Comments on: Friend Spam Is The Worst Kind Of All http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/ Startup and Technology News Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:42:37 -0800 hourly 1 By: Chris http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-2/#comment-2827742 Chris Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:53:09 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2827742 Mac Homer and I are having the EXACT same problem. It has cost me over $50 in text messaging fees alone!! This issue MUST be fixed soon. Mac Homer and I are having the EXACT same problem. It has cost me over $50 in text messaging fees alone!! This issue MUST be fixed soon.

]]> By: Mac Homer http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2783774 Mac Homer Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:14:21 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2783774 Dear facebook, I have discovered several severe holes in the site that should have been caught by Quality Assurance, but somehow have slipped through and remain on the site. These are not security holes, but holes that are liable to slowly erode the face of facebook and dissolve confidence in the product by many members and most hurtful, non-members. In the invite feature of fb, I accidentally accepted the fb feature to invite every single person that I have every emailed, CCed, or BCed in my entire life from Gmail. (hmm, a warning message would have been nice, once clicked, surely I would not have wanted to do that.) Once clicked, I immediately realized my mistake. After the initial embarrassment of inviting my whole world, I got over it as "oh well, my mistake." However, no daily email spam is sent out to these contacts, harassing that they join! Many unpleasant folks have contacted me and are very irritated at me and fb! I found a way in fb to remove all of these accidental invites, but it conveniently doesn't seem to work correctly. The following process/path I used and the error that I was confronted with: facebook > friends > invite friends > View all invitations > Select: Not Yet Joined :: Popup Delete Entries? "Are you sure you want to delete these 100 entries from your Invitation History?" Delete Oops! "Something went wrong. We're working on getting this fixed as soon as we can. You may be able to try again." OK Could somebody else or a team of people, try hard to improve this site with very simple enhancements? Update: fb requires you delete these invites one by one. Deleted. However, here it is a week later and the weekly fb spam has been sent out to all of the formerly invited contacts again!!! What a joke! Horrible business practice!! Dear facebook,

I have discovered several severe holes in the site that should have been caught by
Quality Assurance, but somehow have slipped through and remain on the site.
These are not security holes, but holes that are liable to
slowly erode the face of facebook and dissolve confidence in the product by
many members and most hurtful, non-members.

In the invite feature of fb, I accidentally accepted the fb
feature to invite every single person that I have every emailed, CCed, or BCed
in my entire life from Gmail. (hmm, a warning message would have been nice,
once clicked, surely I would not have wanted to do that.)
Once clicked, I immediately realized my mistake. After the initial
embarrassment of inviting my whole world, I got over it as “oh well, my
mistake.”
However, no daily email spam is sent out to these contacts, harassing
that they join! Many unpleasant folks have contacted me and are very irritated
at me and fb!

I found a way in fb to remove all of these accidental
invites, but it conveniently doesn’t seem to work correctly.
The following process/path I used and the error that I was
confronted with:
facebook > friends > invite friends > View all
invitations > Select: Not Yet Joined
:: Popup Delete Entries? “Are you sure you want to delete these 100
entries from your Invitation History?” Delete

Oops!
“Something went wrong. We’re working on getting this
fixed as soon as we can. You may be able to try again.” OK

Could somebody else or a team of people, try hard to
improve this site with very simple enhancements?

Update: fb requires you delete these invites one by one. Deleted.
However, here it is a week later and the weekly fb spam has been sent
out to all of the formerly invited contacts again!!! What a joke!
Horrible business practice!!

]]> By: Daniel http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2695698 Daniel Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:25:43 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2695698 Let's identify the real culprits: our own "friends". FB is a medium to connect with people, and no one connects with people better than advertisers. This is what they do and there is nothing new or abnormal about them delivering solicited adverts. Yes, solicited. It is we and our friends who are to blame. Both we and our friends had clear opportunity and choice to deny the application developers their avenue of access, but we each opted in because we like the network benefits of FB. Most users buy into the social networking status image of "more friends = more popular" and accept lots of peripheral acquaintances who aren't really friends at all, and at least in my experience it's those tertiary friend-of-a-friend friends that cause the problems. Jay Neely said "Application invites are the forwarded e-mails of our generation." Totally true. "Spam", whether by email, snail mail, door-to-door solicitors, or FB applications, is a fact of life, and especially in the case of FB not a fault of the service we all enjoy for *free*. Let’s identify the real culprits: our own “friends”.

FB is a medium to connect with people, and no one connects with people better than advertisers. This is what they do and there is nothing new or abnormal about them delivering solicited adverts.

Yes, solicited.

It is we and our friends who are to blame. Both we and our friends had clear opportunity and choice to deny the application developers their avenue of access, but we each opted in because we like the network benefits of FB.

Most users buy into the social networking status image of “more friends = more popular” and accept lots of peripheral acquaintances who aren’t really friends at all, and at least in my experience it’s those tertiary friend-of-a-friend friends that cause the problems.

Jay Neely said “Application invites are the forwarded e-mails of our generation.” Totally true. “Spam”, whether by email, snail mail, door-to-door solicitors, or FB applications, is a fact of life, and especially in the case of FB not a fault of the service we all enjoy for *free*.

