Be Cautious With Facebook Comments

Within the last few months, the New York Post changed its comments platform, opting to add Facebook comments functionality. I’ve seen a number of sites like TechCrunch do this as well. Readers are able to post comments on blogs and sites which are connected to their Facebook accounts.

In my opinion, adding Facebook comments plugin/widget is a good move because it makes people more accountable for what they write. I think it tends to lead to a more honest conversation and discussion amongst users, as there are less  inflammatory  comments left by anonymous cowards.

However, there are always big privacy issues to consider if you are a Facebook user who wants to post a comment on a site that uses the Facebook Comments platform.

I was reading a politically-focused article the other day, and I read a somewhat controversial comment (in my opinion). I was very surprised to see in small text to the right of the name that the person is a professor at a United States military college. It would seem to have been something that could get the person in some hot water for posting, and I would not have posted it, especially if I knew that my job would be listed directly next to my name on the Facebook Comments section.

I obviously don’t know if the person realized how comments are displayed and I also don’t know if the person even cared, but at the best it seemed like a bad judgment call, and at the worst, it could potentially lead to the loss of a job if someone else saw it and reported it. If you feel the need to comment on a website that uses the Facebook Comments plugin / platform, you should know how your comment will be displayed and make sure you don’t put your job or career at risk.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

11 COMMENTS

  1. I called facebook-facesh+it…no use-time wasting.

    All the newly graduates are using it but they don’t have a clue how to get their own blog/domain.
    They are making FB rich for nothing.

    Another mentality of serving the boss…

  2. I never make comments on sites that use the Facebook Comments platform. My Facebook account is for friends, not business. I have turned off all Facebook platform apps. How many other people are like me who refuse to integrate Facebook with other websites? – Interesting side note. I own a domain name for people who need help with IRS issues. A week ago I searched google with the keywords of my domain name. Now where ever I go on the internet I see ads about help with the IRS. I don’t need IRS help I think that with comments tied all across the net by Facebook, a profile about an individual is built. It might not be a very accurate picture of who they are. Am I just paranoid?

  3. I don’t like how it seems Facebook becomes part-owner of my words/actions when I use their service in conjunction with other sites/services. Re: comments specifically, I’m not sure how they handle comments placed on external sites (please correct the following if I’m wrong), but I would expect them to post my out-of-context comment to my friends’ news feeds with a link to the page on which the comment was left. Most, if not all, of the comments I leave on the web are unoffensive to just about everyone IMO, but that doesn’t mean I want them broadcast to everyone on my Facebook friends list…

  4. Our society has an awful lot of sacred cows that only exist because we’re told that’s what we’re supposed to believe, how we’re supposed to think… Prior to the advent of the internet, old media was awfully skilled in presenting one message on any given issue and driving their own agenda.

    The internet has brought about some of the sharpest, most incisive, most intelligent criticisms of bogus social constructs; stuff that really leaves you reminded of the pen truly being mightier than the sword. I do believe that the current thawing of hyper-political correctness, an Orwellian nightmare we lived under for the past 30 or so years, can be directly attributed to the free exchange of ideas via the internet. You couldn’t have done Family Guy or Chappelle Show in 1989.

    Then, there’s the other 90%- the drivel, the bomb throwers, the “written on a gas station bathroom wall” syndrome.

    For me, the 10% is just so worthwhile, I can ignore the other 90%. I’ve generally found that the people who have something worthwhile to say will almost always assign an identity to their words, but sometimes, when challenging sacred cows, anonymity is a needed thing.

    • If you operate a fan page, you can comment with that. When you’re commenting on articles related to your website’s fan page, it may encourage people to check it out. I comment as my DogWalker.com fan page on some dog-related articles.

  5. As Tom noted, facebook accounts are generally of a more personal nature. I too would not comment using my account. First of all, the picture on the profile clearly shows you and there goes your 2nd line of defense to protect privacy. You already lose the first one when your name and other particulars are visible to everyone out there on the internet.

  6. I’ve started commenting using my Facebook page on sites that use fb commenting.

    Makes sense to separate out the comments you don’t want showing up in your general feed.

    In that sense, you can comment anonymously too, there is no limit on the number of fb pages you can setup.

    Plus you don’t even need to use your name / business for the page that you use for comments.

    Plus there is no way to know who owns a particular page.

  7. The Fb comment plugin-app is no more than a free article/content generator for FB. it’s merely their way to compete with sites like Disqus for traffic and free content pages to present their ads on!

  8. The option to comment as a page is really the only value for me I see in commenting on facebook social plugins.

    I dont have big brother problems and the ads crap is a red herring for me. I like spying in on my competition.

    So feel free to come on over to my blog and spread your hatred for everything facebook and twitter relate.

    We could use the snark!

  9. Facebook is probably the most dangerous “socially” accepted medium in the world, and will most certainly become a horror in your life that you never saw coming.

    I explain this on my blog. I suggest everyone read it.

    El, be careful with FB, as in… delete everything and run.

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