Brad J Ward at Butler University has alerted the Higher Ed community to an alarming development around the creation of Facebook groups for the class of 2013. Apparently several hundred groups for students expecting to graduate in 2013 have been created. That isn’t the weird part. The weird part is that they have all been created by the SAME people.
Names of the group creators and admins:
WVU is one of the schools that has a group created by those same people. From Brad’s blog:
There’s something going down on Facebook. Pay attention.
Several weeks ago I was contacted by my friend and colleague Michelle at Winthrop about some questions pertaining to her Class of 2013 Facebook Group. The email read:
Since we are on rolling admissions I’ve been watching to see when a 2013 group would spring up. Interestingly we have no info on 18 of the 23 members. In fact, even though they are all out of state they all (include two 08 alum of Miami) seem to be connected. My only thought is that they could be a group of squatters? Would that even be beneficial to them? Have you see anything like this or have any thoughts?
I did some research for her, and looked through the friends of Patrick Kelly, the creator of the group. At first, I saw nothing out of the ordinary other than the two ‘08 alumni and the fact that this small group of 16-18 students were all interconnected with each other, like she said.
Yesterday, we sent out our admit packets. Today, I got on Facebook to see if a Class of 2013 group had popped up yet. I found 2. One has the exact logo that was used for last year’s group, a non-Butler bulldog image, so I click on that one. And I look at the Creator of the group. Patrick Kelly, Plano Senior High School. I check our system. No Patrick Henry (sic) that has applied and been admitted to Butler.
Read more on Brad’s blog, SquaredPeg.
The implications of this still aren’t clear. There is nothing to indicate, so far, that there is any malice involved. It may be an extensive marketing scheme, however. Is that bad? Maybe not, but we have no real understanding of what kind of data they may be compiling and to what end.
At the very least, it is important for WVU departments, colleges, faculty, staff and students to note that spoofing can occur in this medium.
See also:
UPDATE: (12/18/2008, 12:02 p.m.) The CEO of College Prowler has commented on Brad’s post about this. He verified that they had been involved in creating these groups, but acknowledged that it was inappropriate. Read what he had to say
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