Trying to prevent or curtail rampant imposters and squatters, Facebook has introduced digital signatures for setting up Public Profile Pages. Unlike user profiles, these are pages intended for businesses, brands, organizations, and celebrities looking to connect with fans and supporters via the social network.
Kristen Nicole at AllFacebook.com says the reason is the “massive large brand land grab” making it nearly impossible to tell who is the official, authentic source and who is not.
When creating a public profile page, a new “electronic signature” will be required (presumably provided by Facebook in advance). The person setting up the page also has to check a box saying they are authorized to create the page.
Fake profiles set up by third parties have been a problem on social networks. One of the more publicized instances involved a woman posing as an Exxon PR staffer. It was soon revealed she had no affiliation with Exxon at all. To that extent, how does one know they’re following the real Jim Gaffigan on Facebook?
Measures like the digital signature seem intended to solve that problem. Not sure how they verify if this is really God’s Twitter account, though. Presumably the Real Deal would be able to bypass any silly human security device.
Kristen Nicole suggests a similar layer of security be used for creating Facebook applications. She mentions how Starbucks missed the boat by not officially creating a popular Starbucks app. Without a way to authenticate, companies, brands, and famous people are left in the awkward situation of either having to boot an imposter or squash an apparent popular supporter.
