Transparency is one of the most widely discussed topics online, with many platforms overhauling their services to increase transparency and make information more easily accessible to the public. In order to improve the experience of users, it’s important that they be able to understand why they’re seeing certain ads, who is running official pages, what ads they’re running, and whether or not pages have been verified as authentic. In order to make a good impression with your audience and assure them that your brand can be trusted, it’s important to be able to optimize your businesses’ Facebook page transparency.

Why were Facebook’s page transparency features introduced?

The 2016 US election was plagued by issues involving foreign interference. This entailed things like social media pages being created and used by foreign influences for the purpose of spreading misinformation or creating narratives, mass advertisements being run by foreign influences, and voters being influenced by what they thought were official sources of information.

This, combined with the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal in early 2018, which ended with the data of millions of users being taken without permission for use in political advertising, led directly to the need for increased transparency on Facebook. Increased transparency not only minimizes the chances of the platform being abused in future elections, but also allows users to make better informed decisions about the brands they interact with and buy from, and increases accountability for advertisers.

What is Facebook page transparency?

Officially rolled out in 2018, Facebook’s page transparency features give users easy access to critical information about the Facebook pages they follow and interact with. In seconds, users can view when the page was created, who created it, who currently manages it (whether it’s an organization or individuals), the primary location of page managers, whether the page name has changed, page merges, if the page is currently running ads, what kind of ads are being run, and whether the page belongs to a state-controlled media organization.

This information allows users to make better informed decisions regarding the content they interact with, as they’ll be better prepared to identify fake pages. The increase in transparency has also affected Facebook ads, allowing users to view information about why they’re seeing particular ads and what they can do to stop seeing certain ads.

Optimizing your Facebook page for transparency

Facebook page transparency features affect all Facebook pages, making it important that the information is accurate. Since there’s no way to opt out of the feature, you’ll need to embrace transparency and work on optimizing your page. The first step should be to ensure information is correct, especially with regard to when the page was created, who created it, who currently manages the page, and where they’re managing it from. 

If you created your Facebook page prior to 2018, you may be surprised by who or what is featured in your page transparency section. The best way to earn customer trust on Facebook is to set up a Confirmed Page Owner, which is a verification process that ensures the correct page owner is listed.

Having employee’s names attached to the page is never a good idea – the best practice to manage your page is to set up a Facebook Business Manager. This creates a central location to handle Facebook advertising and offers a more convenient way for vendors, partners, and other agencies to access your page securely and without requiring ownership. 

This will appear in your page transparency section, appearing much more professional than the alternative. If your Facebook page is managed by an agency, you can inquire about setting up a Business Manager and transferring ownership to your business. This ensures that the management of your company’s Facebook page and account is always under your control, while still giving agencies and partners access. 

Finally, while you can’t opt out of Facebook page transparency, you may be able to request that certain information be hidden. This is usually done in situations where personal safety is at risk, allowing you to hide certain location information.

ion8 is an all-in-one business consultancy with an experienced team of digital marketing experts who are ready to improve Facebook page transparency and professionally manage your business’s Facebook page. To find out more about everything that ion8 can do for your business, get in touch with us today.