Sarah Palin’s Facebook Alter-Ego Gets Found Out

[Caliga]

  Why didn't I think of that? 

Sarah Palin's Facebook Alter-Ego Gets Found Out
By Katherine Rosman

Was it easy for a Los Angeles screenwriter to pass himself off on Facebook as Sarah Palin? You betcha, it was.

In mid-June of this year, Alex Grossman – a former film executive who has since written and directed commercials and short films that appear on sites like funnyordie.com — began to work on a screenplay.

"I was messing around with the theme of those who put 'faith over fact' in this country," Grossman said. "I started thinking about Sarah Palin and her following: 'What would it be like to be her? What are these people like? And do they really know her?'"

Under the guise of research, he decided to attempt to pass himself off as Palin on Facebook. He tried every variation on Palin's name he could think of. To his surprise, he was able to claim the Facebook name "Governor Palin."

"I thought, 'What better way to see what makes her tick than to be her for a bit?'" he said.

Using a photo of Palin sitting in a car with her seatbelt on and writing a message that read, "Happy 4th of July and God Bless!?!", Grossman posted his page. Almost instantly, he found himself with about 100 requests from people wanting to be his – uh, Governor Palin's – friend. He accepted them all. Updating the page almost every day, Grossman said he most often posted earnest messages about Palin's love of God and country. But on occasion, he wrote posts he intended to be overtly satirical, so as to "tip my hat to those that I thought knew better," he explained.

He posted messages like, "I need a salmon recipe for tonight. Todd just brought home a fresh one. Something spicy!" (Dozens of "friends" sent recipes in response.) Another update read, "GOD LOVES US ALL, no matter how black or African, or even gay or Jewish we are." He though for sure people would catch on when he, as Palin, became a fan of Strunk & White.

A few people posted to the page saying that they didn't believe Palin was actually in control. But their publicly-aired doubts didn't convince the vast majority of the followers.

Grossman's project really took off after Palin announced she was resigning her post as governor of Alaska. Within a week after her announcement, the friend-count rose to over 600. The followers were almost unanimously supportive of Palin's resignation. One woman wrote to Grossman-as-Palin: "Sarah, You are the brightest star I've seen in government in decades. I met 'Joe the Plumber' ... and could see BOTH of you in high office....Please let me know where I can send a donation." Grossman replied, "No need to send money, just prayers. Jesus is with me, doll, and I'm gonna be just FINE."

Grossman admitted that he sometimes felt guilty for deceiving people. One woman wrote that she had a sick child and she asked that "Sarah" pray for him. "I felt terrible," Grossman said. "It went into an area I wasn't prepared for." He didn't respond to the woman.

Toward the end of July, Grossman found himself facing a few more skeptics. Grossman believed he was able to quell their doubts by making religious references. "As long as I wrote 'HE IS ON OUR SIDE,' in all caps, they seemed willing to ignore some of the obvious signs," Grossman said.

Or so Grossman thought. On August 9, Grossman tried to sign on to the site but was denied with an "Account Has Been Disabled" message. Many of his "friends" have emailed him (Palin) — at [email protected], the address he had posted on the Facebook tab listing Palin's purported contact — inquiring about the vanished page.

Simon Axten, a spokesman for Facebook said, "It's a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under a false identity, and we encourage users to report anyone they think is doing this." He declined to address the specifics of this incident.

Palin is happy with the resolution. "We have hundreds of thousands of supporters looking out for the governor," said Palin's spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton. " Many emailed us questioning the validity of this one site in particular which pretended to post comments on her behalf. The governor's private attorney, Thomas Van Flein, contacted the legal counsel for Facebook, Mark Howitson, who worked quickly to resolve the situation and was very responsive. "

"Every day Governor Palin deals with individuals, politicians, and corporations pushing fake and inaccurate information into various media. She believes strongly in the efficacy of using direct web-based communication forums like Facebook and Twitter to reach her supporters, the media, and the public at large. Maintaining the integrity of these forums is obviously fundamental to this new type of interactive communication. With that in mind, we greatly appreciated Facebook's prompt response in disabling the impostor site."

Grossman said that he gained for his script the insight he was after. "This was not a political movement. This was a religious movement – her faith-based values and her social agenda are what make her followers so loyal." At the very least, he got a few good recipes for grilled salmon.

