How companies you “like” on Facebook can hijack your account



Contributing Writer
Photo: Asking Help Credit: Sanja Gjenero


Unlike the Euro or Facebook’s stock price, the value of a Like on Facebook just shot through the roof.

Ed Bott on ZDNet wrote an amazing piece yesterday describing how Facebook now is posting content from brands you’ve “Liked” into your friend’s news feeds…. and they attach your name to it.  It’s a bit surreal to believe except that Bott confirmed the practice with Facebook.

These posts appear as regular posts in the News Feed.  The posts are preceded by “Jim Dougherty likes Brand X” and then Brand X’s latest post appears.  To your friends, it appears that you have personally shared this content with them.

Presumably this is a paid feature although it’s doubtful that the advertisers even understand that this is happening or it would have been reported sooner.  Facebook is explicitly leveraging your reputation to increase the effectiveness of their advertising product.  It’s another example of Facebook pushing the envelope of privacy to show that they can be a viable advertising platform.

As this becomes more widespread (and Bott points out that he expects it to escalate during election season), reaction to this will probably give a good indication of how much of a monopoly Facebook has in social media.  Facebook seems willing to discover the pain point for its users, and I hope this is it.  I am not excited to see the next escalation.

One thing you can do to protect your friends from these type of messages is to manage your profile and weed out any group (particularly political) that might advertise heavily on Facebook.  You can find your list of “Likes” at facebook.com/yourusername/favorites

As I looked at my “Likes” I was elated to see that singer Michelle Anthony posted a new demo called “Love Love Love” – which seemed the perfect counterpoint to how many people feel about Facebook right now.

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

Writer and chief of miscellany at leaderswest.com

I aspire to give people something to think about rather than tell them what to do. My favorite Google Alert is “social media research,” I am increasingly compelled by Gen Z, and I appreciate good writers agnostic of where they write. At one time I was Kred’s 12th most influential social media blogger and Klout’s most influential person on the topic of David Hasselhoff. Transplant from Seattle living in Cincinnati. Haven’t entirely adopted the local sports teams yet.

Jim Dougherty

@jimdougherty

Writer about social media and tech at Leaders West, I also tweet as @leaderswest.

Altimeter Joined H&R Block And Expion To Chat Employees and Amplification http://t.co/bjsGf9xoQP via @ShellyKramer – 2 hours ago

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

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  • http://nonon-centsnanna.com Malika Bourne

    Thanks for the share. It seems ‘LIKE” more and more news about Face book is scaring the be-jeebers out of me. Big brother is watching every post, to boot.

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks again for your time to read and comment, Malika! Big Brother has been watching for awhile now, hasn’t he? I just saw the first round of these appear in my timeline and I was sickened to see it. Facebook is such a time drag, and to have to filter through additional posts that people in my network aren’t even posting is nuts.

  • http://jupiterjimsmarketingteam.com/ Jupiter Jim

    Jim,

    Thanks for sharing this information with us. So Sad that FB has to stoop to such measures. Obviously they are looking at the bottom line instead of thinking about common sense and common courtesy!

    Great Update!

    ~ Jupiter Jim

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Jim! It is disappointing to see Facebook continually pushing the envelope of people’s privacy. Totally agree with you!

  • http://homeopathyworldcommunity.com Debby Bruck

    Please share with us more about how to protect ourselves, our data, and our friends, etc on FaceBook. Many thanks. Debby

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