Facebook's privacy woes a cause for concern

Recently, Facebook made changes to its service - and subsequently its privacy policy - and once again, the blogosphere is full of criticisms over Facebook's latest move.

The changes, which open up users private information for a range of websites, and a new privacy policy that tops 5,800 words - and is longer than the US Constitution! - could very well be the spark that ignites a huge anti-Facebook backlash

And in reality, anybody involved in social media marketing needs to be concerned about Facebook's actions - and the potential impacts on a user base growing increasingly frustrated by Facebook's lack of concern for privacy.

The changes happened to coincide with the emergence of leaked documents showing instant messages sent by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that show how little he values privacy and how he sees Facebook as a way to mine data on users.

In an interview with CTV, tech specialist Amber MacArthur said that while Facebook doesn't state how many users delete their profiles,
more users are looking for alternatives.

There are a lot of people out there who do want an alternative. Right now it's sort of a fringe of users on Facebook who are leaving ... (but) I think that Facebook is actually feeling the pressure from the users and they're feeling as though they need to make some changes.

What I think should be of most concern is that, as the BBC reports, if you type in "How to quit" into Google, a site on how to quit Facebook comes up 8th on the list of search results.

I personally have contemplated quitting Facebook many times over the last month. I've drastically scaled back my usage of the site and the information I provide. And so far, I've seen 6 of my friends leave Facebook, citing the privacy concerns as their main reason.

Granted, my friends and I are in no way representative of Facebook's user base, but I hardly consider us "on the fringe" as MacArthur says - in fact, we are all very plugged in users who had profiles full of personal information and countless third-party apps.

If the tide turns, as I suspect it might, Facebook could become the new Myspace, a lame sitting duck according to Adbusters.

With more and more people coming to the quietly indignant realization that Facebook is lame like Myspace, the site is facing inevitable decline. And as a growing percentage of the site starts to log out, we will see the emergence of a new social networking platform built on non-commercial principles for the benefit of friendship and not consumerism.

For social media marketers, this has to be a concern. If Facebook, the largest social networking site, starts to suffer a dip in popularity, it could be disastrous for companies and organizations that aggressively promote through the platform as users, and potential markets, could disappear.

More broadly speaking, Facebook's actions could also impact the broader practice of social networking. As the largest platform, Facebook often sets the bar - what it does, others follow.

But as MacArthur rightly points out, people are looking for a change - for example, the Diaspora Project is often mentioned as an open-source pro-privacy platform. And Facebook's actions could push more and more users onto other platforms.

Thus, as I always maintain, it is incredibly important to not just use social media in your marketing, but to ensure that it is multi- and cross-platform.

You can't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversifying is the best way to ensure you reach the greatest number of people - but more importantly, being on multiple platforms is in my opinion the best way to weather what looks like more stormy weather ahead for Facebook.