Using Facebook Friends as a Form of Advertising

[Ericandblueboy]

I'm "friends" with Tom S. and Todd K. on FB. I just saw Aykan Demiroglu (owner of Bistro Vivant in McLean) tag both on photos of Bistro Vivant (such photos are of the restaurant, not Tom or Todd). Essentially Demiroglu - who I don't know and don't care about - used his friend status with Tom and Todd to get pictures of his restaurant to all of Tom and Todd's "friends." This can be done without Tom and Todd's prior approval (but that doesn't mean they didn't approve in advance). Incidentally, Don was tagged as well. Hmm....any thoughts? A bit sneaky?

[DonRocks]

I guess it's this decade's form of sending a PR email. Sneaky? Aggressive, perhaps, but we can always delete it from our profiles, and I guess in extreme cases, could also unfriend and ignore. I have to say the pictures caught my attention - that tartare looks pretty good! Kaz has done this too - they're both good guys and quite honestly, I'm flattered they even think to include me in such things. That said, I'd prefer they were posted on the dcdining.com page - I had a picture of a piece of eel sushi in my personal photos for about a month, and didn't even know it.

Facebook has changed from being a high-school reunion thing, to being a marketing tool (surpassed by Twitter in that department) - I have absolutely no idea who many of my friends are, and have stopped caring as long as I don't get bombarded with event requests.

[mdt]

There is a setting under Home >> Privacy Settings >> Profile and Tagging that lets you set who sees you if you are tagged. It also allows you to make it so that you have to approve any Tags before they are seen.