I'll spam my friends, but I want a piece of the action
You know what Facebook members are? 50 million suckers. See, through Facebook's new ad product, Facebook Beacon, each of us will soon begin endorsing products to our friends. That much I'm fine with. My friends are not too good for spam. But if my good name is going to get Facebook paid, I want a cut, too.
See, as Facebook members these days, we should each think of our friends as an audience and ourselves as a brand. Facebook does.
When someone "friends" you, they're subscribing to a stream of your activities, just like they would subscribe to an RSS feed or even a magazine in the mail. They are subscribing to you, the brand. So your friends are your audience because they are entertained by your brand. But they are also still your friends, so they trust your brand. Facebook knows this and that's why they plan to use your name in association with advertisers.
But if you are the draw, shouldn't you get paid for your endorsement? Think about it this way. If you ran a blog which kept all of your friends updated with all the information contained on your Facebook profile, you would be able to monetize any audience by becoming an affiliate of Amazon.com. Then, each time a member of your blog audience clicked on a link, you would earn up to 10 percent of any amount spent.
Apple's iTunes Store pays a 5 percent commission to its affiliates. eBay pays out 50 to 75 percent commission. Google's AdSense can turn a personal blog into a microbusiness. But Facebook? Facebook plans to take your audience and use your personal brand to convince them to buy things without compensating you.
But I don't mind being your pitchman, Facebook. I'd just like a little kickback. And the thing is, I might get my wish. Not from Facebook, but from its advertisers. See, Facebook won't use your brand to endorse a product unless you sign up to become a "fan" of that product on Facebook. And if we as Facebook users remain selective on which brands we'll become "fans" of, we might be able to wield a little power.
Brands should have to bribe us to use our personal brands to endorse their products. I'm not expecting cash. But, Dove, if you want me endorsing your campaign for Real Beauty to all my friends, I want at least 10 percent off next time I buy a bar of soap. You can send the coupon to my Facebook inbox.