Do you really KNOW your Facebook friends?

By Heather Podvey, ApplyWise.com

As you know, Facebook is all the rage among people of all ages. Everyone from high school students to college graduates, and even some grandparents are proudly “friending” on Facebook. However, despite the innocuous aims of Facebook to help its users manage their social networks, there are some dangers to using Facebook that all current and future college applicants need to be aware of.

ApplyWise’s article “Playing it Safe in Facebook's Wild, Wild West,”already warned that some college admissions officers have been checking out prospective students’ Facebook profiles to get the inside scoop on the “real” student. Sadly, as a result of the officers’ findings, a number of students have been denied admission and/or had their acceptance decision revoked. Despite the warnings, students continue to do things on Facebook that may jeopardize their college admissions. One of the most important things for any Facebook user to remember is control who sees your private information. Early this summer, ApplyWise participated with Millburn High School in New Jersey in a day-long event warning students of the dangers of Facebook and college admissions. A student group at Millburn showed their classmates just how risky some of the actions can be.

The group of students created a Facebook account for a fictional “new student” to their school. Creating this account was simple. The entire exercise took just a few minutes. The students began by creating a new email address on a free web-based page using a made-up name... Next, they created a Facebook account for the fictional student (they named her “Lauren”) by using the new email address, as well as fake information about the student (i.e. her hometown, birthday, etc). Searching for a profile picture on the web for a cute high school girl was easy.. Once the account was set up, “Lauren” requested to be friends with her fellow Millburn High School students, adding between ten and fifteen students each day. By the end of the experiment, this “Lauren” had requested to be Facebook friends with 200 of her classmates.

Of the 200 students that “Lauren” requested to be friends with, nearly 60% accepted her friendship! Only two of those students messaged “Lauren”, questioning who she was. Additionally, 55 people took a look at her photo and profile, decided that she was “friend-worthy” and took the initiative to request that “Lauren” be their friend, even though they had no idea who she was. The student group presented the findings of their experiment to the school in a forum. As the student body walked into the gymnasium where the forum was held, they saw “Lauren’s” picture projected onto a big screen. Whispers were heard and fingers were pointed as the students filing in recognized the girl who they would call a Facebook friend. When the student body asked who recognized this girl, a large number of students raised their hands. When asked if anyone knew who she was, the students looked around sheepishly and laughed uncomfortably. As expected, no one actually knew who “Lauren” was.

When the students were told of the experiment, they were expectedly shocked. Many of the students had no concept that fake Facebook accounts could be created, and had little idea about the potential dangers that it may pose. What took just a few minutes to set up could have had lasting implications for the students who got duped into “friending” a stranger. For those students who took the initiative to make their profiles “private” so that only their friends can see, they were shocked to find out that by accepting a stranger as a “friend”, they were allowing immediate access to any personal information they have listed. The personal information often included phone numbers, private email addresses, in some cases, home addresses and, of course, those incriminating photos!

We have not heard stories of admissions officers posing as students, but families should be aware that you should NEVER accept an offer to friend someone whom you do not know personally. And, if you do friend an admissions officer, put your best “profile” forward. Be aware that your “friends” can see private personal information. Look for the step by step tips on you can set yourself up for success on Facebook here.

Copyright ApplyWise LLC ©2009