Why Businesses Should Not Dump Facebook
Many businesses have Facebook accounts. Companies such as McDonald's, Microsoft, Taco Bell, Adobe, Apple and others companies have a Facebook presence. In fact, a few companies have multiple Facebook profiles broken down by product categories.
A good reason for many companies to have accounts on the social networking site is that Facebook gives the chance to interact with customers where they are rather than expect people seek out an establishment. Facebook accounts – or a Twitter accounts for that matter – allow businesses to relate with customers on a more personal level and generate a sense of community and loyalty.
Of course, this means Facebook can very well be a hyped up marketing or customer relations platform. According to a survey from Sophos, a security software and services vendor, around two-thirds of Facebook users are thinking about getting rid of their Facebook account as a result of privacy concerns. But those surveyed users are arguably more likely to be aware of, and concerned about privacy and security issues. Whether the survey is very scientific or not remains to be an issue for debate. Results are therefore unlikely to be indicative of the true sentiments of the vast majority of Facebook users.
True. The privacy mishap with the new Facebook default settings is a big deal. But the current moves by people to abandon Facebook are just variations on a recurring theme for Facebook which has faced repeated privacy concerns and user "backlashes" and grown larger and more powerful every time. Despite all protests, Facebook membership continues to grow exponentially.
There are reasons to be concerned. The latest moves of Facebook for automatically data sharing options may not be in the best interest of your company. Information about your business could be distributed, or misappropriated in ways you did not desire. The message you targeted for your Facebook community could possibly now be shared elsewhere throughout the Internet.
It is true that Facebook unethically crossed boundaries when it launched new services and modified the rules without warning. However, the social networking site will most likely continue to grow its membership despite massive account deactivations. This means Facebook will still be a growing venue for dealing with customers and building relationships to establish and expand your brand recognition.
Don't dump your Facebook account just yet!