If your Facebook or Twitter account got suspend or deleted, what impact would it have on your business?
I ask this question, because I’m seeing more and more people invest huge amounts of their valuable time building social networks on 3rd party sites, which they have very little real control over. Conversely, I see remarkably few people invest anywhere like enough time on the development of their own social media platform – namely, a commercial, self-hosted blog (like this one.) I’m sure you’ve seen it too; people who only manage to put new content on their own blogs a couple of times a month, yet they update Twitter or Facebook on and off all day long. Their blogs are being neglected, yet their Facebook stream is packed with interesting posts, great ideas and useful links.
In other words, they are building their primary social networking hub on something they have little real control over – Something that can be suspended or deleted without their consent, at any time.
Twitter account suspensions
I was prompted to write this after receiving an email this morning from a reader, who has just had his Twitter account reinstated AFTER Twitter suspended it, without warning or reason, for 8 days! Although I no longer follow him, I do read his stream occasionally and it is a very typical Twitter account, which doesn’t spam or abuse anyone. By the time his account was restored, 2 new prospective clients had unfollowed him. Apparently, they saw the “account suspended” sign and assumed he was a scammer!
In fact, of the 30 or so people I know of, who have had their Twitter accounts suspended, I can’t think of any that were actually doing anything wrong. By the way, one of those I helped get their account back, via a conversation on Friendfeed, was non-other than Chris Anderson; Editor of Wired Magazine and creator of what we now know as the freemium marketing model. Again, a completely random suspension.
Free blogs get suspended too
Just over a week ago, 70,000 people, (yes seventy thousand) had their Blogs shut down without notice, when the blogetery blogging platform they were using was closed down. Some of these people will have invested months of their time, developing content for that platform, only to see it erased without warning. Had that same time been invested in developing on their own self-hosted blog, it would still be there.
Even WordPress.com, which I consider the best free blogging platform by far, can suspend or remove your blog if, for example, one of their moderators believes you have Search Engine Optimized it, so that it’s too Google friendly and does not read well enough for people. In a list of blogs that are not allowed on WordPress.com, they list their now famous SEO clause:
Blogs that are written for search engines instead of humans. These blogs are dedicated to trying to fool Google and other search engines into ranking them or the sites they link to highly. WordPress.com is not meant for this type of activity.
The challenge here, is that many people would consider that “type of activity” to be nothing more than SEO! It’s a very grey area. What you or I consider a legitimately optimised blog post, one particular moderator at WordPress may consider to be too SEO friendly. If so, and someone reports it, you are at best suspended or at worst, the blog is deleted. I have to say here, that typically, the moderators at WordPress are very good these days and only want to block scammy blogs.
Your marketing on your platform
However, why give someone who knows nothing about you or your business, the power to suspend or delete your business blog, when you can build a self-hosted WordPress blog, like this one, which you control and direct 100%? In my opinion, this alone is a great reason for business bloggers to consider owning their own platform.
My point is that whilst social networking sites are a brilliant idea and a great opportunity for you to reach new people, you should also consider investing in a central Internet space or hub, which YOU control and can develop with total freedom. No 3rd party should have the power over you or your business, to be able to pull the plug on your primary online platform.
- I love Twitter. (You can join me on Twitter here)
- I really enjoy Google Buzz.
- I CAN NOT WAIT for the rumoured Google Me social media site to launch!
But I put at least 95% of my social media time into producing content for this blog and connecting with the reader community here.
Because of this, if any of my social media / social networking accounts were suspended, I would still have a thriving community of readers, commenters and people who regularly email me via this blog. I would still be able to reach new prospective clients every hour of each day.
Do you think it’s worth investing more time developing content and a community on your own Internet hub, and maybe a little less time pumping your ideas, your best links and your moments of creativity into 3rd party sites? Maybe you see greater value in using Facebook or another 3rd party site as your primary hub. I’d love to know!
Whatever your thoughts, please share them.
Photo: Smemon87
Wise words, Jim. We treat ‘free’ 3rd party services strictly as a bonus, fully expecting any or all of them to implode or go bust at a moments notice.
Best, Robin
Robin Dickinson´s last blog ..The love & hate of selling
I like the idea of them being regarded as a volatile bonus, Robin.
Dead on.
Keep your core close and controlled.
Use FB, Twtr and other services as satellite systems to support the core.
Love this from your comment, Ian; “Keep your core close and controlled.”
Thanks for the feedback.
I had my wordpress.com blog suspended because a moderator didn’t like the seo or that I linked from my posts to my main website.
I’m figuring my next move now will be a pro blog.
I’m surprised they suspended you for linking to your primary website. How heavily did you SEO your posts, Richard?
I didn’t think you could top last weeks post “Why your client’s social networks matter” but you have. This should serve as a wakeup call. I had my twitter account suspended for 30 days. Its terrible.
