Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Stranger Facebook Friend

Recently we hear stories about victims falling prey to their stranger facebook “friends”. In the first place, it kind of makes me wonder why one would actually meet a total stranger. Perhaps, one of the reasons might be boredom. Or perhaps, he or she wanted to experience the thrill of meeting someone new and might even think that it will blossom into a romantic relationship. Whatever the reason is, however, we know the victims suffer in the hands of their so-called online friends.

Just a few days ago, there was this alleged movie director who invited his facebook friend to his house. We all know what happened to the man. He was stabbed mercilessly. And as if that wasn’t enough, just a few days ago, I heard another story of a girl where she met her facebook friend which led to her untimely demise. It kind of makes me wonder where we should draw the line here.

In response to the latter “event”, the government apparently wanted to contact Facebook to allow them access to information which could possibly trace and eventually incriminate the suspect/user. I doubt that facebook will give that information anyway. Anyhow, the government should not just take a passive stance here. Our government has been known to be quite slow, always being on the reactive side of things. They should now assume a proactive stance, not merely standing in the sidelines but actually going out and pursuing the perpetrator/s. There should also be a media campaign about the dangers associated with online friendships and/or relationships. Without the government doing anything, it wouldn’t be much to expect another event such as what happened, where again another person falls victim to those stranger facebook friends.

Entry #1

John Joseph S. Parco

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