Facebook and GoLightly

We are often asked how GoLightly compares to Facebook. Essentially, the two systems serve very different purposes, so it's an apples-to-oranges comparison. Here are some of the ways our systems differ.

Facebook Groups
The Facebook groups functionality is designed primarily to let friends touch base with one another. It is terrific for that. But, it's lacking most of the tools included with GoLightly (also called Social Networking for iMIS). There is no email listserv (probably the most-used feature of Social Networking for iMIS). There's no library for sharing documents (other than photos and videos). There's no wiki for collaborating together on a document. There's no bridge to iMIS. There are no administrative reporting or administrative controls. The discussion board allows nothing but plain text, instead of a feature-rich WYSIWYG editor and the ability to embed images and attach documents. There are no personal or group blogs. There is no search capability—an almost fatal lack for any real collaboration use. There is no flexibility of set up (as compared to the hundreds of configuration options in Social Networking for iMIS). And, finally, there's no real branding for the organization. All of those features are included in Social Networking for iMIS, and more.

Privacy and Ownership of Data
Another very important differentiator is the treatment of data and privacy. The data in Facebook is subject to Facebook's terms of service which gives it much more control over your data. We consider the data captured within GoLightly to belong to you, and we do not contact your end users or sell to them, or market their information to others who would sell to them.

Using GoLightly AND Facebook
Facebook and other public social networks are very good at reaching broad audiences. We encourage our clients to leverage Facebook to help market your organization. Read some best practices in our Learning Center.