"Like" on Facebook is protected!

On September 19th, a U.S. court of appeals gave Facebook a thumbs up when it ruled that "likes" on the social network are protected as free speech under the Constitution.



"In 2009, six employees at the Hampton Sheriff's Office in Virginia lost their jobs after expressing support for their boss' opponent in an upcoming election for sheriff, some by liking and commenting on the opponent's Facebook page.", CNN reporter said, as one of the origin cases which related to the case.

After U.S. count support "like" on Facebook and treat it as free speech, I saw marketing opportunities here, especially for internet marketing. It has been a long time for different companies promote their brand online, but right now interact with their fans and consumers online with this "like" function is protected by law. This provides lots of business opportunities and more companies would like join this promotion way for a cheap cost. 

The social media affect lots of young consumers online through Facebook. Now, they can even make it legal to access consumers' database through Facebook. Also, the search engine will also direct consumers to Facebook webpage and help companies' public promotion.

Personally I think Facebook will become the new way of promotion which combines Twitter, Amazon and even Google.