DISQUS

Jess · 1 year ago

Soooooo happy to see this post!

Our group was talking about this because they felt the need to control the group was imperative. We created a 2013 group and 2 more have sprung up - one claiming to be the 'official' group. I guess there have been issues like this in the past, and another person here has contacted FB to get the group taken down for whatever reason (using the university mark was one of them). I'll check on who the admins are and would love to learn more from this discussion as I was of the same mind as you, Brad, to not interfere in their groups and to let them spring up on their own and not control the conversation.

Jess · 1 year ago

Checked - two of the students on that list are also running the most active 2013 group for Suffolk University as well - and theirs is the most active. We had considered shutting this down a while ago because they called it the 'official' Suffolk class of 2013 group, when we have an existing one for our students.

Barb Chamberlain · 1 year ago

Thanks for the alert, Brad! Passing it along to others at WSU, and I'll start using the word "official" on the page we have set up ourselves.

@BarbChamberlain
@WSUSpokane

Jenn O'Meara · 1 year ago

I do not work in higher ed, but I'm very active with my undergraduate college's alumni programs. This is wild and has huge ramifications for social marketing in the higher ed space. I hope your research gets picked up by Inside Higher Ed and even mainstream media outlets.

It is a shame that people try to use transparency for ill begotten reasons.

You did a great job researching this.

Billy · 1 year ago

Thanks for the heads up Brad. Just did a quick search and there are three OU Class of 2013 groups, all three started by someone from the "ring." Two of the groups were started by the same person, Jasmine White. I normally would agree that the members of the group would steer the conversation, except that in one of the groups, they made a video that was very anti-OU. We'll be looking into this. Thanks.

Anthony · 1 year ago

In the long run, the only way to combat this may be to offer something in the "official" group that none of the other groups have. One thing that comes to mind, the participation of faculty and staff engaging in "the conversation." This may sound simple, but I think a lot of us know how far behind we, or others, are in this regard.

Jason Johnstone · 1 year ago

What about Facebook "pages" too? As far as I can tell, there's no way to determine who has created a particular page. At least with groups, these "ring" members can be identified.

There is a Facebook "page" for that was created for my university by someone. I've always assumed it was a student but there's no way to be sure. I guess if it started getting some "questionable" activity, I could report it. I'm not sure how responsive Facebook would be for something like that.

I guess this is an example of letting go of the control in social media doesn't work so well.

Mike Henderson · 1 year ago

Found a post on the wall from Justin Gaither:
"Hey can someone add some pics of the campus, and different stuff like that! Let me know if anyone wants to be an admin. Thanks!"

I guess they are really good a friend-ing people, they know the language.

Jess · 1 year ago

Ok. I think its market research (which they are making kids pay for at 39.95 a subscription) for http://collegeprowler.com/

I found a profile on linked in for Mark Tressler (Carnegie Mellon alumn) - one of the ring - and he works for this group.

The founder, Luke Skurman, is a Carnegie Mellon alumn. You can find info on him and CP in wikipedia.

Jess · 1 year ago

Jess · 1 year ago

http://www.flickr.com/photos/krywosa/3118603715/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/krywosa/3118603737/

Sorry - I got overexcited with this and posted so much, but I really feel that its very, very wrong and needs to be rectified. As we start using FB to reach out to our students more, its going to be made even harder if people are doing things like this. Ok I'm done posting for the night and will only Twitter - promise! :)

Paul Prewitt · 1 year ago

I'm predicting that down the road (not to far off) that the Official Sites for Social Networks (like the 2013 groups) will have links back to them from the institutions pages and be promoted (as you mentioned above) by the University.

This is going to be the real solution and also increase a schools "Authenticity" factor.

Kristin Burns · 1 year ago

Thanks for the heads up. We started our own official UC Davis Class of 2012 Facebook group last year and the students didn't seem to mind (in fact, they posted a TON of questions for us). We were careful to stay out of the way except to answer admissions-related questions. We invited current students to join in and answer questions about campus life. One of the students did try start a student-only page, which petered out at 300 members. We transferred control to the incoming class once all of the admit procedural stuff was out of the way (mid-summer) and we could not longer provide value, and made it clear it was no longer managed by UC Davis. Membership has increased since classes started (more than 50% of the incoming freshman class are members).

Kristin Burns · 1 year ago

By the way, just checked and there is a UC Davis Class of 2013 registered by Justin Gaither. Oy.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44790697072

Chris · 1 year ago

Holy cow, Brad. That's an outstanding catch, and it looks like Stony Brook's group was started by these characters as well. Looks like I have some work to do!

Jen Frahm · 1 year ago

Ah. It seems last week's post on web.30 has manifested into marketing's dark side on FB. Such a thing as MLM 3.0 ?

Tyler Poling · 1 year ago

Interesting post. It is amazing the lengths that people are going to these days to solicit to a user base. Keep up the detective work, I am interested to see where this goes and if any kind of control will be put in place to give the schools the ability to at least moderate these groups.

TimN · 1 year ago

Holy crap. I found two Oswego pages ... one by a legit student and one by a Kyle Krennan. Google Kyle Krennan and you come up with Josh Egan's Facebook page. So now they are even setting up pseudonyms.

Brad: If there's a Pulitzer Prize in social media, you deserve it!

Rachel · 1 year ago

Brad,

Thanks for this article. Wow. This is a huge scoop. And one that couldn't have come a moment to soon.

Michael Fienen · 1 year ago

re: Facebook squatters, here's what I just found on us: http://is.gd/cryX College dating ads. Yay. It's the only one so far. However, it wasn't created by anyone you saw that I can tell, this was done by Matt Cutts.

What about having someone join the fake groups and announce it on their wall or something? Waste of effort?

Michael Fienen · 1 year ago

Correction on the link to our fake group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34079740134

Paul Prewitt · 1 year ago

Checking with FB contacts for solution/suggestions... we'll see what happens (they may just randomly disappear here soon).

Will let you know what I find out.

Rachel Reuben · 1 year ago

Wow, thank you so much for bring this to our attention! I'm fortunate to report that they didn't hit my university. But, I just took a preemptive strike and created an "official 2013" group instead.

As I said on Twitter to your concern to @fienen ("You need to cede control, but you also need to protect your students to an extent, right?") -- I say:

Cede control, yes - protect students comes first though. And we don't have to control group, just setting up safe space for them.

So, I've taken a preemptive strike and just setup an official class of 2013 group. Our first round of early action accepted packets just went out yesterday, so they should start getting them tomorrow potentially. This is amazing timing.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

@Rachel, the timing is unreal. Our app packets went out YESTERDAY. And it was there today. Rolling Admission schools have had them in place, other schools are perfectly timed. This was well thought out...

KFred85 · 1 year ago

This is UNREAL! I do work in higher ed and am so glad I saw this. Will be checking with the people who maintain our pages tomorrow. Thanks for the amazing work here.

Adam Epstein · 1 year ago

Great stuff, I was wondering what you were writing when you left the bread crumbs earlier...

Well, in my earlier tweets today I mentioned how I had created our 2013 group this year in advance of the admitted students, and I thought it was a good move compared to what we did last year. I guess that was a correct assumption and move to make. I was considering giving some of the students admin rights as early as this weekend, but I think I'll wait and see how this conversation goes.

I don't have 'official' in the title of our group, but we did link it very prominently FROM our admitted student web site; the link for that site is contained with their offer of admission. So, when students make it to the site, they're already seeing the Facebook group from us. Hopefully that will keep them in one group (so far that's the case but it's *very* early) as compared to what happened last year.

I'm having some of our current students jump in to keep an eye on things but not steer the conversation. It seems like we're immune from this issue at this point, but we'll see what happens.

Ann White · 1 year ago

So, I've been working on this google doc collaboration with my webbie buds (the closest I've gotten to meeting any of you guys), I noticed the "Campus Buddy" connection. You can check them out at www.campusbuddy.com or their facebook group is here: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38860... .

I noticed because the admin on many of these fraud groups is the same guy who created Campus Buddy. They have a motive for trying to monopolize the incoming student group market.

There's my contribution to the puzzle.

HollyRae · 1 year ago

It has been a pleasure to be working on the Google Spreadsheet tonight. Major props to you, Brad, for the investigative blogging and twittering, but especially for allowing the research to be open and collaborative.

Mike Henderson · 1 year ago

Nice work Brad, about to get a spreadsheet brain freeze, hopefully this information can be put to good use.
later
twitter me @mike3ike

Stephanie Thompson · 1 year ago

Thanks so much for all of this. I really enjoyed collaborating on the spreadsheet even though most updating had been done once I got to it. It's amazing what can be done via social media these days. It's exciting and scary!

Jer Nelsen · 1 year ago

Hey man.

I know it wasn't much, but I was able to help a bit.

Thanks for sharing and hopefully this will rock the higher ed. world.

Enjoy your tie.

ha.

::jer::

Paul · 1 year ago

Hey Brad,

I passed this along to a friend in mine that works for the Associated Press.

-Paul (friend of @sstine2)

Dean J · 1 year ago

Wow. I stayed away from creating groups for the same reasons as many of you, but I just had to step in. You've already documented the three UVa groups that were already there.

Natasha Miles is a name to watch. She posted "anyone heard about early decision" yesterday in the "official" group she created. UVa hasn't had early decision (or any early admission process) since 2006.

Jess · 1 year ago

Kelly Wong is another name - those groups take you to a strange web site but im not sure what the idea is evilmix.com.

Mark Greenfield · 1 year ago

Brad, I was amazed and appalled at this scheme. Seeing an "official university at buffalo class of 2013" group, complete with a trademarked logo is of great concern. We need to continue to research and publicize this to create awareness.

Matthew Levy · 1 year ago

Brad - I assume Facebook reads SquaredPeg, but if not, you really should report these findings to them. Clearly, the founders of these groups committed fraud and violated the Facebook terms of use. They should be thrown off the network and have the groups shutdown. You should also send something over to the Chronicle of Higher Ed which would get the word out to the broader higher ed community.

NicoleVAnderson · 1 year ago

Emory has three groups, one created by Sumo Mulbah, a MichTech '05 alum. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6604754 Watch out for him, he's got about 20 "Official" class of 2013 groups for a lot of the big name schools. I'll add to the Google docs.

Thanks so much Brad for brining this to our attention! Butler is lucky to have you plugged into both aspects of marketing and admission so closely.

George Sackett · 1 year ago

Brad - You and the colleagues that have help define the scope of this issue deserve a lot of kudos for your fine efforts.

It just highlights that as institutions of higher learning it behooves us to be ever vigilante regarding the safety of our students and the reputation of our institutions.

George Sackett · 1 year ago

Has anyone approached Luke Skurman as CEO of College Prowler to find out if he has any comment??

