9 Responses for "Facebook app helps undermine brand and ripoff users"

1. Lee March 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am

   I have to wonder if it’s the same people that keep getting into these things. It reminds me of all of those “2 Free Nights in Las Vegas!” emails my relatives send me… you have to go through unpteen pages of “Hey, what about tis great offer?” and you never do get the stupid vacation package. At least not without subscribing to a bunch of stuff you don’t really want.
   I guess compared to that, though, this gag doesn’t seem as bad.

2. Tammy May 31st, 2008 at 10:08 am

   Smart people ALWAYS read websites before they sign up, so if you get charged for text messages- it’s because of your own stupidity. No one is forcing you to sign up.
   If you need more ‘brim bucks’ there are always contests (FREE) going on in the discussion board, some even held by the developers, others by members.

3. Colin May 31st, 2008 at 10:17 am

   Hey Tammy.

   That’s a load of crap. Those sites are designed to push people to sign up for unnecessary “services” and lock them into recurring charges.

   My point about “brim bucks” is that the app plays off a well-known trademark to make some sleazy dollars for a coder from Fanshawe College.

4. Ryan June 17th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

   Well, this is yet another review of the popular app which is written by someone who doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. First, the gift cards are real… I know someone who has gotten one. Second, nobody is forcing the users of the application to sign up for those stupid offers which you mention. I have been playing the application for some months now, and have never completed one. (Also, they are advertisements, paid for by the companies who put them on the app, and the links lead to third-party websites which are not controlled either by Facebook or the developers of the app.) And why should Tim Hortons want the application shut down? There are no direct copyright violations (other than the obvious spin-off of Tim Hortons’ contest, which isn’t even a copyright infringement). And it provides a lot of free advertising for the company, especially since many users of the application live in the United States, where Tim Hortons is attempting to get a foot-hold.

5. rebecca November 29th, 2008 at 5:40 am

   COLIN, this whole article is a complete load of bullsh*t, i have the application, i use it every day, have never paid one cent for anything and DO NOT get ANY spam. none what so ever. to know all that you know you must have been the moron who signed up for the phone bullsh*t. If you cant read terms and conditions, which are clearly stated on RTBTW as all other applications, then you shouldnt be on the internet. i think the only moron around here is you! seems to be the only popular opinion around here.

6. Colin November 29th, 2008 at 7:25 pm

   Hey Rebecca. Thanks for dropping by. I think you, me and the others agree that people should read the user agreements and pay attention to the rules of the apps they sign up for.

   When I tried out the app, I found it easy to be bounced to one of those offsite subscription SMS services - and $8 a month (4 messages a month at $2 each if you’re stupid enough to sign up) is pretty expensive to play a Facebook app.

   I didn’t bother to respond to Ryan back in June, but the developer is clearly getting revenue from those off-site ads. They don’t send out a handful of gift cards per month for nothing.

   Just keep on defending that Skinner box you seem to like so well.

7. Jason December 17th, 2008 at 6:18 pm

   As a member and regular player of this application who has won a real gift card and never been faced with any charges relating to it, I have to say that your article is only based on your opinion and completely lacking in factual information. You stated:

   “In order to keep playing the game, you are provided with several options to earn Brimbucks:

   recommend the app to friends
   invite friends to install the app
   become a fan of the app
   return every 4 hours to “earn” more
   vote for Brim as the app of the day
   fill out “surveys” ”

   An absolute flagrant lie. There is absolutely no need to fill in any offers or subscribe to any services whatsoever to progress in the game. One can play by simply collecting the brimbucks they are provided with every 4 hours, and trade items amongst each other without doing any of the other things that you mention and keep playing the game.

   As with any website or application, the funding necessary to maintain it is provided by advertising dollars. Of course the developer is receiving revenue, what is your point? It’s more than a full time job to maintain such an application, and many facebook apps have entire development teams turning a profit.

   Those subscription SMS services that you “found it easy to be bounced to one of” require you to click on them to enter, and terms and conditions to be read before agreeing to them. Check any other facebook application, you will find there to be similar marketing strategies and “offers” to be filled out to get EXTRA credits for that game. That is a FACEBOOK issue as far as I am concerned and not the fault of the application developer. It’s the framework they must follow in order to have a successful application. Next time, maybe do some more research before publishing such drivel, and maybe compare it to other facebook applications before assuming blame on one in particular.

   And in fact, the developers were in contact with Tim Horton’s from the beginning and anything that infringed on copyright was changed. I am sure Tim Horton’s are not too unhappy about the free publicity and thousands of dollars in gift cards purchased from them in the past year to be handed out to players of this game.

   Get your facts straight!

8. Colin December 17th, 2008 at 6:43 pm

   Hey Jason. Thanks for the comment.

   I didn’t say there “was a need” to fill in offers. I said it was one of many options.

   You’re right, in part, about my ignorance, because I don’t still have the app installed. I installed it and tried it out for a few days before writing this post, then uninstalled it.

   The most important part of my post, and one that none of my critics have addressed, is that signing up for an app gives the developer access to ALL the information you have put in your profile. While this app might not do anything with the information, you can be certain that thousands of other apps have some use for at least one or two or more pieces of data from your FB profile.

   You’re right that I should probably have compared the app to others, but I’m not a FB site, so I don’t really want to spend the time breaking down the costs and benefits of different apps.

   Obviously, there are quite a few of you enjoying this app, even after so long, so the developer must be doing something right.

9. Jason December 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm

   Thanks for the reply Colin, every app on facebook can have access to your personal information, and many have been taken down because they have been found to have abused this data. It is quite alarming, and a very good reason why people should limit the amount of information that they include on their personal profile, especially if they intend to play these applications. Facebook itself in it’s Terms Of Service, basically owns just about everything that people post on it’s site, including having rights to their photographs.

   So, it’s more a Facebook thing, than an application developer thing. The developer is bound by the framework that Facebook provides. If you are interested in this, you may want to spend some time breaking down the costs and benefits, maybe not for different apps, but apps in general. It has certainly peaked my curiosity, as to how many limitations and such that a developer is held accountable to, and how open to abuse the system might be. People’s personal information does seem to be very easily tossed around, and with thousands of applications having access to it, it’s definitely a huge cause for concern.

   Cheers