Skip to main content

Gossipy Facebook

I've been getting these emails occasionally from FaceBook over the past few months, and been deleting them, but...I think the whole concept of this email is wrong (and misspelled - gossips?!?!):


Do you know any gossips about your friends? Your other friends may want to hear it.

(Gossip is always anonymous, never appears in notifications, feeds or anywhere else where the author could be identified.)

 *list of friends names*

To check out gossip about you, or other friends not listed here, click here

What the Social Profile application wants you to do is post anonymous, possibly untrue information about friends and acquaintances, and allow others to see that.
Surely there's some issues here with libel? If anyone can 'publish' unsubstantiated information about others, under the guarantee that it'll never be traced back to them, which Facebook will then distribute around its system?

Hell, maybe I'll start posting anonymously about affairs friends have had, bodies they've buried, crimes they've committed...all untrue of course, but hey, it's anonymous, what's to stop me?

And, Facebook's changed their layout - it's gonna take me ages to get used to this, gah!
Labels:

Comments

Scott said…
Second things first, I like the new layout - much better. I would also have to agree about possible libel and defamation issues. Will be interesting to see if any arise.
22 July 2008 at 09:46
Katie said…
Not quite the same, but related Facebook libel case story.

Also, I don't think Facebook has changed for me yet - I feel like I'm left out, as everyone else keeps mentioning it in their statuses.
24 July 2008 at 11:42
Dumpling said…
Hi Katie!
Yeah - the other story is just scary...thankfully I don't have the type of 'friends' that would do that to me...I think! I hope...

I didn't do anything to move to new Facebook, it just spent an evening being wonky, and now seems to be permanently on the new version. Address seems to be www.new.facebook.com instead of just Facebook, maybe try that and have a look around it?
24 July 2008 at 12:48
Katie said…
Aaargh! My eyes!

Hopefully I'll get used to it :0).
24 July 2008 at 20:13
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UK librarian blogs - the list so far

I’ve pulled the previous entries into one alphabetical list, with a few categories. Will be back later with more detailed discussion of what I’ve learned by doing this. And, as always, if you know of other librarian blogs, let me know and I’ll add them in! Institutional Library Blogs / Professional Group Blogs aRKive Appears to be the blog of the Reid Kerr College library, or someone related to the Library, but unable to confirm as it doesn’t have any ‘about’ section that I can find. Lots of posts about library topics, books, IT… Brit Lib Blogs Google Group There’s a Google Group for British librarian bloggers! Unfortunately it looks to be pretty much unused at the moment. CILIP Blogs CILIP has various blogs by either staff, or links to relevant blogs, available from the Communities section. Varying levels of activity on these blogs – the PTEG blog has one post from November 2007, while Lyndsay’s CILIP Blog has been going has been going for almost a year, with at le
14 comments
Read more

The mysteries of cataloguing

Cataloguing: an arcane art, where each piece of punctuation is significant, and commas and semi colons are all-powerful. Well, they are in "proper" libraries, where in-depth research of esoteric points goes on, and the precise spelling of Christian names, and information such as when a person lived and died can be crucial in pinpointing obscure facts. Here, we have our own catalogue system. It doesn't have a name, but if it did, it would probably be something along the lines of "I need this book NOW, no I don't care about the precise spelling of the authors middle name, or their date of birth." I know, I know, it's not snappy, but it's accurate. Cataloguing demands are different in a commercial law firm: we don't care about much more than what it's about, who wrote, when, and what jurisdiction it covers. And what we really, really care about is "where the hell is it". Law books are amazing: they have the power to move themselves f
12 comments
Read more

Careering along

When I look around at the activities of information professional groups, it seems that there’s a disparity. There’s quite often a lot of support and funding available for those who’re just starting out in the profession, but a desert of nothingness for those of us who’re “just getting on with it”. If you’re a new professional, you have lots of groups to support you as you progress in your early career, various prize funds available for essay and report writing, access to bursaries for conference attendance, eligibility for awards for being new and enthusiastic. But what do you get when you’re past that bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed first 5 years (5 years seems to be the approximate cut-off point for becoming “established” and no longer new). What happens when you’ve already received a bursary from an organisation earlier in your career and so wouldn’t be eligible for one now, meaning you’re not able to attend events or training? When you’re heavily involved in a project but not at
16 comments
Read more