Is it OK to provide information about or to promote iGaming on Facebook?

[MichaelCorfman]

There have been a variety of posts in the private forums of the GPWA website on the merits of engaging in online gaming promotional activities in a social network environment. Such discussion has focused on the fact that children participate in social networks.

Advocates of such promotion have taken the position that social networks are used primarily by those that are not underage and that social networking environments offer safeguards that are greater than those available on the web as a whole, thus providing greater protection than is generally available to children using the web.

Those who express the deepest concern raise issues surrounding the significant number of underage participants in social networks and the fact that it is possible for children to circumvent the protections that are provided by creating accounts based on false information.

This week’s question asks your opinions about what is acceptable in the Facebook social network environment. In order to intelligently answer these questions, one needs to understand a little bit about the Facebook environment since the questions are about a presence for an iGaming portal site on facebook. Generally such a presence can take the form of either a Facebook fan page or a Facebook group.

Casino City is an example of a website that has a fan page on Facebook at the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Casino-City/7666953178. Fan pages can be available to all users on Facebook, or they can be restricted to facebook users that meet a specified age criteria such as being 18, being a least of drinking age in their geographic location, or being 21. The Casino City fan page currently is only visible to those who are of drinking age in their geographic location.

Another way of establishing a presence on Facebook is through the use of groups. For example, the GPWA has a group on Facebook at the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6784511126. Groups can be open groups that anyone can join, or closed or secret groups where some or all information about the group is hidden except to those who have been explicitly admitted as group members. The GPWA group on Facebook is an example of an open group.

With this background information, you should select one of the first seven viewpoints listed in the question as the one that most closely reflects your personal view. Then you should select as many of the following seven statements that reflect your personal view about what is OK on Facebook.

Questions can also be asked about legal issues and the desirability of providing links and publicity for actual online gaming sites, and also about offering gaming activities like Texas Holdem Poker on Facebook, and such questions have been asked in the private forums. I'd prefer if we can leave those issues aside in this poll and associated posts and stay focused on the question of promoting iGaming portal sites as it relates to the question of proper ethics with respect to those who are underage.

Michael

[TheGooner]

oops - first to vote - my choices are obvious

[Nandakishore]

I knew that it would be difficult and time-consuming to phrase the poll question. to Michael. But I wouldn't have thought that it would also need some real effort to choose the answers.

_______________________________

Nandakishore
Online Casino Newsroom
Facebook
APCW Interactive
Link exchange welcome. PM me.

[mojo]

Originally Posted by Nandakishore

I knew that it would be difficult and time-consuming to phrase the poll question. to Michael. But I wouldn't have thought that it would also need some real effort to choose the answers.

I agree Nan. Nice job with the poll Michael!

I am very interested to learn more before I can answer. My first reaction is that I don't want to put children in harms way. The best way for me to decide is to be educated first. I look forward to the feedback here.

[Doolally]

I agree an interesting poll.

Personally I have no hang-ups about providing gambling related info on there. It's on the net anyway so if someone, of any age, wants to find it, they will. It's up to the casino/poker room/etc to verify age details should a player try to deposit.

[Fintan]

Queue the South Park episode where the mother screams "Wont somebody please think of the children"

Seriously though, age restrictions before you can join a group make sense, however, any determined teenager will quickly circumvent that. Do a quick show of hands as to how many people had a beer before they reached the legal age

I believe there needs to be a balance between the actions any group take to verify the age of their members and parental supervision as to what their kids are doing on-line.

[Nandakishore]

I just read in a German newspaper that a study conducted by the Sheffield University, UK, has shown that the interest of teenagers in Internet usage is very limited, many don't even know how to handle a search engine, BUT, they use Myspace and Facebook regularly because of social networking possibilities. I was thinking, maybe GPWA should think of bringing in the iGaming portal, if it comes, a corner on Responsible Gambling. It should not be just lip-service, but something interesting and readable also for the teenagers. I don't think we can stop them from gambling if they want to. But if we are serious we may stop them from doing irresponsible gambling.

_______________________________

Nandakishore
Online Casino Newsroom
Facebook
APCW Interactive
Link exchange welcome. PM me.

[vinism]

Originally Posted by Fintan

Queue the South Park episode where the mother screams "Wont somebody please think of the children"

Seriously though, age restrictions before you can join a group make sense, however, any determined teenager will quickly circumvent that. Do a quick show of hands as to how many people had a beer before they reached the legal age

Consider this hand raised.

[TheGooner]

Originally Posted by Fintan

Do a quick show of hands as to how many people had a beer before they reached the legal age

Of course many people did - but that's not REALLY the same question - because a glass of beer or wine in the home with parental supervision is not illegal and usually results in a more mature approach to alcohol.

To be comparable to this situation your question should have been ...

"Hands up all those who were personally approached and pitched at to BUY beer while still underage."

Pitching gambling sites under recommendations and postings of "friends" is far more insidious than traditional mass-marketing - and that's probably why there is this discussion on this site.

[TheCPA]

Pitching gambling sites under recommendations and postings of "friends" is far more insidious than traditional mass-marketing - and that's probably why there is this discussion on this site.

I Agree.
We shouldn't be passing out flyers at our Local Elementary Schools during recess!

Furthermore, the child issue is only a single part of the problem.

The preamble to this poll, and the poll itself do not address the bigger picture as it was discussed in the private forums.

Additionally, this has been made a Public Poll, and the issue at hand is whether GPWA Webmasters should actively promote gambling on Social Networks that originate in the United States in the present climate.

I could go on to explain the fiasco at Second life, the actual terms and conditions published at Facebook, etc., etc., but it wouldn't do much good, IMO.
There is always a way to twist the intent, or facts to accomplish a goal.

I could post a Facebook Rep's response too, but it wouldn't matter the way this poll is structured to enlist a predefined result.

Besides, this should not be a Public poll in the first place.
Players are not Webmasters, and they haven't had the benefit of reading the Private Forum material, or discussing it either before voting,..... even if it mattered to them!!!!!