Often times you will see people post a "chain post" in Facebook asking you to disable this feature or that feature in order to protect somene's privacy.  People ask us about privacy on Facebook all the time, so let me be clear.  

As far as privacy in social media goes...

YOU HAVE NONE.

Those agreements you sign digitally when you register for Facebook or other social media basically enable them to do whatever they want with what you upload or post,   In fact, in many instances, it no longer even belongs to you.  Privacy on social media is a complete illusion.  

In fact, with respect to Facebook particularly, I have to remind people, "You are not Facebook's client.  Facebook's advertisers are their clients, and they use your information to get you to purchase or contact their clients.  Facebook is in business for one reason--  to make money.  Without that, Facebook will not exist.  It would be nice to think that they have some elevated sense of providing electronic community to make it a better world, but the reality is, like most any other website, it is a business, and without money that business will not exist.  Realize and know that Facebook is using you to make money with their clients.  

So if you are going to use social media, know this.  You have no privacy.  If this upsets you, you need to get used to it, because privacy is gone in every area of life.  You can be tracked through your money card, through the cameras on the highways, through your cell phone, through the video cameras in Wal Mart, and even GPS tracking devices that insurance companies want you to install on your car.  To be completely private is nearly impossible, but it is still necessary to go in with your eyes open with respect to technology and social media.  Privacy no longer exists.  

If you want a little debrief on Facebook particularly, this article showed up on Yahoo today.

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/using-facebook-gives-no-privacy-not-really-215002021.html

Be vigilant and know what you are getting into.
Blessings.

John

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but bad online reviews can kill my profit margins". Ok, that's not how the saying went when we were kids, but it sure fits now. Google has recently changed their algorithm to include online reviews. In fact, the average listing in the number one spot of Google search results has 33 reviews. Based on that, business owners today can hardly afford to ignore this aspect of their digital marketing.

Not only that, but since many business owners don't monitor the review sites, bad reviews can sneak in and bleed away business. Around 70% of people ages 20-40 check online reviews before doing business with a company and bounce away if the reviews are bad. No one knows how much money is being wasted on search engine optimization for businesses that have negative reviews out there. That's like hanging a flashing neon arrow over what's wrong with the business.

So, if a business has some bad reviews, what can they do? The search engines won't do anything. The review sites won't help. That's why there is First Watch Manager.

First Watch Manager is a system that helps business owners manage reviews from their customers in a simple way. Customers are asked to select whether they had a positive or negative experience with the company. If they pick negative, the user is taken to a page where they can identfy who they dealt with in the company and fill out a form explaining what went wrong. They submit that form which goes straight to the business owner for a chance at service recovery. Positive selections take the user to a list of review portals that they're already signed into on their smart phone. They simply go to the review portal and type in their positive experience which pushes down any negative reviews already posted. It's that simple.

Besides providing an HR function (where staff members that consistently get negative feedback are quickly identified), First Watch Manager allows the business owner to systematically add positive reviews online which increases credibility with customers as well as search engines, and it improves online visibility. This system is the first aspect in establishing a solid business reputation and the foundation of all marketing efforts from there.

For more information about this online reputation management system, go to www.firstwatchmanager.com.