Sarah G · 1 year ago

Thanks so much for doing this! Collaborating on the Google doc last night was so exciting (and yes, frightening to see the pieces of the puzzle come together).

Andrew M · 1 year ago

Hope College's Class of 2013 group appears to be legit -- we immediately recognized the group organizer and contact him about the potential scam with College Prowler.

Dean J · 1 year ago

George, I fired off a short, terse email to Luke Skurman just a few minutes ago.

Whitney Anderson · 1 year ago

Very interesting...

I have added Roanoke College to your shared Google doc. We are fortunate that we set up our own 2013 group several months ago and our "mascot" is the admin.

David Poteet · 1 year ago

Another thanks for doing the detective work here. We advise many of our higher ed clients on appropriate use of FB, and like you we've usually recommended letting these groups form on their own. We're going to have to rethink that.

Is anyone else looking at using separate communities like Ning?

Mark Greenfield · 1 year ago

For uwebd members, I've added a Twitter search feed for #2013 to the main page of the site to help spread the conversation.

Rachel Reuben · 1 year ago

@David Re: Ning community - Check this out: http://bit.ly/3Ga9Pz

Aaron · 1 year ago

whoa, someone chronicled this whole fiasco on their wikipedia article!

Seth Meranda · 1 year ago

Very interesting, though I have to admit I am not surprised to see this happening. It began with corporate brands as soon as Facebook allowed for the creation of Pages.

Facebook et al., are quickly becoming the stomping grounds for the new forms of SPAM and Phishing. Actions like this continue to fuel the questions as to whether these platforms are viable, safe and worthwhile for higher ed use.

The common notion is that all the students are there, so we should go there as well. While there is some value in this, I am often reminded of a nugget of knowledge passed from sociology: What is popular isn't always right, and what is right isn't always popular.

Social media and higher ed are likely bedfellows. Unfortunately, the current mediums and vehicles for delivering the content are sketchy at best.

Nikki Chun · 1 year ago

You know what.......

Justin Gaither is a University of Miami student, so when I saw that he was on UM's Class of 2013 group, I didn't think anything of it.

Do you know what else?

He's a part of a company that does loft building for UM students, and I would imagine, there's potential to build on other campuses.

If there's a question of the benefits of squatting --- I think that if you look back on past classes, you'll see these students posting ALOT of ads about what they can offer college students as far as campus luxuries are concerned.

Does anyone else see this?

DW · 1 year ago

Like many others have said, we've stayed out of creating official groups, preferring to let them pop up on their own.

That said, I've got a new name to add to our list: Brady Salman. He created an "official" class of 2013 page for our school, yet he has friends across the country.

And here's another tip -- if you look up the group for your school and under related groups, you see a ton of other 2013 groups for your school, that means your creator/admin is a part of all those, too!

Man, you better believe I am firing off an e-mail right now to everyone!!!

David Poteet · 1 year ago

@Rachel - yep, I had just read that article before clicking through to Brad's post.

The Wikipedia post is great - that's the power of Web 2.0 at work, and it really speaks to the risk of trying to game the system. Marketers are always looking for clever strategies that will allow them to take advantage of trends. That's fine and good, but these days if you try anything that's less than open, honest and authentic, you WILL be found out.

I like CollegeProwler's guides for their "not written by the man" approach. Colleges may not always like them, but I think students are smart enough to take multiple viewpoints and form their own opinions.

That said, I can't believe they thought they could get away with this. It goes against their own brand, which is all about unfiltered authenticity.

Gini · 1 year ago

Does anyone know how to get Facebook to respond to inquiries/requests associated with unauthorized use of our university logos?

Anne Petersen · 1 year ago

Looks like the Penn State link is for Boston. Should be this link, also a Josh Egan-started group.

I'll be forwarding this info to our Admissions office (which I recently left: otherwise, I'd be going after it myself).

Tom Nicholas · 1 year ago

Thanks for the work, Brad! This whole effort is amazing.

I was furious with a current student for starting our group and not letting it start virally, but it looks like that was our saving grace. Because he wouldn't let any of the ring join as admins, they started up a rival group, "Richmond Class of 2013 - Campus Residents." I've been trying to figure out all week what's going on, and this finally makes it clear.

Their group was set up as a counter to the admissions group, and first wall post came from our dear friend Josh Egan:

"why do they feel us students can't have our own group? thats kind of childish if you ask me. good work cathy"

So subversive! Doubt there are any legal implications there, but still.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

[...] [...] 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. [...] [...]

Jess · 1 year ago

You can get them on copyright infringement if they are using any school logos.

Aaron · 1 year ago

@Gini:

Would that fall under the DMCA? If your university owns the trademark to its logo (and I would imagine that it does), and they are using it without authorization, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act should cover that.

At best with that, though, they'll likely only have to remove the image, not take down the whole group. Still -- at least it undermines their fauxthenticity.

Paul Gilzow · 1 year ago

Please add Mizzou to the list: http://is.gd/cwUE
Admins
# Josh Egan (St. Mary's Ryken High School) (creator)
# Justin Gaither (New York, NY)
# Lauren Smith (Spring - Ford High School)
# Brenna Young (Pittsburgh, PA)

We see Josh and Justin showing up again...

Though we have an official group for 2013, this fake one has many more members.

Luke Skurman, CEO of College P · 1 year ago

Yes, College Prowler has been directly or indirectly involved with the creation of multiple Class of 2013 groups. The original purpose was to use these groups as a way to inform students that they can access a free guide about their new college on our site. No employee or anyone else associated with College Prowler has used these groups to send out messages or wall posts.

Until about an hour ago, I was unaware that College Prowler was working with another company that may have been using fake aliases to create to these groups. The groups that College Prowler was responsible for creating were set up with real accounts. Here are the names that are associated with College Prowler, and they will all be removed immediately from the Class of 2013 groups(all other names are not controlled by College Prowler):
• Mark Tressler
• Ron Tressler
• Brenna Young
• Lisa Young
• Lauren Plavchek
• Jessica Lash

From a big picture perspective, having a marketing strategy using social networking sites (like Facebook) is something that is necessary to be effective in our business. We do pride ourselves on being forward thinking and aggressive. In this instance, in its current form, we have crossed the line and to reiterate, we will be removing our administrator privileges from all of these 2013 groups immediately.

Feel free to email, luke@collegeprowler.com, with any additional concerns or questions.

Luke

Dean J · 1 year ago

"I was unaware that College Prowler was working with another company that may have been using fake aliases"

What is the name of this company? Surely, you'd like to get them to take ownership of this as well.

On a side note, I thought College Prowler was a small company. I didn't realize they were big enough to outsource. Hm.

TP · 1 year ago

Luke @ College Prowler:
Even though "another company" created fake aliases, it doesn't forgive you from responsiblity to address that situation as well. If you partnered with them, I place equal blame on you if you don't work to get them to disable their pages as well. Or, post their name and contact info and I'll do so myself.

Matt Laney · 1 year ago

@ College Prowler

If the admins are going to be removed, then who will the pages be turned over to? I think you should work with the Universities to get the pages turned over to their staff/students if at all possible.

Jess · 1 year ago

@collegeprowler

I'd argue creating groups for the purpose of furthering your 'free guide' which I can only assume would further your subscription service is not a good use of social media and makes it harder for anyone to use this tool well.

Regarding 'social media' being 'necessary for your business', it is also so for ours.

Michael Stoner · 1 year ago

I appreciate Luke Skurman's current actions (if not those of his staff). But more to the point, I'm concerned about how senior admissions, enrollment, and marketing people who are skeptical of Facebook and other social networks are going to react to this news. Will this activity cause them to be (more) paranoid? I hope not. One result of College Prowler's actions on Facebook is to demonstrate how essential appropriate participation in and monitoring of social networks is today.

Matthew Levy · 1 year ago

If the admin of our rogue group - Cathy Li - isn't affiliated with College Prowler, why did she change the group image from our logo to a campus shot? It's obvious this other org is connected enough to College Prowler to take action once the CEO said so. Cathy Li (or whoever) is monitoring #2013 on Twitter and freaked about our posts.

What's the connection between College Prowler and this other subsidiary? I want to hear a lot more from Luke Skurman about the extent of this operation. Clearly wrongdoing took place under the full knowledge of that org and his leadership.

Aaron · 1 year ago

Reminds me of how an organization that has its products spammed will often deny liability for being provided with lists of unauthorized addresses.

"We don't actually send the messages, we just contract it out to ______, it's obviously THEIR fault you get the emails!"

Shouldn't companies have some kind of required due process / responsibility for actions taken on their behalf? (Particularly when it benefits them)

Dean J · 1 year ago

Folks, let's be real. There isn't another company that created these groups. Brad has screen shots from Craigslist for Facebook marketing positions and the hiring company is College Prowler.

http://flickr.com/photos/bradjward/3120109258/

jon harris · 1 year ago

A couple of years ago we had an issue with a copyrighted (and then photoshopped) image being used on a facebook page by a group of upset students.
Turns out that it's a violation of the FB TOS, & they will remove the group in question.

jon harris · 1 year ago

Interesting.. I sent a note to the "admin" of the RU 2013 group about the logo, & suddenly there are no admins nor officers in the group.
Apparently they don't like to be scrutinized to closely.

Kathy Kissane · 1 year ago

Thanks again Brad...got our official group up today!

Chris Goodwin · 1 year ago

How about Nicole Harris? We looked into her and we have no listing for her in our school for 2013.

Mihaela (prprof_mv) · 1 year ago

wow, crazy investigation, but it's great that you're getting to the bottom of it. I can't believe deception is a company's official business strategy, and I hope that company goes out of business!

You're doing the right thing by creating official groups, and you may try to recruit good students from each class to be co-admins for those groups.

But the bottom line is, Facebook is not your university's turf, so you can't control it, and this is not the end of it. The best you can do is use this as a teaching moment, give students all info on the official group, and help them make up their minds about which group they want to join and why.

student · 1 year ago

Quite simply, this thread is missing the point.

Facebook was not made for school admins to control groups for their schools. Facebook was made for the opposite reason--to let students communicate OUTSIDE of official school boundaries. Facebook college groups have existed fine for 4 years with students interacting amongst themselves--with no university presence--why should that change now?

Facebook Pages were created for just the purpose you are yearning for--to have a true official presence of your university brand. If you want that, you should use that.

"Fake" groups are not really a big deal. Students are not stupid, and will not be duped into anything. The argument presented is a red herring.

In fact: There is really no such thing as a "fake" group or an "Official" group. Groups exist mainly for trivial and capricious reasons. "Race to a million," "If ten thousand people join I will..."

Its so obvious groups are not official, and its a mockery that school are officials all of a sudden trying to claim it.

4 years ago this blog would have been about "Block Facebook: we cant allow students to communicate outside school web jurisdiction"

Now you guys love facebook. And if you want to truly love it, build a page, facebook app or add Facebook Connect to your schools site.

