Ted Howard

A post on the Facebook developer’s blog about new APIs to allow more access to users’ content is raising a bit of a blog storm. Everyone seems most concerned with whether opening up Facebook status updates will kill Twitter. My concern is that these advertising, aka ‘virality’, channels will surely increase the amount of spam in Facebook. I’ve already turned off Notes notifications due to the (non-advertising) ‘25 Things’ chain letter spam that’s going on now.

Will we see spam through videos, notes, status updates, and more? Does ‘open’ always mean ‘spam’?

I’m tempted to answer “Yes.”

The Facebook developer blog post states "we’re opening new APIs for you to post links, create notes, or upload videos for the current user, and we’ve made setting a user’s status easier. " The instant I read this, I knew what every Facebook application developer was thinking with: More virality channels means more money!

Every way in which an application can contact a friend of the current application user is a virality channel and an advertising channel. As an application developer, if I can put one of my urls, even non-hyperlinked, in front of more users then I will surely gain more users; users equals traffic equals (potential) money. As an advertiser, I can pay a penny for each status update an application can push that includes my branding tagline, for example “I’m a PC.”

I don’t see a feasible way out of this trap. Some engineers will jump up to shout “Reputation system!” to which I would respond “Show me one without exploit!” While on vacation last week, I watched two non-tech-savvy people join Facebook at the urging of friends. They clicked deceptive ads that looked like Facebook friend suggestions. They authorized applications to have full access to their Facebook accounts with no understand of the potential consequences or even the benefits the application offered. ‘N of 2’ is anecdotal, but I’m certain that this is common.

Be afraid of the coming Facebook spam floods.

ps. Coincidentally, this happens just as Maryland bans Facebook usage in government due to malware (potentially) spreading by leveraging Facebook’s existing set of virality channels.