Over the weekend, TechCrunch broke the story that Facebook had taken a user’s vanity URL and sold it to audio-entertainment solutions company Harman International. Facebook claimed the user, Harman Bajwa, was “violating Facebook’s policies” and his username didn’t have a clear connection to his identity. However, “Harman” as Harman Bajwa’s vanity URL seems perfectly fitting, and TechCrunch saw the revocation of facebook.com/Harman as all about making a sales deal. Harman International wanted the URL because of a campaign they’re working on for the Grammys, and initially tried to bribe Harman Bajwa citing a past gift of Coke Zero for Twitter handle twitter.com/avtr during promotion of the movie Avatar.

After the story broke I was talking with a friend about it and he was hardly surprised (unlike myself). He felt that users are willfully choosing to participate in Facebook’s network by opening an account, so terms of use are ultimately according to Facebook. Since Facebook created the option of a vanity URL in the first place, they can decide to take it away at any time.

However, I disagreed with his stance, noting that lack of respect for the individuals the site and company are founded on is a huge PR misstep and flawed business practice. Facebook’s success is because of its users. The popularity of the social networking site over time is a direct result of viral growth through users and the main catalyst for ad growth and thus ad revenues.

The URL has since been given back to Harman Bajwa with an apology from Facebook, but the incident made me want to research Facebook’s official policy regarding vanity URL’s. If you go to facebook.com/username, their stance covers their backs in all respects:

I’m not sure if their policy has always been this overarching, I’d be curious to know if it was the same prior to the Harman incident (I’m guessing it wasn’t).

What’s even more interesting is when I went to create a vanity URL for one of my clients this morning, Facebook lists “several things for you to remember” upon confirmation, stating “You can’t transfer ownership of a username to another party”. Isn’t that exactly what Facebook was trying to do? Transfer ownership from Harman Bajwa to Harman International? Maybe if Facebook started abiding by the rules they set for their own users, the company wouldn’t receive as much backlash as compared to recent months.

What do you think about this incident? Yes, Facebook technically has the right to revoke these usernames per their policy, but is it ethically sound when one’s business is fueled by its users? Would love to hear your comments below.

Page One PR is a Silicon Valley public relations and social media firm that caters to the B2B industry. We are currently looking to add an account manager to our Social Media Team in our San Francisco office.

We are looking for a brilliant, enthusiastic and highly motivated individual who wants an opportunity to impact companies’ business decisions with social media. The ideal candidate would be able to manage social media accounts (large and small), keep the accounts and grow them over time.

Job Requirements:

* 3-5 years experience in marketing, public relations, advertising or related communications field;
* Account management experience and strong track record of retaining accounts with outstanding results;
* Ability to successfully manage large tech accounts such as Cisco, SAP and VMware as well as smaller start-ups;
* Experience designing and implementing social media campaigns and a proficient understanding of social media techniques and strategy;
* Exceptional organization, writing and verbal communication skills;
* Ability to contribute individually, and lead, manage or participate in cross-functional teams;
* Ability to grow account retainer sizes;
* Four-year university degree.

At Page One we’re corporate, but collaborative and laid-back. People at Page One come from all walks of life. We like that mix and we look for initiative, intelligence, humor, integrity, creativity, risk taking, fearlessness, management skills and a track record of success.

Since Page One’s culture is all about great people doing great things, we reward our employees with exceptional pay, matching 401K and 20 days of paid time off from your first day on the job.

* 20 PTO days (even in your first year)
* 11 paid company holidays
* Medical, dental and vision coverage for you and your dependants
* Matching 401K
* Long- and short-term disability insurance
* Life insurance
* Flexible spending account

The salary for this position is up to $70,000 annually, depending on experience.

If you are interested in a career as a Social Media Account Manager at Page One, email a resume and a cover letter outlining your account management and social media experience to socialmediajobs at pageonepr dot com.  Take a look at our website, the social media services we offer and our clients – please outline your experience and explain how you would be a good addition to the team.  Applicants without a cover letter will not be considered.

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