So I am sure you have seen one of the slew of articles around lately saying the web is dead and Facebook is the killer. Nah, not happen', don't buy it! Here are a few reasons why I think this is like the Y2k panic...remember that?!

Last week it was Wired declaring "The Web is Dead" - but also telling us not to rush out the coffin. Today it's Adage "What Happens When Facebook Trumps Your Brand Site", and there are many other articles/blogs too. But, is it really dead, is your site really trumped?

This is how I see it, and heck I may be 100% wrong, but first of all, technically, Facebook IS A WEBSITE! So, therefore it's not going to kill the web, right? Second, are you really going to give all your power to Facebook, or anywhere for that matter? You are not seriously going to give them all the control and forget about the website that your company owns and can do with what you please? No way! Why would you, to boost Facebook? What happens if it is down, goes away or is no longer the place to be, like MySpace?

Many of these articles talk about new ads with Facebook tag lines, sending people to brand Facebook pages, and how many fans brands have. Yeah, OK....so to me you know what that means? It means your advertising is working. Whether it be your commercials, social media campaign or radio spot. If potential clients are following the tag line to your Facebook page it means your ad campaign is a success- you grabbed their interest enough to give them simple directions "Go to Facebook page A" and they go! So, congratulate yourself, you accomplished something, you did, your company did...NOT Facebook! If you made your website or mobile app interactive you might just see the same turn-around of "like" that Facebook is showing you.

Is Facebook an important part of your marketing campaign, YES, absolutely! But, don't give them the keys to your kingdom. Don't make your Facebook page more important than your company or brand website. You own your company, you own your brand, you control your website and your domain. We have seen the fate of MySpace and the surge of Twitter, but it's your website, you call the shots, you make it your own, just like your business. Facebook has rules you will need to abide by as well as limits to what you can and can't do.

So, my take? By all means embrace Facebook, just like Twitter and LinkedIn and whatever else you are using to get your name and message out there, but don't ever give up your individual control or conform your brand identity to someone else. Learn something from it, be interactive; whether on your website or mobile app or through social media. Businesses surge and survive because of their product, their message, their customer service, let's not forget that!