]]> By: mma game http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2543710 mma game Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:22:32 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2543710 So many bugs and glitches makes windows look good!! So many bugs and glitches makes windows look good!!

]]> By: Under Fire: The Corner Coffee Shop | The Bottom Rung http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2533360 Under Fire: The Corner Coffee Shop | The Bottom Rung Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:06:30 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2533360 [...] is starting to show it’s age. Minor issues have been plaguing this site lately including “Friend Spam” and the introduction of Beacon, which created yet another backlash from its ever vocal [...] [...] is starting to show it’s age. Minor issues have been plaguing this site lately including “Friend Spam” and the introduction of Beacon, which created yet another backlash from its ever vocal [...]

]]> By: Facebook Platform, One Year Later http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2323424 Facebook Platform, One Year Later Sat, 24 May 2008 08:31:44 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2323424 [...] continued to further tweak app restrictions. In February the site implemented blocking, which allowed users to prevent a specific app from every contacting them. It also added a [...] [...] continued to further tweak app restrictions. In February the site implemented blocking, which allowed users to prevent a specific app from every contacting them. It also added a [...]

]]> By: DigitalWatch » Blog Archive » Anti social http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2046135 DigitalWatch » Blog Archive » Anti social Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:17:45 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2046135 [...] Michael Arrington writes in “Friend Spam is the worst kind of all” on Techcrunch “The result can be dozens or hundreds of messages a day asking you to join some [...] [...] Michael Arrington writes in “Friend Spam is the worst kind of all” on Techcrunch “The result can be dozens or hundreds of messages a day asking you to join some [...]

]]> By: Vesa Salmi » Blog Archive » Jotain rajaa Facebookissa http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2040984 Vesa Salmi » Blog Archive » Jotain rajaa Facebookissa Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:01:26 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2040984 [...] lähde: TechCrunch)  Minulta on vaatinut sosiaalisena ja ainakin päällisin puolin ystävällisenä ihmisenä [...] [...] lähde: TechCrunch)  Minulta on vaatinut sosiaalisena ja ainakin päällisin puolin ystävällisenä ihmisenä [...]

]]> By: Just say no! « More shameless remarks by Larko http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2040150 Just say no! « More shameless remarks by Larko Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:44:03 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2040150 [...] say no! Michael Arrington writes (via Vesa) that Facebook has taken serious steps to fight application spam. A growing number [...] [...] say no! Michael Arrington writes (via Vesa) that Facebook has taken serious steps to fight application spam. A growing number [...]

]]> By: Point Oh! http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2018003 Point Oh! Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:28:49 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2018003 <strong>Friend Spam: The New Enemy...</strong> As my Friendwheel clearly shows, I am far from a Facebook addict. I’ve never initiated friending anyone and I generally only use it to try out new applications that look interesting. While I see it as a natural evolution following the shortcomi... Friend Spam: The New Enemy…

As my Friendwheel clearly shows, I am far from a Facebook addict. I’ve never initiated friending anyone and I generally only use it to try out new applications that look interesting. While I see it as a natural evolution following the shortcomi…

]]> By: It’s safe to go back to Facebook again at newmediaMike http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2016239 It’s safe to go back to Facebook again at newmediaMike Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:36:07 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2016239 [...] We’ve all had a chance to throw a zombie sheep at someone or poke, push, prod, slap or buy a beer for your friends and followers on Facebook, and I myself of course have joined in the fun. But what I really really hate is the fact taht to get to any results of any quiz or any application I HAVE to send the app to 20 friends - minimum. I read recently that Mike Arrington over at TechCrunch is calling this “friend spamming.” [...] [...] We’ve all had a chance to throw a zombie sheep at someone or poke, push, prod, slap or buy a beer for your friends and followers on Facebook, and I myself of course have joined in the fun. But what I really really hate is the fact taht to get to any results of any quiz or any application I HAVE to send the app to 20 friends – minimum. I read recently that Mike Arrington over at TechCrunch is calling this “friend spamming.” [...]

]]> By: Al Scofield, District Manager http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2008999 Al Scofield, District Manager Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:21:49 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2008999 I love spam. It gets me off... if you know what I mean! hehehe I love spam. It gets me off… if you know what I mean! hehehe

]]> By: LB http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2008995 LB Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:19:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2008995 Friend spam is pretty bad. My secretary sends me a LOT of spam, but I cant fire her becasue she is so valuable. What is a LB to do? Friend spam is pretty bad. My secretary sends me a LOT of spam, but I cant fire her becasue she is so valuable.

What is a LB to do?

]]> By: Ray Reggie http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2008993 Ray Reggie Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:15:24 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2008993 Yeah, I donts like spam neither. Just my 2 cents. rayreggie@nexlevelgroup.com Yeah, I donts like spam neither.

