By now you've probably all heard about Facebook Beacon and how it seriously infringed on FB users' privacy and reported sensitive information about them, without them even knowing it, in some cases. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a quick synopsis from Marketing Conversation:
When Facebook introduced Beacon amidst much fanfare, the advertising, business, and technology communities followed the story with great interest. It seemed to offer a lot: traditional display mixed with viral word of mouth. Major brands, both online and offline were partnering with Facebook on Beacon.
Soon things started to go haywire as people suddenly found out that things they bought were showing up in their ‘friends’ Facebook’s newsfeed without their knowledge or permission. It turned out that Beacon, which had led it partners and the media to believe that was to be opt-in, was, in fact, opt-out. And it was also clear that Facebook did not let its 50,000,000 users that they’d be playing roles as marketing agents from now on. Disasters began happening and the blogosphere was first to react.
Similar to when FB first introduced its newsfeed, users lashed out and FB had to revise Beacon. Still, there are a few lessons sports teams, leagues and sponsors can take from this.
Do not mislead others about what you have to offer - Teams should tell sponsors/potential sponsors the truth about the status of their team and players, and should alert sponsors of any potential controversies before they read about them in the papers.
Do not use your fans/customers' information without their consent - People should not automatically be opted-in to any list and sent information. Give people the opportunity to opt-in and you will get a more attentive audience who is more likely to be receptive to your product or service. Don't abuse their trust or you will lose it.
Listen to your fans and customers - I'd be willing to bet if FB had surveyed its users before unveiling Beacon, they could have avoided this situation all together. Teams should survey their fans to see what is working and what needs to be improved, and sponsors should take note of how they are perceived and received at events.
Admit your mistakes. Quickly and Personally - Even after people exposed Beacon for what it really was, FB didn't respond right away. FB should have been honest from the start, but once it got called out, it should have apologized immediately. When it did respond, it used mainly press releases geared towards the tech crowd, and it neglected the average user. If there is a crisis, teams should act fast to respond to valued fans and minimize the damage.
UPDATE- Zuckerberg has written an apology on his blog:
About a month ago, we released a new feature called Beacon to try to help people share information with their friends about things they do on the web. We've made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we've made even more with how we've handled them. We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it. While I am disappointed with our mistakes, we appreciate all the feedback we have received from our user. Read the rest of his apology here.
Fix the problem! - Beacon is STILL a problem. According to a research engineer on a Computer Associates research team, Facebook is "collecting information about user actions on affiliate sites regardless of whether or not the user chose to opt out, and regardless of whether or not the user is logged into Facebook at that time." Moral of the story for teams and sponsors: if there is a problem that is upsetting fans, fix it, or at least make every effort to and let people know you're working towards a solution.
UPDATE Facebook seems to have fixed the opt-in problem, and has taken steps to allow people to turn off Beacon completely. I'm not sure if they've fixed the problem of people's info being shared unwillingly or not.
What do you think about the Facebook Beacon service and all this press it's received?
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