Facebook has taken the lengths to protect privacy and appease privacy advocacy groups by launching a Safety Advisory Board. The creation of a board dedicated to Facebook safety shows the company’s dedication to privacy and other aspects of maintaining a personal profile within an online network, and places Facebook in a better position to comment on and create standards around social networking safety as they pertain to the social networking industry.

Facebook has been called upon on several occasions to work in partnership or alone towards the improvement of safety standards for online social networks. Various groups from around the world have asked Facebook to consider its own ability to provide the tools needed for its individual users to remain aware and safe within its social networking environment. Additionally, these requests push Facebook to set examples for other online social networks, whether they are competing with Facebook or not.

Consisting of five Internet safety groups in Europe and North America, the Facebook Safety Advisory Board comes at a crucial time for Facbook. As the social network continues to see and seek growth, its ability to control and maintain communication with its millions of users becomes a matter of safety and success for Facebook. Merely organizing the necessary communications with its user base is a massive undertaking that will be easier to manage with the help of participating groups on the advisory board, which includes Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI).

Additionally, the legal aspects of online communication will be further pushing standards to be created around the use of social networks, as well as their potential for encouraging adverse behavior. Teens in particular are a topic of interest for safety and privacy advocacy groups, as cyberbullying prevails in high schools and many remain unaware to the full ramifications of their actions on an online network.

Beyond the personal use issues regarding safety and privacy within an online network, the legal issues that surround a government’s access to personal information on that network could become part of the discussions taking place at the Facebook Safety Advisory Board table. As a part of the protection Facebook will need to extend to its users, a measure of prying will need to take place in order to maintain order. Those companies looking to social networks for their own access to certain individuals that pose a threat to other users will begin to see their rights to privacy stripped. This comes from a basic necessity to use culturally relevant means of communication for the purpose of seeking out individuals such as criminals and sex offenders.

Moving forward, Facebook has a good chance of retaining its dominance in the social networking field for some time. As a result, its ability to foster relationships while also protecting them is a scary task, hopefully tamed by the presence of Facebook’s new Safety Advisory Board.