Facebook: Policies, Fan Pages, Rumors, & Dominos

• Facebook's New Policies Fail to Stop Ad Copy Misuse: last month Facebook started a new system to stop ads from using information from users' profiles such as age and location. 2 ads appeared to have slipped through the cracks: Bloomspot.com and the Scooter Store, as well as many others. Bloomspot would not take phonecalls, but emailed ClickZ and asked to not be included in their article. Facebook's ad system is part automatic and part human. In my opinion, I don't mind if Facebook ads target my age or location because that is information that I provided online, so if I am in a company's area and age range, why not have them reach me?? Taking away this advantage will hurt Facebook's advertisers since they will no longer be able to reach their ideal consumers.
• How to Build Engaging One-of-Kind Facebook Fan Pages: This will give you the step by step directions and tips to making a Facebook Fan Page that is successful and engaging. Requirements: time, planning, HTML knowledge, design skill, and imagination. Make your profile picture the full size (200 x 600 pixels); use a Facebook application to create different tabs; link your twitter in one of those tabs; participate in conversations; and spotlight your company's employees.
• Facebook Causes Syphilis and Craigslist Kills People: An article by Matthew Ingram, focuses on how people tend to believe everything they read online is true. Rumors found on mainstream media sites should be verified without sources before claiming them as true. This rumor begain in British papers then online then to social networks. The source of the rumor began with an interview of a British public health official in Teeside who shared his opinion that young people are having unprotected sex with "Facebook romps" aka people they converse with on Facebook. And syphillis rates are higher than before, and some people surveyed has met partners through Facebook and a lot of people in the area are Facebook users. I agree with Matthew, how can you link things? It's kind of funny how quickly social media allows rumors to spread; it's definately a great outlet for sharing news and information, but when information is false, it is difficult to control the info flow.
• New York City Public Relations Firm Offers Tips on Blog Promotion: A blogger from a NYC PR firm offered some insight to reaching blog readers. She reccommends using Facebook and LinkedIn to spread your blog's name. Each time a blog is posted, a link should be shared on social media outlets; everything should remain parallel for maxiumum outreach.
• The ‘Dominos’ Effect: Pay Attention to your Customers, A View from the Brand Perspective: this article follows a journey of a brand- Dominos- through social media. Chris Brandon in charge of PR operations and social media was interviewed. Dominos has been engaging with consumers through social media for a year and a half, and now is using social media more than before. They looked on Twitter/Facebook/Blogs to see what consumers were saying about their pizza, and noticed the need for improvements, so they listened. Chris also points out that social media helps Dominos communicate with customers directly now, which they couldnt before. After 45 mins of the Spring 2009 YouTube posting of an employee unsanitarily cooking, the company knew of the video and immediately distributed still shots nationwide to figure out the culprits in the video. They were found before the day was over and the store was closed, the franchise's owner, the police, and the health department were notified. YouTube wouldn't remove the video because Dominos was not the copyright owner. I find Domino's response a good example of how to react in time's of crisis; I do not understand why YouTube would not remove the video however and understand why the company issued a response on YouTube featuring Domino's PRESIDENT. Domino's still is using social media channels to connect with customers which is helping repair the company's image. They have since told employees that they cant photograph/video anything on Domino's property without permission. Chris believes social media is still young in terms of communcation and marketing tools and will still expand. The brand promotes open and honest interaction with fans. Advice to big brands trying social media is to stay current because social media is always changing. The article and interview end with this is a new consumer-led era; which is true because due to social media, consumers have more control and power.