the FAKEbook?
by Abra Lyons-Warren
Managing Editor
Features | 5/24/05
Posted online at 11:05 PM EST on 5/22/05
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Prof. Alice Kelikian (HIST) said she learned of "Professor Kelikian's Groupies" - a group created on thefacebook by students who are "obsessed with everything that is Professor Alice Kelikian" - when a former student told her about the group. She did not see the site until Prof. Govind Sreenivasan (HIST) thought she should know about it and showed her it in his office.
"With some of the fan sites, some of the faculty certainly know about them," Sreenivasan said. "One colleague thought the whole thing was quite entertaining, but then again her fan site was humorous but affectionate and I can't imagine that anybody would object to that. If it got a lot nastier, I can't imagine how they wouldn't."
Although there is not a deluge of Brandeis faculty on thefacebook, the number of fraudulent ones is growing all the time.
Not only did Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett not sign up for thefacebook on her own, she did not even know the site existed until a student informed her of her membership. The student showed her how to get on, and Bennett said she was able to figure out by a comment written on the wall that the profile had been created by David Gorman '07.
She said Gorman apologized and gave her the password, which she changed and then created her own profile. "But the picture-the sunset-is David's vision of me..." Bennett said.
Bennett said she is unsure why Gorman put her on thefacebook, but believes he was also responsible for a fake profile of University President Jehuda Reinharz, which he was asked to remove.
"I think it's pretty silly," Bennett said. "I have a sense of humor, I hope, so sometimes I'm amused. I guess I don't get it really. I mean it's funny, but I thought if I'm going to be on there, I want to have control of this."
Gorman was out of the country and unavailable for comment.
Other faculty have also found themselves placed on thefacebook without even knowing about the site. In total, at Brandeis, there appear to be three fake faculty profiles, four real faculty profiles and four faculty-related groups.
"With some of the fan sites, some of the faculty certainly know about them," Sreenivasan said. "One colleague thought the whole thing was quite entertaining, but then again her fan site was humorous but affectionate and I can't imagine that anybody would object to that. If it got a lot nastier, I can't imagine how they wouldn't."
Although there is not a deluge of Brandeis faculty on thefacebook, the number of fraudulent ones is growing all the time.
Not only did Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett not sign up for thefacebook on her own, she did not even know the site existed until a student informed her of her membership. The student showed her how to get on, and Bennett said she was able to figure out by a comment written on the wall that the profile had been created by David Gorman '07.
She said Gorman apologized and gave her the password, which she changed and then created her own profile. "But the picture-the sunset-is David's vision of me..." Bennett said.
Bennett said she is unsure why Gorman put her on thefacebook, but believes he was also responsible for a fake profile of University President Jehuda Reinharz, which he was asked to remove.
"I think it's pretty silly," Bennett said. "I have a sense of humor, I hope, so sometimes I'm amused. I guess I don't get it really. I mean it's funny, but I thought if I'm going to be on there, I want to have control of this."
Gorman was out of the country and unavailable for comment.
Other faculty have also found themselves placed on thefacebook without even knowing about the site. In total, at Brandeis, there appear to be three fake faculty profiles, four real faculty profiles and four faculty-related groups.
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