Oops! Facebook Goof Tears Party Plans Asunder

A British teenager got a lot more than she bargained for when she invited a small group of Facebook friends to her 15th birthday party.

Rebecca Javeleau used her address and phone number when she sent the invite, but didn't mark it as "private" on the social networking site, and some 21,000 people RSVPd,

Her mother, Tracey Livesey, cancelled the party, but local police in their town north of Hertfordshire, north of London, still plan to provide security on Oct. 7, in case large crowds do show up.

And despite police efforts to spread the word that the party has been called off, some Facebook users who don't even know Rebecca say they still plan to mark the occasion.

A new Facebook group has been was started, called "I Was Part Of The 7.10.10 FB takeover of Rebecca Javeleau's Flat Party." It had 261 followers at last word.

The incident once again raises concerns about Facebook's privacy settings.

Livesey told The Telegraph newspaper that her daughter has suffered the consequences of her online error.
"She did not realize that she was creating a public event and should have done," Livesey told the paper. "She is going to have to change her mobile phone SIM card because of the number of calls she has been getting about it. Rebecca did not understand the privacy settings and she has lost her Internet as a result of that. I've taken away her computer so she won't make that mistake again."

According to Sgt. Lewis Ducket of the Hertfordshire Police Department, "The party was to be held in a block of flats that wouldn't accommodate more than 10 people, let alone 10,000."