Don't go around hating. Live your life..

Justin Gaither · 1 year ago

Hello,

My name is Justin Gaither.

I am in charge of marketing for Match U, a social networking tool which is in its developing stages.
We have created some of the Class of 2013 groups. These groups are a great resource for students to network before going to college. We believe these groups are a great opportunity to discuss campus life, meet future classmates, and discuss preparation for college.
These groups are created every year, and schools often have several groups created by different people, as anyone has the opportunity to create groups on Facebook.
Any use of fake accounts is being vacated, and there were never any ill intentions. Our purpose of creating these groups was to see how many students actively participate in online communities. We also wanted to identify the concerns of incoming college students. It was never aware to us that Universities had people dedicated to social media. I would be more than happy to add any University administration, administrative access to these groups. If you would like administrative access you can contact me at your earliest convenience.

I can be contacted at JDBGaither@gmail.com.

Thank you and have a great day.

Sincerely,
Justin Gaither

Matt · 1 year ago

@Justin Gaither

The problem is that you (the company you work for) is using the name, likeness, and logos of our Universities without permission. This is a blatant infringement of copyright for dozens if not hundreds of universities. Not only that, but apparently your groups are also being used to draw traffic to CollegeProwler. I do not believe for a second that you didn't know universities monitor social media. Regardless, ignorance does not excuse MatchU.

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

It's too bad the "student" comment at "missingthepoint.com" was anonymous. There are some good points there.

It's important to separate the issues of intellectual property (such as illegal use of a logo) with freedom of speech and control.

Luke Skurman, CEO of College P · 1 year ago

Update: College Prowler no longer has administrator access to any Class of 2013 groups and no longer has any involvement in these groups. Please see above posting from Match U for information on the continued operation of those groups. If you have further questions or concerns for College Prowler, please email Luke Skurman at luke@collegeprowler.com

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

http://bit.ly/3uTK

Steve Tally · 1 year ago

Brad, thanks for the work you've done here. This blog entry should win an award.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Aaron · 1 year ago

@anonymous coward (aka "student"):
S/he said:

In fact: There is really no such thing as a “fake” group or an “Official” group. Groups exist mainly for trivial and capricious reasons.

I disagree.

The issue here isn't about "fake" or "official" groups -- it's about (a) groups run by private organizations that are making use of intellectual property of higher ed. institutions (logos, etc.) which lends them fauxthenticity.

But more importantly, (b) the real issue here is that this wasn't a whole bunch of isolated instances where we old fogeys (and I'm only 28, I'm not THAT old) get a cram in our craw about not being able to control the marketing message. This was a coordinated effort (I would even go so far to say it was a "covert" effort, considering all the sleuthing Brad had to do) by a SINGLE organization to dominate a marketing channel (again, with de facto credibility through unlicensed usage of university trademarks).

I have a feeling that CP was about > < that close to getting served with a whole host of DMCA complaints.

Dean J · 1 year ago

Gaither said: "Our purpose of creating these groups was to see how many students actively participate in online communities. We also wanted to identify the concerns of incoming college students."

I actually laughed at this.

"I would be more than happy to add any University administration, administrative access to these groups."

I think a more appropriate start would be changing the names of the groups to reflect their purpose. Adding our names to administrative list lends our credibility to Justin and the others at Match U, whose names are on those groups.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

Just wanted to take a quick second to thank you all for your professionalism throughout this manner. I've been tied up most of the day but will definitely get to your comments, emails and tweets. You rock! :)

And thank you to the employees of College Prowler who have joined the discussion and been quick to take action thus far.

Mike Petroff · 1 year ago

I know I'm joining this discussion very late - and I've read all of your post and updates, and many of the comments. First off, great job investigating this. I'm the Web Manager for Emerson College Enrollment, and I tried to do some research on Justin Gaither (the admin of the Emerson College Class of 2013 group). He has since been removed as an admin, but a couple interesting things have developed on that group.

I tried to establish myself on the site as a helpful figure, working for Enrollment, there to answer any questions or clear up any misconceptions about enrolling. Within a week, I've had over 30 questions directed toward me and some great conversations with accepted students.

On one hand, I'm disappointed that a marketing company would mass-create groups, using the Emerson College name and other colleges and universities across the nation. The benefit, though, was the group gathered 180 students interested in Emerson, spawning meet-ups in NYC, conversations between current students and prospectives, and T-shirt design ideas for Orientation. It's been a positive experience overall, even if the creation of the group began with unsavory intentions.

Jen Frahm · 1 year ago

Right. Would I be getting a tad paranoid that the fabulous overseas internships advertised on collegejolt list the countries not yet affected by 2013. Possibly... more egg nog.

Rob S. · 1 year ago

I confess I haven't done more than skim this post and didn't read the comments. I haven't kept up with the higher ed blogs, for that matter. Too much work to get done.

I noticed this common admin issue for "class of" groups back in November, and Karlyn and I were discussing it on December 1. (I know the date from some Facebook-related work I noted on my to-do list.) I reported the issue to Facebook at that time.

Starting last year I reserved various Facebook "class of" names for my own institution a good 18-20 months out. I stepped that out to a few years ahead when I noticed this common admin issue and plugs on the groups for dating sites, etc.

The concept of starting up a Facebook group for less-than-honorable purposes is hardly new. And, quite honestly, a person doesn't need to even start the group to gain benefits if they have no ethical standards.

To use a higher ed example, if a student in the "class of" Facebook group at competing school x says they are planning to attend that school, it's simple enough to note that and perhaps pursue that student for enrollment at your own school. Carry that example over to college athletic recruiting...

Lots more thoughts and solutions, but I have work to get done :)

Steph · 1 year ago

Jen- Yes, I think it's the eggnog speaking, as the overseas internship you're referring to on the collegejolt blog is a legitimate internship that STA Travel is sponsoring (which looks pretty fantastic, if you ask me): http://www.worldtravelerintern.com/). Let's get the facts straight before making crazy accusations folks.

Shawn Farner · 1 year ago

Incredible work by Brad and everyone else here to sniff this out. What a sketchy use of social media. Thumbs down to College Prowler.

Daniel Creasy · 1 year ago

Brad,
Thank you so much for this post and all the research you have done. In setting up our Johns Hopkins Class of 2013 group a few weeks ago (in preparation for our ED admits) my student administrator noticed two other Johns Hopkins 2013 groups. One of those groups has admins "Dean Graziosi" and "Justin Gaither" and the other has creator "Samantha Beasly." Once we launched our "official" one of these groups actually copied the entire Recent News section of our group. At first I thought it was just some eager prospective applicants, but then I started having my suspicions. Thank you for confirming the nefarious tools sites like College Prowler are going to these days.

As an aside, I have been running an official Johns Hopkins Facebook group for enrolling students for the last three years with a group of 20 current students. We actually have surveyed the last two years, and only a very small minority of students raised concerns about the Office of Admissions being involved in the group. In fact, the vast majority of the students appreciated the existence of a credible source to confirm information.

Mike Rivera · 1 year ago

Was this dishonest? Yes. Should CollegeProwler and anyone else associated with this face negative reaction? Yes.

Was this inevitable? Maybe not this ploy exactly, but yes.

Let's keep in mind that anything as popular as Facebook will eventually draw the interest of businesses and people looking to gain something. This isn't a question of being nefarious or not, it's just reality. Companies like CollegeProwler will use and abuse Facebook until the next hot thing pops up to distract them.

Kudos to Mr. Ward for discovering the ploy and bringing it to our attention, but does this mean university's need to control university related groups? I don't think so. Facebook is an open platform and it's buyer beware just like anything else online. Universities can and should be vigilant for fraud (again, kudos to Ward), but there's simply no way they can control their logo, their message, or much of anything else in our day and age. Thinking that it can sounds a lot like the music industry and look how well policing that has gone for them.

Michael Staton · 1 year ago

@Mike Rivera,

I agree with your statement this was inevitable. I disagree that this does not mean universities should take ownership over their Facebook presence. They absolutely should, or someone else will.

Steve · 1 year ago

Michael- I read your blog post & couldn't agree with your views more. This group of companies saw a marketing opportunity, and acted first. I think it was a smart move on their part, and definitely similar to your Nike reference. Imho, they didn't do anything wrong, but to your point, that doesn't mean universities shouldn't get in the game too (I think they should). From reading over everything, it sounds like these companies created the groups, and then sat back and waited...we can make assumptions indefinitely, but facts are facts. I haven't heard about any spamming taking place.

It's refreshing to hear your objective comments.

will · 1 year ago

Brad and all of the others,

Thank you for uncovering this activity at a wide level.
I'm still wrapping my head around it, there's quite a few topics/questions being discussed.
One reaction I had to this is the following:

The concern that the college/university will be misrepresented in the facebook group is a bit overblown.
Based on my experiences as a current senior in undergraduate, (however I already see that my relationship with facebook is different than class of 2013, since I did not get facebook until freshmen classes started, since it was college-exclusive), students will assume that the college has no involvement with the facebook 'class of 2013' group, unless it explicitly says so in the group's description.
The title of 'official' in the facebook group does not mean for me, or other students, that the college or university is supporting or administrating the group. 'Official' as a term is used to just note that the group is attempting be the de-facto group of the subject (whether or its getting colbert elected, or the class of 2013 to discuss things).

However, any marketing that is based on a professional relationship between a student and a company, paid or otherwise, even if the student is a member of that class of 2013, is not acceptable for me. For Brad and the others to expose attempts of doing this or creating the potential to do it, are commendable.

Regards,
Will

(BTW, at my school, the 2013 group is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44530601393

Since the creator is from a neighboring town, and has a couple mutual friends with me, he's probably unaffiliated with campus prowler.

Matt · 1 year ago

These companies didn't really do anything wrong and were really just ahead of the curve on this marketing strategy that has actually been used for years.

I think many of the admissions staff are just catching on to it, but just a bit late, and they are taking out their anger on these companies. But what is there to be angry about?

However, I don't think their actions warrant all of this attention because they didn't do anything wrong.

I am also confused as to why university admissions don't just create facebook pages if they want to provide an ad-free place for students to meet?

I think this is a classic example of a new generation and style of marketing that is emerging in these social networks, and for many admissions staff, it is kind of like teaching someone in their 90's how to operate a PC.

They are just behind the times. Admissions should consider hiring these kids to teach them how facebook works... especially explaining how groups and pages work, etc... if universities really want to establish a presence in the social networks.

Nancy · 1 year ago

You bring up a great point.

About a month ago, I was searching through class of 2013 facebook groups of the colleges I was interested in and I noticed a girl, "Lisa Young," had created an extensive amount of 2013 groups (most of which were coincidently the colleges I'm applying to).

It struck me as somewhat strange but I never thought much of it until now. I just re-searched the groups who were once under "Lisa Young" and now they are under "Justin Gaither" the UM alum you mentioned.