Just my 2 cents.

rayreggie@nexlevelgroup.com

]]> By: Affinitive's Social Media Playground http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2002815 Affinitive's Social Media Playground Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:15:02 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2002815 <strong>Changes at Facebook and the New Landscape of Applications...</strong> Recently, Facebook instituted new policies to crack down on the rampant spam that has plagued their platform since it launched. At the heart of the problem are “forced invites” and “passive news feeds”. The former are applicatio... Changes at Facebook and the New Landscape of Applications…

Recently, Facebook instituted new policies to crack down on the rampant spam that has plagued their platform since it launched. At the heart of the problem are “forced invites” and “passive news feeds”. The former are applicatio…

]]> By: Facebook Fatigue? Visitors Level Off In the U.S. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2002719 Facebook Fatigue? Visitors Level Off In the U.S. Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:17:23 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2002719 [...] visitors in January, 2008, down 2 percent from 34.7 million in December, 2007. Maybe all that friend spam has something to do with the decline. Will the Facebook fatigue get worse, or is this just a [...] [...] visitors in January, 2008, down 2 percent from 34.7 million in December, 2007. Maybe all that friend spam has something to do with the decline. Will the Facebook fatigue get worse, or is this just a [...]

]]> By: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA « Daily Marauder http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2002156 ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA « Daily Marauder Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2002156 [...] force users to send these invitations in order to get access to the more interesting features. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all [...] [...] force users to send these invitations in order to get access to the more interesting features. (http://www.tech...rst-kind-of-all [...]

]]> By: Perry http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2002030 Perry Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:33:49 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2002030 Ditto...but... Before we get too elated about FB finally being on the user side, let's recognize this will increase the drive to app advertising placed BY FACEBOOK through the patterns they see on the network. So, goodbye to Friend Spam, hello to a ramp on FACEBOOK ad sponsored spam, utilizing their knowledge of your friend networks. It is a balance, and this kind of move also shifts more ad power back to FaceBook. It may have the effect of weeding out apps which can't pay, but that is hardly a quality-driven discriminator. Ditto…but…

Before we get too elated about FB finally being on the user side, let’s recognize this will increase the drive to app advertising placed BY FACEBOOK through the patterns they see on the network. So, goodbye to Friend Spam, hello to a ramp on FACEBOOK ad sponsored spam, utilizing their knowledge of your friend networks.

It is a balance, and this kind of move also shifts more ad power back to FaceBook. It may have the effect of weeding out apps which can’t pay, but that is hardly a quality-driven discriminator.

]]> By: AC http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001903 AC Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:00:05 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001903 I didn't see anything about forcing apps to use opt-in vs. opt-out when it comes to "mail to 30 friends" step. I hate having to always unselect the random friends it chooses for me. I didn’t see anything about forcing apps to use opt-in vs. opt-out when it comes to “mail to 30 friends” step. I hate having to always unselect the random friends it chooses for me.

]]> By: Emil http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001741 Emil Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:05:56 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001741 @Blake Shannon Actually, that group have already grown to 651,311 by now.. and counting. http://cbs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9912127233 --- In my opinion the whole invite/spam issue is one of the biggest problems facebook have faced so far - and I don't understand why they haven't addressed it earlier! It's going to take a long time before anyone in the current userbase will trust the invite system again, that lack of trust will properly hurt the development of new creative and innovate apps: If someone were to create a top notch app tomorrow that people really *wanted* to forward to all their friends, the invites wouldn’t have any special viral effect - since most people by now consider all app invites as spam.. @Blake Shannon
Actually, that group have already grown to 651,311 by now.. and counting.

http://cbs.face...?gid=9912127233

—

In my opinion the whole invite/spam issue is one of the biggest problems facebook have faced so far – and I don’t understand why they haven’t addressed it earlier! It’s going to take a long time before anyone in the current userbase will trust the invite system again, that lack of trust will properly hurt the development of new creative and innovate apps:

If someone were to create a top notch app tomorrow that people really *wanted* to forward to all their friends, the invites wouldn’t have any special viral effect – since most people by now consider all app invites as spam..

]]> By: Wes Mahler http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001731 Wes Mahler Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:56:16 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001731 Lol, "I also have my own method for dealing with it - by removing friends who get too spammy." You don't really do that do you? Lol Lol, “I also have my own method for dealing with it – by removing friends who get too spammy.” You don’t really do that do you? Lol

]]> By: linebloo http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001686 linebloo Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:03:56 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001686 www. i - guide .ro The just say no picture is fu****g funny www. i – guide .ro
The just say no picture is fu****g funny

]]> By: rubu http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001663 rubu Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:45:08 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001663 Anything that reduces the clutter is a very good thing - just hope people don’t get too over zealous about ignoring apps, some a still really really cool and the best is yet to come. Anything that reduces the clutter is a very good thing – just hope people don’t get too over zealous about ignoring apps, some a still really really cool and the best is yet to come.

]]> By: Rick http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001625 Rick Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:34:32 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001625 "removing friends". Sometimes we should just stop to hear ourselves talk about this "social" stuff.... “removing friends”.

Sometimes we should just stop to hear ourselves talk about this “social” stuff….

]]> By: Kurtlar Vadisi http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/comment-page-1/#comment-2001251 Kurtlar Vadisi Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:06:10 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all/#comment-2001251 Everything gets spammed or exploited sooner or later. Everything gets spammed or exploited sooner or later.

]]>