Now City Fights for Facebook Fair Deal

Our police force has been short-changed, our councils are cash- strapped and now Lincoln has even been snubbed by the owners of Internet phenomenon Facebook.

The social networking site has ignored Lincoln in a list of towns and cities of the UK despite pleas by residents for representation.

Although students can join the University of Lincoln network on the popular website, other city residents are forced to join Nottingham’s network as the nearest urban hub.

Aiden Jakubik (19), from Lincoln, set up a group on Facebook eight months ago to campaign for the city’s representation on the site but the company has so far refused to budge.

Now a student at Teesside University, Mr Jakubik wanted to remain loyal to his home city and be identified as a Lincolnshire Yellowbelly to his new university friends. He said: “I set up the Get a Lincoln Network group because my university friends were in their own home networks but I wasn’t as Lincoln doesn’t have one.

“So I decided to set up a petition.

“I think it’s important that Lincoln has its own network as we are an up-and-coming city and we deserve it.”

The 2,050 members of the group have written a variety of messages expressing their desire for recognition.

One says: “Greater Lincoln has a population of 250,000 including surrounding towns and villages. More than enough for a network.”

Another adds: “Lincoln should have its own network because it’s the best city in England.”

Five other groups also petitioning the website to add a network for Lincoln have also sprung up on the site in recent months.

They include ones named We Want a Lincoln Network, Make Lincoln a UK Network and Get Lincoln Its Own Network.

But to add insult to injury Lincoln has also been shunned by popular community website Gumtree.

The site – which allows users to advertise jobs, local events and private property rentals – has individual websites for 38 other UK cities, but excludes Lincoln from its list.

Gumtree spokesman, Chee Ho Wan, said: “The site is growing all the time and the exciting news is that in the next year we will be expanding to many more cities and taking on board our users’ requests.

“So we’d ask that, if users feel they would like Gumtree in their own city, they post in our Gumtree feedback forum and we will ensure that we incorporate their feedback into our expansion plans.”

Facebook was unavailable for comment.

(c) 2008 Lincolnshire Echo. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.