2013 Facebook Groups: Something Fishy?

There's been talk on various forums about fishiness going on in the class of 2013 Facebook groups across the board - at Wesleyan, and tons of other colleges. It appears that a couple of people on Facebook, such as Justin Gaither, have started Class of '13 Facebook groups at tons of colleges, including Wesleyan. They appear to have absolutely no affiliation with the colleges they're creating Facebook groups for.

I first came across this suspicion toward Justin Gaither on the Wesleyan CollegeConfidential forums, where fangsup15 wrote:

Yeah what the heck, Justin Gaither is in every single Facebook Class of 2013 groups... There are also a number of people who appear in numerous Class of groups (Cathy Li, Tommy Choi, the girl with the luggage, the person that's water skiing or w/e).

I was thinking maybe they've just overapplied or w/e, but half of them are college grads!

Then Wesleying got an e-mail from Marilyn Stelzner. She appears to be affiliated with Summit Prep Charter High School (how she found Wesleying, I don't know), and she linked us to a page on squaredpeg.com called Facebook: Pay Attention:

See how many times those names appear in admin for these groups, and look at their friends and see how many times those names pop up. A LOT. This isn’t just the Common App Effect, where students apply to every school under the sun. These people aren’t interested in going to every school they have started a group for. No, this is an inside ring with a common purpose. They don’t always create the group, but they do always get in, friend someone, and get control rights.

You might have the same thought I had at first. I responded to Megan, “That is very interesting. I don’t really see where squatting could be beneficial. After all, the students who join and participate will steer the group in whatever direction they take it. I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

Sure, not for one school. Not for tiny little Butler, with 900 incoming students.

But for 500+ schools? Owning the admin rights to groups equaling easily 1,000,000+ freshman college students? That’s huge.

Think of it: Sitting back for 8-10 months, (even a few years), maybe friending everyone and posing as an incoming student. Think of the data collection. The opportunities down the road to push affiliate links. The opportunity to appear to be an ‘Admin’ of Your School Class of 2013. The chance to message alumni down the road. The list of possibilities goes on and on and on.

I’ve said many times, step back and let the student group start on its own. Today, I change that position. It seems that we have been gamed, and we need to at least own the admin rights to the group in an effort to protect our incoming students. To end the possibility of them being pushed ads and “buy these sheets for college” stuff this summer. You know there is a motive behind all of this. And you know it has to do with money. And you KNOW you’re going to get calls about it when it happens.

Be sure to read the full squaredpeg.com article for more back story and updates - it's interesting and completely baffling. Maybe Wesleyan admissions did a pretty decent job creating its own Class of '13 facebook group after all.

Update 12/20 8pm: New info has come up that apparently some College Prowler interns were behind this process in an attempt to be progressive in new media/viral marketing/social networking. They've issued an apology, noting that they crossed the line. Read up more about it here. Thanks to fangsup15 from CollegeConfidential again for the tip! And let this be a lesson: even when it's less obvious, people who shouldn't technically be in your network have access to your information and will probably take advantage of it. Yay!

Admissions h4x0rs Facebook to seduce pre-frosh

Breaking Facebook's Terms of Service by creating an account under the name Stewart Reid House, Admissions has started a Facebook Group called WesAdmits 2013, a place for pre-frosh to gather and talk about how cool and debauched they are.

Just kidding, pre-frosh. We love you. And I'd love you even more if you weren't a constant reminder of how close I am to graduation.

Admissions Checks Facebook

This strikes me as obvious and inevitable, but here's the proof anyway. Admissions officers check Facebook - no doubt this applies to grad schools as well. The Chicago Tribune reports:

In a new survey, 10 percent of admissions officers from prestigious schools said they had peeked at sites like Facebook and MySpace to evaluate college-bound seniors. Of those using the profiles, 38 percent said it had a "negative impact" on the applicant, according to Kaplan Inc., the education services company that polled the officers.

At least one admissions officer had rescinded an offer because of an applicant's postings, results showed. The survey went out to 500 schools—of which 320 responded—in July and August and promised anonymity.

Will I eventually delete my Facebook account? Yes. But yes, it will be difficult. Thanks to our blogosphere friends over at SaxaSpeak for the tip on this one.

Chicago Tribune - Social-networking sites viewed by admissions officers

p.s. This image is the fourth one that comes up when you do a Google Image search for "Facebook."

