Guest Blog by Imogen Reed.

Facebook, known of course as the world’s most popular social network for both business and personal purposes, officially became a public company on 18^th May, trading its stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market for the first ever time. For investors in the company, they could finally see if their initial investment had grown into something more profitable as finally a dollar sign will be placed in front of the company which changed the way we use social networking for good.

After its creation in 2004, Facebook has attracted over 900 million users and that’s just those considered active and it has become an important tool for both business networking and those using it on a personal level. The age of the webinar and online networking groups has meant face-to-face events have become much less relevant and you can arrange a fully functional and effective business meeting via your webcam and computer, using just Skype, Facebook and potentially other networks of your choice. The money saved on all manner of finer details, from stocking up on paper based business cards and flyers to hiring transport for all delegates and arranging mini bus insurance, can be used to further invest in your business or network. Online networking has changed the way we view the world and allowed for much wider, much more far reaching development and growth within many sectors. Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg are at least partially responsible for this and should be thanked.

The Impact of Facebook’s IPO

Facebook’s IPO is priced at $38 per share at present and this will have both indirect and direct consequences for companies using social networking business solutions. The network, now valued at around $104 billion boasts the largest technology IPO in living history and the repercussions of this should reverberate around the social business world in general.

Organisations rely upon business based social networking solutions to improve communications and collaboration, further brand awareness and engage effectively with their customer base locally and worldwide. It also allows for a streamlined and centrally controlled customer service base from which you can build and develop relationships with potential return customers. Social networking has become as much a business tool as a personal one.

Experts in the social business sector are convinced Facebook could add more strings to its bow by developing an enterprise and business version of their site, giving enterprises, growing businesses and their related networks a chance to specifically focus on brand development and separating their platform from the more personal currently out there.

Further Investments and Growth

With the company now having a value, there is no reason for it not to invest in further platforms, strategies and innovations to make its brand even stronger. The implementation of more specifically business orientated strategies would certainly be key to ensuring that growth takes a step in the right direction although predictions are suggesting that mobile technology is next on the hit list. There are rumours a Facebook smartphone may be in development. The development of robust hardware based products could be something to seriously develop the brand and make it even more easier to connect directly with our particular business networks.

A Facebook smartphone would ensure that your entire phone usage was linked directly to your profile or business page and running its own bespoke software it could genuinely be the only business phone deemed good enough within a few short years. In an attempt to reach more internet users, Zuckerberg and his team need to step towards those using alternative means to get online and that includes mobile users.

The growth and development of the network thus far has been solely based upon advertising and the strongest internet media markets are currently said to be in China, India and Brazil, not areas where Facebook is particularly strong and this is something that needs to be considered if their reign at the top of the social network tower is to be continued. Nobody is suggesting the brand will fade out like its predecessors as it has become an integral part of people’s lives and business but to remain strong and to keep its share prices high, growth and advancement have to continue.

Whilst networks like Linkedin have been developed solely for your business, Facebook has the potential to develop into something infinite in size and as a proactive and aware businessperson, keeping tabs on its development should be an essential part of your business intelligence.

Thank to The Consumerist for this, which I’d missed at the time. Facebook revised it’s Terms of Service on 4th February 2009 which gives it almost limitless rights to do what it wants with your data…forever, regardless of whether you decide to terminate your account.

Facebook’s terms of service (TOS) used to say that when you closed an account on their network, any rights they claimed to the original content you uploaded would expire. Not anymore.

Now, anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Want to close your account? Good for you, but Facebook still has the right to do whatever it wants with your old content. They can even sub-license it if they want.

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sub-license) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any 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.

That language is the same as in the old TOS, but there was an important couple of lines at the end of that section that have been removed:

You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.

Furthermore, the “Termination” section near the end of the ToS states:

The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.

This is quite relevant to some research I’m doing now in preparation for a presentation next month about the colliding worlds of EDRM and Web 2.0. There’s a blurring of the edges between Enterprise data  (i.e. that which is stored and managed inside the corporate firewall) and data created and used by staff outside the firewall, which may fall within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act or the Data Protection Act. Records managers may soon have to grasp the concept of having infinite record retention schedules, i.e. Web 2.0 data is forever and not subject to disposal schedules!

I suspect that many Government departments and local councils that have started to use social networks and social media for consultation with citizens or as part of their service delivery may not full appreciate the implications of information governance in a very unregulated Web 2.0 world.

In the mean time make sure you never upload anything to the social web that you don’t feel comfortable giving away forever, because one day it may come back to bite you!

I’ve recently seen a flurry of blogs about the merits (or not) of Facebook as a social networking environment. I was stirred to action when I read Elsua’s blog this morning, which in turn refers to the question posed by Mitch Joel "Can you claim to be in social media without having a Facebook account".

Now, whilst I don’t disagree with many of the points made by Elsua, or for that matter Euan Semple, who writes about Facebook being all froth and no substance, I would like to pose the following question:

If you’re serious about Social Media, and profess to be an ‘expert’, where there is a major gathering of like-minded socially-active individuals, can you afford to NOT be there?

Yes, there are a lot of shortcomings with Facebook, but if you want to comment about it with any authority, you need to be a part of it, not a bystander watching on the periphery.