The Shadow Side of Facebook

Something peculiar happened.

I usually keep several home page tabs open on my browser, and one of them is Facebook.  I confess to enjoying Facebook:  I like to put the Wordies and definitions up, I like to read the silly things my friends share, I like some of the links they put up.  I love the admiring comments when I post a quilt photo. It was through Facebook posts that I learned of the death of my friend's husband and the sudden  hospitalization of a coworker.

I have nothing whatsoever to do with Farmville and its clones.  I rarely join a group.  I seldom go to pages that people "like," and I almost never respond to an Instant Message.

It happened out of the blue.  An Instant Message popped up at a peculiar time from someone I know at church.  "Hey, Nancy," it began.  "Got a second?"  This man had been unable to attend a meeting I'd been at, and I thought perhaps he was wanting to know what had happened.  So I replied, "Just about a second."  After a bit of a wait, the reply came, "I want you to try something real quick." 

Something did not feel right.  This did not at all seem like something my church friend would do.  I signed off Facebook immediately. 

Of course I don't know what would have happened if I'd stayed on.  My hunch is that I would have received a link to some scantily clad women.  Or worse.

So now I'm rethinking whether or not to remain a Facebooker.  The fun part is very much fun.  The informative part is, well, informative.  But the shadow side makes me uncomfortable.  Like the identity thief who caught and inconvenienced someone I know, causing her to eschew Ebay; like the other friend whose email helped her to download a virus that caused problems; and like the agitator who leaves nasty comments on blog posts, there seem to be sinister aspects to the Facebook experience.

It is sad, I think, that some people have to taint things that are basically good.  But I suppose it has always been that way, and always will.  Meanwhile, I've got some thinking to do.