Librarian by Day

Bobbi L. Newman

Otherswise known as : I Was Wrong

My orginal warning about creating a Facebook page is still correct, the update I posted was inaccurate.  I’d like to thank Elizabeth for sharing what she discovered when she created a Facebook page after my last post on Libraries and Facebook.

The new “create a page for a celebrity, band or business” link allows you to create a page using a business account.

I don’t have a Facebook account. Can I still create a Page?
Yes, you can do so by creating a Business Account. To get started, you will need to first create a Facebook Page. To start this process, please click here. Once you’ve entered in the required information, you will be asked to log in to an existing Facebook account, or create a new one. If you do not currently have a Facebook account, please select ‘I do not have a Facebook account.’ You will then need to enter your email address and date of birth. Please be aware that managing multiple accounts is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Use. If we determine that an individual has more than one account, we reserve the right to terminate all of their accounts.

So what is the difference between a business account and a personal account?

Business accounts are designed for individuals who only want to use the site to administer Pages and their ad campaigns. For this reason, business accounts do not have the same functionality as personal accounts. Business accounts have limited access to information on the site. An individual with a business account can view all the Pages and Social Ads that they have created, however they will not be able to view the profiles of users on the site or other content on the site that does not live on the Pages they administer. In addition, business accounts cannot be found in search and cannot send or receive friend requests.

Unfortunately that business account is still tied to the page as the primary administrator. Meaning you can not remove yourself. You can promote other people to admin status but they can not remove you.

There is currently no way to take away admin status from the creator of a Page. However, Page admins can add or remove other admins by following these steps:

  1. Click the “Edit Page” link below the Page’s photo. .
  2. On the right hand side, click the “Add” link in the Admin section.
  3. Select the friend you would like to add an admin.
Just to reiterate what this means for libraries (or any other organization)  –
If the original creator leaves the organization for any reason, there is no way to remove them.  (You could try to contact Facebook, but if you’ve ever done that you know how that works.)  Do you really want someone who no longer works for you to have control over your page?  What if they were fired, or quit in a huff?  I know, in an ideal world no one would ever leave and we’d all live happily everafter, but it does happen sometimes.
Remember it’s against Facebooks ToS to have multiple accounts, doing so could lead to the cancelation of all of your accounts. So what to do? Each library will have to make that decision individually but at least know what you’re getting into.

6 responses to “What Libraries Should Know Before Creating a Facebook Page – Libraries & Facebook Update 2”

  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bobbi Newman, Kris Jacobson. Kris Jacobson said: Helpful: RT @librarianbyday What Libraries Should Know Before Creating a Facebook Page – Libraries & Facebook Update 2 http://bit.ly/4cxxEL […]

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  2. webaddlink Avatar

    I liked your article very useful to me. I will come back and read the article again.More info on the web site add link add url

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  3. Maryanne Mills Avatar
    Maryanne Mills

    Just reading this now. Incredibly helpful as we debate having a Facebook page for our library. So, between you, DavidLeeKing, iLibrarian and others, I have more than enough to help us determine where we should go from here. Thx!

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    1. Bobbi Newman Avatar

      You're welcome! I'm glad you found it useful!

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  4. Bobbi Newman Avatar

    You're welcome! I'm glad you found it useful!

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  5. […] By Day Bobbi Newman (@librarianbyday) provides an excellent explanation of the issues associated with this serious oversight by Facebook.  Now, at least, organizations […]

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