Socialware Blog

Just Released: Facebook Social Networking Guide

Compliance, FINRA/SEC, News — By Chad Bockius on July 15, 2010 5:39 pm

By now we all know that Facebook’s growth is off the charts. They are getting ready to announce that they have reached they half a billion mark. That’s right, 500,000,000 users. That is almost twice the size of the population of the United States.  And if you believe this is just a bunch of teenagers or college students, think again. The fastest growing segment is the 55 and over crowd. By the beginning of 2010 this group saw a 922% increase!

While LinkedIn is still the preferred social network for business use, Facebook is gaining steam. In our 2010 Advisor Survey we found that 24% of respondents currently use Facebook for business use and this number is expected to grow to 43% by the end of the year. Consider that Facebook is currently banned by 38% of the respondent’s companies and you can see that there is still tremendous room for growth.

But before that growth can come to fruition firms need to address the compliance challenges posed by Facebook. Should agents be able to use Facebook Chat? Should they “like” comments made by other users? Can they actively participate in Facebook Groups? What about Facebook Mail? The fact is there are over 30 different features that compliance officers need to consider before opening up access.

To help firms accelerate their adoption of Facebook we just released our Guide to Facebook Social Networking Compliance. We analyzed every feature, explaining each in detail, associated it with a content type, classified it according to the FINRA/SEC guidelines (based on Notice 10-06), offered a set of compliance considerations, and provided a specific recommendation to help jumpstart the creation of your social networking policy and plan. Download your free copy today.

And finally, don’t forget to register for our upcoming webinar on Facebook Business Best Practices.

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2 Comments

  1. Debbie Nixon says:
    July 18, 2010 at 9:59 am

    This is such a timely topic and one so many advisors want. What is your suggestion to help advisors whose companies will not approve their use of social media? What data do you have that helps an individual influence a policy change in favor of social media?

  2. Chad Bockius says:
    July 18, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    What we’ve found is that there are still more questions than answers circulating at the executive level. Heads of distribution need to know that their advisors want this capability, that they will get value out of it and that it is a competitive advantage (either for sales/retention or for recruiting).

    To help arm you with data I would suggest a few resources:
    1. Our July 20th Webinar that will recap our 2010 Financial Advisor Survey. This survey provides the hard proof that prohibition simply won’t work, that many of the myths are incorrect and that it is driving measurable business results.
    2. Our July 22nd Webinar being co-produced with LIMRA. We will introduce our Social Media Adoption Life Cycle model that will help firms identify where they are, where they need to go and how they can get there (Hint: invite your Broker-Dealer to this one).

    We have a few more resources coming that will help you influence your company on this topic – check back soon.

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