A British woman was murdered by her estranged husband after he found out she changed her Facebook status from "In A Relationship" to "Single." Apparently, her telling him that they were through was not enough to convince him. But a **Facebook Status** ! Well! That's real.
Hey, I like the Internet. I like communicating through it. I like being reminded of a friend's birthday through one of the several social networks I'm a part of. Even being looked up by some old grade-school acquaintance after 25 years is rather neat. Go, Internet!
The downside to Internet communication & socialization, however, is that a lot of these quirks, conventions, and unwritten "rules" have become realer than real to some people. It's the New Real. It's Realspace.
Yeah, yeah I know:
"Get off mah lawn you damn kids! In my day we scratched initials in trees and it meant something, goddammit!"
Sad.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteJust wow.
Changing my facebook status to paranoid.
ReplyDeleteSomeone that kills another person over their facebook status is just crazy. If there was no facebook he would have just as likely killed her for talking to the milkman.
ReplyDeleteYeah, looking at the disparity in their ages (he's 15 years her senior)I'd say there were problems from the start.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is...Facebook didn't create mental illness. Clearly this guy is mentally ill and would've acted out even without the internet. I mean, did stalkers just pop up within the last 20 years or so? I doubt it.
I do think having such easy access to people's lives creates a false sense of intimacy, but it's too easy to blame the internets (sic) for this stuff.
Here's my take on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteYou never know what can trip some people.
I love it when people start fights over MySpace and Facebook related things. When I was in high school, people got infuriated if they weren't on their friend's "top 8".
ReplyDeleteYour "top 8" or "top friends", now that you can have more than 8, is simply just a list of profiles you frequent. It isn't what you rank your friends.
Sometimes though, it is a popularity contest. I along with almost every other user is guilty of this. Not being on someone's top friends is certainly nothing to get mad or upset over though... at least I don't think so.
Eh, Facebook didn't make that guy kill his ex. If facebook hadn't made it real for him, then hearing about it from his friends, or seeing her dating someone else would have done it.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't really blame the Internet for crazy people doing crazy $#&!.
I do, however, blame the Internet for hearing about crazy people doing crazy $#&! all the time.
No offense intended, of course. :)
Clint shot his initials into trees. And into Lee Van Cleef.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing about Facebook that makes me homocidal is when someone posts an awful pic of you and then tags it, you know, so EVERYONE can enjoy it. Hours of picking just the right flattering pic down the drain because of stupid Aunt Lucy!
ReplyDeleteI could totally see killing over that.
I JUST joined Facebook. Like, yesterday. And I kinda hate it. It's too easy, too nosy, too open. It feels like people think they can just say anything in any way they want, privacy or courtesy be damned.
ReplyDeleteI like that I've heard from folks I haven't in a while, but maybe there was a reason we didn't keep in touch...?
And people wonder why I don't have a myspace or facebook. :/
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, I agree with Dave. Crazy people will use any excuse to be crazy.
Ok, that's pretty scary...
ReplyDeleteI like Facebook, because at least unlike MySpam you actually have to specify you are someone's friend before they can send you posts etc.
ReplyDeleteSo the only people able to post and tag embarrassing stuff of you are people you've already indicated you ostenibly trust. If you choose poorly, isn't that YOUR fault rather than Facebook?
Yes, youre right. I never should've allowed that shifty "Mom" woman access to my virtual inner circle. I have learned a valuable lesson.
ReplyDeleteHuh.
ReplyDeleteThat's . . . that's just messed up, man.