College Prowler Caught Using Fake Facebook Accounts + Groups to Build List

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/12/21/facebook-marketing-college-prowler-caught-using-fake-accounts-and-facebook-groups/

by jasonlbaptiste • 18 years ago

15 6 18 years ago

insidefacebook.com

ryanwaggoner• 18 years ago

This headline really threw me, as it sounds like some kind of sexual predator was using social media tools to research victims or something. Or am I the only one who read it like that?

The reality is that a company called "College Prowler" was using Facebook for guerrilla marketing. Whew!

cabalamat• 18 years ago

> ... some kind of sexual predator was using social media tools to research victims or something. Or am I the only one who read it like that?

I read it that way too. Maybe the company should change their name to something less threatening, like, uh, Serial Killer.

dmoney• 18 years ago

I read it as "a person who is a prowler was caught thanks to the miracle of social media". I guess I was skimming.

kwamenum86• 18 years ago

I read it like that as well, ryan[...]. The story is still interesting though. It is actually a pretty cool hack since most first year students will likely see no reason not to join these groups upon receiving an invitation. I can't think of another type of group that would have such widespread appeal and can be used (seemingly) reliably to attract 1 million+ users and push ads or whatever else.

...and if you employ the method described in the article using legit accounts it is not against fb's T&C. There are rules against creating an ACCOUNT that does not accurately represent you but you can create a GROUP that you don't belong in...so I would say it is a pretty cool hack.

tokenadult• 18 years ago

The pretty cool hack of posting straight-up advertisements for an immigration law firm on Usenet (remember those days?) did a lot to ruin Usenet. In self-defense, I suppose Facebook has to figure out a way to reduce the frequency of this kind of hack. If it fails, then Facebook fails long-term, methinks.

mihasya• 18 years ago

I'm not entirely sure why the company is being so sheepish... nothing that was described sounds illegal or really that unethical... The CEO's statement is also clearly bullshit - they knew what they were doing, and are only back pedaling because they got caught.

College Prowler Caught Using Fake Facebook Accounts + Groups to Build List

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