New Facebook is New

Facebook has undergone yet another aesthetic overhaul, which purports to be "new, cleaner, and simpler", while allowing even more customization. Access to this latest design will be limited over the next few days, so you can switch back and forth between the old layout and this new MySpace version.

Time to call the waambulance!


Facebook Blog: Check Out the New Facebook

Facebook Strikes '12!

Devon Hopkins '11 creator of the Wesleyan Class of 2011 facebook group writes in to tell us that the rising frosh are already getting in on some awkward cyber interactions before, you know, real life. You can gawk at it here. Devon also writes that there was a good article apparently on this site concerning how to get your e-mail login. I can't find it, but if I remember correctly it's generally (first initial)(last name)@wes pass:wesid(initials). It's been a few years though, let me know if I'm wrong.

Edit:

anonymous said...
password is (first+last initial) + (wesid), I think

June 08, 2008 7:35 PM


jenn said...
yes, but some people have common names and their middle initial is added after the first letter of their last name. if that doesn't work try your first two letters of yur name, but who knows.

June 08, 2008 9:58 PM

And there you have it.

Edit by Isaac:
From Sam's comment, which is correct as far as I know:

Your password, if it's the same as it was last year, is the first two letters of your e-mail address, and then your WesID.

Your e-mail address is usually your first initial + last name, however, it may include a middle initial, you may get a number at the end if there are lots of people with what would be the same e-mail, and your e-mail address (the part before the '@') will not be longer than 12 letters. (And hyphens, etc., are not included in your address)

2012 wants to know: Are you down?

Sheek's recent post on the incoming class of 2012 highlighted the Facebook group that's been established for high school seniors lucky enough to be coming to Wes. One thing that quickly surfaced in the comments was a reference to a particular thread on the discussion board of said group, titled "are you down?"

The thread begins with a prefrosh who writes:

for the past four years i have lived a life of crazy debauchery, including everything from vodka dorm room parties to drinking wine in the afternoon along with the californian favorite pot. lets just say i wouldnt have it any other way. and i am just wondering who else is down with whatever whenever...

Amid the cheers of, "I'm completely with you on this! I'm totally down," and, "love to get fuckedu p.. any1 else love old e?" I'm left to wonder... how did the anti-party stereotype of Wesleyan that caused this person to create this thread get introduced to the prefrosh, anyway?

Did WesFest fail to impress? Has Admissions hypnotized them into thinking we don't party? Or is there something unspeakably depraved about sipping wine in the afternoon that I just don't know about?

Anyway, I don't want to burst any prefrosh's bubble—after all, sipping wine in the afternoon and drinking vodka at a dorm party is so totally debauched! But, I do want to give a hearty, if early, welcome to the class of 2012, because one of you got it right:

Hey all this is Wesleyan. Don't worry. It's going to be craaazy.

Facebook Announces More Privacy Changes

In a move sure to strike at the hearts of Facebook stalkers everywhere, Facebook has announced that profile and pictures views will no longer be private. Rather, it will show up in the News Feed like everything else. Users will have the option of controlling who sees what with Facebook's new privacy controls, but the default setting will include stories about whose profile and/or pictures you are viewing. According to the NYT article:

"Privacy just isn't what Facebook users are seeking," said creator Mark Zuckerberg in response to queries about the latest set of changes. "If the masses wanted privacy, we wouldn't have seventy-million users. The News Feed wasn't popular when it was first introduced either, but eventually our users will become accustomed to this new level of social interaction. Our users want to see when their friends are checking out their pictures, and they want their friends to know what they are browsing."

The announcement comes on the heels of sweeping changes to the social networking site's privacy controls. Critics label these new controls as difficult to find and beyond the understanding of the average user. Most changes the company has made in the last three years have met with a luke-warm response from users, yet the site continues to see hundred of millions of hits per day, with nearly a million new users per week."

I've always thought this was sort of inevitable - but I'm guessing that quite a few people are more upset than I am. On the bright side, when future employers are looking at pictures of us doing stupid shit while blackout drunk, at least we'll know it.

Define 'friend'

Well, today during my daily "why am I so much less employable than everyone I know?" pity party, I went to double check my FB privacy settings. And discovered that you could prevent CERTAIN people from seeing your photos. And, as you can see, when you request this electronic toddlerfacepush, FB wants to know your "friend's" name.

What a world, what a world...

