Hot Dates & Social Engineering in Facebook Apps

Joking aside, this is clearly a ham-fisted attempt to enouage people to stop ignoring the growing waves of app-spam through some social engineering. I’ve had several request in recent weeks, all saying that my friend needs help to, say, get another $500 of virtual poker chips or more ranks at her court. 

And to me, it reeks of desperation. The app developers can no longer rely on waves of friend-to-friend app spam to spread their wares, and so they have to try to make emotional connections to achieve the same thing. I don’t think it’s going to work unless they can make these appeals look like they come more directly from the friend – and that’s moving into the realms of outright deception.

Perhaps the much-needed app shakedown is upon us.