Due to recent criticism, Facebook has dedicated a page solely to information and news regarding online privacy. With this new “Facebook and Privacy Page”, users are given easy access to information on how to keep their Facebook profiles secure and private. With the advent of SEO and social media marketing, companies are now heavily using social networking sites for advertising and marketing purposes in an effort to gain more business contacts and customers. This worries Facebook subscribers because they don’t want all their personal information to go to just anyone, and at the same time, they also don’t want to be bombarded with advertisements or spam.
At the D8 Tech Conference that recently took place, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg carefully addressed how this popular social media marketing site will handle the privacy of its users. In vague detail, Zuckerberg implied that users will still likely be required to opt out of certain features that share private and personal information. Before the change, users had to specify 50 privacy settings and 170 privacy options, which is a little ridiculous.
The proliferation of social networking sites is a main factor on how privacy options are handled. This popular online networking site used to be known for its simplicity, but then controls for sharing personal information became more complicated. So, instead of setting information-sharing features to “off” by default, users were required to specifically search for the features or applications and turn them off one by one.
With Facebook’s new privacy page, users will receive regular updates on any changes made to Facebook’s privacy settings. The site also offers video tutorials – “how to’s” on setting privacy controls. Facebook’s focus on openness and sharing has recently bothered some private consumer protection groups and they are pressuring the government to enforce regulations in order to better protect the users of online social media platforms such as Twitter and Multiply.
Thanks to SEO and social media marketing, online social networking sites have been a useful tool in generating visibility and brand awareness. However, for private individuals who want to just communicate with close friends and family, privacy is a major issue. Thus, the need for a safer and more secure means of doing social networking is imperative.