Blue Helm

Before announcing new privacy changes, Facebook and the Death Star were synonymous.

After weeks of intense criticism and controversy, Evil Emperor Zuckerberg over at Facebook Corp. forsook the Dark Side (for now) and announced new and improved privacy settings that should arrive at our virtual doorsteps soon. Tech blogger Harry McCracken helps us by summarizing what exactly will change:

• Rather than having to wade through gazillions of granular settings, it’ll be easy to tell Facebook you want anything you post to be visible to friends only, friends of friends, or everybody. These rules will apply to future Facebook functionality that doesn’t exist yet.
• You’ll be able to make your Friends and Pages lists completely private.
• It’ll be easier to block apps on Facebook from getting at your information.
• It’ll be easier to block external sites such as Pandora which use Facebook’s new “Instant Personalization” from getting at your information. (Currently there’s no single place to go to do this, nor any way to block all sites with one click.)
• If users find these changes satisfactory, Facebook intends to avoid major changes to privacy policies “for a long time.”

So there you have it. I wholeheartedly support the new privacy settings, and I hope The Zuckster learned a valuable lesson from all this. He created Facebook to be a simple, intimate way for friends to share information. It’s grown into a ravenous information-hungry ogre. Bring the site back to its roots! Remember when U2 made that weird Pop album in the late 90s and everyone was like, Um, what band is this? Then U2 retraced its steps and released All That You Can’t Leave Behind, returning to the music that defined them as one of the greatest bands in history.

Yet again, Bono comes through with life-changing lessons.

I’m in Phoenix this week for a U2 concert and I couldn’t be happier. U2 is my most beloved band and I pretty much consider Bono my personal life guru. But what do Bono’s many mysterious philosophies have to do with social media? Probably nothing, but I still took some of his great quotes and reinterpreted them for a social media lesson. So pay attention. This may be the greatest blog post you ever read.

“Celebrity is currency, so I [want] to use mine effectively.”

Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for any business, but only if it’s used effectively. Do you have a Facebook page or Twitter account? They must be sources of good content. Do you have a blog? It must be genuine. Are you incorporating social media into your traditional PR or marketing strategies? You must engage, converse and monitor. Do you measure social media ROI? You must set intelligent goals beforehand. Effectiveness, effectiveness, effectiveness!

“I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep s***. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace.”

But Bono won’t find grace in social media, and neither will you. Karma is everything here! If you aren’t retweeting, commenting on other blog posts, answering LinkedIn questions or engaging with your fans/followers, you will hardly attract new converts to your business through social media. Reach out to others online and they will reach out to you.

“We’ve got to follow through on our ideals or we betray something at the heart of who we are….The culture of idealism is under siege, beset by materialism and narcissism and all the other ‘isms’ of indifference.”

I often see this with other bloggers and tweeters, and I hope I’m not too guilty of it myself. When we use social media, it’s so easy to think about our own needs and wants and forget about the necessities or even the reality of others. When you post a tweet, for instance, are you doing it for you? Or do you really believe it contains beneficial information for your customers and followers? The same goes for a blog post, a YouTube video or a bookmark. Don’t use social media as a display case for your personal brand or business. It’s meant to be a conversation, not just a money-making monologue.

“There are many side roads and back streets to rock ‘n’ roll, and most of us get lost down them at times.”

I believe Bono is referring to MySpace here, but I could be wrong.

In conclusion, U2 is awesome. Maybe one day there will be social media theory classes in college. But for now, we have to rely on the wisdom and acumen of The Great Bono.