Shame on you Facebook: Privacy Settings and Community Pages

I’ve been quite willing to share  a lot of my personal information online. For the most part, I’m an “open book”.

Now I have 3 words for Facebook: “Shame on you”.

Years ago, some people warned me about Facebook’s Privacy Policy and its disclaimer that any content I share on Facebook (including pictures) becomes the property of Facebook. I thought they were over-reacting.

Until now.

Recently, there has been a lot of coverage about the new changes to Facebook, including the Instant Personalization program  (We posted a blog on how opt-out – but perhaps it’s all a moot point?).

As a marketer, I’ve been curious to see what would happen. Would brands gain more insights into their fans/likers? Would Facebook become an omnipresent entity across the web? This content could be exceptionally valuable.

Yet, on a personal level, this “Open Graph” program makes me VERY nervous. I wonder if Facebook could become the REAL beginning of 1984’s “Big Brother”?

With almost 500 million users, I’m sure Facebook is smug enough to think they can take over the web.

This afternoon, a Social Media marketing mentor (and friend), Anita Windisman went to a concert by popular ’80s band, “The Spoons”.  After uploading her pictures and making comments to her own personal Facebook page, suddenly her image and comments appeared on “The Spoons” Community Page .

(I can confidently say that both Anita and I know our way around Facebook well enough that our Privacy Settings have been optimized to only share information with “Friends”.)

As you can see below, our comments are  being shared as if we hadn’t set our Privacy Settings at all.

(Note: After logging in from another account, I could no longer see this shared content. But suffice it to say, without clear delineation of what is clearly being shared just to friends versus what is going out publicly, I’m going to be even more careful about the content I share.)

Some key insights from Anita:

• When you join a “Community Page” be aware that key words from your status updates and photo uploads will be analyzed and then posted to that Community Page.
• Words or key phrases that you may not even think are relevant are used.  So in the case of “The Spoons”….if you have a status update that states “I ate my spaghetti with a spoon” or that “Ivanka Trump was born with a silver spoon” in her mouth – then THOSE posts would make it to “The Spoons” community page.
• There is NO screening for RELEVANCE!
• And there is no way to “flag” irrelevant posts on the community pages.

When “Community Pages” were launched, it was done quietly. There were no big announcements. Facebook didn’t really explain what they were and how they would be used.  So we’ve had to figure it out on our own.

From a marketing perspective, Jeremiah Owyang outlines “Community Pages”, why Facebook is making these changes and what he suggest brands should do.

But from a personal standpoint, it’s not surprising that tech gurus, such as Leo Laporte have deleted their account.

In “15 Reasons to Ditch Facebook” (via Anita Windisman) Yoav Givati includes reasons such as the constantly changing terms, confusing and irrelevant privacy settings and that Facebook Applications can see all your personal information (you hear this Farmville people?).

If people well-versed in Facebook and other social media sites are concerned about where Facebook is going, then it’s highly probably we’ll see a mass exodus once “anti-Facebook” sites (such as the much anticipated Diaspora) come along.

But Mr. Zuckerberg, in case you forgot, the new way of marketing is all about TRUST, RELATIONSHIPS and TRANSPARENCY. The power is in the hands of the PEOPLE, remember?

Yes, we know “what goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet”, but when when you violate our trust, mislead us and don’t act ethically,  we will move on to the next big thing. (Am I right, MySpace?)

(In the meantime, dear friends, I’m curious to know if anyone has used the free tool available from ReclaimPrivacy.org. Please let us know if you have used it and what you think.)