College Prowlin’ on Facebook

Posted on December 22, 2008
Filed Under News, The Daily Prereq | By Jessica Dye

Eager beavers who got the early nod on their college applications may have rushed to join the “College X Class of 2013″ Facebook groups for their brand-new alma maters. And they may have noticed something…odd–at least, higher ed recruitment blog Squaredpeg did. One-off school logos? Admins who had no affiliation with the school whatsoever? When Squaredpeg dug a little deeper, they found that Class of 2013 groups had been started at over 500 schools by the same dozen or so non-college users. What conspiracy was afoot?

According to Inside Higher Ed, college review site College Prowler was busted for forming the groups under false pretenses. Marketing and commercial groups are forbidden from creating school-specific groups, which could potentially turn unsuspecting members and groups into hotbeds of critical dirt for sites like Prowler. Before they could pull a fast one, however, users took to the blogs, their Twitters, and Facebook itself to figure out who was behind the false fronts. College Prowler CEO Luke Skurman soon issued an admission, an apology, and a promise to take the Prowlers off admin duties on the 2013 groups.

Ah, pre-frosh: They haven’t even set foot on campus, and already they’re embroiled in a Facebook scandal. Welcome to college life!

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