Ashley and I recently were invited to a Thanksgiving party. For the sake of privacy, we’ll call the host of the party “Elizabeth.” Elizabeth sent the party invite to Ashley via Facebook’s “Events” feature. Yesterday Ashley checked on the status of the event to see what delicious goodies we’d be feasting on—only to find out that a somewhat obscure acquaintance (we’ll call him Rick) had RSVP’ed to the event as well. Intrigued, Ashley contacted Elizabeth to ask how she knew Rick. She replied, “Never met him.”
Furthermore, Elizabeth was a bit puzzled and rightfully concerned that Rick, a complete stranger, had somehow invited himself to her party.
Odd…and worrisome.
Facebook assumes you want strangers to crash your party.
Let’s say your 16 year old daughter is throwing a party. Like Elizabeth, she posts the event invitation on Facebook, and like Elizabeth she receives RSVP notices from random, strange men who fully intend to show up at your house to get acquainted with her. Freaked out yet?
You should be, because Facebook encourages this behavior. On the “Create an Event” page, the “Anyone can view and RSVP (public event)” option is preselected by default. That’s right! Facebook assumes you want complete strangers to show up at your next event. In my mind this is completely backwards. My invitation should be limited to people I actually invite. Why set up an invitation list only to have Facebook disregard it? This seems to run contrary to common sense, and why I think people overlook it.
How to protect your Facebook event from party crashers.
Thankfully the solution to protecting your next event from unwanted guests is pretty easy. When setting up your next Facebook event, just remember to uncheck the “Anyone can view and RSVP (public event)” option before you post your event:
Problem solved! Now the people who can view and RSVP to your Facebook event will be limited to those you actually intend to invite.
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