It is, in fact, something you would have to use Facebook to understand.

October 18, 2011 2:07 PM

Take This Lollipop personalizes the classic trope of the cyberstalker via Facebook. “When you see your personal information in an environment where you normally wouldn’t, it creates a strong emotional response,” [TTL director Jason Zada] said. “It’s tied into the fears about privacy and personal info that we have now that we live online.”

For the virally-aware, Zada "insists that it is not connected to a covert advertising campaign or a stealthy attempt to garner attention for a brand or product."

posted by Tubalcain (66 comments total)

What does it do?
posted by mrgrimm at 2:08 PM on October 18, 2011

FTA: The mysterious site is called Take This Lollipop. After you give the site permission to connect to your Facebook account, it beings playing a video featuring a sweaty, twitchy man, sitting in a darkened room, using a computer to nose around Facebook. But he’s not browsing through just any random page — he’s looking at your account and getting increasingly agitated by what he’s seeing.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:10 PM on October 18, 2011

Zada "insists that it is not connected to a covert advertising campaign or a stealthy attempt to garner attention for a brand or product."

Oh, well, if he insists, I guess that puts the matter to rest.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:13 PM on October 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

The first link is a Facebook info gathering device. It should be noted in the link.

not clicking


========
TakeThisLollipop needs:
Your profile info: birthday, location, relationship status and relationship details
Your photos
Friends' locations
Photos shared with you
Videos shared with you
posted by lampshade at 2:15 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

sweaty, twitching man

Is this a Human Centipede 2 thing?

Cause if so, I am really, really not interested.
posted by Trurl at 2:16 PM on October 18, 2011

It probably is about marketing:

Looks like it's connected with the ad agency Evolution Bureau ("EVB") (clients: [1]), the same people who did the Office Depot-braded "Elf Yourself" sensation [2].

Why do I think it's EVB? This is the only other site on the same IP as manipulation.com, and manipulation.com is registered clearly to EVB. The agency's creative work is consistent with this project too.

[1] http://evb.com/work/ [2] http://elf.evb-archive.com/

posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:16 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, here's a video of this in action.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:17 PM on October 18, 2011

I clicked.

So I'll try to keep y'all posted if I, like, die or am marketed to or something equally grisly.
posted by jph at 2:19 PM on October 18, 2011 [7 favorites]

Ops, correct link.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:20 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sorry, I missed the article link. Against my better judgment, I installed the app.

It was kinda laughable, and also VERY misleading. By allowing the Take the Lollipop application, I had to allow access to parts of my Facebook account than a random stranger would not have.

If I were Facebook, I might consider legal action, for possible defamation.

TakeThisLollipop needs:
Your profile info: birthday, location, relationship status and relationship details
Your photos
Friends' locations
Photos shared with you
Videos shared with you

Exactly. Most of that information on my page Facebook is marked private (or supposedly private).

Even though I mark FB info "private," I assume it's all out there, so I have nothing I don't care about sharing with the world, but I wouldn't recommend allowing access to this application, fwiw. I wouldn't trust anything they say as the intent seems very misleading and sensational.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:21 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

It doesn't work for me. Probably because I have an Adblock Plus rule that prohibits third-party sites from interacting with Facebook. It's ||facebook.*$domain=~facebook.com|~127.0.0.1 if you're curious.
posted by grouse at 2:23 PM on October 18, 2011 [18 favorites]

So if I hand over all of my personal information, they'll give me an object lesson in privacy on the internet?

Ah. Huh.
posted by Stagger Lee at 2:23 PM on October 18, 2011 [23 favorites]

I thought this was incredibly well done, and pretty unsettling. I like how sites are getting better and better at this sort of thing (freaking people out, not stealing private info... though I realize those two are intertwined).

The two other examples that come to mind are from the TV show Dexter, and a video game called Prototype.

At the end, there's a timer that counts down from 60:00... curious if anything specific will happen, or if it's just meant to add to the creep-out factor.
posted by avoision at 2:27 PM on October 18, 2011

I thought it was pretty fucking cool.

I just wish at the end it would let you download the clip as a movie so I could post it to facebook.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:27 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Goofy.
posted by speicus at 2:33 PM on October 18, 2011

Just so long as it doesn't take me to this pervert's profile.
posted by justkevin at 2:34 PM on October 18, 2011 [30 favorites]

Apparently this picture of a T-Rex stepping in gum is what drove him over the edge.

