Know Your Facebook Friends

I recently had five friends visit me at my vacation home and during the course of the week they tried to access their Facebook accounts from my laptop. I was rather shocked to see that of the five friends, three of them were denied access due to Facebook’s extreme security measures. Facebook has implemented a random security check if any user logs in from an unfamiliar computer and location. While this is an understandable security measure for a social media that is as widespread, easily accessible and highly influential as Facebook, it seemed slightly ridiculous that my friends could not check their messages because they could not identify friends that they had played middle school tennis with.

As a social media publicist, I am constantly reminded of the restrictions of Facebook and other social medias. The typical user is not looking to be bombarded by advertisements and marketing strategies, which admittedly happens often. This random check is tough for a robot to fake, but it is also irritating to those who are innocently subjected to identifying someone on the outer layer of their onion of networks. Upon failing the test, the user's Facebook account becomes inaccessible for at least an hour.

For those of you who are using Facebook for work or promotion BEWARE! It is more important than ever to remember that you are building relationships and not just increasing fans and friendships. Take the time to get to know your audience or you may lose Facebook as a marketing tool altogether.