This was too good to pass up. Facebook is back in the news today only this time due to a SNAFU with their new Groups feature. Poor boys, they got a taste of what a PITA technology can be for the rest of us. Here's how it went down, no pun intended...
NAMBLA is an acronym for the completely unsavory North American Man/Boy Love Association. (For South Park fans, it refers to the National Association of Marlon Brando Look-Alikes). This acronym became popular after Facebook launched a new Groups feature and suddenly technology blogger Michael Arrington, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis all found themselves added to a Group called NAMBLA.
Apparently Calacanis quickly fired off an email to Zuckerberg saying that he was troubled to have been added to the Group without being given the opportunity to opt-in. It turns out, the Groups feature lets users automatically add existing friends to Groups, but they can't do this with people they don't know.
So how did Zuckerberg get added to NAMBLA then? That's all down to tech blogger Arrington. "I typed in his name and hit enter,' Arrington wrote on TechCrunch. "He's my Facebook friend, I therefore have the right to add him." Arrington added that "as soon as Zuckerberg unsubscribed I lost the ability to add him to any further Groups at all, another protection against spamming and pranks." A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed that Group members can only add their friends to the Group.
Allrighty then,
Erin
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