Thursday, November 19, 2009

Say it isn't so!

What the WHAT??!! The recent changes to Facebook's terms and conditions now prohibit contests...this has been the one tried and true method for building your community on Facebook!
Read them here:
http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

Highlights:

These Promotions Guidelines govern the publicizing or administering of any sweepstakes, contest, competition or other similar offering (each, a "promotion") on Facebook by you. For clarity, a "sweepstakes" is a promotion that includes a prize and a winner selected on the basis of chance. A "contest" or "competition" is a promotion that includes a prize and a winner determined on the basis of skill (i.e., through judging based on specific criteria).

You cannot: Condition entry in the promotion upon a user providing content on Facebook, such as making a post on a profile or Page, status comment or photo upload.

You cannot: Administer a promotion that users automatically enter by becoming a fan of your Page.

You cannot: Notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.

This new development has left me speechless, as I am at a loss to develop another technique that has the same effect but falls within FB's terms. I've been meaning to write about it for a week now, but I am stuck. Any good ideas out there?

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