Fraudulent users and "likes" are an acute problem for a company
that has sought to distinguish itself as a place on the Web where
people use their real identities.
The Facebook page for Gaston Memorial Hospital, in Gastonia,
North Carolina, features a chicken salad recipe to encourage
wholesome eating, tips on avoiding injuries at Zumba dance classes
and pictures of staff members dressed up for Halloween.
Typical stuff for a hospital in a small U.S. town.
But in October, another Facebook page for the hospital popped up.
This one posted criticisms of President Barack Obama and the
Affordable Care Act, the U.S. health care overhaul known to many as
Obamacare. That alternate page swiftly gathered hundreds of
followers, and the anti-Obama screeds drew "likes."
Officials at the hospital, scrambling to get the page taken down,
turned to their real Facebook page for damage control. "We apologize
for any confusion," they posted on Oct. 8, "and appreciate the
support of our followers."
The fake page was taken down 11 days later, as mysteriously as it
had gone up. Hospital officials say that they have no idea who was
behind it.
Fakery is all over the Internet. Twitter, which allows
pseudonyms, is rife with fake accounts and followers, and has been
used to spread false rumors, as demonstrated recently during
Hurricane Sandy. False customer reviews are a real problem on
consumer Web sites.
Gaston Memorial's experience is a lesson in the problem of fakery
on Facebook. For Facebook, the world's largest social network, such
an event represents an especially acute problem, because it calls
into question the company's basic premise.
As the company says, "Facebook is a community where people use
their real identities." It goes on to advise: "The name you use
should be your real name as it would be listed on your credit card,
student ID, etc."
"Likes" from fraudulent accounts damage the trust of advertisers,
who want clicks from real people -- potential customers on whom
Facebook relies to make money. Fakery can also ruin the credibility
of search results for the social search engine that Facebook says it
is building.
The company says it has always taken the problem of
misrepresentation seriously, and it recently stepped up efforts to
cull fakes from the site. "It's pretty much one of the top
priorities for the company all the time," said Joe Sullivan, who is
in charge of security at Facebook.
The fakery problem on Facebook comes in many shapes. False
profiles are fairly easy to create; hundreds can pop up
simultaneously, sometimes with the help of automation, and they
often persuade real people to accept friend requests that can spread
malware to disrupt computer functions or gather sensitive
information.
Fake Facebook friends and likes are sold on the Web like trinkets
at a bazaar, directed at those who want to enhance their online
images. Fake coupons for meals and gadgets can appear on Facebook
newsfeeds, seeking to trick people into disclosing personal
information.
Somewhat more benignly, some college students use fake names in
an effort to protect their Facebook content from the eyes of future
employers.
Mr. Sullivan declined to say what portion of the company's more
than one billion accounts might be fake. The company quantified the
