Privacy changes a healthy move for social network’s reputation
Widely blasted by regulators and users alive for a lack of effective privacy settings or respect for the sanctity of users’ information, Facebook is far from the cutting edge of the confidentiality movement. However, a recent change is a surprising step in the right direction and a smart crisis management strategy to boot, especially considering the close looks the social network has been getting from groups like the Federal Trade Commission or privacy officials overseas.
According to a company blog post, new Facebook users will now start out sharing to friends only, and both new and current users will receive messages explaining exactly who can see what they post according to their current privacy settings.
Facebook is going even further, though, adding a “privacy checkup tool”, automatic reminders when posts are set to public, and, something we’re especially excited about, a way to log into apps requiring Facebook authentication anonymously!
Moving from what many have justifiably called confusing and even deceptive privacy settings to this is a huge leap in the right direction, and puts Facebook more in line with platforms like Snapchat, Whisper, and its own newly acquired Whatsapp. Making users happy while satisfying critics is a crisis management win, and leaves us wondering what other tricks the old dog on the social media block may have up its sleeves.
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[Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]