It has often been argued that privacy on social media platforms is oxymoronic because the precise purpose of social media is for people to share their lives and to publicly express themselves. To voluntarily share information in a public avenue and then complain and whine when said information is being used in ways not previously contemplated at the time of posting seems unreasonable at best. The truth is that most end-users are merely acting out of helplessness. When unintended consequences result from the sharing of information, the victims are often quick to look for a scapegoat to which to attribute their misfortune. Facebook, for instance, has been repeatedly vilified for this reason – among others – and consequently rolled out elaborate privacy settings to limit the scope of sharing right down to exact persons or pieces of information. “Responsible sharing” is no longer just the duty of the end-user; gone are the days when, say, uploading to the web a photograph that is later misused is perceived as solely the fault of the end-user.

Fortunately, short of adopting a share-at-your-own-risk-or-don’t-share-at-all approach, social media platforms and ecommerce websites can strategize around a more mutually-beneficial privacy policy. The key is to ensure that any privacy policy put in place does not stultify end-users’ motivations (e.g. recognition, feedback, exhibitionism, etc.) and still allows end-users to have strong control over how their data is used. Specifically, I propose the following guidelines:

When in doubt, ask. One rule that I find useful is to prompt end-users whenever they create or publish content. This is basically a simple practice that, when applied consistently and even redundantly, is actually a powerful way to build trust and rapport with end-users. Fundamentally, this practice also serves as a regular reminder to end-users that the way their data is used is within their control. End-users are also less likely to feel justified in blaming the social media platform whenever things go wrong.

Keep privacy settings simple but flexible. This rule pretty much falls under the easy-to-say-impossible-to-do category, yet there are simple tips that can be followed to give effect to it. The two basic parameters that are usually of interest to the end-user are the data and the people. For instance, fat Joe from Nebraska might want to show off to his college buddies a video of him performing objectionable acts but keep it away from his boss, his parents, his girlfriend, and all the people who are likely to inform thereof of said video. That obviously seems like a lot work so anything that makes that easier would be a must-have feature. Facebook’s use of lists may be a step in the right direction, but there are also many other unexplored methods waiting to be attempted.

To encourage people to share beyond what they already are sharing, provide tangible value in consideration of their increased openness. When Facebook introduced the News Feed (you know, the scary thing that chronicles pretty much every single action of you and your friends), most users were outraged for understandable reasons and there were even user groups protesting it. Most people, however, got used to the idea and slowly saw its usefulness: it gave an instant snapshot of everything that was going on in their social circle. The idea of sharing your own information in exchange for that of your friends had a certain appeal that caused people to embrace it. Blippy, a purchase sharing service linked to end-users’ credit cards, has also played the same card by encouraging its users to share their purchases for common good. Peculiarly, this approach, albeit somewhat socialist in nature, has been met with considerable success. Other examples include Friendster’s “see who viewed my profile” feature (which I absolutely loved) that was only available if I agreed to waive my ability to view profiles anonymously as well as Facebook’s chat feature that only allowed me to see who was online if I myself went online.

Ultimately, the ideal social media platform protects privacy by default but empowers end-users to broadcast themselves as publicly as they choose. This may in fact mean that some user-generated content may never see the light of day, but, nevertheless, customer trust and loyalty are always worth protecting over other short-term interests because trust is perhaps the hardest thing to regain once it is broken.