This whole situation is incredibly creepy.

Lance · 1 year ago

"They are just behind the times. Admissions should consider hiring these kids to teach them how facebook works… especially explaining how groups and pages work, etc… if universities really want to establish a presence in the social networks."

Brilliant

Eric Sornoso · 1 year ago

Brad,

Great stuff. I also wanted to know what you thought of this guy's online marketing gimmick, and what you thought should be done about it?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gi...

I beg to differ with his tactics to self-promote a Undie Run on facebook & site at my alma-mater where he doesn't even go to our school.

It seems that he can spread this Undie Run concept across colleges national-wide if done properly.

Like or dislike?

Andy Shaindlin · 1 year ago

I think that some of those who are completely outraged over this affair are proposing a double standard. First, we proclaim that Web 2.0 means "loss of control" and that the "old media" folks need to just deal with it. Then, when someone fills the void left by that loss of control, we throw a fit. We can't have it both ways.

Does the creation of a group for my school's by CollegeProwler irritate me? Yes. Should we be surprised that some marketer is trying to game the user-generated marketplace to his own benefit? Not at all.

Eric · 1 year ago

Justin Gaither took over our 2013 group from Lisa Young( over night) so there must be a co opt with them.

Eric · 1 year ago

And i was referring to the American University Group.

student · 1 year ago

Groups are NOT official. End of story. Stopping sweating it.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

@Andy - I do agree that we have lost control and must accept the fact that things like this will happen. I do not agree that it's ok for a vendor to utilize college internship students to purportedly be acting like '09 high school students in an effort to get 'in'. I think they just went about it the wrong way. Those who preach ceding control also talk about authenticity. Had they found a balance of the two, I don't think this would have been such an issue. It was just too underground and mysterious for most schools to be comfortable with.

Matt - you do bring up a great point. Admission offices are behind the times and this should be a wake-up call to most that they need to be plugged in and monitoring their brand and the conversations taking place, at minimum to be aware of what's happening. Student workers are a great resource for someone to learn from.

As with anything, there are growing pains to work through. Social media marketing will be no different. The rules have changed, no doubt. It's exciting to be at a point where we as a community can define some standards and work together to determine what's acceptable and what's not, keeping everyone's best interest in mind.

Mark Greenfield · 1 year ago

Brad - Your point on authenticity is at the heart of this issue. It's not just the college that needs to be authentic, it's everyone involved including students and third party vendors. We are in the age of radical transparency and any attempt to misrepresent will ultimately backfire.

Eric · 1 year ago

Eric. You must not totally understand how facebook works. He was an admin on that group when college prowler gave up ownership. Its not like he "took over" the group. Plus, anyone that wants to be an admin can e-mail him. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

I agree with the student and Matt's perspective on this issue. It seems as though admissions reps are confused about what facebook groups are, how they work, who can create them, name them etc... Anyone can create a group for your school. Companies have done this for 3 years now, so this is NO new discover, and just shows that the Higher Ed community really is behind the curve.

I think the companies that did this were just trying to be find innovative ways to reach their market. There is NOTHING stopping them from making a school 2013 group, and colleges should not get angry or feel deceived in any way that they have done this because it is their right just like it is your right to create any group that you want.

My recommendation to admissions reps is to try to learn more about facebook and really decide if you want to get more involved in social networking to "control" your brand. I don't think these companies were out to make your school look bad in any way. They provide a service to students, some of which many of us find very useful.

College Prowler is a great service, and I would have not heard about it if it weren't for the Facebook groups.

My last comment that the notion that colleges want to protect their students is OUTRAGEOUS. This is FACEBOOK. If a student gets spammed with an ad, they can simply block that person and not get spammed anymore. Who is to say that your group is any safer than that created by a company? These students are young adults. We need to let them make their own decisions, and stop babying them.

Just my two cent.

Eric, Long Island NY

Jess · 1 year ago

@Eric

Actually, as you can see by these conversations and the number of blogs and Twitterers present, not to mention the swiftness of the business at question to respond, I'd argue that there are several people in higher ed who not just 'get' FB and other social media, but are using it in innovative ways to interact with their clients.

I also recall an artcle that said higher ed has been adopting social media technologies at a higher rate than fortune 500 companies.

Just more fodder for this convo...

@jesskry

Michelle · 1 year ago

That is surprising. I don't know what institutions you are speaking of, but the fact that this has been blown out of proportion just shows that they really don't understand facebook.

From a student who has used facebook for years, it is easy to see that there is a big mis-understanding on the part of the older generation (college admissions reps).

Michael Stoner · 1 year ago

Lots of good conversation here.

My US $.02 is that if you read Brad's original post, this whole thing began when he and others began discovering a potential fraud. None of this would have happened had CollegeProwler or Match U identified their groups as "CollegeProwler Class of 2013 Network" or some such. Or if Justin Gaither, Patrick Kelly, and others hadn't posed as high school students. As one of the few people in a position to know that "Patrick Kelly" had not been accepted to Butler--and wasn't even an applicant--Brad did what any responsible Facebook citizen should do. Relied on dozens of his colleagues and fellow citizens to investigate what was going on.

A reporter called me yesterday to talk about what was going on. At that point, it looked as if this was about bad judgment. Hijacking university assets--name, images, etc.--is one thing, but this could have been worse. It wasn't--but that wasn't apparent in the beginning.

Having said that, I have plenty of conversations with institutional leaders, senior staff members, and others who are paranoid about social media and want to "control the conversation." They have to get over it. It's way too late.

Aaron · 1 year ago

hear, hear, Michael! Well put. My thoughts exactly. :)

This isn't about controlling the conversation; it's about misrepresentation.

And not because we think students aren't smart enough to see through it (I would say MOST are) -- but just because it's WRONG.

Stephanie M. Cockerl · 1 year ago

Thank you for bringing this to light. For schools that were hesitant about claiming their identity in social media, this is definitely THE wake up call that is needed. If colleges and universities don't take control of their identity and their brand, others will.

sam · 1 year ago

isnt it possible that these people are administrative people from the schools making sure that we dont screw up between now and freshman year?

Aaron · 1 year ago

@Sam:

Did you read the article? How about all of the comments? The CEO of the corporation personally confirmed that they are indeed a private company, not administrators.

sam · 1 year ago

oo really my bad no i havent read all the comments, so what does this company do...

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

Interesting, sure. But I'm failing to see the news angle here. Kids have been creating fan and fake pages forever. If you visit MySpace or Facebook or any other social network and type in "Ashton Kutcher" for instance-- You'll get a ton of pages that pop up. Some even say "OFFICIAL." You can't stop that; it wouldn't be worth the fight.

So I think the story here isn't "Facebook Squatting" or "Advertisers Collect Information" because that's what they do. This is a story about educating kids to be able to know and tell the difference between a credible source and a non-credible source-- Is that the real Ashton Kutcher?

Journalism schools have been teaching these skills forever. If anything, this is a fight for the relevance and stamina of journalism in the face of new media. So if it were me, I would want to make sure that my school supported journalism programs and maybe started including one or two as part of the core curricula.

My take :-)

Andy Shaindlin · 1 year ago

Brad, your point on authenticity is right on, and well-amplified by Mark Greenfield's and Michael Stoner's follow-ups.

The self-policing aspect of phenomena such as Facebook Groups has to be allowed to do its work. It's in that time period between a mis-step (re: authenticity) and its correction by the system and its members, that we all get hyper and react according to our fears, and not our expectations.

Andy Sernovitz · 1 year ago

Congratulations to all of you for an extraordinary job. Keep fighting the good fight! I blogged it.

NYC Ed PhD · 1 year ago

I don't understand how someone could NOT see a problem with this... Sure, Ashton Kutcher doesn't care there are fake official pages about him, but that doesn't mean that I should tolerate a fake page that alleges to be the official page about me, nor should any college.

This isn't about old fuddy duddy administrators not understanding how Facebook works or blowing things out of proportion or not trusting kids to make smart decisions, it's about an individuals and institution's right to own and protect its identity.

No one else but Mich Sineath should be able to create a Mich Sineath Facebook page, and even if Mich or the student Michelle think, "Yeah, whatever," I certainly care, because I don't want someone creating an "official" page about me without my permission.

And by the way, it's a violation of Facebook's policies to do what College Prowler and Match U. have been accused of doing or even found to have done.

Steve · 1 year ago

NYC PhD- How do you believe those companies violated facebook policies? I'll give you MatchU (who seem to have made fake profiles, which IS against facebook policies), but College Prowler's were legitimate people (I googled them & they all exist- they're college students). So who's to say that the universities own the rights to calling a 2013 group on a particular school "Official"? I don't believe they have a right any more than an entering student, or a company does.

Since when did universities decide that they are so entitled? Sorry, but universities market to students all the time with brochures & media propaganda that shows all of the positive things about their schools plus, many of these schools purchase the contact info of students from for-profit companies. And then the schools charge students exhorbatant fees to attend them that get jacked up on a yearly basis. I should know, as I am dealing with it. I remember as a high school junior and senior my mailbox at home was POLLUTED with SPAM from colleges across the countries trying to get my educational dollars. Did I blame them? NO, it's called advertising, and it's a fact of life.

I guess you could argue "well these companies misrepresented themselves", but then look at Brad's screenshots of the pages...there are NO claims from the admins that they are the college or university. And these are FACEBOOK GROUPS, come on!

You're grabbing at straws here.

Steve · 1 year ago

One more thing...there's no such thing as a "fake" facebook page. And just because a university makes it instead of a company, does not mean it's any more "real".

Penina · 1 year ago

Yes, College Prowler and MatchU violated Facebook terms of service. And yes, to pose as someone you are not is just plain deceitful.

I think it's incredibly exciting that Brad and this community used the tools at hand -- in particular, *each other* -- to expose this.

I am a web and social networking professional who sees dozens of "experts" claiming to provide viral marketing and other hip services to less knowledgeable companies every day.

Congratulations and thank you for your vigilance and your activism. It's not just needed on the web, but this is a good place to practice!

Allowing expression to be out of control means that we can never stop thinking, discerning and cooperating. Not such a bad thing, eh?

NYC Ed PhD · 1 year ago

College Prowler doesn't have the right to use a college or university's name or logo without the institution's permission. This isn't about railing against colleges and universities, Steve, and I hedge a bet that neither you nor your kids would care for a fake Facebook page created about you (or your kids).

Neither of us can create an official IBM page or group, or Coca Cola page or group, et al., so why should it be OK to create a fake group about a college or university? Just because it's a Facebook page it's OK?

I don't buy that argument, neither do the schools, and neither did Facebook. So we're not just blowing this out of proportion. College Prowler has backed down. If Co. Prowler thought it had a legal right to continue, they wouldn't be shutting down the pages/groups. But they were in the wrong, even if you don't agree they were.

