Facebook updated its terms of service back in December and there was a brief, but reasonably pointless, backlash against some of its new terms of service.
These largely related to ownership of any and all material posted onto users’ and brands’ Facebook pages, in essence what the terms of service sought to clarify was that content posted onto Facebook pages become the property of Facebook.
This was not, as many suggested at the time, Mark Zuckerberg’s first salvo at world domination but rather an attempt to avert legal action against Facebook when users and/or brands sought to remove content from the Facebook platform only to find it was still being held on Facebook page backups.
What those same brand keepers that hurriedly pulled all their content off Facebook in December should have been more concerned about was whether or not their Facebook pages met the other terms and conditions of the Facebook platform, as many still do not.
As a guide, the following should be considered when using Facebook to promote your brand or service: http://www.facebook.com/terms.php
With respect to using Facebook to run promotions you should also ensure your campaign complies with Facebook’s promotions guidelines: http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php
Note also that, the same as any brand, there are clear guidelines provided as to how you may (and how you may not) refer to Facebook within the context of your brand or campaign outside of Facebook. These can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/promo_guidelines.php
There is nothing overly onerous within the Facebook terms & conditions however those that choose to ignore them do so at their peril – it is not unheard of for Facebook to remove fan and user pages that ignore them.
Author: Greg Whitham, Ogilvy
