Trust has become Facebook's biggest challenge. While the constant changes to Facebook's privacy policy have created a lot of press and a tiny account deletion movement, I don't really see a major groundswell of users leaving the site. It's just too convenient, so much content has been created and the majority of your Social Graph will continue to be on Facebook. For the time being.   
  
The real threat to Facebook's future doesn't come from its users, it comes from brands that spend quite a lot of money on the site. Here's why:

• Without any fanfare, Facebook launched 'Community Pages', aggregating content from Wall Posts and Wikipedia, deliberately eliminating any control brands had of their Facebook presence. 
• Posts that were meant to be private become public. Just look at all the people that expressed the hate for their boss. I doubt even one of these posts were meant to be seen by the whole world.  
• The inclusion of Wikipedia and syndicating the content makes it for brands even more important to keep their content fresh and check daily on their Wikipedia page to correct possible mistakes.
• Users might confuse 'Community Pages' with brand pages. There's a good likelihood users will get frustrated with the inability to comment on Community Pages and direct their anger towards brands.

Clearly, Facebook implemented these changes to have more advertising inventory at hand, improving the bottom line. Nothing wrong with that. But,  they might have burnt bridges that can't be repaired. Brands are used to get fair warning before a site or platform implements dramatic changes. Even more, brands are often consulted before any changes are being considered. Facebook's arrogance will turn fence-sitters into rejectors and make it so much harder for Facebook advocates to sell it through to the C-Suite.         

My advice to brands:  

• Don't put all your eggs in Facebook's basket: Analyze where your audience is and invest in other social platforms that respect people and brands. Evaluate developing your own community, your own niche network.
• Trust is your most important asset: Don't waste it on buying 'likes' or tagging along applications that share all their data with Facebook and other third-party sites.
• Highlight your privacy policy: Don't hide it. Make it the biggest tab on your Facebook page. Become an advocate of your fans, not an advocate of Facebook's sneaky tactics. 
• Educate, educate, educate: Tell people exactly what you do with their data, how you're using it improve their experience with your brand. Tell them how to change their privacy policies.
• Nurture your brand advocates: Most small companies don't have the scale to be everywhere. Identify and nurture your brand advocates that help you in moments of crisis and when you need to respond immediately.

The one lesson each business should learn: Don't depend on a platform for your Social Media strategy. Your brand deserves better.

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