Banking Review

Who’s afraid of Facebook?

Last week I blogged about social media and the large number of employees working for the major banks that are banned from using Facebook at work. Yesterday I heard from Facebook head of media sales Mike Murphy who was keynoting this year’s ad:tech conference.

Murphy provided some sobering statistics for those companies who believe they should “sit out” social media:

• Facebook has 67 million active users around the world
• Last February there were 225,000 Australian users, today there are 2.6 million
• Facebook use has grown by 34 per cent in the Asia Pacific region, and about 50 per cent of
• regional users are on the site every day
• One in five Australian Internet users are on Facebook
• Australia represents the fifth largest country in the world for Facebook users
• By 2010 Facebook expects 81 per cent of users to be aged 18 or over

I aksed Murphy what frustrated Facebook users should be telling their senior management about social media, and his response was interesting. Murphy has seen similar fear of Facebook in other markets.

“Typically when we get a mature market a lot of the press that occurs is that it decreases productivity when in fact the utility that comes along with a site like this should in ways increase productivity.”

“The only thing I would say is there’s one country in the world that doesn’t allow Facebook and it’s Syria, so from our perspective openness and the availability of Facebook around the world creates productivity, it doesn’t decrease productivity.”

Asked whether some organisations should avoid social media if they feel its not suited to their brand, Murphy replied “They really don’t have a choice. Brands are part of social media whether they like it or not.”

Case in point: the large number of groups popping up around popular brands. The Commonwealth Bank may ban staff from using Facebook, but that hasn’t stopped several staff groups within Facebook, or the Dollarmite Account Appreciation Society – a group of 466 fans of the orange money boxes and holographic rulers of the bank’s school banking program.