6912948733_128c5ac69c_b (1)It’s astounding the number of people playing fast and loose with their organisation’s Facebook pages.

How?
By allowing or even encouraging staff create second profiles to be admin.
That’s against Facebook terms and conditions and those profiles run an increased risk of being deleted. The Sprout Social blog has warned of a fresh clamp-down on this by the social media giant in the wake of post-Trump criticism. The Facebook account with few friends and only activity on the corporate page is being spotted and removed.
The process, let’s call it the John Smith Work profile approach, needs to end.

What does the t&c’s say?

Facebook terms and conditions are super clear on this.
Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:

  1. You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
  2. You will not create more than one personal account.
And for pages, there’s a warning too. Only real people can admin. So unless you’ve changed your name to John Smith Work you’re in trouble. In a world where Facebook needs to show people they clamp-down on fake news this approach will begin to pose questions of the validity of the page too. That’s not something you want to do.
Here’s what the page t&c’s say:

General

A.    A Page for a brand, entity (place or organisation), or public figure may be administered only by an authorised representative of that brand, entity (place or organisation) or public figure (an “official Page”).

So, an authorised representative only. In law is John Smith Work authorised? Is he even a real person?

Why second accounts exist

I’ve heard it said that people don’t want their own profile linked to a work Facebook page.  They’re maybe worried about somehow the work part of their life leaking into the family time. In the days before pages existed that was a legitimate concern.
But people from outside the page can’t spot who the admin is, so your holiday pics are safe.
I’ve also heard it said that people’s passwords may be weak so a collective fake name is better. That’s not a good idea. Bottom line. Don’t go against Facebook t&c’s.

Here’s what to do. Quick.

If people genuinely don’t want to link their genuine profile to the corporate page that’s fine at the end of the day.
But you really need to delete them as admin from your page.
Yes, may be a tough break for your rota and for their career progression. It’s not going to look great at an interview that you don’t know how to manage a page.
But worst of all is the single communal work Facebook account that everyone can log-in to. If that goes – and many will – you’ll be left high and dry without any access.
But pages take years to build and lots of TLC to grow. To risk losing that in an instant is indefensible folly.
Picture credit: Poster Boy / Flickr.

Original source – The Dan Slee Blog » LOCAL SOCIAL: Is it time for a Local localgovcamp?

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