You should also know, Steve, that colleges and universities pay thousands of dollars to find your kid - his academic profile, his interests, his address. If this is just about "advertising" or marketing, as so many here want to seem to think it is, then College Prowler and Match U owe the college and universities millions, because they are directly benefiting from the research and spending of the colleges and universities.

If you want to think of this as just a marketing issue, then this is the same thing as one company stealing the exclusive customer or client list of another company.

I don't think it's about that, though. If a corporation or college doesn't have the right to say, "Hey, that's not me, you can't do that," then what rights will individuals have?

I'd rather "grasp at straws" rather than hand over my identity or roll over on basic issues of ethics or fairness to corporate interests.

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

Dear anonymous NYC Ed PhD:

Leaving aside the illegal use of copyrighted art for the moment, I'm still perplexed as to the assumption that there is such a thing as an "official" Facebook group.

People create countless groups all the time — "I Love Harvard University," "NYU is the Best," "Are you going to Carleton?" Are you saying there is such a thing as a "true" group or a "false" group?

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

Perhaps fake was the wrong word. Unofficial seems better. Yes, deceitful. But it happens. Let's leave the policies to FB legal and the procedures to FB tech. Those will most likely adapt as a result of *this* discussion. But no matter how you cut it, the issue is education. And Steve brings up several good points. My favorite: It is just Facebook.

Aaron · 1 year ago

You know, there's a reason that the visual identity / branding / logos of universities are TRADEMARKED -- it's because their usage implies a de facto authenticity to the attached message.

So when a source, commercial or completely informal, uses the trademarked identity signage, it's a problem. Even if their message is benign, it sets a bad precedent: "Oh sure, go ahead and use the trademarked symbol, it's ok." It's the legal duty of the holder of the logo to fight its inappropriate usage, else silence implies approval. [and for those of you just getting on board here; yes, many of the facebook groups were using the logos of the university]

Another thing that I think is important to underscore here is what Brad mentioned in the OP -- there is the POTENTIAL for misuse of trust. None of us can say with certainty what CollegeProwler actually WOULD have done with that resource, had they not been caught -- since there was nothing on any of those pages indicating that they were indeed being run by a single parent-source, there's an implied covenant by the subscribers to the group and the group ownership; think of how your brain filters information when it's coming from a peer versus from a company (or university, for that matter).

For an analogy, to draw on the Ashton Kutcher example from earlier -- let's say that a series of fan pages pop up for a few hundred different celebrities; They all look like they're being run by normal, everyday people -- people just like you and I -- when in reality they're a carefully orchestrated effort by a commercial interest.
Perhaps down the road the administrator for the group advocates a particular product related to the group's focus (an "autographed" poster, for example; or maybe a fanbook or something similar) that just-so-happens to be created by the company that is secretly running all of these different FB groups.

Is that ethical? It's entirely possible that any potential buyers of the product would buy it anyways -- but I am very much against the notion of not disclosing your identity / affiliation with a product. "Officialness" is irrelevant in this case -- it's the fact that the group is masquerading as an authentic everydayperson.

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

Words like "fiasco" and "outrage" throughout this thread imply that this particularly-ineffective marketing strategy, uncovered, is in the same league as, say, economics, famine, war.

Please remember this is about Facebook! Educators, please teach students how to take care of themselves, but put your efforts into the "other" important issues of our time.

NYC Ed PhD · 1 year ago

Aaron: I understand exactly what you're getting at, and even though most college students are likely to get wound about most content, I know my own family would flip at the College Prowler site (where there is a poorly written article about "hoes vs. bros"/"chicks before dicks" on the site's front page (in which the student author refers to the "douche bag" that hooked up - well, "had his way with" her roommate)...

WIth College Prowler creating these "official" pages to direct traffic to their own site, it's easy to see how this could blow up in colleges' faces. College Prowler has the right to put any content it wants on its site, but colleges and universities surely don't have to endorse it, but that's just what College Prowler was attempting to suggest through the creation of the "official" class groups. (The CEO stated the unauthorized official groups were created as an effort to inform students about a College Prowler product)

Jay Collier: College Prowler was trying to financially benefit by creating the impression that yes, there is such a thing as a "true" official group.

I'm not sure what your comment "anonymous NYC Ed PhD" is supposed to imply.

As for your exhortation for educators to put their efforts into "other" (your quotes) more important issues, how about colleges and universities take a stand on say, honesty, integrity or, I dunno, corporate ethics? After all, it might be hard for a college to uphold an honor code or work with students on plagiarism when it turns a blind eye to a fake "official" page. Maybe I am overreaching, but a basic stand on issues of honesty is fair, I'd say.

And that still doesn't mean colleges aren't simultaneously dealing with the economy, campus safety, etc.

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

When a person posts anonymously, it is hard to evaluate the credibility of the comment. For instance, are you working for an admissions marketing firm trying to drum up business? Don't know. My point is that we all need to assume ulterior motives are possible when we are adventuring out into the online unknown.

I'd suggest that the "impression" of a 'true' official group" is in the eye of the beholder. I understand you think so, but I wonder if the class of 2013 agrees. How many Facebook groups contain the name of your school? Are you planning to investigate the identity of each groups creator?

I also wonder if you really consider a Facebook group to be in the same ethical league as a student cheating on a test. Isn't there an order of magnitude of difference?

My earlier comment was about this "issue" being called "outrageous" or a "fiasco." Ethically dishonest, yes. Worth taking a stand, yes. Poor marketing strategy, definitely so ... unless the promotion for CP was good for their business. More important, however, than putting effort into the other issues I mentioned? I don't think so. Just my opinion ...

NYC Ed PhD · 1 year ago

If you're concerned about ulterior motives, you would have been better served questioning the credibility of the others who have commented - I'm certainly not the only anonymous poster here and none of my comments help me achieve any financial benefit.

I find it incredibly, if not incredulously, ironic, that you'd attempt to discern the "credibility" of the comments here given your stance, which, correct me if I'm wrong, seem to be that you don't think it's a big deal that a non-authorized third party created "official" college pages without permission.

I don't understand how you could possibly be concerned with my credibility as a commenter but permissive of College Prowler violating Facebook policies - and quite probably students' trust.

To be clear, I don't know that any of us care about "NYU is the Best" or "Are You Going to Blah Blah College?" sites, it's the orchestrated, unauthorized campaign to create official sites w/out permission that is of concern - and we're all on the same page now that it was a dishonest thing to do, which has been my point all along. That's the difference to me - and to College Prowler - the designation of what was official and what was clearly any other random Facebook group.

So let me say it one more time: it's not about the groups, it's a about the act of dishonesty and fraudulence.

James · 1 year ago

NYC ED makes me laugh. You are probably one of the most un-informed posters on here. You really don't know what you are talking about. They haven't done anything wrong by creating these groups. They don't owe the universities anything.

There was no deceit involved. You are blowing this out of proportion.

I want to suggest that you people find something better to do with your time because this is SAD.

its facebook, get a life. please.

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

I wrote that unauthorized use of intellectual property is an issue that should be challenged. And that any violation of Facebook policy should be called out. (I'm still looking for the URL for my case study).

However, there is no such thing as an "official" college group in Facebook. Fan pages, yes. Official groups, no.

I'm not concerned with your credibility. I wrote that it is a good idea to always assume there could be ulterior motives behind any anonymous comments.

My earlier point was about this “issue” being called “outrageous” or a “fiasco.”

Points made. Disagreement acceptable.

Bradjward · 1 year ago

Michael - thanks for your comment (http://squaredpeg.com/index.php/2008/12/18/face...), great summary. Same to you Mark G. Spot on.

It's not so much about what we know now as it is what we didn't know 48 hours ago at this time. There were a lot of unknowns when this all started, that's for sure.

Like I've said, we will never TRULY know what the intentions were. And really, that's not a bad thing.

NYC Ed PhD · 1 year ago

Actually James, College Prowler did do something wrong - verified by other comments here and proven by the fact that Facebook took the groups down. Even others who have commented here who think this is a "mountain out of a mole hill" agree that College Prowler's actions were dishonest.

And as for the "official" debate, the fact of the matter is that College Prowler branded the sites as "official" in an attempt to make $$$. Whether "official" pages can ever truly exist on Facebook is pointless: College Prowler has no right to make an "official" claim about pages it created.

I'm actually very well informed on matters of copyright, intellectual property, the rights of artists (especially college artists), et al., and if you want to do down those roads, I'm more than happy to do so... I will not be bullied or shouted down, however.

To the extent this was actually a discussion, I was happy to participate in an exchange, but now that this is just about snarky comments (I'm apparently "SAD" - all caps no less), I'm just as happy to check out and allow the pro-Facebook contingent here to chalk this all up to the frivolity and harmlessness of Facebook.

Matt · 1 year ago

I bet their intentions were to take over the world...I'm just saying...

Mark Greenfield · 1 year ago

Brad, as I try to get my arms around this discussion, a couple of things come to mind. This week I've been reading Don Tapscott's latest book called "grown up digital". Tapscott is the author of "growing up digital" and "wikinomics", and has done a tremendous amount of research on the millennial generation. He feels this generation is making a serious mistake, and don't realize it. They are giving away their personal information on social networks and in doing so are undermining their future privacy. This may come back to haunt them.

This raises the question of the role colleges should play in educating students about potential privacy issues and some ofthe other dangers of social networks. How does "in loco parentis" apply in the digital world? That's a question each college will have to consider. This conversation has been a great starting point.

Aaron · 1 year ago

Re: the anonymity of posting (NYC, Jay, et al):

If we assume that everyone's "Name" on here is accurate (i.e. they are not intentionally deceiving), then I would say that I know more about NYC Ed PhD than I do about someone else just using their own name.

How do we know that James, Steve, and Eric are not all the same person, and just sock-puppeting to make it seem like more than one person disagrees?

How do we know that any of them are not actually just puppets for CollegeProwler, popping over here to anonymously instigate the people that rained on their parade?

I agree that it's important to assume ulterior motives (I have a tendency to assume everyone else is an opportunist / utilitarian) -- but I disagree that using a handle/alias that is not literally the person's name is somehow a problem with anonymity.

And FWIW, it's kind of ironic we'd be arguing about that AT ALL, given that it's precisely what CollegeProwler did in the first place. (Forge legitimacy by pretending to be someone they aren't in order to advance a point).

Dave Kerpen · 1 year ago

Incredible story! Great job, Brad on this whole thing. Was going to wait until my blog was posted to comment, but I keep uncovering more I want to write about. In short, my take on this to come, but this is definitely a bigger deal than some are suggesting and not quite as big a deal as others are suggesting. Can anyone find anything anywhere on "Match U"? I can't find anything on them- and it seems to me a likely extension of Campus Prowler (incidentally, the perfect name for a company that would do this)

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

Aaron: exactly the point. Thanks.

