALLY surprised when we learned that Toyota was putting profits ahead of customer safety? Or that BP didn’t have the best safety mechanisms in place in the Gulf? Why would it be any different with a large corporation like Facebook?

Mark Zuckerberg wants to make money, and frankly I find it difficult to blame him. That’s what this country is all about. Building the best, smartest, quickest, widget to meet a need and/or desire. Facebook is his widget. And you’re complaining about a service that costs you nary a dime, assuming you don’t advertise on Facebook.

Don’t shirk your responsibility of protecting your privacy. The onus is not on Mark Zuckerberg. It’s on you and me.