Status anxiety

What bugs me is not identity fraud but who will be watchdog to BBC’s Watchdog

Toby Young

Wednesday, 24th October 2007

Toby Young has no need of a noddy shot

A couple of weeks ago I got a request from someone called Amba wanting to be my Facebook friend. Without thinking much about it, I said yes — I usually do when people ask to be friends with me on social networking sites. The upshot is that Amba now has access to my Facebook profile — she can see, for instance, that my favourite novelist is Charles Dickens — and can send messages to all my other Facebook friends.

The following day I received an email from an assistant producer on Watchdog revealing that I’d been targeted as part of a story she was working on investigating social networking sites and identity fraud. Apparently, ‘Amba’ was a pseudonym she had adopted to see how many people would be incautious enough to become online friends with her. The idea was to demonstrate how easy it would be for a fraudster to gain access to people’s personal details and steal their identity.

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Ali Adams

October 25th, 2007 2:50pm Report this comment

I have to say thank you for the link to this. I has given me quite an insight to how things can be manipulated with camera shots etc to get the result they want rather than whats the correct one. Brilliant!

Michael Morris

October 25th, 2007 4:54pm Report this comment

Watchdog peddling an agenda? I'm not as surprised as I should be...Wow, should we be afraid if some stranger finds our favourite film is ___ or book,___? What our status says we're doing? Oh jeeze, my page links to crazy pics of me too!And my close friends. Ahhh))) ...One word: FEAR! Check out Exploring Media discourse by Myra McDonald?

ian skidmore

October 25th, 2007 7:40pm Report this comment

Good for you. The first time I wa on Tv in a Book show to publicise my work the director said we must have a rehersal. my fellow guest the widow of the poet Vernon Watkins said " Why? We don't plan to give stupid or rude answers" "Ah" said the propducer. "If he presenter doesn't know what you are going to say he will have to listen to your answers The presenter went on to be Controller BBC Wales. Which figures

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