Anthony J. BradleyThe social software blogoshpere is teeming with the discussion over facebook banning pictures of breatfeeding mothers. InfoWorld has an amusing article on it.
This is another great example of hubris. Just like the Digg user revolt of 2007, eBay with the Tit for Tat controversy, and facebook with their initial launch of Beacon, this is a reminder that you don’t control the community you only facilitate it.
We talk about governance being critical to a well functioning community but governance doesn’t mean controlling the community it means enabling the community to police itself. Imposing rules is tricky and every rule must be examined for its potential impact on community participation.
Maybe facebook’s attitude is. “We don’t need these new moms in our social network. Let them go elsewhere to share their breastfeeding pictures.” Even if you consider this a valid approach it is dangerous for facebook to send the message that, “Hey, this is my site and I decide what is right or wrong.” I would also argue that this is a pretty large community to alienate.
I expect facebook to respond quickly with a community-based solution to this debacle. If they don’t then it will indicate that they have not learned the valuable lesson above and I predict more “control freak” trouble for them down the road.
BTW, enterprises face the same challenge. You may think that, because they are your employees, you can control them with a bunch of rules crafted meticulously by your legal department. OK, but six months from launch you probably will be asking yourself, “Why can’t we get participation off the ground?”
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Category: social applications Tags: governance, social applications
