May 2011 | In Healthcare Web | Comments 0

Facebook Force Pharma to Enable Comments

On May 17th 2011, Facebook emailed Pharma companies to let them know that they were bringing in a policy change which will no longer allow Pharma companies to disable Comments on their pages- a move known as ‘Whitelisting’. Intouch solutions posted their email on their blog site which included the statement:

“Starting today, Facebook will no longer allow admins of new pharma Pages to disable commenting on the content their Page shares with people on Facebook. Pages that currently have commenting disabled will no longer have this entitlement after August 15th”. 

Where has this come from?

The major hesitant for Pharma companies in joining social media is the reporting of adverse events (AE) and Off- Label promotions. If a Pharma company see’s any person report a side-effect of their drug, they must report it. In 2008, Neilson produced a report which stated that only 1 in 500 of these comments actually constituted an adverse event- but Pharma companies are still wary.

Facebook has become one of the most popular forums for pharma companies on social media for the fact that they could disable comments on posts, videos, pictures etc. Well that’s about to change with Facebook’s new policy introduction. The official reasoning for the introduction of this policy is :

“We think these policy changes support consistency for the Facebook Pages product and encourage an authentic dialogue between people and businesses on Facebook.”

Although this was expected somewhere down the line, the timing of this seems out of the blue. Facebook is a two-way interaction site so it was somewhat expected that it would change eventually, but not for some time. Porter Novelli.com suggest that it is for Pharma’s best interest and it would make it more attractive as the most popular site algorithm is calculated based on interaction. The other possibility is that it’s the nature of Facebook-it’s made to be an interactive site, and Facebook may not like that Pharma companies aren’t ‘playing by the rules’ , and that if they can’t be social they shouldn’t be on a social site.

What exactly has changed?

The Pharma Company remains the sole administrator- and therefore the only way to upload new content, but now people can comment on this content. Consider the Pfizer Facebook wall in the picture below. Under each post it only has the date and ‘Share’, unlike say the Oreo page where you can see many comments and likes under each post.
      

 Facebook have allowed ‘Pharmaceutical Brand Pages’, subject to approval by Facebook, to continue to disable comments. However, this is no use in Ireland as companies are not allowed to promote drugs directly to customers - i.e. you can’t have a ‘Lipitor’ page- and on that note, it seems unlikely that people will want to ‘Like’ Lipitor anyway.

What can we do now?

Tough decisions will have to be made by Pharma companies. There are a few options:

1. Some may choose that the risk is too high and delete the page (please note once you delete a page, you cannot get it back).

2. Get a custom Wall such as Buddy Media - A custom wall is a programme to install on your Facebook page which will allow you to moderate all comments- think of it as an App for your Facebook page.

3. 24/7 monitoring of the site to monitor and manage conversations and be there to delete any unruly conversations etc. To do this you will need a dedicated team (preferably with customer care experience) who can swiftly react to comments posted. In fact, the company may want to produce a report of standard answers (reviewed by the legal department) and then have a manager to oversee proceedings and make executive decisions to react to comments for which there is no standard answer. The important thing to note here is that the reaction needs to be instant; you do not have time to discuss each comment- like a child screaming for sweets you need to nip it in the bud before they throw all their toys out of the pram.

Unfortunately in Ireland, you do not have the option of creating a branded page. Under Irish regulations, Pharmaceutical companies cannot create sites which name the drug they are supporting. Therefore we understand this will also apply to Facebook.

Conclusion

All things considered, it’s not the worst possible thing for Pharma on Facebook. The important thing is not to react too hastily- once you delete a page you say goodbye to all the hard work put in, and all the fans. Facebook does not allow you to retrieve a deleted page.
There are solutions out there like custom walls and you can be guaranteed there are companies sitting in brainstorm meetings at this very moment discussing solution packages (which I will post about if I find one that’s good).

And you have to remember you have time, you have until August 15th before the comment disabling privilege runs out, and I suggest you use this as your deadline to create your new Facebook Strategy. 

 

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Combined Media is a leading independent interactive agency that specialises in web design and development. We create websites, e-learning tools, interactive presentations, applications and all things digital. Founded in 1992, Combined Media has developed processes that combine the best aspects of user-centred design and technology. Our aim is to produce products that look great and are easy to use. Our work is created using excellent project management for our clients. Based in Dublin, clients include VHI healthcare, Roche Products, Novartis, ESBIE Independent Energy, Barnardos and World Vision.

 

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