How? Basically, people start pages and post cute/funny/sentimental
pictures etc. to gather likes. The more likes they get, the more their Edgerank
increases and the more valuable they become. Once they reach a certain
threshold of likes, they sell the page and someone gets a page with a fanbase already built. Happy spamming!
Pages are sold for thousands of dollars on sites like WarriorForum.com and PageHogs.com. A hamburger page with 500,000 fans was listed for $5,000 and currently on PageHogs, you can "make an offer" on God (for real). This goes against Facebook’s terms of
service but with one billion users it’s hard to police.
Be careful what you like, but we all know that, right?
Be careful what you like, but we all know that, right?
Will spam ever end? Not likely, but I'm afraid to see how it will evolve as technology keeps changing.
Sources:
Becky Worley, Upgrade Your Life , May 8, 2013“FacebookScam Alert - What Really Happens When You "Like"
Daylan
Pearce, DaylanDoes: “All About Facebook ‘Like’ Scam Posts“
Wow I see these all the time like, "Like if you love your mom." They almost compel you to click like, otherwise you feel bad, at least I do.
ReplyDeleteI never knew these pages were making money off my likes! At least I know now that Mom won't dislike me if I don't like the page. :)
Ha! Reema, how could your mom ever dislike you? Thanks for commenting!
DeleteWhoa! I had not heard of this before...such a scam. I have found myself not clicking on "like" for awhile now and I am so glad that I stopped! I realize that I could have "liked" something very simple and innocent and then suddenly, after the sale of a page, I am getting advertisements for weird products with a connection to me on my personal profile. I normally try to police my page pretty heavily since I know that so many people (i.e. future employers, potential boyfriends) use your page to make an assessment of your personality. I do not want my name connected to weird things that I knew nothing about! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI was always suspicious of the motivation behind the people that post these pages but I never would have guessed it was this bad. They do an exceptional job generating the likes and followers but it's unfortunate that this is the end result.
ReplyDeleteHopefully enough people hear about this scam so they can put an end to it.
Let's hope! I was amazed to see the number of friends of mine who had "liked" some of these pages while researching this blog. It seems rather innocent on the surface but on occasion they do spread malware!
DeletePeople sometimes find it amazing that I don't have a Facebook account. Yeah, I know I bring that up a lot, but I find it amazing how many people DO have a Facebook account! This post describes one of the many reasons why I stay away. I watch my wife click "like" beside every one of her friends' comments because she wants them to know she likes what they said. I can only imagine how many other things she has "liked." Oh well!
ReplyDeleteAppealing to the emotional state of human nature of wanting to help is brilliant! I know for myself, that I feel compelled to hit "like" to share my support; however, I stop myself because in reality, it is mostly like spam. On that note, I know that spam will not stop, but will continue to infiltrate the internet.
ReplyDeleteWe agree that it is brilliant!! Like you said, in reality, most of it is spam but there are some legitimate ones out there, unfortunately.
DeleteIt is just sad that spam has crawled its way into Facebook. I used to like Facebook just like many others, but now I hardly ever get on due to these stupid spam "like" pages. It seems like that is the only thing that comes on peoples news feed nowadays.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is sad! They even do this for Twitter. I'm afraid to see the next generation of spam. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteThis is why I do stay away from Facebook! These little ads are so annoying! The only time I clicked an ad like this was to raise money for cats in shelters but was redirected to Pedigree's website where they would donate if you clicked a certain button there, so it wasn't necessarily through the number of "likes" on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree on the annoying part! There are some legitimate like campaigns out there. I've done the same thing for the humane society here. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteWow this is really interesting. It seems like every day some kind of photo comes across my newsfeed that shows either a kid that is sick or a really funny picture. I have always figured it was someone that was just trying to get a bunch of likes on their page. However I did not know that making money was the motive behind it. It is pretty sad when it comes to this. I have never shared or liked one of these pictures, and I never will
ReplyDeleteYes, I was shocked to see how these people treat this like a business. If they don't sell the page, they put links to things for people to buy that they get a commission off, put ads on it etc. On occasion, they use the pages to spread malware. I've always been suspicious of these pages and I'm glad!
DeleteThis is surprising to me. I never knew this was going on with spam. It is defenitely very clever. People that sell their pages really do their homework on how to get people to click on it so easily. I always thought the "likes" were just individuals competing with other friends to see who could get the most. I'll never click on another like post again.
ReplyDeleteJoshua
Like farming is something I never thought of but and interesting topic. It is a great way for internet users to earn money buy setting up a page and then selling it for a profit. Like farming makes me think about what I Like because there are promotion ads that pop up on the feed based on what I like. It is scary to think where Spam can go in the future with the growth of technology.
ReplyDelete