NICEVILLE, Fla. — This week’s It’s Geek to Me column examines how viral Facebook posts, quizzes, and “Like” challenges continue to fuel scams, data harvesting, and other online risks that catch users off guard.
Geek Note: This is a special “Best of” issue of It’s Geek To Me, with a column that I first ran all the way back in 2017 (I.G.T.M. #500, Feb 19, 2017). The information in it is just as relevant today, as I continue to see friends and colleagues responding to innocent-looking Facebook tropes, not realizing the risks lurking behind the so-called fun.
I also want to say “Happy Birthday” to our old friend Windows. Microsoft released Windows version 1.0 on November 20, 1985. I’d say the old gal looks pretty good for 40.
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“Can you list a state without an A in the name? Bet you can’t!” “Only 1 in 10 people can name these famous faces.” “It’s my birthday. I bet I won’t even get a single Like.” “Would you [wear/drive/buy/eat] this?” “You won’t believe what happens! Click ‘Like’ then ‘Share’.” “We can’t sell these iPads because they’ve been sitting in our warehouse, so we’re giving them away.” “My Daddy said he’d quit smoking if I could get 1000 Likes.” “Would you vote for this candidate? Like=Yes Share=No.” “Can you name a song that has a color in the title?”
Welcome to the world of Facebook in 2025 (originally 2017), and welcome to issue number 957 (originally 500) of It’s Geek To Me.
After I climbed out from under the pile of confetti and interns from our spectacular 500th Issue office party on the top floor of Geek Tower, I gave my research staff the rest of the week off, dragged myself to my corner office, and pondered how I might bring this landmark issue to you, my fellow Geek-Readers.
I decided to take a break from answering questions and indulge myself in writing about something that’s been under my skin for quite a while now. Specifically, I want to educate you about some of the irritating, malicious, and borderline criminal activity that goes on right under your nose on Facebook every day, and how you might be contributing to the problem.
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Over the past couple of years, I have warned dozens of my friends that something on which they had clicked “Like” was a scam. Almost to a person, the response was something like “I know. But it’s just a ‘Like’. No big deal.”
Actually, it can be quite a big deal. When you think of things of value online, a Facebook account probably isn’t among the first things that cross your mind; but Facebook places a high value on a page’s popularity, as measured by – you guessed it – the number of Likes and Shares it has.
The more popular a page is, the higher the chance is that it will appear in other people’s news feeds. For someone looking for a way to get instant credibility and exposure, a popular page is highly prized.
There is a practice known as “Like Farming” in which people use the types of posts that I quoted in this article’s lead-in to bait people into Liking, Sharing, or simply commenting on an article. When the page’s popularity has reached a suitably high level, the like-farmer removes its original content and replaces it with something else, such as scam advertising or even malware.
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It may be used to collect marketing information or simply be sold outright to a cybercriminal. Like-farming is especially nefarious because even posting a message in the comments warning people not to click it can boost the page’s ranking, increasing its value.
The only way not to feed it is to refrain from liking it or clicking on it.
There are other Facebook traps that are even worse. These are little applets that do everything from IQ tests and personality analysis to generating odd “facts” about you, such as matching your personality to a Disney character, a color, a classic movie, or other nonsense.
While these may be a fun distraction, these apps often require you to grant them access to a whole bunch of your account information that should, by all rights, be kept to yourself, not the least of which is the contents of your friend list.
But you do it anyway, and guess what? Now, all of your friends can be marketing tools along with you.
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So, the next time you see one of these irritating memes, remember that the chances are that picture of the burn victim, child in the hospital, or lonely veteran that’s tugging at your heartstrings was probably swiped from the web.
Ignoring it, or deciding not to type ‘Amen’, does not actually mean you’re a bad person – it just means you’re streetwise to Facebook scams. Remember that nobody anywhere is ever going to give away anything of value via Facebook just because it was returned, was found in their back room, or has been sitting in their showroom or warehouse for too long.
And most of your friends probably don’t want to be constantly asked to clog up their newsfeeds with requests to Like things, share things, join things, or repost things that you already posted to prove that they read your post.
Chances are that you and most of your friends share the same friends anyway, so if only one of you posts something, it’s likely that you will all see it. That’s the way Facebook news feeds work.
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Visit my web page for some funny memes that go along with this topic! Better yet, be sure to visit It’s Geek To Me on Facebook, Like our page, type “Amen” and Share it with your friends. Ignore and you’re heartless!
To view additional content, comment on articles, or submit a question, visit my website at ItsGeekToMe.co (not .com!)
Jeff Werner, a software engineer based in Niceville, Florida, has been writing his popular “It’s Geek to Me” tech column since 2007. He shares his expertise to help readers solve everyday tech challenges.
