A couple weeks ago I discussed brand backlash using Starbucks’ recent brand issues as an example. I had planned a follow-up article talking about Facebook’s inevitable brand backlash.
Well, I waited too long, because last week it became all too clear that the Great Facebook Brand Backlash was upon us.
In case you weren’t around, here’s what happened: Facebook rolled out some new suggested privacy settings. It concerned experts. It was a fiasco. It could only be elaborate trickery.
I had heard some rumblings by the time the changes got around to me, on Twitter and on the blogs I read. I took a deep breath as the new privacy screen popped up, knowing a new future had arrived. I could see the big, robotic eye of Facebook watching my every move, subtly manipulating me into buying products or making new connections without my conscious knowledge.
And then I checked a few boxes.
Phew. The fiasco wasn’t really a fiasco at all. Perhaps the only strong argument against the policy is that users might not read the message. Considering that users are forced to read it to continue, and that the message contains multiple check boxes, which obviously imply a decision is to be made… well, I’m loathe to call it elaborate trickery.
The whole thing might be unsettling if Mark Zuckerberg had suddenly changed his position on anything. He’s been rather openly for openness since the beginning. It has been a recurring theme in his open letters to users of the site, and I imagine it will stay a recurring theme. This move isn’t unexpected, isn’t out of line with his (or facebook’s) feelings on the issue, and it isn’t Earth-shattering.
But when you read about it, it will be. Everything they do will be. And that’s the Great Facebook Brand Backlash in action.
Related posts:
- Brand backlash: Inevitable but good
- Brand image and brand perception: Two sides of the same coin
- The impending backlash against personal branding
- On FTC’s blogging guidelines, ‘clearly and conspicuously’ is what everyone should be talking about
- Presence: the best place to start with your public relations
