Ads for term papers, cheating embedded in Facebook games

I’m somewhat of a Facebook addict. I usually visit three times a week, maybe more if I have messages waiting for me. As such, I’ve decided that I should enjoy myself while there and I’ve added a few extra applications to my profile. It also means I’ve grown accustomed to the constant ads.

Usually I don’t give any of the advertisements a second look, but when I logged in to play Flash Hero (a Guitar Hero-esque Facebook game), a fairly unassuming ad caught my eye.

“ACE YOUR FINALS – $25 – Get access to 45,000 term paper and essays right here!”

So right above a flash game that 13-24 year olds are likely to play is an ad endorsing cheating. I clicked through the link (since the “Copy Link” function yielded a fb.adchap.com/count.php url) and found myself at Varsity Essays.

The majority of Facebook users are students. Shouldn’t a social networking site catering to them have some sort of value system in place? As an English major (who always did my own work), I was outraged to see an ad like this on a site filled with high school and college students – especially above a game application.

I guess Facebook is trying to expand it’s repertoire. Hey students! Network, play games and get links to cheap essays in one place!

Look [Gamertell] Read [Smarter] Site [Facebook]