Despite the fact that Facebook states that users are only allowed one account it’s a well known fact in comping circles that some people have a couple. One for personal and private use and one to specifically for competitions. However, some people use multiple accounts just for comping and it’s not gone unnoticed. In fact it’s coined a new comping term: chompers! Take a comper who is a cheat and you get a chomper! Even more interesting is that the days of the chomper may well be numbered as people start to highlight multiple account holders to promoters.
Market Royale Without Cheese
An example of this can be found on the Market Royale page. They chose a winner who was subsequently outed as someone who allegedly has over 100 profiles. After investigation by Market Royale, thanks to information passed to them by observent compers, they opted to select another winner. This isn’t the only case that’s cropped up recently. In recent months we’ve heard stories of people creating fake accounts to try and claim prizes that have been announced on promoter’s Walls. The depths that some people will plumb to steal a win is quite incredible – see Lettuce Scarves for another example. The good news is that there’s definitely a tide of change where people are now starting to voice their concerns to promoters – and this often results in a positive outcome.
Should You Out The Cheats
Firstly, outing a cheat is something you must do so sensibly! It must be done in a controlled manner with valid information. You can’t just make wild accusations about someone – just in case you’re wrong! So be careful. If you spot a problem with a competition, then get your facts together! Take screen shots as information does get deleted. If you’re unsure about anything don’t go public, but instead contact a promoter privately. It’s great to see compers acting to protect their hobby… just be careful how you do it! Mind you, if promoters ran their Facebook competitions as laid out by FB guidelines then a number of these issues wouldn’t arise. In fact, if Facebook got it’s act together and forced brands to run competitions within their guidelines then that would help too.
A Bigger Facebook Issue
The big issue is how the hell does Facebook allow someone to create (or get hold of and use) multiple accounts? Their terms and conditions specifically state that a person is allowed one account and we expect that they must monitor login/logout and IP activity. Now there must be “average household usage” when it comes to Facebook accounts and families – but surely Facebook has some way to identify someone creating multiple accounts? In fact, we think that this must be a fundamental element of their security set up. In comping terms, a multiple account holder is a pain – but on a larger scale it’s quite worrying to think that it must be quite easy to set up multiple accounts and identites on the world’s largest social network. Even more worrying is that telling Facebook about it is pretty difficult too. The biggest problem with Facebook is that it’s a faceless website with one of the worst “contact us” systems ever created. Yes, there’s a massive help centre but it will take you round and round in circles more times than a ride on a Merry Go Round.
Don’t Have Nightmares!
For example, some of our users may have details of a multiple account holder (advice needed – cheating on Facebook), but have no idea how to inform Facebook or point out to them that this problem exists. At the moment Facebook itself is the biggest barrier to really starting to deal with the cheats. There will always be issues surrounding possible cheating in competitions, whether it’s multiple accounts, vote influencing or automated entry services. If compers and sites like Loquax don’t stand up and start helping promoters understand the problems then nothing changes! Fortunately these things don’t effect every promotion and competition so – as they say on Crimewatch – don’t have nightmares.
Well, that’s unless you’re a chomper!