Thursday, April 5, 2012

Really? An enemies app??

Webnotes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC. Content also featured on WBTV's segment, Protecting Your Cyberturf, featuring Kristen Miranda and Theresa Payton.  

 
We were all taught that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.  So imagine our surprise when we found out that there is a free app on Facebook so you can publicly name your enemies and give shout outs online as to who they are and why.  We don’t think this is a good idea at all.  

It is real and hard to imagine.  The app is called EnemyGraph.com.  It’s free and it lets you name your enemies on Facebook.  You can even define someone as an archenemy!  The creator said that they created this app because people can bond together based on things they dislike such as a politician, a wayward celebrity, or a food.  But WBTV’s cyber expert is concerned that this creates a new glorified form of bullying or organized hate and she’s given us a warning.


HOW IT WORKS:

1.  EnemyGraph is free and easy to install

2.  Within minutes you can name your enemies

3.  You can trend enemies - as of this show the top 3 enemies were:  Justin Bieber, Rick Santorum,  and Westboro Baptist Church

4.  EnemyGraph says they feel they have stop gaps in place:  you have to be friends with the profile, you have to have the app installed, and you have to be “generally famous” but one person with only 59 likes showed up temporarily as #5 with only 4 enemies listing him.  That hardly seems “generally famous”


WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

1.  For starters, mistaken identity and naming someone the wrong person!

example:  the Justin Bieber “top enemy” listed on the site, when you click on it, the site even says, “I’m not the real Justin Bieber, I’m just a fan” and his Facebook profile was chosen as an enemy!

2.  Concern for kids using this app and creating a glorified form of cyberbullying - even if only directed at “generally famous” people does not send a good message

3.  Digital is forever - why would you want your dislikes posted and a record created of all those dislikes?

4.  Anyone can go to the EnemyGraph.com site to see the trending enemies without every installing the app so its very public


WORD OF THE WEEK:

FLIXEL:  think of it as a flying or moving pixel in a picture.  It’s a new iphone app that lets you take a still picture, and then chose something that you want to animate.  For example a still picture with a bird in the background caught midflight could be altered to show the bird moving while the rest of the picture stands still.



WEB RESOURCES:


If you are curious about EnemyGraph or the trending topics go to
www.EnemyGraph.com

If you or a loved one are a victim of Facebook abuse from bullying to identity theft, go immediately to this link in Facebook for assistance:  
https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=212722115425932

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