Facebook attacks application spam
Facebook has changed the rules around Applications to combat invite spam. It’s about damn time – I broke 100 waiting application requests today. For example, you can now block an application from ever interacting with you again – why did this take so long? The most interesting, though, is this:
Your feedback now determines how many communications an application can send. When invitations and notifications are ignored, blocked, or marked as spam, Facebook reduces that application’s ability to send more. Applications forcing their users to send spammy invitations can wind up with no invitations at all. The power is in your hands; block applications that are bothering you, and report spammy or abusive communications, and we’ll restrict the application.
Good approach. If it works, I might start using Facebook regularly again.
Feb 20 2008
2:33 pm
Frankly I don’t understand the attraction of Facebook in the first place….
Feb 20 2008
2:49 pm
It makes it easy to be social and interact with people you don’t see on a regular basis (for example, friends on co-op.) Well, it did. Now it makes it easy to be drowned in too much information and too many messages.
Feb 21 2008
10:55 am
Apparently they’re not even growing anymore (and maybe even shrinking): http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/21/fb_nielsen_fall/
Feb 21 2008
5:45 pm
FB also has a “Spamminess” rating for applications that effects your likelihood of seeing their crap in your News or Mini Feed.