There are an increasing number of high value printable coupons available on Facebook, but printing some of them requires giving up something I’m not willing to give.
As Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter have become more and more popular, companies have begun to take notice and use these outlets to advertise their products. One positive outcome is that consumers can find higher value coupons for products by accessing these Facebook pages. The downside is the lack of control consumers have over their information.
For example, Tombstone recently offered a $2.00/1 coupon. In order to print the coupon you had to make a comment which would be posted to your wall along with a free advertisement for Tombstone. They deceptively included a button that says “skip” at the bottom of this screen, but if you chose “skip” you were not allowed to print the coupon. By allowing Tombstone to post on your wall you are subject to Facebook’s Terms and Conditions which include allowing the company access to your information.
I like to buy Tombstone frozen pizzas for the kids’ sleepovers and $2.00 off is a sweet deal, but I’m not comfortable with giving away my private information for $2.00.
I also dislike advertising crowding into what I see as a fun outlet to chat with friends. Granted Facebook is offering a service and their use of advertising allows me to use it for free, but I find all of the ads annoying. The flashing ads in the side bar are enough to have to deal with. I don’t really want to see ads coming up in the live feed when I’m trying to read about my nephew’s latest funny comment.
If you feel the way I do here are some alternatives to consider:
Don’t Use Them– This is the choice that I have made for now for those coupons that require access to my FB account. If more consumers rejected these types of offers perhaps companies would get the message.
Like and Unlike– For those coupons that require you to “like” their product to get the coupon, you can “like” them and then “unlike” them after printing the coupon. The “unlike” feature is on the left side bar toward the bottom on most pages. You can also remove the notification on your wall by hovering the mouse to the right of the update you want to delete and clicking the word “Remove” when it appears.
Set Up An Alternate Account– You can read here on For The Mommas about how to set up an account. This may be a good alternative if you set your privacy settings very high. I am not sure that Facebook will allow you to set up a second account without attaching it to your first account, but it may be worth a try. [UPATE: Facebook does not allow more than one account per person.]
For some people, this entire discussion is not a problem. I personally like to think through issues and make a conscious choice rather than letting others choose for me.
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