Dave Kerpen · 1 year ago

Ok, posted my thoughts on this here:
http://tinyurl.com/Facegate

For whatever it's worth, the 2 main issues as I see it are:
1) Authenticity and transparency are essential; College Prowler obviously totally f'ed up in this regard.

2) Higher ed had better wake up and smell the coffee, fast, with regard to social media and Facebook. Before squaredpeg readers attack me on this one, let me point out that you social media folks are the informed ones- it's the thousands of other colleges that need the help. Badly.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

Dave - Great summary. That's exactly how I've seen it play out as well. There is a huge need for education on social media throughout the upper levels of higher ed administration. The fundamentals of game have changed and are continuing to change quicker than ever.

Mike Rivera · 1 year ago

While incredibly tangential, I'm delighted by the intensity of debate this story has stirred. The discussion, for me, has become as important as the original story.

I doubt that anyone who has participated so far doesn't "get it" even though the accusation has been charged. The issue isn't about who gets it or doesn't get it so much as being confident enough to 1. formulate a point of view on the matter and 2. broadcast it in an open forum populated by smart people. You're free to determine what views constitute smart versus dumb, but certainly everyone who remains tuned in at this late point has grappled with the broader topic (social networking in the higher ed world) long enough to arrive at their perspectives. Consequently, we've all gained.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

Just updated my blog with a new post, but wanted to throw it here as well. If any schools are struggling on next steps, etc. I'm going to do a few free webinars next Monday. If everyone is good to go, I'll sit back and enjoy my vacation. :)

http://squaredpeg.com/index.php/2008/12/21/upda...

Douglas · 1 year ago

I've sent you an email with some information about one of the groups.

Bradjward · 1 year ago

Douglas H. was erroneously listed as a member of the situation in the Duke 2013 group. His name was in ( ) and a note for 'more research' was needed. Douglas has emailed me and explained he was not involved, so I have removed him from the Google Doc and wanted to also post it here. Sorry for the mix-up, Douglas!

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

Brad, I made this comment on the Chronicle of Higher Education Web site: I'm a little uneasy with the "blacklist" you're creating in Google Docs. Given the amount of interest this article has generated, I would be concerned about the potential for damage to students reputations. See your public apology to Douglas, for example. Is that a fair concern?

Bradjward · 1 year ago

Mich - the google doc collaboration was VITAL to the research. Like I told them when we started, I did not feel comfortable making assumptions on who was behind this based on the first schools listed in the blog post. More research was warranted. Overlap and people caught in the middle is an unfortunate fact to something this vast.

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

"[...]Overlap and people caught in the middle is an unfortunate fact to something this vast."

My first thought is, Are you kidding? My second thought: Do you think that's okay?

Perhaps more research is vital. But is it vital that the credibility of these individuals be questioned publicly? This is not a poll about "Who reads The New York Times?" You're playing "Who's the liar?" and inviting colleges and universities to "research" each of the names on a Watch List. This is invading the privacy of these individuals.

Jay Collier · 1 year ago

Also in the mix: institutions that over-participate in social environments in ways that actually repulse students.

http://bit.ly/B4yz

Bradjward · 1 year ago

Kidding? No. Ok? Yes.

At the end, I alphabetized all names involved and asked those working on the collaborative document to strike through any name who was mentioned less than two or three times. Anyone who was involved in more than 3 groups should be suspect to the ring.

Are you saying that thorough research was the improper action for this situation? When upwards of 30 people are collaborating on a document of 400+ schools, it's impossible for us to know each name and whether they were involved. It is easier to list them all, do it once, then sit back and look at trends and remove those not involved at the end.

And in the case of Douglas, it took 1 email and 30 seconds for his name to be removed.

What is your ideal situation for the document? Where does it go from here? How is this handled in the future? How do you research Facebook and avoid so-called privacy issues? (I think we're all in agreement that anything on the internet is public, no?) You're throwing out a lot of questions and not offering any practical advice, it seems.

Off for a day with the family. Take care and see you all in the PM. I do need to enjoy some vacation this week. :)

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

Brad, I certainly don't have all of the answers. But I have a lot of questions because I think this requires more thought than you've put into it. So my purpose for engaging in this debate is not to belittle what you're trying to do, but to help look at this from a different angle.

For instance, I wonder how this research is taking place. Who's searching the admission records and do they have the authority to do so? And just because Douglas was deleted from the list doesn't change the fact that you put him on it. Not everyone subscribes to your blog, Brad. What about those who printed it out before the deletion?

You say that I offer no answers, so here are a few:

"What is your ideal situation for the document?" Delete it.

"Where does it go from here?" It stops.

"How is this handled in the future?" Make available the information about a potential phishing scam as you did in your post, but then allow the schools to research and handle it through Facebook and/or legal channels if necessary and on their own. With respect, it might appear to some that you're treating this like a computer crimes analyst for the FBI and inviting everyone else to put on a badge.

And I disagree with you on this point: Because it's on the Internet does not give you the right to take it, repurpose it and post it on a "could be fraudulent" watch list.

In the case of Facebook, I may not want you to know that I'm a member of USC and UNC. Maybe I'm honestly exploring different campuses and accidentally joined one of these "fake" 2013 groups. Now all of a sudden I'm attached to this marketing mafia ring and I've got universities flagging my name which could affect my acceptance into their program. Not to mention the potential conflicts of interest it could raise, and that it's truly none of your business.

If there is a "fake" group masquerading as an "official" group, then ask Facebook to take it down. The message will be clear and we won't have a potential witch hunt on our hands.

Stiennon · 1 year ago

None of this surprises me. I was at the forefront of the battle against adware. The techniques and motivation of CollegeProwler reminds me of 180Solutions and the other adware vendors that attempted to hide behind the "opt-in veil" of adware. They are doing wrong, leveraging FaceBook's infrastructure and reach to scam people into joining their groups.

Tweeting and blogging this.

High School Senior · 1 year ago

It really means a lot to both me and my classmates that colleges are looking into this. I noticed the questionable administrators this summer and have not joined any 2013 groups because of them!

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

Mich - Your questions are definitely needed for the discussion. This is all unchartered territory for the most part, and it's important to have these conversations so that we can know what to do in the future. When there is no precedent for a situation you have to rely on intuition and what you know at that point in time and move on from there.

I'll definitely be mulling over your questions and thoughts and reflecting on all of this for the next several days. Really appreciate what you're adding to the conversation here!!

Lauren Starkey, National Colle · 1 year ago

This is impressive detective work! What strikes me is the outcry from admissions officers. Students on facebook simply won't believe that those working in college admissions are following what's going on there. This story shows that view is wrong.

David Jaeger · 1 year ago

I am going to side with the people that say that College Prowler and Match U did nothing "wrong". Match U did violate Facebook's TOS by creating false profiles, and i don't like those types of things. But there are a ton of other companies doing the exact same thing.

I would much prefer as a student to be a part of a facebook group where the admin is the admissions rep or web manager, but this whole thing is in an ethical grey area.

You felt that College Prowler and Match U did something wrong. Whether they did or didn't, they fessed up nicely, and offered to undo the "damage", issue done.

I don't know why someone having an admin right to a massive group of alumni so they can "do massive market research" or "post affiliate links" is so bad. Do you know how evil google is? Do you know that they know exactly what you're doing, you're web history, where you live, what you like, and their TOS are laughably absent?

Do you also know that Digg has banned some of their top users in the past, after those users spent two years promoting the site, all without a word of real correspendance?

I am much more hesitant to have facebook police the site too much, i'd rather see your "spam" issues come up.

Griffin · 1 year ago

ok i talked to the guy.... justin gaither


he said "No problem. I get this a lot.

I am starting a social networking website similar to facebook but will serve a specific purpose for incoming college freshman. I will be opening the site up for Auburn and some other schools early next year."

so there's your answer

Chad Hutchins · 1 year ago

This is all very interesting, but it makes sense to me that universities should "own" their individual presence on Facebook. A company called Inigral has already started doing this for ACU. Inigral delivers managed applications for admissions and other parts of the university. I know they made a video that the admissions people watched here: http://www.inigral.com/conversations/facebook-f...

Daniel Welling · 1 year ago

How exactly would they benefit? You seem to be forgetting that the losers that infest social sites like Facebook have no life and no money. You can't make money from broke losers no matter how many times you pass the hat around.

There will be no Facebook in 2013.

Dave Kerpen · 1 year ago

@Daniel Welling, er...not so sure about that one.
@Chad Hutchins, thanks for the insight. My firm builds FB Pages too.
@David Jaeger, How can you side with Match U and agree in the same paragraph that that violated Facebook's TOS?
@BradJWard Good luck tomorrow with the webinars. I think you probably have a lot to teach!

villy · 1 year ago

Great work, Brad. My thoughts on the "realness" of groups pertains to the originality of the group's affiliation concept or philosophy. If you leverage another group's affiliation/look&feel/presence/etc. (especially without acknowledgement), then you are getting into murky waters. For example: "Harvard Alum Who Wear Cowboy Hats" - OK. "Harvard Alum" Not OK. Apologies to Harvard Alum. ;-)

Joey Coleman · 1 year ago

A dating service has created 2013 groups for every Canadian university. They've also created generic "University of" groups and "University of $$$ Residences."

There is a McMaster University 2013 group with nearly 100 members created by a person in Texas.

I'm in the process of finding a university which actually created it's own Facebook groups.

It should be noted that a few universities in Canada have Facebook Pages. The problem with pages is they are not well integrated in FB. Groups remain more effective at this point in time.

Martin · 1 year ago

NYC do you even use facebook? After reading a few of your posts I am really starting to wonder HOW informed you are on this?

Facebook has not taken the groups down. The companies involved have been very transparent and handed over the reigns to us students for the most part.

Now it seems like the academic community is trying to take over these groups which is kind of a double standard.

Facebook started off as something for college students, and it should remain something for college students.

It is sketchy how admissions staff want to look into our profiles to see if we've even applied.. so creepy.

My dad is a lawyer and when he read about one school who was doing that I applied to which I will not name, he began looking into it further.

I don't know if that poster made this up or if it was serious, but nevertheless if they are putting peoples name on a public list that have NOTHING to do with this, someone is going to be in trouble because you are tainting peoples names and its NOT RIGHT.

Rich Apps Consulting · 1 year ago

wow, very impressive and detective work ...

DC · 1 year ago

Gnucitizen, and a few others called this attack while back:

http://www.gnucitizen.org/blog/social-networks-...

http://www.gnucitizen.org/blog/social-networks-...

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

Brad, Please don't let the privacy/ethical arguments get too lost in the comments. You're right: It's an important part of the discussion. So let's have it. I'm curious what others think.

Thank you.