That, the fact that I only list the city I live in, and that my profile picture is not a picture of me or even a photograph made this read as hilarious for me. Point not driven home.
posted by cmoj at 2:36 PM on October 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

justkevin - I've learned something new today. Thank you.
posted by avoision at 2:40 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Haha most of the pictures that are tagged of me are random lol-cats and webcomics that friends have posted. Apparently me being tagged as a google eyed LCD monitor was enough to drive him insane.
posted by msbutah at 2:51 PM on October 18, 2011

Just so long as it doesn't take me to this pervert's profile.

There's a monster at the end of this book!
posted by sweetkid at 2:56 PM on October 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

What's really impressive is whatever tech they've got under the hood that does all that processing on the fly. They must grab all the thumbnails and then lay them out on a grid.

What was freakiest about the video was that a copy of me and my son was photo he chose to tape to his truck as the "target".
posted by Deathalicious at 2:58 PM on October 18, 2011

I can't actually access the link for some reason - I can see why the video is creepy, but at the same time I'm kind of distracted by the details, like why did they choose a stereotypical white trash look (wifebeater, dirty nails, methface) to be the Poster Boy of Online Creepiness? Where does he live with that big ol' cliche of an abandoned industrial hallway?
posted by muddgirl at 2:59 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

The first link is a Facebook info gathering device.

That's interesting. I went to the link, saw the little Facebook sign on the place you were supposed to click, thought "wait, they want to link to my Facebook profile? No." I didn't click on it. But is there anything to stop them from having an unlabeled clicky thing that lets them link to my Facebook page? Like, any time I click on something on a website, is there a chance I'm giving them access to me on Facebook?
posted by craichead at 3:00 PM on October 18, 2011

It's more silence of the lambs that way?
posted by Windopaene at 3:01 PM on October 18, 2011

I'm with CMoJ, my profle pic is a picture of my goofy dog wearing a baseball cap. And the one of the photos that drove him nuts was my sis in law holding my nephew. Very wtf-ish if you already have good privacy practices.
Also -- the view of my facebook wall appears to be that which is my public view. (FB will let you see what different security groups see.) I can see this *totally* freaking out my nieces though (17 and 20) they let everything out there.
posted by Librarygeek at 3:12 PM on October 18, 2011

Just so long as it doesn't take me to this pervert's profile.

Amusingly, I have installed disconnect which means I can't even follow that link.
posted by jessamyn at 3:13 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Looks like it's connected with the ad agency Evolution Bureau ("EVB")

Evolution Bureau has denied having anything to do with it.

http://twitter.com/#!/danielstein/status/126322020152651776
posted by bitdamaged at 3:13 PM on October 18, 2011

For kicks, I kept the site open and watched the countdown go down to zero. Looking at my Facebook profile, I can't see that anything's changed, now that the counter has run out.

Guess nothing's happening then. Just as well, since I'm punching out and heading home. Just going to put these papers in my folder, these pencils in my drawer... this lotion in the basket...

wait, where did this basket come fr
posted by avoision at 3:25 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

Europe versus Facebook Read the list of 22 items. This will be playing out in EU courts soon.

via Bruce Schneier's blog
posted by Xoebe at 3:31 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Amusingly, I have installed disconnect which means I can't even follow that link.

Although I once created a Facebook account when I realized that it keeps track of everything I read I logged out and never returned. After a few months they even stopped sending me naggy emails and I stopped getting friend requests from random people I've never heard of. And I can't follow that link either.
posted by localroger at 3:32 PM on October 18, 2011

Following a link from the video link posted above by Foci for Analysis:

You immediately find yourself in a very dark and dangerous looking hallway. The video then proceeds to take you into a room that doesn’t look very safe either, with a man at a computer who immediately logs into Facebook.

The experience is quite voyeuristic, and then you realize this man is logging into your Facebook account. The audience of Take This Lollipop may immediately feels remorse for sharing their Facebook profile information as this creepy individual uses your account to spy on you. Starting with your Facebook wall, to your photos and then on to your friends the now dangerous man has access to all of your very private information.

As the site continues, you realize that this dangerous man is now using Google to look up your location. Upon identifying where you are he decides to get into his car to come and find you. And that is when you realize that he has your photo taped to the dash of his rape / kill / capture mobile. As he exits the car, presumably near your location, you are left with a very uneasy feeling. Is this real or just a creepy fantasy?
posted by vidur at 3:33 PM on October 18, 2011

Metafilter: Where 4chan and Facebook insist they're not connected to a covert advertising campaign or a stealthy attempt to garner attention for a brand or product.
posted by Chuffy at 3:34 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter: Is this real or just a creepy fantasy?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:47 PM on October 18, 2011

When I clicked through, I forgot that I'd recently been tagged in a whole bunch of photos from a 1993 production of As You Like It, which made it seem like the guy in the video is either a big fan of or vehemently against high school Shakespeare.

