Woman Wants Hometown Effin Recognized on Facebook
Ann Marie Kennedy loves her hometown of Effin, Ireland. She just wishes Facebook would recognize its existence.
Kennedy told the Irish Independent that she was unable to list Effin, in county Limerick, as her hometown on her Facebook page. She believes it might be because Facebook finds the name of the village “obscene or offensive.”
“I’m a proud Effin woman, and I will always be an Effin woman,” Kennedy, who works at the University of Limerick, told the paper.
Facebook is looking into the issue — which may have more to do with how small a place Effin is rather than the wholesomeness of the name.
“From time to time, we are alerted to oversights such as this in our mapping system. We will look to correct it to ensure places like Effin can be ‘liked’ on Facebook,” said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes.
Kennedy isn’t the only Facebook user who is frustrated at the site’s geography. On the Facebook page “My hometown is not listed — is yours?” a number of site users raise similar issues.
“Facebook admin please add Putaruru NZ,” pleads New Zealander Simon Arrowsmith.
Effin does appear on Facebook in another form — the Effin GAA page (for friends of the Effin Gaelic Athletic Association, which promotes traditional Irish games like hurling) has more than 950 friends.
And Kennedy has started a “Please get my hometown Effin recognised” page, where some scenic pictures of the village have been posted.