The Dead Have Risen And Are Liking Stuff On Facebook

In the past few months, you might have noticed some odd things on Facebook. You see sponsored posts telling you what your friends have clicked “Like” on lately, but they’re out of character. Liberals “like” Mitt Romney. Anti-corporate activists “like” finance companies. A person without a car “likes” Subaru. And dead people “like”… well, doing much of anything after they’ve died is pretty impressive. The users insist that the out-of-character clicks can’t possibly be real, but Facebook insists they can’t possibly be fake. What’s going on here?

Over at ReadWrite, they’re trying to figure this out, but without much success. Bernard Meisler solicited examples from readers of people whose new favorite things were being advertised to their friends in the form of “sponsored” posts…even if they had never clicked “Like” on those things in the first place.

A Facebook spokesperson insists that the people must have clicked accidentally. Maybe while using their smartphones, or visiting an outside web site. Plausible, but not probable: recently I apparently became a fan of a publication I’ve never heard of in a language that I don’t even read. To go back to one of Meisler’s examples, why would a non-driver even be visiting Subaru’s page?

Why Are Dead People Liking Stuff On Facebook? [ReadWriteWeb]

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