Who wouldn’t want to be friends with a hot, naked, friendly blonde who had recently lost her digital camera containing some very explicit photos? Thanks to Facebook’s relaxed (that is, non-existent) identity-verification process, anyone could. And did.

She received, apparently, “tens of thousands” of offers to return her lost property. Property whose finding was aided by a lot of amateurish-looking digital photos being offered to assist identification.

The use of Facebook here is interesting because it really highlights a major weakness in the social networking platform. Anyone can pretend to be anyone else. Maybe that’s a strength and a weakness. Maybe it’s the same weakness any online dating site might have. But being the market leader means, perhaps, having to take a little more responsibility than that.

Eventually it was determined that the blonde was a professional porn actress, and the whole thing a clever viral marketing campaign. Again — looking back at my Amatomu analysis piece — sex plus social networking works. Maybe sex plus anything works, though.

To see her in all her suntanned, innocent-eyed wonder, and read more about the incident have a look here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=479058&in_page_id=1770

Author

  • Jarred Cinman is software director at Cambrient, South Africa's leading developer of web applications. He co-founded Johannesburg's first professional web development company and was one of the founders of VWV Interactive, for many years the premier creative web business in the country, winning numerous Loeries and various international awards. In 2001, Jarred co-founded Cambrient, which has, in its six-year history, built the leading local content management system and serviced an impressive list of corporate customers. Cambrient Contentsuite is also the engine behind Moneyweb.

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Jarred Cinman

Jarred Cinman is software director at Cambrient, South Africa's leading developer of web applications. He co-founded Johannesburg's first professional web development company and was one of the founders...

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