Davey Winder
Tuesday, 30 September 2008 16:13
IT Policy -
Government Tech Policy
Page 2 of 3
In many ways this latest recruitment drive is a matter of
everything changes, everything stays the same. The targets are still
those cream of the crop students, it's just that the Secret
Intelligence Service has realised they all congregate on Facebook these
days.
Which is why MI6 is using the medium of
'engagement advertising' to attract the next generation of spies.
A
total of three pop-up adverts are being used to attract the attention
of the young and trendy as they chat with each other.
"Graduates of all ages can develop long-term careers as operational
officers, collecting and analysing global intelligence" the first
begins in what can only be described as a boring and non-threatening
campaign.
However, MI6 gets into the swing soon enough, enquiring of Facebook
users if it is "Time for a career change?" and mentioning that "MI6 can
use your skills."
Then things get really interesting as users are enticed with promises
of "A career in world events" and the ability to "Help influence world
events" and "Protect the UK."
A Foreign Office spokeswoman told the
Guardian newspaper
that "A number of public channels are used to promote job opportunities
in the organisation and Facebook is a recent example of this."
Apparently part of the idea behind using Facebook to recruit
operatives, and I quote, is because MI6 wants agents in foreign
countries to "reflect the society" they are serving.
Really? I am not
sure that many of my Facebook friends would paint the UK in a positive
light.
OK, so that's Facebook sorted, but what about the MI6 eBay connection? More on page 3...
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