ASBO Network

I am getting a bit fed up with the posting habits of some of my facebook 'friends' or more likely 'friends of friends'. I joined facebook a bit reluctantly, to get, and stay in touch with old friends from 'way back, and to that end I have been successful. So, what's the problem? The social network has become little by little, another way of showing how anti social we have become.

So, I am an old fuddy duddy. I don't mind being called that. What I do mind are mindless facebook posts and images which are in bad taste certainly, but bordering on pornographic, with innuendo, and very bad language. I don't choose to stay in that kind of company, and can certainly understand the odd expletive in a conversation from a friend, or relation. But, and it's a BIG BUT, to take the time to write it down takes a bit of deliberate thought, and I don't think it is all in silly mischief, or meant as a bit of fun.

It has been said that billboards are a mirror of the morality of a nation. Well, I am beginning to think that social networking sites like facebook, are also a mirror of our nation's morality. Yes, the lion's share of postings are good natured and a bit of fun, but we all know when it has crossed a decency line. Or do we? Apparently not by everyone after all. I am very close to shutting down my facebook account, but as a start have scaled down my settings to the bare minimum 'friends only'. I have also made it clear that any such postings will result in that person being removed from any and all visibility on my account. It's part of my personal profile.

There is another new word creeping into our vocabulary, and it is 'fraped', which is a combination of the words, 'f'acebook and 'raped' and I see it being used more frequently recently. This is what is meant by taking over someone else's facebook page when they are not looking, and posting something which would horrify the owner of the account. I have a couple of concerns with this. Firstly, making the comparison with the worst thing that can happen to a girl, and comparing it to posting a malicious sentence, is a bad use of language, not to mention common sense, and demeans the agony experienced by too many girls in our culture. Not funny. Secondly, I am not convinced that all of these posts are put there by a third party. Maybe there is a bit of personal mischief going on, under the guise that someone else did it, and they are not to blame themselves.

Finally, I apologise if you have seen anything on any of my pages which you find offensive, in any way. If it happens, please let me know and I will take care of it. Due to the way I use the system, you may see something like that before I do, and have time to delete the post and the person. Rant over!