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Intelligence
Timing is Everything

Intelligence

Timing is Everything

Jul 07, 2010By Michael Stoner

Some folks, like my colleague Patrick DiMichele, were mystified by the reaction to the news that Facebook had suddenly revised its privacy controls, making public information that many people thought they shared with only a few people. If you post something online, don’t be surprised if it is shared, Patrick believes.

I, on the other hand, was among those who were really angry. I’ve been online since the 1990s and learned a long time ago to be circumspect with what I shared since it is so easy for anything posted online to be distributed widely. I wasn’t too concerned about personal details in my profile or wall posts being shared with others. But I was angry about the way in which Facebook breached my trust, cavalierly altering an agreement it had made with me about what I could hold back from public view.

Whatever your attitude, I believe this widely publicized incident may make many people more motivated to exercise some control over how info about them is shared. Pew research indicates that already the Facebook generation—those who adopted Facebook in college and are now among its most avid users—are more likely than older adults to “take steps to limit the amount of personal information available about them online” (44% vs. 33% of internet users between ages 30–49) and that 71% of them have changed privacy settings or deleted unwanted comments that others have made on their profiles (47%).

In short, the canard that this generation doesn’t care about privacy isn’t true: they might be more comfortable than older people in sharing information about themselves online, but they’re also more active in managing their reputations.

Takeaways—and taking action

If you maintain a proprietary network of some kind—an alumni community or another kind of social network—this is the time for you to demonstrate that you’re helping your members to protect their privacy or manage their reputations.

First, review the tools in place for allowing members to restrict or share information. Are they clear and easy to use? If not, how can you make them clearer, simpler, more straightforward? Make sure that you have a clear FAQ in place and that people can find it.

It’s also time to review your privacy policy. Make sure it’s up-to-date and outlines what you do—and don’t do—with information that people share with you. And if you don’t have a privacy policy, write one. Now. 

Once you’ve reviewed and updated your policy, it’s time to remind users in your community about it. You might want to clarify their rights and responsibilities and remind them to be respectful of what other community members share. And invite them to review what they’ve shared already and to adjust their sharing settings.

At minimum, this approach shows that you’re paying attention to what’s going on in the world of the Internet. And it can reinforce the fact that your own community, unlike Facebook, takes privacy seriously and wants to allow its members to control their own privacy—and reputations. While many people many not pay attention to online privacy issues, some people care about it. Showing everyone that you take it seriously helps to reinforce your cred as a community host and manager.

It’s too early to tell about how this news will affect how people interact with Facebook and what they share (or don’t share) with each other and with you. Only time will tell. But you need to keep up on these developments and pay attention to how they affect your community.


  • Michael Stoner Co-Founder and Co-Owner Was I born a skeptic or did I become one as I watched the hypestorm gather during the dotcom years, recede, and congeal once more as we come to terms with our online, social, mobile world? Whatever. I'm not much interested in cutting edge but what actually works for real people in the real world. Does that make me a bad person?