FACEBOOK IS DOWN

Facebook has been down all night. Is it a Wesleyan problem? A network problem? A Facebook problem? Anyone have information on this?
Edit: 9am, still down.
Edit Edit: It's back! And apparently it wasn't a just a Wesleyan thing, but a Connecticut thing and even a Mississippi thing.

Facebook still owns your soul, but...

Facebook may still own your soul, but at least now there's an easier way to quit Facebook and have your information deleted—not just stashed away in the dark corners of Facebook's servers.

The New York Times reports:

Aiming to address the privacy concerns of disenchanted users, Facebook.com said on Tuesday that it was trying to make it easier for people to delete their accounts permanently from the social networking site.

Until now, Facebook has offered only a deactivation option, which keeps copies of the account’s personal information on the company’s servers. It is possible to delete an account fully using a cumbersome manual method, but it is difficult; many users complained that Facebook did not provide clear instructions.

On Monday, Facebook modified its help pages to tell people that if they wanted to remove their accounts entirely, they can direct the company by e-mail to have it done. But on Tuesday, representatives of Facebook stopped short of saying the company would introduce a one-step delete account option.

Oh, Facebook. Ever so sly.

Facebook Owns Your Soul

...or at least as much of it you've ever exposed on your profile.

Aside from being a great way to keep in touch with everyone you've ever met and a prodigious time killer, Facebook.com is a big, fat cash cow for Mark Zuckerberg and pals. It's also a privately owned company, which means that since you, the collegiate social networker, agreed to all its terms and conditions upon signing up, you willingly contribute whatever information you post to its vast archives.

But if you've ever tried to delete your Facebook account, you might be aware that merely deactivating your profile doesn't actually get rid of it. Copies of the information in a deactivated account remain on Facebook servers indefinitely, and a lot of ex-Facebook users have found that trying to completely remove their information leaves them running in circles.

In a Technology feature today, the NY Times talks to a lot of pissed off people who have been trying to give up Facebook, but find that their membership on it is as persistent as the bad habit it used to be. Many are concerned and even paranoid about the fact that even though it offers a "deactivate account" option, Facebook never really tells you that it still has everything stored in its data mine - unlike other social networking sites like Myspace and eHarmony.

This raises the issue of potential abuse of data by selling it to advertisers. The Facebook company is still trying to find ways to make larger profits off the enormous traffic it gets (over 65 billion per month), and providing marketers the treasure trove of demographic and behavioral information it contains seems to have the most potential.

Facebook spokespeople maintain that they're not doing anything illegal, and besides, anyone who is complaining should realize that they agreed to the terms and conditions and should have read them before bitching about it. Also, if they ever plan to reactivate their accounts, it's really simple to do so since nothing was deleted from the archives.

In response to all this concern, a slowly growing community has formed in the network of Facebook groups - people who plan to leave Facebook someday but find it convenient to stay on for awhile with the knowledge of how to eventually get out. The largest one is a group with about 5,000 members called "How to permanently delete your facebook account," detailing the methods with which you can ostensibly be Facebook-free forever.

It might not be much, but if you ever muster up the willpower to free yourself from Scrabulous, the burning need for constant self-image reinvention, and stalking people in your NSM classes, this might help you out.

Get the whole article here:
How Sticky Is Membership on Facebook? Just Try Breaking Free

File Under: Way Better Than "Kings"

These days you've got to look hard among the silly, fake petition groups (Revolt against donuts!) and silly, useless applications (Grow your own nosehair!) to find anything worthwhile on Facebook. Once in awhile, though, you can run across a diamond in the rough, and this month's jewel is: Horcruxes (the drinking game). Developed by some devoted--and clearly ingenius-- Harry Potter fans at SUNY Plattsburgh, the game (which has a facebook group devoted to it of the same name) has simple rules obviously derived from Kings. But way better. According to the group's site:

"The new drinking game for Harry Potter fans everywhere:

THE RULES:
This game is played with two die. Sit in a circle and have the youngest person roll first.
2- The Twins: you either have to tell a joke or do a dare agreed upon by the rest of the circle in honor of Fred & George Weasley.
3- The Trio: you're Harry. Pick a Ron and a Hermione to drink with.
4- The Dungeons: last person with their hands to the floor drinks
5- Quidditch: last person with their hands to the ceiling drinks
6- The Slytherin: pick one other person in the circle. they must drink
7- The End of Year Feast: everyone drinks
8- The Marauders Map: everyone lists a Harry Potter character until one is repeated or someone can't think of one. this person drinks (go clockwise.)
9- The Hogwarts Express: the person that rolls starts drinking, then the next person starts drinking, and so on. you can not stop drinking until the person before you stops drinking. (go clockwise)
10- The Filch: you have to roll the dice and multiply whatever you roll by 3. if you roll doubles you've gotten out of detention and don't have to drink.
11- The Dark Lord: you have gained a Horcrux.
12- Dumbledore's Army: you have lost a Horcrux.

