Facebook status tagging is a problem for Online Reputation Management
Posted by Daniel Peiser @ September 16th, 2009 in Online PR
A few days ago Facebook introduced a new feature called status tagging or @mention, that allows you to tag users you are connected to on Facebook in status updates or any other message.
To identify or reference them you just have to include the “@” symbol before the name of the friend or connection (groups, events, apps, pages). Before this update went live, tagging was only possible in photos, videos and notes.
Tagged friends receive a notification and the post is published on their wall. They can reply to the message with a comment or remove the tag.
What happens when you tag a brand public profile, or a fan page? Well, according to Vincos Blog, brands could have a hard time managing their online reputation because of this new tagging feature. In fact, the only option available to a public profile or fan page administrator is removing the message:
- Commenting on the message is impossible if it’s a tagged status update (it’s possible to comment on a direct wall post)
- Removing the tag from the wall message is also impossible
We tested this feature on 77Lab’s fan page. The first message was posted directly on 77Lab’s wall, and the administrator could comment on it, but couldn’t remove the tag.
Then I updated my status tagging 77Lab. The message got posted on the 77Lab’s wall, and in this case comments were disabled.
When I accepted a friendship request from 77Lab’s administrator Manuela Barreto, she could then comment on my status and, more importantly, the wall post on 77Lab Fan Page.
Effective online reputation management would be possible only with comments enabled for brand page administrators, because an authentic social media presence requires the ability to engage in conversations.
Removing tags could also be an option, but that practice would ultimately backfire and damage the brand’s reputation.
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Comments
Siobhan
September 16th, 2009
Although you cannot control what is being said about the company within the status post, it’s still part of branding and getting your name out there. Any press is good press (in my opinion at least).
-Siobhan
Tweets that mention Facebook status tagging a problem for Online Reputation Management -- Topsy.com
September 16th, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Judy Abel and Daniel Peiser. Daniel Peiser said: Facebook status tagging feature is a problem for brand profiles and fan page Online Reputation Management http://tinyurl.com/nz7ut4 [...]
d.peiser
September 16th, 2009
Hi Siobhan, thanks for your comment.
Well, you have a point, @mention simply by linking your company page already has a great effect on branding.
However Facebook overlooked some key consequences for page administrators, and I guess it’s just a case of sloppy technical implementation of the feature, because it posts status updates on your company page wall giving commenting rights only to friends of the user who mentioned the company.
It’s still easy to react to spam or trolling posts by removing them from the wall, and I think users wouldn’t complain about this practice, but what would they think if your company wouldn’t reply to well thought criticism on its wall?
On the other hand, an administrator would need to befriend users just to be able to comment positive status updates appearing on the wall!
Search Engine DeOptimization – The Home of Search Engine Deoptimization » Blog Archive » Newer developments
September 22nd, 2009
[...] Social networking sites have continually been challenging the brand reputation management industry. Facebook, especially, has been a constant source of new problems for that industry. With the introduction of their newest tagging status system, facebook has created a monster that may not be controllable by brand reputation management professionals. It will be interesting to see how they cope with this newest development. http://lab.77agency.com/online-pr/facebook-status-tagging-online-reputation-management-4036/ [...]
Bryan
October 3rd, 2009
It is also a great way to get feedbacks or reactions from people about your company. This is only one of the many cool features that facebook can offer. Facebook became very famous in a short time because of its many unique features that others don’t have.
d.peiser
October 5th, 2009
Hi Bryan, thanks for commenting.
Actually this particular feature was inspired by Twitter, but it doesn’t really matter who first invented the wheel when you want to buy a car: Facebook is great for Online Branding and as you pointed out, Facebook is very effective in connecting brands with customers.
Tamara Gruber
October 6th, 2009
Daniel,
Very valid points. Facebook not only hasn’t thought through this feature, they also offer pitiful support around companies trying to use the service. The problem I’m having is how do I monitor (just no about, let alone comment on) who is tagging our fan page. I have done some testing and haven’t been able to see any fan updates using the tagging feature show up on the wall. Another fan page tagging our page showed up on the wall but nothing from fans. I’ve made sure the settings are to show updates from Wall + Fans. Their insights analytics seem to have a new setting for Mentions, but the data is incomplete. I imagine that will show you how MANY people tagged the fan page but not who. Do you have any insight that I am missing or doing wrong?
d.peiser
October 7th, 2009
Hi Tamara,
what you say is worrying indeed. Unfortunately I don’t have any personal experience in managing a Facebook fan page, but I will ask my colleagues and try to find out if it could be a matter of settings, and get back to you.