I have Dave Langford to thank for this idea. We were exchanging email regarding the latest issue of Ansible and the inevitability of finding that something you wrote was accuracy-challenged, leading to furious protests from some corners of fandom. Dave commented that in the Facebook world what would happen is that you’d get a message like this:

David Langford has flung sackcloth and ashes all over you! To accept his grovel you must install…

This got me thinking. There could be a whole new business in fannish Facebook Applications. They might go something like this:

• Ted White has expelled you from Fandom. To get back in you must install…
• Ben Yalow has raised an Objection to Consideration against you. To be allowed to speak you must install…
• Dave Kyle says you can’t sit here. To get a seat you must install…

Then again, there could be author-related items:

• John Scalzi has thrown cat photos at you. To avoid dying laughing you must install…
• Jay Lake has thrown cheese at you. To avoid high cholesterol you must install…
• Jeff VanderMeer has thrown mushroom spores at you. To avoid mutating into a Grey Cap you must install…
• Kelley Eskridge has thrown gender confusion at you. To avoid having to cross-dress you must install…

You get the idea? Go forth an invent your own.