I’ve seen at least a dozen companies within the past month lock down their Facebook walls.
As if Facebook didn’t need any more issues, after their latest privacy meltdown… here comes something else. In case you were living under a rock, Facebook decided to capitalize on everyone’s profile on search engines. They did so by presenting users with a Privacy Wizard. Users that “skipped” the wizard, unknowingly unlocked all privacy options, putting their entire profile up for view.
Well, here’s the new debacle. Companies (a key revenue generator for Facebook) are locking down their walls. Ordinary fans can continue to post comments (hidden replies that require multiple clicks to appear). But, fans can’t make new threads on the company’s wall.
Two big culprits that I’ve seen are General Motors and Sega. However, there are many, many more. I suspect this was the call of a couple of social media companies that manage dozens… if not hundreds of company blogs.
Facebook needs to step in here and explain that this won’t work in the long run. It turns off fans from interacting with the company’s wall, and thus, Facebook in general.
I know Facebook has taken pride in giving more control over access to people’s walls, but this is just going to hurt Facebook, and if they can’t force companies to have open walls… they can at least work to head off such lockdowns. If I were Facebook, I’d be calling some social media managers right now.