Demystifying Your College’s Schools on Facebook application

Tony Zanders

We’ve gotten a lot of feedback from our clients asking about the different implications of adding the Schools on Facebook application to their personal Facebook accounts. Here are a few reasons for you to rest assured that we’ve thought about you, your concerns, and how our design makes the difference.

I authenticated with my school email, but then all of a sudden our school’s app can be accessed from my personal Facebook, which is tied to my personal email….how did the app know about my personal facebook?

Since each application we build is built on the Facebook platform, it is accessible through each user’s Facebook account. To accommodate university privacy concerns, we have enforced a .edu email authentication step for each school to access their private application. Once you authenticate your identity as a member of that institution, there’s no need for your school email address again – the application recognizes you as a student, staff, faculty, or admitted student of your institution.

When I set up the app, I looked at the schools on Facebook profile of another staffer, and below her photo it let me click right to her Facebook profile.

Another common concern is a colleague’s ability to access your personal Facebook profile. We designed Schools on Facebook so that the only people able to view your Facebook profile are ones that you are Facebook friends with outside of the application. In other words, the application does not let strangers or anyone view your personal profile, unless you have explicitly given them permission to outside of the app. The primary motivation for this design choice was for faculty and staff to be able to engage with students without any awkwardness caused by what the student did over the weekend. This is also applicable to faculty and staff who would like to keep their personal lives separate from others at the institution.

Will anyone be able to see any of my facebook info?

Only if you let them by becoming their Facebook friend outside of the app.

Can I change my profile picture inside of the app? As the one I have I like, but its not professional.

Not at this point. From a design standpoint, asking users (primarily high school seniors and college students) to find a Facebook profile picture that looks professional could be a very daunting task for them. Our goal was to create a signup process that was very straightforward and seamless for all users. One that would allow you to leverage the benefits of Facebook (your friends/social graph) while only taking what’s relevant into your school community. As this is a common question and concern for faculty and staff who are interested in maintaining a distinction between professional and personal identities, we are working to find the best balance within the framework that Facebook has established.

The good news is that out of all of the information Facebook has on each user’s profile, we only access three pieces of info:

1. Your name
2. Your FB profile photo
3. Your friend list

We will be updating this article periodically as feedback and concerns come in. Feel free to check back often, and subscribe to our blog here!