Chris · 1 year ago

One of the admins on our Prowler group sent around a message asking if anyone wanted to be added as an admin. I replied; we'll see if they respond. (Somehow, I doubt they will!)

Patrick · 1 year ago

I am Patrick (the person listed in this article). I had nothing to do with this, and now my name is all over this just because I created some 2013 groups for schools i thought about applying to.

the notion that you would look into whether or not i applied to this school is outrageous.

But even worse is that my name is linked to something that I have nothing to do with.

My facebook account has been disabled, i have gotten phone calls from people for comment and I don't know what the problem is.

Brad, i think you have blown this out of proportion and need to shut this blog down because you have given me a hard time these past few days.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

Everyone please note that 'Martin' and 'Patrick' are posting from the exact same IP. Martin and Patrick have no weight or credibility to what they say, in my opinion. Please disregard them.

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

Also, both email addresses bounced back when I tried to email them. Fake. Fake. Fake.

Aaron · 1 year ago

Wow --

They fake their facebook accounts... and then fake their identities (AND sockpuppet) when posting about it.

I had a feeling that Martin may have been in cajuetes with the CP folks -- this just supports that hypothesis.

Michael Staton · 1 year ago

Okay Okay Okay - everyone needs to calm down in here. There are two distinct truths.

1) It is disingenuous and perfidy for marketers to pose as either students or representatives of institutions they are not representatives of. It is in poor taste, unethical, and depending on the execution a violation of trademark.

2) It is hasty, in poor taste, and unethical to post names in association with scandal without due process.

Obviously good judgment was sidestepped all around here, but pointing fingers and vitriol aren't going to solve anything. The marketers turned over the groups, the investigators agreed to not implicate innocent parties. All cookie crunch, no?

The lesson learned here is that EVERYONE and EVERY INSTITUTION that wants to manage its identity deliberately must now do so online and on social networks even moreso than offline. This management must be ACTIVE, DIPLOMATIC, and agnostic to location, virtual or real, website, blog or social network.

Namaste.

mpstaton.

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

Michael: Cookie crunch, for sure. Well said.

I think the media has run with this story from one angle: Marketers are bad. I would like to hear from privacy experts, ethics experts and Facebook on this. It's an important part of the discussion.

I asked Brad via Twitter if he planned to also host a free webinar for ADV, PR and privacy folks (without a .edu e-mail). He DM'd that he wants to, but January's looking tight.

Maybe someone could help him out?

Brad J. Ward · 1 year ago

And to follow up on Mich's comment, if you're going to host the webinar, please don't try to profit from the situation. :) Think of this as a learning opportunity for all of us.

FPM · 1 year ago

I used to be a homeless rodeo clown but now I am a world class magician !

Melinda Sigal · 1 year ago

This is very interesting ... I have gone on college and high school groups to reconnect with people I used to know ...
My high school (a small town in Westchester County, NY - 28 miles north of NYC) has people in my graduating high school class I never heard of - I new everybody!!!! My graduating class was under 100 students - my dad was the local real estate broker, and I knew the new kids when they moved into our town.
I have noticed this not only here on facebook but also on classmates.com as well ... and I've wonder how people pretend to have gone to my school and get their profiles posted ...
There have also been people I don't recognize that say they went to the college I went to in Florida ...
Can anyone just stay they went to these schools and post it on these websites - do they also pretend of have degrees from these schools too? Who polices this? Is that how they claim they got these degrees if a perspective employer is looking to see if they attended these schools? What a scam!!!
Should the schools we went to police this - how far back can they go?

Luke Skurman, CEO of College P · 1 year ago

After reviewing the blog posts and thinking about this further over the weekend, I came to some conclusions I’d like to share. I am a believer of social networking sites and think they have great potential for all users but clearly some best practices need to be developed to help all users have a positive experience on Facebook.

A quick summary of the situation.

The students: Plain and simple, students use Facebook feverishly – don’t see this changing anytime soon.
Colleges: Need to protect their brand, image, intellectual property, and reach their target audience (the students)
For Profit Companies: Will constantly be looking for new opportunities and ways to reach their target audience

With all that being said, what’s my advice on the best practices moving forward?

The most critical point for the colleges and universities to understand is that they need to have a proactive presence on Facebook. This will allow them to protect their brand/image and also reach the students with their own message. Every college and university needs to include Facebook as part of their student recruiting/retention efforts. The best way to do this is to create a Private Official Group for their school and provide a university employee as the contact and administrator. The schools then need to get the message out on their website, through guidance counselors, or brochures, wherever the university communicates with students and prospective students. Students that get admitted should be provided the name of the group and a link in their acceptance package and should be encouraged to contact the official administrator to gain access to the group. Besides monitoring who gets allowed into the group, the college should have no other part of the discussion unless they are asked direct questions. The students would then be free to talk about whatever is of interest to them and will feel comfortable doing so.

What can colleges do to stop For Profit Companies for making “unofficial” groups on Facebook?

The reality is, they can’t. It’s one of the five most popular websites in the world (in terms of traffic), and therefore will always be popular with for profit companies seeking new ways to reach the audience. And, the students clearly want some sort of forum where they can interact with other students and Facebook is the most logical place. If universities don’t provide this forum, someone ultimately will. Universities need to be upfront and open with students about their role in administering these groups, just as any for profit entity should be. In the end, students will gravitate to the groups that provide them the most value and the best user experience, be it administered by a university or for-profit company. This may seem like a lot of work for the University but the market is changing, adapting and devoting resources to these mediums is essential moving forward.

If you have any ideas or questions, I’d be happy to answer them. I’m going to continue to try to come up with ways to help the Higher Education Community use Facebook to its fullest benefit.

I've also created a Facebook Group to talk about ideas further, http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=6573&am.... Please join and share your thoughts.

Luke

Michael Staton · 1 year ago

@Luke Sherman. Totally agree.

Hans Kaufmann · 1 year ago

Brad, great work on this. I work in higher ed, but not in admissions, and I have the following thoughts:

On brand protection, I think universities need to get on facebook and create their official pages, also known as fan pages. The facebook TOS is clear about not creating pages unless you have rights to do so. Universities could create official groups, but I don't see that as being as critical as the page.

On privacy concerning the google doc, if that document went to the press, there is no field header that says 'crook.' The fields are creator, and administrator. There is no accusation of wrongdoing, merely fact-finding. It could be fair to say that if a group is private, that the administrator or creator information should not be made public. My sense is that in this case, the names in that document are admins of public groups.

Staci · 1 year ago

This is scandal leads to a great conversation about rules of engagement on social media. I joined the group the Mr. Skurman set up and made a few comments. I hope that everyone that is following this will help define what is acceptable in social media. Even if we feel that a new group should be created in order to discuss this. Just to clarify, is this just about protecting the college or university or is it also about protecting unsuspecting students from deceptive marketing practices?

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=6573&am...

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

I disagree with Hans on two counts: 1) The document went to the press as soon as Brad hit 'publish'; 2) "Crook" and "could be a crook" is the same thing. Here's why:

Even though the header does not specify crook in the language of the document, the intention of the document does. If it were not the case, Brad would not have issued a public apology to Douglas H. for including him initially.

Here's that apology:

“Douglas H. was erroneously listed as a member of the situation in the Duke 2013 group. His name was in ( ) and a note for ‘more research’ was needed. Douglas has emailed me and explained he was not involved, so I have removed him from the Google Doc and wanted to also post it here. Sorry for the mix-up, Douglas!” --Brad

Here's what Brad said about compiling the list:

"[...]At the end, I alphabetized all names involved and asked those working on the collaborative document to strike through any name who was mentioned less than two or three times. Anyone who was involved in more than 3 groups should be suspect to the ring. [...]It is easier to list them all, do it once, then sit back and look at trends and remove those not involved at the end." --Brad

I think it's clear the intent of the document was to seek out wrongdoers. But Brad doesn't have the administrative privileges to investigate this at 400+ schools, so he asked for help in catching the crooks via a public Google document.

I think that is where he crossed the line.

In order to investigate this, somewhere someone had to log into a computer system on a college campus with a username and a password to seek out if these individuals had in fact applied to attend that particular school. There are policies and procedures in place that prohibit the access and use of the personal information of students, faculty, alumni and also prospective students.

I want to know if those policies were violated.

To me, this is tantamount to asking my buddy on the police force to run a background check on my neighbor because he belongs to three different country clubs. Surely, it is a violation of policy. And surely, it is a violation of privacy.

Just because you have access to it, does not give you the right to look. That is considered an abuse of privileges.

[...]

Here's how Facebook said to handle "illegitimate" groups:

Hi Mich,

We appreciate your concern and are always working to remove illegitimate groups from Facebook. What you can do on your own is to always report and group or person who is impersonating something or someone else. You can do so by clicking the small report link at the bottom of the group or profile, or by writing in to privacy@facebook.com.

Concerning the article you have referenced, we hope to remove any material which is in violation of our Terms of Use. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on specific details at this time.

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

Gaston
Online Sales Operations
Facebook

Mich Sineath · 1 year ago

This is interesting:

This is a portion of what Rob S. posted in the comments section of the Chronicle's story at http://chronicle.com/news/article/5708/company-...

"[…]Those involved in creation of and additions to the Google Docs spreadsheet also violated the Facebook Terms of Service:

“Except for your own User Content, you may not upload or republish Site Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation, and any other use of the Site Content is strictly prohibited.

Facebook terms: http://www.facebook.com/terms.php" -- Rob S.

Barry Schnitt · 1 year ago

Thank you for bringing this issue to Facebook's attention. We have investigated the situation and found that these groups and a number of accounts associated with their creation were in violation of our terms of service. These groups and accounts have been disabled. - Barry Schnitt (barry@facebook.com)

Shelley Krause · 1 year ago

Creepy? Or to be expected? Outrageous? Or no big deal?

I've got a post up w/ some thoughts about how this might play out going forward...

Thank you to Brad and his ad hoc working group for doing some digging and getting this conversation started.

Avi · 1 year ago

Facebook deleted our legit AU 2013 group. But left the marketer one. Good job facebook not!

Barry Schnitt · 1 year ago

Avi, if you send me the info on your group and the marketer one that remains, we'll investigate. Apologies for any inconvenience. -Barry (barry@facebook.com)

Avi · 1 year ago

Thanks Barry :)

Joey Coleman · 1 year ago

Academica Group, a Canadian Marketing/Consulting firm specializing in the higher education sector has created "Graduating Class of 2013" groups for all Canadian Universities and a large number of American ones as well. Here's the McMaster one: http://tinyurl.com/78b3u5

They've been very smart in the creation of their groups. They use accounts complete with photos of young people, speak in "lingo" to promote their "SkoolPool" marketing operation, and populate the groups with their fake accounts.

Had Brad not brought this to my attention, I would have likely not noticed the marketing aspect of these groups when I saw them.

