- There are rules – when you sign up to use Facebook you agree to dozens of pages of terms and conditions. Pay special attention to the Facebook Pages Terms, they are updated regularly. Know what it really means when you click 'I accept'!
- Remember – your Facebook site is advertising. Australian Advertising Standards Board decisions note that what happens on Facebook is advertising, and that you can be held accountable for all content on your pages, including content posted by others (check out the Smirnoff and VB decisions).
- Play by the rules or be prepared to lose the lot – Facebook can and will take down your page if you break its rules. That's exactly what happened to The Cool Hunter's Facebook page last year. It boasted 788,000 fans and was taken down without warning for alleged copyright infringement, with a devastating impact on The Cool Hunter's business.
- Take a step back – we all love the speed and immediacy of social media, but that means that stuff ups can spread at light speed. Get someone to 'sense check' your posts before you make them, or if that's not possible, draft a post, put it to the side and check it an hour later with 'fresh' eyes. See what happened to Coke as the result of a poorly thought through Facebook post.
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