And, coincidentally, watching that reminded me that the one person I pre-emptively blocked on facebook when I first signed up (in 2007?) was my mid-90s boyfriend, who later stalked me for years. Dude taught me a good early lesson about internet privacy.
posted by jocelmeow at 4:18 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

Thanks for the AdBlock filter, grouse. That's a helpful one.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 4:32 PM on October 18, 2011

But is there anything to stop them from having an unlabeled clicky thing that lets them link to my Facebook page? Like, any time I click on something on a website, is there a chance I'm giving them access to me on Facebook?

Go ahead and click the button - it's safe. Nothing actually happens until you acknowledge it in the Facebook pop up, so you are definitely safe from random, unlabeled links.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 4:54 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

I work with the director. This project is not connected to any brand or advertising. The site does not store or use your information FYI. None of your information is shared and nothing is posted on your Facebook page afterwards.
posted by morerio at 5:35 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

You know, I didn't post this because I thought two (now 4) open Facebook-centric threads were enough for the day...

Flag and move on, I know.
posted by azarbayejani at 5:59 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

too bad all the good fake accounts have been taken or i would be doing this with Grimace from McDonalds
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 6:02 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

been reading about some Internet stalkers in the PYF Trainwreck thread

You know, I didn't post this because I thought two (now 4) open Facebook-centric threads were enough for the day...

Facebook is life
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:19 PM on October 18, 2011

And I love how you people are so paranoid about FB privacy
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:20 PM on October 18, 2011

You people?
posted by jessamyn at 6:31 PM on October 18, 2011

er, many MeFi users. apologies
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:33 PM on October 18, 2011

been reading about some Internet stalkers in the PYF Trainwreck thread

man sa is fucking gross

Everyone has a few favourite internet trainwrecks, people who like to make an rear end of themselves online and are subsequently ridiculed for it.

The infamous Chris Chan.

chris chan stalker apologetics, ugh barff
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 6:45 PM on October 18, 2011

half the thread ends up calling out Chris Chan's stalkers for being creepier than Chris Chan
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:46 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was disappointed that once the count down (after you watch the movie) hits zero NOTHING HAPPENS! There's an hour I won't get back.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:51 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

well yeah more people know about that now and it's become embarrassing to publicly participate in
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 6:57 PM on October 18, 2011

And that is when you realize that he has your photo taped to the dash of his rape / kill / capture mobile

He has a pumpkin I carved two years ago taped to his dashboard, come get it!
posted by SuzySmith at 7:18 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

A more insidious and threatening thing is Facebook's building of "shadow profiles" as related recently in some other thingie related on slashdot. I have to assume it's true because it's perfectly in character. I don't have a FB account but people link to me, maybe lots of them because of my presence on other websites. And so, some asswhipe floats the suggestion that I live in Memphis, TN. And FB crosslinks that into their shadow profile and then later they link that shadow profile to the guy who wrote A Certain Infamous Internet Novel. And there I am, in all my internet glory, a resident of Memphis, even though I live about six hundred miles from there, and there's no review, no arbitration, no way to correct it, it just is. I start receiving ads for trendy Memphis hotspots in my email and friend requests from people I've never met in the Memphis area. And because I'm not their customer, big corporations mining data are, there's no customer service to which I can either complain or try to amend the omission. Suddenly in the Facebook multiverse, I live in Memphis.

This is so fucked up it is scarcely believable, and I am willing to believe in a lot of fucked up things. FB needs to disappear. It needs to fail hard, on the heels of MySpace. And whatever comes up behind it needs to have a fucking sense of decency;
posted by localroger at 7:39 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

OH MY GOD HE'S AT MY WINDOW AND HE'S TRYING TO SELL ME FARMVILLE ITEMS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T CLICK THE LINK!
posted by jph at 8:37 PM on October 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

It took me several videos of horror and pity before I clicked through to his channel and realized that this kid is an absolute genius. (from the SA trainwreck link)
posted by cmoj at 8:39 PM on October 18, 2011

plus the whole naming and shaming aspect of that thread and threads like it makes my skin crawl, i would not say that participating in that kind of thing makes you equal to a chris chan stalker but it sure as shit is fertile and conducive to that mindset
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 8:48 PM on October 18, 2011

The existence of something like a "shadow profile" disgusts me. The assumptions made by social networks based on friends of friends of friends is disturbing. Ads well targeted at me though I keep little information on my interests in my profile. And somewhere out there I know there is some sort of engine scraping, scraping away and gathering together info about my usernames and trying to connect the dots on them. Just ask the enigne at pipl.com.