You begin the game with 1 Horcrux.
If you get to 7 you get to drink the Elixer of Life which will be in the middle of the circle.
Every time you make someone drink, you gain a Horcrux. When you roll an 12, you dump a drink into the middle (the Elixer).
If you're down to zero Horcruxes you're out of the game."

The next time you're wishing you were in Charms instead of Chemistry, quit taking notes and plan out a Horcruxes party instead. Happy Geek-ing!

Worst Facebook Group Ever?

My friend from Bucknell tipped me off to this facebook group called "My mom makes me clean up for my cleaning lady." A high schooler titles herself "Creater(sic) of the group and a major victim of cleaning for the cleaning lady."

"Everyone knows how much it sucks cleaning up for the cleaning lady..ESP if your mom actually yells at you to clean up for the women shes paying to clean

WHAT'S YOUR CLEANING LADYS NAME?!

(Please add pictures of your cleaning lady)"

Please add pictures of your cleaning lady?! The kicker is that this group has 14,613 members. 14,613. One of the more popular conversations in the group is headed "It's too awkward being in the same room as the cleaning lady" in which they all detail the lengths people will go to to hide while she is cleaning. Bonkers. Just...bonkers.

Bring Back Mocon

Scott Cole '09 created a facebook group called Bring Back Mocon:

After seeing only a few meals being eaten at the new Susan Lemburg Usdan Campus Center, there must be someone who is sitting at home thinking, "Shit, I fucked up."

While the new Usdan Center may look nice on our pretty new brochures it sure as hell is a crappy place to eat.

The food is delicious, but the organization is terrible. So this is why we need to Bring Mocon Back! The heart and soul of our dining experiance, a missed friend.

Facebook Diaries...ok...

So there's this thing on Facebook or something called Ziddio and they've teamed up to create something called Facebook Diaries which, well, like all things Facebook has done besides going operational will probably be a hilarious disaster.

So what's the deal? Basically, kids tell their webcams "who they are" interjected with more "likes" than any given episode of MTV's The Hills. Like, ok? Like, I'm lost, ok? I'm like kinda bisexual or really deep or something, ok? Like, seriously.

The actual episode that's up isn't too bad, but it's made from the diamonds in the rough. The rough is worth watching if only to confirm everything Lewis Black has ever said about America ever.

Like this girl who tells her webcam why she asked her parents for a boob job for her high school graduation present. Which led to laser treatment for her skin. And then getting her lips done.

Super.

"Whether you like it or not, we have to admit that we live in a society where where you look is very, very important...but just because I choose to get my boobs done and get my lips done, doesn't mean I don't care about things that are important in the world. It doesn't mean I'm not into politics and things like that." I'm so glad she's gotten over that insecurity thing so she can post about her fake tits on the internet. You go, girl.

(I'd post the video but Ziddio's embed thing has failed me.)

Related:

• Project Poultry - A dancing chicken invades a Wesleyan birthday party.
  

Helicopter Parents Use Facebook to F-Up Lives

I don't think I'll ever get enough of helicopter parents. Not ever, ever. But I reported on the the crazy parents posting about googling their kids' roommates a few weeks ago and how weird it sounded.

Well, ABC reported today about a literally batshit mother who printed out 44 pages of her daughter's roommate facebook file to make the case that the girl was just unsuitable as a roommate.

Students say it's good to know a roommate before actually meeting the person. And now, even curious parents are sneaking peaks at profiles.

"I was excited," said Kristin Mueller, the parent of a college freshman. "I was anxious to find out more about her new roommate."

But it's not always love at first surf for parents.

"What I saw on Facebook was a lot of alcoholic beverages in the background, a lot of liquor bottles, beer bottles, kind of lewd behavior," Mueller said.

Mueller took action by helping her daughter file a formal request to the college's housing office demanding a change. She isn't the first parent to do so.

Across the country college administrators said they are getting more pleas than ever from Facebook frazzled parents.

"They call based on the information that they see on Facebook and they say that their son or their daughter can't possibly live with that person," said Deb DiCaprio, Marist College's dean of students.

