The End of Fan Generated Content?

The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has made headlines this week over a controversial new ruling. The self-regulating body has claimed that "the Facebook site of an advertiser is a marketing communication tool over which the advertiser has a reasonable degree of control" and is thus expected to ensure nothing posted by users or fans is of a sexist, racist, obscene or discriminative nature. Any content viewed as unsuitable for the online communication avenue will have to be removed efficiently by the company who owns the brand.

The decision came after a series of user generated content on the Smirnoff fan page of the social media site Facebook resulted in complaints. Comments and images added to the brand's page were considered inappropriate and promoting underage drinking.

Whilst I believe the ASB to be correct in stating that a company's social media site is a marketing instrument and they are therefore responsible for how their brand is portrayed online, there are great consequences for instilling such a significant recommendation. 

• It will necessitate companies to monitor every post requiring around the clock staff (a commercially unrealistic ask). 
• As brewing company Fosters has argued, pre-moderation is "contrary to the spirit of social media and would cause users to become disengaged from the page." 
• And finally, would this watch-dog approach be considered censorship on an online platform that is set up to enable any user to have their own views and opinions? Based on these issues, it is not surprising that companies are uneasy about the ASB's call for social media monitoring.

The ASB's decision that any comments on a brand's site is the official voice of the brand is questionable considering all social media users would understand that such views expressed on a fan page are those of the individual, not the brand. The other questionable part of the ASB's argument is the fact that the bureau is a self-regulatory body set up by the advertising industry, not a law making organization. It is their job to attempt to persuade advertisers to be responsible however, their rules are not law. 

Considering this, it will be interesting to see whether companies are willing to acquire the added costs and monitor their social networking sites, or simply ignore it as it will put an end to the aim of social media fan pages; to connect with consumers openly and gain precious knowledge about their perceptions of a product/brand.