Facebook has come under fire recently following revelations that the personal information of more than 87 million users was improperly harvested by a British analytics firm, and for allowing the spread of disinformation and foreign intervention in domestic politics on its platform. It’s taking steps to?regain trust, including vowing to apply the EU’s GDPR, but it is too little, too late? And where does this leave hotels? Here’s what Daniel Craig, founder of Vancouver-based reputation management company Reknown, says:
“The more likely scenario is the scandal will quickly blow over. With 2.1 billion users worldwide and over US$40 billion in annual revenue, the company isn’t likely to go anywhere anytime soon… As for hotels, changes to the way Facebook handles personal data aren’t likely to affect advertisers.
And when it comes to leveraging the power of earned content, no platform rivals Facebook. Travel photos and recommendations from friends, family and colleagues offer the type of personalized advertising hotels simply cannot buy. And while Messenger has yet to be widely embraced as a business tool, the shift to digital messaging and chat among consumers has the potential to transform communications and customer service.
Rather, the real threat to Facebook is apathy. The next generation of consumers has shown a greater affinity for Instagram and Snapchat. If a hot new rival appears on the scene, Facebook could see an exodus of the young, the old and advertisers alike.
So perhaps it’s not yet time for hoteliers to unlike Facebook. Looking ahead, however, there’s no question that consumers will be more sensitive to how their data is used. Regardless of where hotel companies operate, they would be wise to take a cue from Facebook and implement GDPR rules worldwide.”
