Lately, my Facebook timeline seems to have been taken over by Like & Win promotions from all kinds of businesses. Apparently, many of my ‘friends’ are taking part. I can understand the appeal when attractive prizes are on offer and all you need to do is click ‘like’ and ‘share’. Voilà, you are entered. But it clutters the news feed, when I would rather read what my friends are doing — or, as Facebook now asks, how they are feeling.
Under Facebook’s rules at the time of writing, these kinds of Like & Win promotions are not allowed. Competitions cannot use Facebook’s own features in this way: ‘like this post to win’, ‘comment to win’ or ‘post a photo to win’. A page could be taken offline for doing so. But someone hoping to win a designer sofa or a two-week holiday in the sun probably will not be too concerned about that.
Cybercriminals benefit
More interestingly, the growth of Like & Win promotions offers spammers and cybercriminals a wealth of opportunities. An estimated 8.7 per cent of Facebook profiles were reported to be fake. Spammers create profiles and pages, post an ‘interesting’ message with a link, and ask people to like or share it. That simply spreads the spam further. Likejacking is becoming more common and is also used by cybercriminals to infect computers or steal victims’ identities.
Facebook itself also appears to be joining in with a new kind of spam, as Webwereld noted. It is becoming difficult for the average user to keep up. In a US trial, Facebook already lets people pay a dollar to put a message directly in the inbox of someone who is not their friend. Long live Facebook’s revenue model for keeping shareholders happy!
Keeping it safe
Do not get me wrong: I still ‘like’ Facebook. It also offers businesses many opportunities, particularly as a way to communicate directly with their target audiences. For my part, I regularly change my password and check and adjust my privacy settings where necessary. That helps keep the experience safer and enjoyable.
Inger
More news ›