Like Farming (or I already know that you are not a jerk.)

“Click ‘like’ if you think my disabled daughter is beautiful” “Like this page if you appreciate our veterans” “Click ‘like’ if you think Jesus loves you.” “Click ‘like’ and type ‘1’ in the comments and see what happens.” “Click ‘like’ if you hate cancer”. “Click ‘like’ if ….”

If you are one of the multitudes that use Facebook, you are probably familiar with this sort of post in your Timeline. Of course the laughing, down-syndrome child is adorable. Of course we have all been directly or indirectly affected by cancer. CLICK! … and you “like” it too and you have told your whole Facebook universe that you “like” it. This is social activism in the age of social media.

You shouldn’t be surprised that I already think that you hate cancer...and I haven’t met most of you reading this. I think this because because the vast majority of people are not psychopaths or otherwise inhumane or dispassionate. By clicking ‘like’, you have just been “harvested” in a scam called “like farming”. You will be saddened to know that the originator of that post that you just ‘liked’ does not give a flying...er...that person doesn’t care one bit about cancer, or Jesus, or veterans or downs-syndrome. ...and that fellow standing at the edge of the cliff doesn’t do ANYTHING when you type “jump” in the comments section!

If the originator (I’ll call them ‘farmers’) doesn’t really care about these things...or if the ostensible magic puzzle picture doesn’t actually do anything...why do they do it. The answer is money (isn’t it always money?) If the farmer can reap enough ‘likes’, that means that they have access to lots of Facebook timelines and can post advertising or sell their page to the highest bidder so that THEY can post advertising. (The latter is in violation of Facebook rules...but there are active markets for doing just that.)

Just a simple ‘like’ is lucrative enough, but there is another level. If, when you click ‘like’, you are asked to acknowledge some permissions then the game is upped quite a lot. You have probably just authorized that page to access all your contacts and post on your behalf. This is the spammer’s holy grail. At that point, they can flood your Friends with advertising on your behalf (I will distinguish Facebook ‘Friends’ from actual, real-world ‘friends’.) through the use of Facebook ‘apps’...typically without your knowledge. Have you ever been perplexed that your friend Mindy ‘likes’ a major gasoline retailer...and advertises her devotion to their petroleum products on a regular basis? That’s an app, and Mindy is probably completely unaware that she is pitching Exxon-Mobil to her friends.

There are two things that I suggest you do as a courtesy to your Friends (especially if I am counted amongst them):

ONE: Don’t click ‘like’ if it asks you to explicitly do so. Mark Zuckerberg is not going to buy a house for that needy family nor will a little boy’s dad get off drugs if it gets 1,000,000 ‘likes’. Your Friends [hopefully] already know that you like puppies and babies and  hate cancer and diabetes and whatever.

TWO: Cleanup your apps. Go to your Facebook app settings and delete anything you don’t recognize. Also delete items that you might recognize but don’t want cluttering your Timeline. Finally… Of those remaining apps, edit their individual settings and delete the permission “Post on your behalf” or “Post to Facebook as me” unless that feature is the primary reason you use the app. (e.g. I allow the Twitter app to post on my behalf so that my tweets automatically appear on Facebook.) At this writing, you can access your app maintenance screen at https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=applications 

So be stingy with your ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ and be very careful with your apps. Your ‘Friends’ will appreciate it.