The Compare People application is one of those annoying things that gets people to play with Facebook data and emails. Given that increasing numbers of politicians can now be found on the social networking sites, their personal data is as much up for grabs as anyone else’s. Compare People gets you to rank those amongst your friends as best at studying, best looking, and so on and so on until you get weird emails like this (some details of my facebook friends who are less in the public redacted):
“Who studies harder”
1. Ming Campbell
2. ——- ——
3. Nick Clegg
* “Who is more athletic”
1. Ming Campbell
2. — —–
3. — ——–* “Who is more naturally talented”
1. Ming Campbell
2. Nick Clegg
3. —- ——-
Facebook’s use by politicians has hit the news in Lincoln this week with Tory councillor Oliver Peake resigning his executive position whilst apologising for inappropriate use of his Facebook page. His crime? Completing one of those endless quizzes that Facebook users send you every day. In particular, “What terrorist group are you?” and “Which Serial Killer are you?” I initially thought it was a bit harsh that Cllr Peake should lose his portfolio over completing a quiz that thousands of ordinary Facebook users have done without comment… then I saw a screenshot of his profile on the Lincs Echo website, complete with a large photo of a bikini model, and thought maybe that’s not entirely appropriate for an upstanding member of a council.
Facebook and politics are on my mind in particular this week because for the first time, a resident in my ward has friended me on Facebook, whilst up until now, it’s mostly been Lib Dems and school friends who have joined my network. Now, one of my TRAs is starting to use Facebook to organise themselves, and those residents will get to see which stupid quizes I’ve undertaken, what my IQ is and whether I have a bigger brain than my friends. Worse, they will see my terrible taste in movies, all my Flickr photos, my Twitter updates and some of my off-colour jokes.
I discussed the case of the “serial killer quiz” with those residents at the launch party for their new play park yesterday (the launch was great, with a clown, facepaints, a fire engine and cake!) and they were non-plussed. They had all taken the serial killer quiz themselves and half of them could tell me off the top of their heads which serial killer they were. As far as they were concerned, they thought that using Facebook just like everyone else would be a good thing for their local councillor, not a bad thing.
I’m not so sure. I will continue to be careful with my Facebook profile – no Funwall, no X-me – rather than using the greater granularity settings to bar some of my contacts from seeing too much. But at the end of the day, if I do something someone considers stupid enough, I probably won’t realise until it’s my turn to get that dreaded phonecall from the local paper.
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9 Comments
The big flaw in the Compare People application (and I’m not just saying this because of my failure to be seen as athletic) is that rankings heavily depend on the number of times you’ve been ranked, and therefore people with lots of friends (like Ming and Nick) are much more likely to come out top.
Alex, I unsubscribed from the Compare People application last week… and thought nothing of it till I attended a Lib Dem social event last night in Chippenham (I was a guest, living in a neighbouring constituency).
Respectable, but unknown people bounded up to me and said: “I’ve seen you on Facebook… and I read the book you recomended; …I saw that film you have in your favourites; …I’m really impressed with your recent garden landscaping, can I have the number of your garderner”.
I joined Facebook for a laugh, but now am horrified that my every move can be measured.
But maybe it was the visiting speaker from London Town who exclaimed unprompted… “I’m rather disapointed Matthew you haven’t accepted my friend request”
Should this not be titled “OMG people in real life use the internet shock”
Of course the councillor should not have been disciplined for having some harmless fun. The fact that he has does further damage to this country’s political process. Nobody in their right minds would want to be governed by the type of automata the press seem to want politicians to be.
@ Matthew. It’s not “your every move”, it’s everything you choose to put online.
Most of the apps I’ve got installed don’t have a profile box on my profile, I a) dislike the clutter and b) don’t really think displaying “what serial killer” results are good on a permanent page—they belong in notes or blog posts, not on the profile itself.
It frequently surprises me how many people plaster their profile with every app they add, both pointless and distracting at best, and can cause problems at worse. As this guy found out.
@ Matthew (again): at my first conference, several people came up to say hello because they’d seen my picture here and on Facebook. People congratulate you on your taste and thank you for your recommendation and it bothers you? That’s a good thing, surely?
My profile is not cluttered with every app I’ve ever said yes to, and frankly I don’t really care what serial killer I could be! But I suppose Facebook is far more “open” for people to get people talking to each other than MySpace…
Facebook has far more opportunities for parties, associations and the like, but I suppose if an elector suddenly finds a Liberal Democrat has a “What Nazi Figure Are You” application on their front page, it could cause trouble!
I have so far resisted installing FunWall even though everyone seems to be sending me messages through it. Should I give in and allow any of my friends to post porn videos, unfunny jokes and rude vegetables?
No, you should most definitely NOT give in. I had it for two days before I uninstalled it, blocked it, and labelled it as spam. It drove me batshit. Well, even more batshit than I am already.
I have it installed, but I’ve never allowed it to display on my profile. Occasionally one of the messages I get sent isn’t span, a pathetic forward or a silly vid I’ve seen before already.
I really dislike the app and wish people would write notes or use the ‘share’ function instead, but people will always be people.
Be careful what you put on your Facebook profile, or you may find your colleagues storming up the stairs to relieve you of chocolate cake.