Syracuse University has formulated a response to such a request.

"Our response to that is, we do not move students. We do not discriminate at all," said Syracuse University housing director Robin Berkowtiz-Smith.

....

But Mueller was determined to switch her daughter's assignment, even when her initial request was denied. She printed out 44 pages from the prospective roommate's Facebook profiles and took them to the university. The school finally granted a change.

"Transferring her into a quiet study dorm was best," Mueller said. "It's going to make her more comfortable, and I know I am going to be more comfortable."

But ABC News parenting contributor Anne Pleshette Murphy said parents should be careful when using online profiles to judge roommates.

"It's a mixed bag, and like most things it all depends on how you use it," Murphy said. "On one hand, Facebook is a great tool that wasn't available to me or even my daughter, who's now a senior in college. It can be a way for your college-bound child to get to know their roommate, taking some of the anxiety out of moving out and going to school."

Murphy said people should not judge the page by its content.

"There's a lot of boasting that goes on, and some kids use the page to point fun at themselves, or lampoon the whole idea of Facebook," she said. "A dangerously subversive kid is not going to be on Facebook. You have to take everything with a grain of salt."

A good way to prove this is to look at your child's page to see whether it paints an accurate picture, Murphy said.

"Most likely, you'll find that there are more than a few liberties," she said.

Some parents are even looking up school organizations, Murphy said.

"Parents are even Facebooking and Googling fraternities and sororities and complaining when their child doesn't get a bid, and so on," she said.

But she said parents should learn to give their children some room.

"As much as I understand the impulse that drives parents to do this, there is an element of 'helicopter parenting' here," she said. "These parents have to face the fact that their child is leaving home and they have to let go. Instead of being overprotective, parents should bolster their child's confidence by saying, 'Look, I believe in you and I think you can handle living with someone with different values.'"

Avoiding 'Financial Aid' Students

Murphy said she learned some parents are asking colleges to weed out roommates by code.

"One of the most disturbing things I heard from college housing administrators is the code some parents use when asking to switch their child's roommate. They don't want a 'financial aid' student, which may be code for a student of a different race or economic background," she said.

"Parents must remember that one of the most important things about the college experience is the opportunity to meet new people, from different backgrounds. Facebook information should not be used as a veil for prejudice and discrimination."

WTF. Seriously, what the fuck. I have nothing substantial to say about this except what the fuck. Screening for finaid kids?! Printing out 44 pages of facebook profile? Holy shit! Who the fuck are these people?

Mildly Sleazy Uses of Facebook

(from xkcd)

Facebook's Zuckerberg Sued

Having already proven to me that he's quite lame, Mark Zuckerberg is being sued for allegedly stealing the concept of Facebook from three other Harvard guys:

A long-simmering dispute over the origins of Facebook is set to erupt later this month at a federal court hearing about whether Mark Zuckerberg, the young web mogul now being feted by media honchos, stole the original code for his booming social network from three Harvard classmates.

The lawsuit, filed by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, accuses Zuckerberg, Facebook's 23-year-old C.E.O, of stealing the source code, design, and business plan for Facebook in 2003 when he briefly worked in the Harvard dorms as a programmer for their own fledgling social-networking site, now known as ConnectU.

The plaintiffs have demanded that Facebook be shut down and that full control of the site - and its profits - be turned over to them.

The hearing comes just as Facebook is exploding into the social networking stratosphere and Zuckerberg is the toast - in absentia - of this week's elite media ball at the annual Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

"This lawsuit goes to the core of the assets that Facebook claims to own," said Eric Goldman, Director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. "The ConnectU guys are clearly ticked off, and they seem willing to spend a lot of money to pursue this."

Facebook Carpool Application

Will a new Facebook application called Carpool allow us to bypass the rideshare board (since it seems like the new campus center might not even have one)? Check it out. It looks pretty sweet from what I can tell, equipped with googlemaps and all. According to Development Crossing:

The application is a fully integrated solution that has robust functionality. The user interface is very intuitive and well designed including Google maps integration as well. You can easily:

- See all your Facebook friends’ rides
- View rides in your network
- Search all rides
- Add ride offers or requests, for commutes or one-time trips
- Track all the rides you’ve shared, the miles you’ve traveled and your reduction in CO2 emissions

im in ur internets, whoring out ur memes

Remember when the money from the dollar gifts on Facebook actually went to charity? Ahh, the good old days...