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Application of trademarks and brands in social networks – Use of terms of use

In today’s world of Web 2.0, businesses are faced with new ways to spread their presence and advertise their products and services, and the Internet is a powerful and effective tool for brand marketing. As companies explore new ways to advertise online, it has become clear that brand marketing has gone beyond buying ad space on popular search engines and other informational sites to actively engaging consumers in conversations and sharing information. Now companies must adopt social networks as a marketing strategy.

Social networking sites have a continuous growth of members. Facebook, for example, is estimated to have more than 350 million active users. Twitter now has about 32.1 million users. MySpace attracts about 115 million people to its site each month. With such a broad consumer base ready, how have companies used these social networking sites to their advantage? As companies move towards the cyber frontier, how they protect their brands is critical. To help companies police their brands and harness the power of social media, these social media giants have put mechanisms in place to help protect against fraud, phishing, and copyright infringement. After all, social media strategies only work if everyone follows the same rules.

Social media as a marketing tool

Facebook, the largest social networking site, is a good example of how social networking sites have become an effective marketing tool for businesses. Facebook has built its website to allow Pages, customizable mini-sites aimed at organizations, products, or public figures, to join the conversation with Facebook users. A page essentially allows fans to become advocates for the brand. It allows users to post comments, view news and information about a certain product, and learn more about a company. Companies have jumped on this viral form of advertising.

Facebook now has more than 1.6 million active pages. Over 700,000 local businesses have created Pages to reach their target demographic. In fact, it is estimated that the pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans. The page form on Facebook requires the page creator to be the official representative of an organization, business, celebrity, or brand. As such, the representative becomes the Page Organizer, capable of adding and removing content, managing the information that appears on the site, and increasing the viral effects of advertising. Each page (depending on the type of organization selected) comes equipped with pre-selected formatting options, such as tabs for discussion boards, events, organization information, and photos. The About tab, for example, allows you to share key information about your company, such as the website, mission, business overview, and products. Fans can post comments on a company’s wall, watch videos, and read about upcoming events or promotions. Whenever a Page has activity, such as posts or announcements, this activity becomes visible in the NewsFeed. Information about your fans regarding their activities on your Page is also available for their friends to see, which opens the door for others to become fans of your Page.

This is what causes the viral nature of advertising on Facebook. Businesses can take advantage of this marketplace and gain valuable insights from tools like Facebook Insights, which includes data about fan engagement with posts on a business’s Page. Companies have also “opened shops” on Twitter and MySpace. Some companies have launched official Twitter accounts and allow (or require) employees to post daily or weekly tweets, often about promotions or events.

The interesting thing about these sites is that there is no filter that blocks negative or unflattering information. As such, questions arise about what a company can do once an angry “fan” or follower posts negative comments on a wall, if a disgruntled ex-employee opens a page in their name, or if someone impersonates a representative of their company. stating the name of your company or brand as your username.

Social networking sites and their terms of use

The easiest and most cost-effective way to protect a brand on social networking sites is to use the site’s dispute resolution mechanism. Most social media giants have procedures for filing complaints about copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and privacy issues.

Facebook: Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities asks users to agree that they are the rightful owners of all content and information they post on Facebook. They are also asked to agree that they will not create accounts for anyone without their permission. Users may not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates the rights of others or otherwise violates the law, and Facebook reserves the right to remove content or remove a webpage that infringes those rights. Facebook provides its users with tools to help address intellectual property issues. Most of these tools are forms that are submitted electronically.

Twitter: Twitter’s rules specifically state that they do not monitor user content and will not censor such content except in limited circumstances. Twitter does not allow impersonation that confuses, misleads, or misleads others or is intended to do so. However, ways to monitor such impersonation have proven to be a problem for Twitter as their biggest concern is fake accounts. Twitter also reserves the right to claim usernames on behalf of companies or individuals who have legal rights or trademarks in those usernames. To prevent name squatting, Twitter suspends accounts that are inactive for more than six months.

Business owners who use social networking sites should read the terms of use to be well informed about the protective actions these companies have implemented to help control brands. It’s a new world of marketing, and better tools can lead to greater risks if a company isn’t careful. Just as businesses benefit from social networking sites, social networks depend on businesses to harness their power. It is a symbiotic relationship and must be protected.

For additional information on social media law and the protection of brands and trademarks on social media, please visit our website.