Group 8020 Blog

Your Facebook Status – Whose Privacy Is This Anyway

February 7th, 2009

 Your Facebook Status   Whose Privacy Is This AnywayAs reported by Nick O’Neill in his post Facebook Opens Status API, Say Goodbye to Twitter, Facebook announced some big changes Friday night at close of business.

The Opening of Facebook

Chris Putman of Facebook laid out how newly announced APIs would allow applications installed by Facebook users to  pass along their status updates, notes, links and videos to outside sites.

For example, a travel application could make it really easy for users to create and share notes and upload photos and videos from a recent trip. Users could then display that content within a profile tab for that app.

You Should Check Your Privacy

I think this is exciting news and will bring about new ways for good friends to interact.  But what about “causal acquaintances”? Now would be a good time to check your privacy settings for applications on Facebook.  Consider:

  1. 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.  Also by Nick O’Neill of AllFacebook. 10 common sense action items laid out in a logical, helpful sequence.
  2. Facebook Best Practices by Sophos, a software solutions provider with 100 million users. Their focus is on security and defense against “blended threats”  so their advice “disable options, then open them one by one” is a best practice for Facebook users moving forward.

Women 55 and Over Fast Growing Segment on Facebook

Social media marketing on Facebook will soon be coming from brands you might not expect including medical devices and personalized pharmacueticals.  This is born out by research by Inside Facebook and their great write up  Women Over 55: Fastest Growing Demographic on Facebook.

Health care marketers who want to create prototype marketing programs in this area should consider three issues with respect to building or using Facebook applications:

  1. HIPAA compliance
  2. DDMAC best practices
  3. Public Relations litmus test: “would I do this to my own mother on Facebook?”

Related Posts

  1. Eularis Releases “eMarketing Using Social Media” Report
  2. MySpace is Top Ranking Social Media Site When Ranked by Video Streams
  3. Pharma and Facebook: Connect, Attract and Promote
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