Facebook stalking creates uncomfortable situations for all

Facebook stalking creates uncomfortable situations for all

Samantha Moreno

“Hi, I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to remember you from high school; you were a freshman when I was a senior so maybe I met you some at some point. I was just going through my friends list and noticed you. Not to sound forward, but your Beautiful. How do you like Sac State?”

This message was sent to me on Facebook from a man I never met before who is from my hometown. We had mutual friends, though his face and name didn’t ring a bell.

Writing a novel to confess how pretty someone is through a Facebook message is crossing the line. Never speaking, meeting or seeing the person in real life just adds the cherry on top of being creepy.

Being too forward just added this guy to my list of people to block.

Yes, we all do it: countless hours wasted procrastinating on homework; we sit on our butts and gaze at our computer screens searching Facebook. Looking through 700 and reading wall posts from over a year ago is more entertaining than finishing a 10-page paper.

No one likes to admit it, but everyone is a Facebook creep. However, there are people who go a bit too far.

There are friends on Facebook who like every single status you post and there are friends who send the awkward, ‘We should hangout sometime,’ message. But it’s scary getting a notification from someone you don’t know.

“I work at the mall and one of my customers memorized my name tag, added me and sent me a message,” said junior nursing major Graciela Caban.

It’s weird to find out customers memorizing an employee’s name to search you through Facebook.

The Internet makes it easy to find and stalk anyone. When simply typing a name of a friend into Google, Facebook will most likely be the first link of him or her to pop up.

Making a profile private, hiding pictures from public view and accepting friend requests from people you only know personally will help when it comes to unknown people lurking Facebook pages.

Applications such as check-in and chat messaging used on Facebook have become simple ways to be incognito when lurking friends’ pages. When people check in to places they go, every single friend on Facebook now knows exactly where they are. People check into places they eat out, cities they’re visiting and houses they’re at. When that information is known publicly, anyone could find you.

Think twice about checking into your own home, or a friend’s house; not everyone wants their safety jeopardized by having it blown up to the public. 

“You know you’re a Facebook creep when you are online for over an hour and a half and not even chatting. Get a life,” said junior accounting major Geqigula Dlamini.

Those late night owls, liking old albums and profile pictures of their crushes don’t realize what they are doing. 

Just think when they “like” a photo late at night, the person will get a notification knowing you’re on their mind at 3 a.m. That must be awkward to wake up to. Next time you see that late night stalker, he or she is going to be thinking about how much they stalk their page. 

It’s easy to get lost in the cyber world of Facebook. Just make sure you think twice about the actions you make – or should I say click.

Samantha Moreno can be reached at [email protected]