In honor of Facebook Doppleganger Week (in which droves of Facebook users are changing their profile pictures to photos of celebrities they resemble), I’d like to talk about impersonation in social media.
First, a quick story. A few weeks ago, my Twitter account was suspended and I was charged with impersonation. The account handle, on which I tweet very infrequently, is @ellenepage (my first name, middle initial, and last name). I happen to share my name with a talented actress, who is probably most recognized for her Oscar-nominated performance in Juno. Although the fan mail and bizarre friend requests are often entertaining (and I once got a hotel upgrade!), the name-sharing gets a little old.
Anyway, after five days, several forceful emails, and a photocopy of my ID, the account was reinstated (with apologies from Twitter).
What Does This Mean for You?
Every business should be familiar with Twitter’s stance towards impersonation. According to their terms of service, “Impersonation is pretending to be another person or business as entertainment or in order to deceive. Non-parody impersonation is a violation of the Twitter Rules. The standard for defining parody is “would a reasonable person be aware that it’s a joke?” An account may be guilty of impersonation if it confuses or misleads others—accounts with the clear INTENT to confuse or mislead may be permanently suspended.”
Impersonation can be a huge threat to your brand’s presence, and your potential followers (and customers) can be misled or diverted in several different ways.
- Coincidence: see story above
- Humor: Discernibly fake accounts, like those of Sarah Palin, Anderson Cooper 180, and Chuck Norris, are permitted.
- Malice: The Twitter-based Haiti donation scams, for example.
The following best practices will help you preserve the security of your brand identity on social media platforms.
- Know your rights. If someone is intentionally impersonating you or your company on Twitter, report them here. You should be actively monitoring social networks to stay aware of any threats to your brand identity. Use tools like Google Alerts, Social Mention, and TweetBeep.
- Claim your name. As new social networks begin to gain traction, get proactive and register your company’s name, as well as any frequent variations. Even if you don’t anticipate developing a presence on the site, you should still acquire the real estate to prevent its abuse.
- Get verified. If you have encountered problems with impersonators on Twitter, apply for a Verified Account. A Verified Account places a blue badge of authentication on your profile. These are currently available primarily for individuals, but Twitter is currently accepting requests for business accounts seeking verification as well. You can see the current list of all 1403 verified accounts (which is currently being updated to include Olympic hopefuls) right here.
