While many people enjoy Facebook for personal use (connections to family and friends, posting photos, playing games), does it really have a business role for your organization?

Whether the answer is yes or no, one thing is certain: Facebook represents a risk vector that must be considered.  In no particular order, here are five risks to consider – and what to do about them:

1. Rules can change midstream:  Facebook is a business whose goals are not the same as yours. In their quest to maximize revenue, the platform can change its layouts, features, permissions, and privacy policies with impunity.  What would happen when you rely on a feature, and it suddenly is cancelled (or has a price tag attached to it)?  Mitigation approach:  Monitor for changes, and rely only on Facebook as one part of an overall strategy.
2. Facebook owns the users – not you:  While you may think that you own your fans, your ability to understand them, communicate with them, or use the relationships is limited to Facebook-controlled actions within the Facebook platform.  With Facebook, you are a tenant, not a landlord.  Mitigation approach:  use messaging and incentives to drive your fans to register in your off-Facebook “owned” systems (e.g. Marketing automation or CRM systems.)
3. Target audiences may move:  Just because users chose to be fans at one time doesn’t mean they still have that same affinity: they may choose to engage on a different platform.  MySpace – and organizations who relied on the platform – learned this the hard way a number of years ago.  Mitigation approach: invest in community management to keep users engaged, and test for traction on emerging social media platforms.  Many didn’t do that, and were caught flat-footed by the emergence of TikTok.
4. Imposter or unofficial pages:  It is easy for a “fan” (or a detractor) to set up a page purporting to represent your organization.  And Facebook will sometimes manufacture a page with your organization’s name on it – that can be claimed and modified by just about anyone.  At best, these pages will confuse users; at worst, they can destroy your brand.  Mitigation approach: Monitor for trademark infringement, and take over (and possibly shut down) thees pages.
5. Inadequate resourcing and monitoring:  Just because a Facebook page is free to set up, doesn’t mean that it is free to operate.  Negative or inappropriate comments can quickly spread if not properly checked.  Or a once vibrant page can quickly become a ghost town.  Mitigation approach: Ensure that the page is monitored and managed by a person who actually has the time and capability to do so.  

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