Back in March I posted an article, “Facebook Internet Coup d’état?”, in which I gave my opinion about using Facebook as a company’s primary website.  The upshot was that I didn’t think it was prudent to permit Facebook (or any other 3rd. party) to have control of my public online presence.  Remember Google’s famous tagline…“Do no evil”?

Anyone who has ever tried to contact Facebook will tell you that they offer virtually no customer support.  You’re on your own if you have questions.  This is bad enough for those who have basic questions about using the service, but it becomes a serious problem if you wake up one morning and discover that Facebook whacked your account.  Presto!  Your ‘Page’ has disappeared, your friends get an error message and you can’t login.  What can you do?

Unless you know somebody who knows somebody, you could be out of luck (SOL).  There is no support line or email address where you can go for help. David Fagin, an AOL News Writer, discovered this when he was identified as a ‘Spammer’ by Facebook for soliciting new friends and his account was closed.  He is now suing Facebook for $1 to bring this issue to public attention.

Facebook recently took down pages from Ars Technica, a highly regarded tech company.  According to WebProNews.com, this action was taken because one person complained that they were violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Can you imagine what it could mean to your business if a disgruntled customer or employee, or worse yet, a competitor of yours complained to Facebook about your company?  Imagine your Facebook presence disappearing because of one malicious prank?

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not anti-Facebook and I don’t think the sky is falling.  However, as a business you need to be aware that Facebook is still an infant company and is in spite of their meteoric growth, they are still shaping their policies and stumbling around defining their services (or in the case of customer service – the lack of it).

Can you imagine what it could mean to your business if a disgruntled customer or employee, or worse yet, a competitor of yours complained to Facebook about your company?  Imagine your Facebook presence disappearing because of one malicious prank?

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not anti-Facebook and I don’t think the sky is falling.  However, as a business you need to be aware that Facebook is still an infant company and is in spite of their meteoric growth, they are still shaping their policies and stumbling around defining their service.

Facebook is one of many business tools

Facebook is a marketing tool for businesses wanting to reach customers and expand their reach. You should view it as such and not diminish the efforts you in building your brand on your primary website and blog.  Use social networking to augment your business promotion, not replace it.  I saw this description somewhere…

Linkedin is for people you know.
Facebook is for people you used to know.
Twitter is for people you want to know.
YouTube is for getting Google to know you!

Social adds SEO juice!

Related posts:

1. Facebook Internet Coup d’état?
2. Do you trust Facebook?
3. 7 reasons why you need a Facebook Page