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Facebook Blocks Users From Mentioning BugMeNot.com

ThinkingInBinary writes "The other day, I was trying to mention bugmenot.com in my Facebook status, and I discovered to my horror that Facebook blocks the phrase 'bugmenot.com' as "abusive" in status updates, messages, and presumably any other communications on the site. Facebook isn't even listed on BugMeNot, as they requested that logins for Facebook be blocked. This is pretty ridiculous, as I can't even send my friends a message mentioning bugmenot.com!"

7 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. Re:FBmenot.com by mustafap · · Score: 4, Interesting

    or write a letter.

    Try it, it's fun. I even bought a fountain pen. It feels nicer than a biro, or typing on the keyboard.

    --
    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
  2. Re:another "Do more evil" clone? by globaljustin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    another "Do more evil" clone?

    Yes. If you've looked at their redesign that will be implemented soon, you know what I mean. They basically split the functions of the site across 4 or 5 pages instead of just the one, so now you have to click more to see the same amount of content. The whole redesign is made to get more page views of their ads.

    I hate it, but I'm old. I remember when the internet and the WWW came to suburbia back in the mid 90s. Almost all internet sites were free, if you had the hardware to access them, just like facebook.com is right now. It's free.

    Somehow, someone who has no understanding of economics managed to convince themselves that facebook.com was worth hundreds of millions for investment. It's not. It never will be. It's a free website that has some cool widgets and lets you keep up with your friends. It's not like they have a patent on social networking.

    Here's what will happen. Facebook will have to continually make its interface more intrusive in order to please their investors and advertisers. As that happens, they will loose users. Eventually another site will pop up that has the same functionality as facebook.com only without all the BS. People will begin to use it, and the internet circle of life continues.

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
  3. WARNING hidden IFrame in the bugmenot link by onlysolution · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did anyone else notice the little iframe in the bugmenot page? That links back to the ttuttle.com site the original blog post is on? According to Chrome's nifty element inspector it's pointing back to http://www.ttuttle.net/396jdw.php, though it's obviously slashdotted by now so I have no idea what it's supposed to do or if that address is unique.

    1. Re:WARNING hidden IFrame in the bugmenot link by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The URL of the story poster (http://www.ttuttle.net/) and BugMeNot.com are owned by the same people.

      What's going on is that the people that run BugMeNot "astro-turfed" Slashdot, who when they read "censorship", immediately wet their pants all over the non-story without checking it out. Note that a number of Facebook users have said that they had no issues at all with Facebook and BugMeNot?

      Very good effort on BugMeNot's astro-turf effort. A+ in fact.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    2. Re:WARNING hidden IFrame in the bugmenot link by kjones692 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I know the story poster in person - we're both at CMU. The story is actually an attempt to send unique IP addresses to a certain site for an academic assignment. The details of the assignment are here. (Warning, PDF.)

      --

      Love the Third Amendment?
  4. Re:works for me by ceoyoyo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Perhaps the best way to advertise is to submit to Slashdot that somebody has blocked you. Interesting.

  5. Re:Not true? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wrote a long note about BugMeNot and facebook's censorship, and it posted just fine.

    An hour later (now), I checked facebook and my published note has vanished. Gone without a trace. No warning, no e-mails, nothing, it's just not there. I'm putting up another note about censorship (without using the BugMeNot phrase this time) to see what happens.

    Regardless of what happens, I will be cancelling my facebook account by the end of next week. This is absolutely ridiculous.