[Valmy]

her faith-based values and her social agenda are what make her followers so loyal

Which is exactly why I will always oppose her no matter what her actual policies are.

I am extremely bigoted politically against certain religions depending on how much said politician embraces it.  A card carrying evangelist is down there pretty prominantly on my shit list.

[Neil]

I am extremely bigoted politically against certain religions depending on how much said politician embraces it.  A card carrying evangelist is down there pretty prominantly on my shit list.

I'm less than surprised to find you to be a hate-monger.  It goes well with your antisemitism.

[Berkut]

I am simply stunned that 600 PEOPLE friended a fake Palin FB page, and some of them were not too bright!

This is some really important news, what a favor to the world this guy did. Obama should give him Ted's medal once he drops dead and doesn't need it anymore.

[Valmy]

I'm less than surprised to find you to be a hate-monger.  It goes well with your antisemitism.

People who passionately believe stupid things voluntarily are fine...so long as they are not given political power.

Anti-semitism?  I am pretty irrationall pro-semitic.  I love me some Jews.  Even the insane orthodox ones.  I even intentionally sought out Jews to date when I was single.

[Neil]

I'm less than surprised to find you to be a hate-monger.  It goes well with your antisemitism.

People who passionately believe stupid things voluntarily are fine...so long as they are not given political power.

And yet you voted for Obama.

Anti-semitism?  I am pretty irrationall pro-semitic.  I love me some Jews.  Even the insane orthodox ones.  I even intentionally sought out Jews to date when I was single.

And yet you voted for Obama.  At any rate, sounds to me like your expressions of pro-Jewish sentiment are just a cover for your antisemitism.  You sought out Jewish girls so that you could perform humiliating sex acts on them.  As CdM is to black people, so are you to Jews.

[Valmy]

And yet you voted for Obama.

Only because I know he is just a tool in the hands of Rahm Emanuel

[garbon]

I am simply stunned that 600 PEOPLE friended a fake Palin FB page, and some of them were not too bright!

This is some really important news, what a favor to the world this guy did. Obama should give him Ted's medal once he drops dead and doesn't need it anymore.

Well he did say he did it as part of a research project, not because he wanted to poke fun of Palin supporters.

[sbr]

One woman wrote to Grossman-as-Palin: "Sarah, You are the brightest star I've seen in government in decades. I met 'Joe the Plumber' ... and could see BOTH of you in high office....Please let me know where I can send a donation." Grossman replied, "No need to send money, just prayers. Jesus is with me, doll, and I'm gonna be just FINE."

[jimmy olsen]

One woman wrote to Grossman-as-Palin: "Sarah, You are the brightest star I've seen in government in decades. I met 'Joe the Plumber' ... and could see BOTH of you in high office....Please let me know where I can send a donation." Grossman replied, "No need to send money, just prayers. Jesus is with me, doll, and I'm gonna be just FINE."

That's a great smile!

[MadImmortalMan]

One woman wrote to Grossman-as-Palin: "Sarah, You are the brightest star I've seen in government in decades. I met 'Joe the Plumber' ... and could see BOTH of you in high office....Please let me know where I can send a donation." Grossman replied, "No need to send money, just prayers. Jesus is with me, doll, and I'm gonna be just FINE."

That's a great smile!

We should get that. Call it :budd:

[Vince]

One woman wrote to Grossman-as-Palin: "Sarah, You are the brightest star I've seen in government in decades. I met 'Joe the Plumber' ... and could see BOTH of you in high office....Please let me know where I can send a donation." Grossman replied, "No need to send money, just prayers. Jesus is with me, doll, and I'm gonna be just FINE."

That's a great smile!

Last time I used that smiley was when the Jets drafted Mike Nugent.

[Ed Anger]

Last time I used that smiley was when the Jets drafted Mike Nugent.

The Jets didn't use him right.

[Vince]

Last time I used that smiley was when the Jets drafted Mike Nugent.

The Jets didn't use him right.

We already had a good waterboy.   

[Fireblade]

One woman wrote to Grossman-as-Palin: "Sarah, You are the brightest star I've seen in government in decades. I met 'Joe the Plumber' ... and could see BOTH of you in high office....Please let me know where I can send a donation." Grossman replied, "No need to send money, just prayers. Jesus is with me, doll, and I'm gonna be just FINE."

That's a great smile!

We should get that. Call it :budd:

Seconded.