Users of the popular Facebook college and high school networking site may not create accounts under fake names, and a reporter with the University of Delaware Review caught one school administration staffer doing just that.
Matt Lenno is one barbecued Blue Hen today. UDReview Administrative News Editor Leah Kiell, acting on a tip, discovered that Lenno had registered with Facebook in a way that violates their terms of service:
Matt Lenno, assistant director of student centers and judicial advisor for Judicial Affairs, held an account under the name Raymond Matthew, his middle and first names, respectively.
Lenno stated in an e-mail message that he created his account last spring because he focuses the majority of his time on working with students and student groups and was interested in learning more about the Web site that is frequently talked about by students.
Lenno said he used a different name in order to protect his identity from students.
“I did not want students ‘poking’ me or asking me to befriend them,” he said. “I receive hundreds of e-mails a day from students and student groups. I did not want to get anymore.”
That should no longer be a problem for Lenno. A Facebook spokesperson told UDReview “This definitely violates our Terms,” and such accounts get taken down when they are reported. Facebook has since removed the account, even though Lenno is taking classes as an undergraduate student.
It’s not just administrators on the Newark, DE, campus signing on to Facebook. Kiell also noted that several members of the school’s public safety force have accounts on Facebook as well. Officers from the force did not comment on the article, and public safety director James Flatley had no knowledge of Facebook or his officers participation in it.
For Facebook fans, this is a disturbing trend. Other schools have had instances where public safety personnel browse through Facebook, find pictures of partying students or reports of forthcoming parties, and make arrests.
Students at George Washington University turned the tables on nosy investigators in January. When officers swooped in to eagerly bust up a beer bash, they instead found some 40 students enjoying cake and cookies, all decorated with the word “beer.”
Although Facebook is in no way private, many students treat it like it is. That attitude will come back to haunt them as prospective employers get access to Facebook so they can get an idea of the character of the person applying for a position.
Users can restrict viewing with the privacy settings Facebook makes available on the site.
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David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