“I heard a Marketing Company Executive tell Business Owners in a presentation that they do not need a website anymore. They can just put all their information on Facebook”
Look at whats happened to MySpace? Google Wave, Google Buzz – It takes people and a place to be effective. I would hate to be using these platforms to obtain business.
Great Post!
Brent Pohlman´s last blog ..Hyatt’s new customer service model
You make an excellent point, my friend.
I was a big user of Friendfeed and saw most of the people I connected with leave the service, when Facebook bought it. Overnight, the platform was no longer being developed and it was a waste of my time.
Thanks for the feedback Brent and the kind words. I will send your money to the usual place
how within a few months, the platform became
Perfect reason on why, despite Facebook having 500 million users, and Twitter having over 100 million, etc, that we should always control our own destiny, Jim.
You wouldn’t have client meetings in a shop doorway, so why sell yourself short where everyone can see?
I agree. I see those 3rd party services as compliments to a central information / community hub. In my experience, they are definitely not replacements.
Great post, great comments and I totally agree! I moved to a self-hosted blog within 6 months of when I started blogging and have never looked back.
If you take your business seriously, you have to make sure to cover your investment. Making sure your presentation looks good, making sure your site is safe, and not subscribing to those that say that “All you need is microblogging sites like Twitter or Facebook” will assure that your investment into the future is secure.
Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Where do you recharge
That really is eye opening. Many of my clients have been swept along by the hype believing that social media is the bee all and end all. It has its place but only as part of a carefully crafted plan.
This will go some way into showing them that it’s a tool alongside many others.
Thanks again Jim
My blog used to be on Blogger. One day I got an email from them saying that they had closed down my blog because I had done something or other, can’t remember what it was now. It was a nasty moment.
Of course I hadn’t done whatever it was, my blog was restored, and it turned out that it had all been a big mistake and lots of people had been wrongly emailed like me.
But I think that is probably when I decided I was going to have to move to a self hosted blog. One of the best things I ever did. Blogwise anyway.
Tessa Shepperson´s last blog ..Tips for tenants &8211 is that rent increase valid
Well, you just made the decision for me as I was on the fence of going to a self hosted. Thanks for the info!
I think the reason people don’t think to use a self hosted website is because using a blogging service or other social media (facebook, twitter, linkedin) is easy and doesn’t require the same learning curve. They probably also don’t realize that like owning a house, owning your own website is a property that has value. When you’re using social media and websites you don’t own, you’re just renting space, albeit usually for free. However, you’re out of luck when the landlord decides to evict you or change the rules of tenancy.
Nowadays, self hosting your website is quite easy and inexpensive. It isn’t very complicated to get a WordPress powered site set up, and in fact, many web hosts have an auto-setup button for WordPress that makes it really easy. If you’re afraid to do it, you can always hire someone.
Greg Lam´s last blog ..Business Action Plan – August 2010
well, I think self hosted is not recommended for maketing and online business ..
@Abdullah. I think I may be thinking of one definition of self-host while you are thinking of another definition of self-host. I was building on what @Julie was saying when she moved to a self-hosted blog, meaning that instead of using a site like http://www.blogger.com or http://www.wordpress.com, she purchased her own domain and paid a hosting company to host her website.
That way, if your hosting service ever went down, changed policies, or whatever, you could switch providers without losing anything, your domain, your subscribers, your traffic.
I think you were referring to self-hosting as running a website off a server computer from your home or office. I tried doing a google search for the term, and I came up with both meanings being used, so I can see how there may be confusion using that terminology.
Greg Lam´s last blog ..Business Action Plan – August 2010
The other thing to consider with Hosted Social Media Solutions such as Facebook, WordPress etc … is their terms of use and copyright policies.
You may be alarmed at what some of these companies are allowed to do with your material if you upload it to their website. Facebook for example has wide ranging powers to use your material for whatever they like.
Do you really want to give away your valuable assets? Well, read this from FB’s terms and conditions…
“When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies thereof as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. ….”
Me? I would rather retain the rights to my material – how about you?
I’ve been asked a few times recently if a small business even needs a website with all the new social media tools. My response is always an emphatic “YES”. This is a great article that proves my point, I’ll be directing people to your post for further info. Thanks!
Kelly Harman´s last blog ..Social media and first impressions
Very well said, Jim. I think we all tend to neglect the ‘bread and butter” of our social media capabilities in lieu of the “easy road” of Twitter and FB. I wrote a post about how blogs are being neglected, and then I promptly neglected to write anything for months.
Thanks for reminding me to get back to it! (Medicine always works better when it comes from someone else).
Matt Peterson´s last blog ..Not So Fast Twitter…Don’t Forget Your Roots
Hi Matt. I think you were trying to link to a post in your comment, but the code was screwy. Resend the link – I want to read it!
Matt just sent me the link to the post he referred to:
http://bit.ly/aC7G37