It makes me want to get rid of my Facebook stuff. But then I couldn't see what other people are saying about me, what misinformation is being spread around. It might be advantageous to the cause of anonymity to have bad information out there, but what about damaging rumors and outright lies?

It makes me want to create a service that will set up a bunch of fake profiles on major social networks with a set of randomized interests, locations, ages, and profile pics. You could review the potential profiles service generates and make changes where needed. Then CLICK! A dozen false herrings created. A hundred! A thousand! The real info is lost in the noise of fakes. You then have the option of having your profiles linked to fake profiles in the service and they can go on to message one another Markov chain posts and messages.

Of course, I have not fully considered the ramifications. There are always ramifications.
posted by Mister Cheese at 9:07 PM on October 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

Amusingly, I have installed disconnect which means I can't even follow that link.

Unless you reload it.
posted by ersatz at 7:16 AM on October 19, 2011

A more insidious and threatening thing is Facebook's building of "shadow profiles"

...

The existence of something like a "shadow profile" disgusts me.

I am kinda chuckling at the faux outrage over "shadow profiles."

You think I opted-in to being tracked by Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union?
posted by mrgrimm at 9:46 AM on October 19, 2011 [2 favorites]

By allowing the Take the Lollipop application, I had to allow access to parts of my Facebook account than a random stranger would not have.

So I must conclude that this creepy guy is an employee of Zinga.
posted by RobotHero at 11:02 AM on October 19, 2011

Zynga.
posted by RobotHero at 11:02 AM on October 19, 2011

Actually, this ended up being pretty hilarious. I have some... weird photos up on Facebook, which made appearances in the "horror" movie. One of my favorites is me wearing giant red wax lips with a friend while we were visiting Dollywood... when in Rome. Another couple are from the same vacation, when the friend and I dressed up as Black Swan/White Swan for a costume ball. You might imagine that having these pictures flash up on the homicidal maniac's computer as he's "stalking me" made me a kind of hilarious effect.

Anyway, not dead, not getting spam. Sides hurt a bit from laughing at the ridiculous mashup of costumed me in a "horror" film.
posted by jph at 11:14 AM on October 19, 2011

Wow. They really made that comment sound like you! It's amazing how realistic the impersonation gets just from analyzing your Facebook content. Unfortunately, you fail the Turing test. Those lips are clearly shopped!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:55 AM on October 19, 2011

I installed it. I thought it was well done and it actually surprised me how effective it was. I ended up closing it early, so I didn't see the whole thing. It's essentially propaganda for internet privacy, which I entirely approve of.
posted by delmoi at 2:19 PM on October 19, 2011

and manipulation.com is registered clearly to EVB.

That's just what they want you to think.
posted by Spatch at 11:17 PM on October 19, 2011

It's essentially propaganda for internet privacy, which I entirely approve of.

It's also a scare tactic similar to what's oft decried on Nancy Grace et al.

The chances of a random stranger becoming a stalker of you based on random pictures he finds on the Internet are so low to be trivial.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:49 AM on October 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I read this about the facebook today. Sort of interesting how you can use privacy laws (in Europe) to see ALL the data Facebook has about you. Ignore the comments.
posted by jessamyn at 6:09 PM on October 20, 2011

I liked it, but I also came away thinking that it would have been even creepier if the scary stalker guy had started out looking at your profile, but then clicked on the profile of whomever you've listed yourself as "in a relationship" with, and then started going through their pictures before getting into his candy van.
posted by webmutant at 8:30 PM on October 20, 2011

I also came away thinking that it would have been even creepier if the scary stalker guy had started out looking at your profile, but then clicked on the profile of whomever you've listed yourself as "in a relationship" with, and then started going through their pictures before getting into his candy van.

Yes, that is one major flaw. His "next victim" is ... my wife's cousin's wife? Meh. I mean, my wife is listed and public.

I guess the idea is to pick someone outside your household, since your whole family and neighbors are dead, houses torched to cinders. That algorithm for picking "best friend" must be hard.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:00 PM on October 21, 2011

German state to sue Facebook over illegal facial recognition feature
posted by jeffburdges at 9:25 PM on November 10, 2011