One of the big differentiators touted by Facebook has been that they’re a community. By only allowing people to register who can actually verify their email addresses, Facebook has been able to keep spam and rampant commercialism at bay.
Perhaps no more.
Prominent on the Facebook developers forum this morning is a thread that appears to have exposed fake Facebook profiles that are installing applications in response to flyer advertising. One developer claims to have received hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of registrations from these fakes. Does this mean that the Facebook identity mechanism has been cracked? Is this a harbinger of spam to come?
Here are a few of the fakes discovered.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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That's one of the advantages of LinkedIn's "old boys/girls club" – you can't got unnoticed because of the company you keep.
I guess so, Mitch. Facebook was supposed to be like that too.
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