Facebook Needs Some Good PR Folks

Posted by Katie Noonan

It was the Consumerist Blog who first publicized Facebook’s latest PR gaffe on Sunday of this week; a story which has since caused a lot of trouble for Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team. In a sneaky and a little greedy move, the company changed their Terms of Service so that they would have claim over users’ content even after users terminated their account.

According to the new (since revised) TOS, Facebook had rights over:

“User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.”

The issue that I and many others in the blogosphere had with this was twofold:

1) I use Facebook to socialize with friends and share information with colleagues. I’m not so sure I want Facebook owning my page content, being able to share it with third parties, or using my likeness in promotional material.

2) It was a shady move. Plain and simple. Obviously you agree to give up a certain degree of privacy when you share information on your Facebook page, but that Facebook itself should have claim over that content even after I terminate my account or be able to “sublicense it to a third party” makes me a little uncomfortable. Call me paranoid.

The legal issues that arise are aplenty, but what’s even more amazing to me is the way Facebook handled it from a public relations perspective.

According to PR Junkie, when Facebook originally changed their Terms of Service claiming all but users’ first born children, it was done through a blog post on their site from their corporate counsel. … Personally, I’m not racing to my computer each morning to read Facebook’s blog. Maybe it’s just me, but CNN and the WSJ rank slightly higher on my list of daily “must-reads.” Yet when they came under fire for the change in TOS and were finally forced to revise them, they issued that news on every users’ individual page. So that was worthy of our attention but not the initial change?

I’m no Nancy Drew, but it seems like they were trying to pull a fast one on their 150 million active users…of which I’m willing to bet a fair share are attorneys, members of the media, bloggers, and PR practitioners. Of course you were going to get caught!

In any event, the original TOS have been restored, but it is at the very least a cautionary tale to users to beware of what you post on Facebook. More importantly it is a PR lesson to Facebook. Transparency and candor will get you far with the public. Being sneaky and using legalese to mask your agenda, not so much.

The PR Lawyer’s Pet Peeves – No. 1

By Gina Rubel

Okay – so I’ve decided to start a running “Pet Peeves” list on our blog. I find that there are so many little things that companies can do to boost their public presence everyday. Just yesterday, I explained to a reporter who was interviewing me about legal marketing trends – that every public communication should be treated as if you’re on stage presenting to an audience of thousands. Whether it’s a Web site, blog, advertisement, press release, seminar presentation, Twit on Twitter, status update of Facebook, or information on LinkedIn, we must remember that they’re all public communications.

So – today’s PR Lawyer’s Pet Peeve – Web site pages that cannot be formatted to print in a branded, efficient and easy to read manner – WASTE.

Today, I printed an article from a colleague (who will remain nameless) who is a “legal marketer.” The two page article printed on six pages and wasted my ink and paper! Why not just add a clean “print this page” feature to your Web site. Invest in your business and practice what you preach.

And don’t forget, before printing this blog post, decide whether it is necessary. Think Green.

PR Disasters Blog By Gerry McCusker

I recently discovered a great blog – http://prdisasters.com/. Gerry McCusker’s blog is chock full of what not to do in public relations. His profile touts the site as designed to “help you avoid killing your PR career or crippling your corporate reputation by showing PR counselors and non-PR’s alike, how not to turn a PR job into a PR nightmare.”

He says the site “tracks the real PR cock-ups; the gaffes and howlers made by spin doctors, PR firms and the client organizations they represent while … offering a perspective on PR (mal)practice that, hopefully, helps you in your work.”

Bottom line – I like it. This one gets added to the blogroll too! Way to go Gerry!