Andy Shaindlin · 1 year ago

The McMaster posting by Bobby Carman sounds completely phony to me. Except for the typo:

"Hey guys! Just thought i'd start up a group to get all those graduating in my year connected. Should be cool. have fun with it. there's also a website (www.skoolpool.com) that i posted below that might be cool to check otu. you can read what people have written about McMASTER and even get connected with people that plan on going there....kinda like checking out your future friends. i thought it was fun...

KEEP IT REAL, PEACE!
B-MAN"

The best part is "KEEP IT REAL." Yeah. Peace out, dude.

Rob S. · 1 year ago

If anyone has spent time looking at class of 2011 or class of 2012 groups, posts like the one Andy just mentioned are relatively common, even in organically-created groups.

And to think colleges BUY names of SAT and ACT test takers to market to them. Students and parents are hardly aware of that. Gasp. Searchgate...

Leo Klein · 1 year ago

Wonderful work.

Deception is deception, and this _is_ a big deal.

Luke Skurman of College Prowler says innocently enough that the "original purpose was to use these groups as a way to inform students that they can access a free guide about their new college on our site."

But of course, he didn't name any of the Groups, 'Class of 2013 Get Your Free CollegeProwler Guide Here' Group.

This is a big deal. The people who dismiss it should remember that deception comes in many forms and one of them is that it's 'okay' and 'nothing special'.

We have telemarketers calling us all the time. We have mail marketers sending us junk in the mail. We even have fraudsters doing this as well.

It's not okay when these people try to represent themselves as something they're not either on the phone or through snail-mail, so why should we suddenly cut them any slack just because they choose to use the internet?

No way, no time.

Again, great work.

Darren · 12 months ago

Just an FYI. We're including a short case study and a quote from you on this story in our forthcoming social media marketing book. It'll be published in June, 2009 by No Starch Press, with distribution through O'Reilly Books. I wish I had a title to share, but we haven't decided on one yet.

Safia · 12 months ago

These methods are VERY common to Smart Circle and all their shadow front companies.
Please, Research them-- (formerly) DS-MAX, Cydcor, Smart Circle, etc.
Someone working inside the company said they've been strongly pushing the use of social media in the ways described here.
Thank you for noticing what is happening, waking others & helping combat it!

Elizabeth Kudner · 12 months ago

So, I'm really late to this conversation since I was gone for the holidays, but:

I think it's great that someone is looking out for the students and that College Prowler is willing to fix the problem. This truly shows the power of social media to change company's behavior and ensure transparency. I wish this happened more often because I feel that what College Prowler did is so much less severe than many of the tactics used by other college-related lead generation/data mining vendors. It would be great if a similar conversation could be started about the deceiving practices of online search sites that lure students to their site in order to allegedly provide a list of colleges that meet the students' needs. These sites provide recommendations based on the school's willingness to pay, not on the students' needs and they sell the students' contact information to any school, credit card or student loan company willing to pay for it.

I wrote a post about it a while ago if interested: http://myusearchblog.com/college-search-sites-w...

Day Spring Center · 11 months ago

Christian counseling is counseling performed by a professional counselors in Dallas, Palno, Richardson who upholds Christian values beliefs and philosophy.

Student '13 · 11 months ago

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to thanks to all for finding this out! I'm heading off to university next year, and have already joined a Class of 2013 group for my school (accepted SCEA).

I was trying to figure out if College Prowler's essay contest was legitimate, and not a scam to steal my essays, and somehow, through Google (I think my search terms were something like "college prowler essay legit"), I landed on this page. I was really shocked after reading through the blog and all of the comments (well, I stopped a little after the CEO's 2nd comment), and I want to commend all of you for your efforts. It's amazing that only after one (two?) days, CollegeProwler already started taking action to correct itself, and all thanks to this one blog!

My Facebook group was already started by the Director of Admissions, and that actually made me feel more comfortable joining the group b/c I knew it was completely official and safe. Granted, I felt a little watched b/c I thought they would all be monitoring our comments, but after an admission officer made it explicitly clear that they wouldn't be watching, I felt very comfortable.

That said, I do agree with the idea of university officials creating the Facebook groups. Do not feel worried about "intruding" into the students' lives. I was personally impressed by the fact that the admission officers for my school cared enough about us to start a Facebook group for us! Plus, I was surprised that they were so tech-savvy. Hehe.

So, thanks again, and keep looking out for us students!

Sincerely,
Michelle

PS- I'm keeping my name anonymous for safety reasons (actually, it's mostly so my friends don't find me and go, you're such a nerd! even if they already embrace my nerd-dom), but the "Student" who posted above does not seem like a real student to me. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if "Student" was actually hired by CollegeProwler! Sorry, I'm very cynical about that site right now. But yes, keep up the good work! :))

Dave · 11 months ago

This is pretty disgusting, and I'm having trouble not seeing Luke and College Prowler as outright scum.

"Whoops, you caught us using fake profiles and pretending to be high school students so that we could gain the trust of real students and then promote our products. But, hey, how about this:

I'm gonna remove the fake accounts that you know about. I can't promise not to make new ones or otherwise be deceptive, because abusing social networking is VITAL to surviving in this crazy 2k9 world.

So we're all cool, right? I mean, I didn't do anything wrong so I'm not gonna apologize or anything."

I just can't understand guys like this who are willing to start and run businesses that exist just to take advantage of other people. Scum.

Rob M · 11 months ago

Quick question for the admissions folk:

Does anyone use any type of disclaimer messaging to distance themselves from beign the 'official administrator' of the group? My director is worried about parties that might be set up via facebook or inaccurate information and it looking bad if we're listed as the administrator. --Not so much on the student side, but on the parent side.

Rob S. · 11 months ago

I used to use a disclaimer on a locally-hosted forum, and it was presented as part of the forum registration process. It listed brief, basic terms of service, if you will (respect other people, etc.) followed by the built in terms of service for the forum software.

I honestly haven't done so with Facebook groups.

Have you asked your director if he is willing to commit staff time to take an active presence in the group? It is hard to quantify recruiting results from such involvement, but anecdotally I've had students tell me that participation in these groups were a factor in their decision to attend.

(If I didn't believe they were useful, I'd be asking to be relieved of this duty. It does take time and effort.)

Based on the questions presented and answered within the group, groups like these certainly seems useful.

I understand your concern. Without formal presence, topics related to partying, etc., are somewhat common. Search out class of 2012 groups in Facebook and you'll see this firsthand.

Kyle · 11 months ago

That is so sketchy. Admissions people should not be part of Facebook groups. They are suppose to be for STUDENTS. That is how it has always been.

We're not children anymore.

Rob S. · 11 months ago

Facebook was originally limited to Harvard students. Maybe they think that's how it should be.

Then it was expanded to only Ivy League universities.

Then it expanded to all colleges.

When it went beyond colleges to high school students, many people were very upset and said "Facebook is supposed to be for college students. That is how it has always been."

Do you think high school students should be excluded? ;)

The Internet keeps evolving.

kookimebux · 10 months ago

Hello. And Bye. :)

Arik · 10 months ago

Very good post. I had never even thought of this before, but it all makes since now.

Again great post.

Justin Gaither's aunt · 10 months ago

I'm sure that most readers will read this message thinking I am speaking for my nephew only because he is my nephew. I have known him for his entire life. Justin is a very mature, "outside the box" thinker. Sometimes when people use their creative thinking, there may be things they haven't considered as part of their marketing strategies...that will develop as you continue to mature. Most of you reading this are young adults, just getting out into the real world. I completely understand your concern about fraud. I reassure you that if you have suspicious thoughts or feelings, TRUST ME...they are completely unwarranted. Justin is an innovator and I am very proud of his efforts. I love him and know his morality just like those of my own son because they were raised by moms who are sisters. Again...I don't know the whole story but I do know that Justin is an entrapraneur. His school should be proud that they helped to cultivate the mind of this brilliant young man. However this works out, Justin is destined for success (the HONEST way)...as the intent was here, and I ASSURE you there is no intentional fraud. I am impressed by the maturity of most of the comments made, and understand your skepticism. Most of you have never had the pleasure of meeting him, but once you do, your "gut instincts" will kick in and you will see that this is a young man trying to make his mark in the world. So, Justin...keep your head up and know you're going in the right direction. If these people weren't amazed by the business you have built, just wait until you've had a little more experience...YOU'RE GONNA BLOW THEIR MINDS with your fresh outlook and kind-hearted spirit. I love you and am always in your corner. I'm very proud of you.

Aunt "Dee-Dee" :)

Dan Bradbury · 10 months ago

Wow, I got chills even thinking about that. I sure hope Tom doesn't let people do stuff like Facebook is doing for Myspace. On the other hand, I think I'm glad I got into myspace instead of facebook

Dean J · 9 months ago

I think it's happening again. People have created UVa Class of 2013 groups that seem to be promoting that Facebook-looking group that is hosted off-Facebook (at least, that's how it looks to me).

The exact same groups have popped up for Virginia Tech, UNC, NC State...I'm sure the list goes on.

Beth · 8 months ago

Hi,

I am interested in the topic of online identity given the spread of social networking use. For example of course, schools use facebook etc. in the admissions process. I am interested to get your thoughts on what sort of monitoring/regulation might need to be in place given the spread of use. How should people be held responsible for false identity? online harassment? What about the line between public and private identity and life? I know I just gave you a lot. If you have the time to get back to me, I included my email address. Thank you.

Rose from FineCraftGuild dot c · 8 months ago

I read your post with the utmost amazement!

What strikes me as so unique in this internet phase rollercoaster ride we're on is the misnomer of 'friends'. Facebook friends???!!

What is amazing too is that geeks seem to have most friends??? haha...

I personally get at least 10 friend request weekly, of people I do not know, have never met, and will never meet, hopefully.

Facebook is a fantasy world (period)

Not an idiot · 7 months ago

I have an idea! Why don't you just set your facebook settings so no one who isn't friends with you can see your profile, and then don't friend people you don't know! ...DUH. This seems more like a trap for non-savvy internet users than an actual "threat".

Joe Six Pack · 6 months ago

This post is why the internet was invented.

Steve Gokey · 6 months ago

you are a moron!

Kevin · 5 months ago

Hey, doing research on facebook and higher ed and I came across this excellent post...the story of our Class of 2013 group is sort of similar: I got admitted to Princeton this year, and our group was administrated by a guy that people seemed to be skeptical of...turns out he was a first-year Harvard student planning on changing the name of the group to 'Harvard Rejects 13' or something to that effect. Anyways, apparently you can't change the name of a group after it's been created, so he ended up just being a jerk for a couple days and deleting stuff randomly until Princeton finally got the USG to take it over. I personally think having the USG handle these groups seems like probably the best way to go, it's worked really well for us...you maintain an "official" presence but still can have it be student-run.

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