Spammers Love Facebook Because Facebook Users Love Spam

Wonder what your employees are doing on Facebook? Odds are they're clicking on spam links.How effective is spam on Facebook? According to a F-Secure, close to half the people who encounter a piece of spam on Facebook click on it.

While that, as F-Secure points out, is no guarantee that they'll follow through on whatever the spam is selling or scamming, it's still a startlingly high percentage -- enough to all but guarantee that spam clicks are likely if you let employees check out Facebook from work.

Despite evidence of of some increasing spam wariness on the part of Facebook and other social network users, it's a pretty good indication that a reminder of social net risks is in order for your employees.

Whatever your company's policy is regarding social networking in the workplace, employees should be given some basic advice:

Don't click on links (no matter how fascinating the material they promise) Don't accept unsolicited or unfamiliar Friend requests Steer clear of the "Like" button Make sure their privacy controls have been reset or at least revisited Be especially wary of any clicking, posting or other actions on your company's official Facebook page

Basic stuff, mostly commonsense -- but with declining Facebook spam conversion rates still running at close to 50%, a little commonsense is undoubtedly in order -- especially if you're letting people use social networks over your business's network.

The reason the spammers love Facebook isn't just that it's so popular -- it's that Facebook users have tended to be almost giddily enthusiastic about the service and the material that comes their way through it. They click without thinking, at a higher rate than they would click on similar material coming their way via e-mail.

Tamp down the giddiness a bit, and you'll be less likely to have your business or employees compromised when the opportunity comes to click on a really bad link.