It was recently reported that Facebook will begin selling some of our personal information to companies in order to facilitate “word of mouth” marketing, similar to what one finds on Yelp or Citysearch.
In case you were unaware, your name and profile picture (as well as other information), is always accessible to everyone. When you “like” a page or content on a website, your name and picture can show up on that page or website, depending on the settings the administrator chose when adding the “like” button to their page. There is no way to opt out of your name and profile picture being accessible to everyone:
“Connecting on Facebook: Your name, profile picture, gender, networks and username are available to everyone because this info is essential to helping you connect with your friends and family.
Name and profile picture help friends recognize you. Gender helps us describe you (for example, “Add her as a friend”). Networks are open to everyone so network members can see who they will be sharing information with before they choose “Friends and Networks” for any privacy settings. Other information in this section, including hometown, activities and experiences, is open to everyone by default to help you connect with friends and get the most out of your Facebook experience.”
Similarly, what you “like”, mentions of brands that you make on your wall, and where you check in online can now be sold by Facebook to any company who wants to buy them. This information is then used to create an ad using you’re face, name and quote/like/where you are. If your privacy settings are such that you only share your wall and your check ins with friends only, then the ad will only be shared with your friends. If your privacy settings are set to everyone, the ad can be used across Facebook. These types of ads are called Sponsored Stories, and are placed on the right hand section where the ads are currently located. There is no way to opt out of being a part of a Sponsored Stories ad campaign. You can only tighten your security settings to limit the number of people who would receive the ad (i.e., to your friends only, friends of friends, etc).
According to Wired and Forbes, this is not the first time Facebook has tried to use our personal info for advertising purposes. In the past, these attempts were thwarted by class action lawsuits, but clearly this type of advertising is so lucrative that Facebook continues to find ways to make it work. Even though your content belongs to you, whatever you post is available to Facebook royalty free, according to how you set your privacy settings:
“Sharing Your Content and Information:
You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:
For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.”
So…what does this mean for Art Therapists? The full extent of these issues are yet to be seen, but for those of us on Facebook, we must make a strong effort to keep up with the changing times; The launch of Sponsored Stories was a quiet one.
As I analyze this issue, I find myself assuming that the art therapist reading this post has chosen to separate their personal space from their business space, thereby having a personal Facebook Page and possibly a professional/business page for their private practice.
It’s unclear to me how Sponsored Stories works in relation to Business Pages. If your private practice/organization “likes” something, can that information be marketed to your fans (who maybe colleagues or clients)? Granted this “like” will show up on your fan page wall regardless of Sponsored Stories, and will also pop up on your fans’ newsfeed…so what’s the difference if it shows up on the right hand side of the page too? It may not make a difference to you, but the point is to know that it’s happening. Things move fast, and being aware of the current helps guide your interaction with social networking sites.
Furthermore, those of us with Business Pages must be aware that when you endorse something on that page, it will extend into the news feeds of your fans. If your fans are clients, this opens up some interesting questions: As a therapist, what is ethical to endorse and what isn’t? A new book that you just published? A book that you recommend to people regularly in your therapeutic practice? A blog that you enjoy reading? Your local art collective (where your clients may run into you)? Starbucks? Xanax?
Lastly, we must remember that Facebook Business Pages raise major questions for therapists regarding their fans being able to see one another. This means that if a client “likes” your page, or simply views your page, they are able to see all your other fans, who maybe clients, giving them the ability to directly contact them. It is my understanding that a Business Page has no privacy settings or controls over who can view fans (with the exception of 18+ for adult oriented pages). Facebook, however, does allow you to hide the friends on your personal page, perhaps making a personal page a better option for therapeutic practices? For example, one could have a personal page that is open only to friends and family, and another personal page designed to advertise their private practice or organization where everyone is welcome and all friends are hidden.
These issues (and more!) must be carefully considered as therapists advertise their services through social media. We must make efforts to seek out new and largely undiscussed information in order to make solid ethical choices for our art therapy practices. After all, isn’t part of our job to model boundaries and to offer a different kind of relationship than what can be obtained through family or friendship alone?