As annoying as Facebook can be at times, it’s nice to see that they are looking out for us to some degree. It seems that Facebook has filed three lawsuits in San Jose courts against several men who tricked people into signing up for mobile subscriptions and then spammed them.
I get annoyed just typing that.
“In three separate complaints, we allege that Steven Richter, Jason Swan, and Max Bounty, Inc. used Facebook to offer enticing, but non-existent products and services,” Facebook said in a blog post. “According to our complaints, the defendants, among other things, represented that in order to qualify for certain fake or deceptive offers, people had to spam their friends, sign up for automatic mobile phone subscription services, or provide other information.”
Yep, that’s annoying. In this age of marketing where we are almost completely desensitized to endless advertisements and sales pitches, consumers like to have a place to go where they can feel safe from it all. Facebook can be a very valuable marketing tool, but you have to do it properly and respectfully. Spamming people, however, qualifies as neither.
We’re glad Facebook is doing this. You can use Facebook ads and share links to companies and services that you want to share with your friends. You can be a company who interacts with its customers on Facebook. That stuff is perfectly fine. Facebook is a great way to build and maintain long-term, personal relationships with your customers.
But this spam nonsense has to go. People do it all over Twitter too, and it makes me sick. Why can’t people just enjoy something for what it is? Take your “Work from Home” scams elsewhere.
As my mother used to say, “this is why we can’t have nice things!” Someone always has to ruin it.