Facebook has many dark sides. This is just one.
By nature, I'm a private person. However my Timeline is
public. This is only because I'm an independent author and it's necessary to
promote my work.
Getting a page on Facebook is like buying a house on a busy
city street. You have a locked iron gate out front and just behind are steps
leading up to a wide open front door. Many just pass by. But there's some who pull
out binoculars, lean on that gate trying to see as much as they can. And there
are others who hurl their feces over the gate and into your living room. It
takes awhile to remove the stain and stench.
Recently I was verbally attacked twice with barrages of
profanity and insults. The first and worst was on messenger in private by
someone clearly mentally unhinged. Regrettably I had accepted his friendship request
only minutes earlier. Had this been politically motivated it would not have
upset me as much! This attack against me was personal after I tried setting
boundaries with him.
When I accept a friendship request I would never dream of rummaging
thru someone's photos beyond what is currently displayed on their Timeline & news feed. Yet
people think nothing of snooping thru mine! I find this creepy and stalker-like,
but usually say nothing. However this one guy immediately rubbed me the wrong
way. So I asked him why he found it necessarily to ferret thru my photos as he
was doing!
Then I was called every vile name you can imagine combined
with a long list of personal insults! His language was so extremely profane and
over-the-top it was not that of a stable person! The cherry on top was that
after vetting me I was unworthy of him and he was unfriending me!
However to make certain he was gone permanently I BLOCKED him.
This coward didn't give his actual name. It was that of a
cartoon character with whom I was unfamiliar. But that didn't detour me from
filing a complaint with Facebook. -- I
don't know if they actually did anything. These days too many people can't
string a simple sentence together without lacing it full of vulgarity they may
just have ignored my complaint.
In the weeks that followed I noticed more comments from
recently friended persons going thru both my new & old albums not visible on my Timeline. I posted I did not appreciate it and I wished people would stop
doing it!
This time I was attacked with gutter language and insults right on
my Timeline! Afterward, I considered deleting all my photos and thus rid
myself of snooping strangers. And I still might do that! The next time my Tech
guy comes over I intend to make some significant changes.
In the meantime I'm blocking so many that soon I'll have
more of those than Facebook's so-called friends!
Another unhinged person whom I blocked was a woman whose
friendship I accepted out of pity. She was around my age, in a wheelchair
tending a sick mother and seemed desperately lonely. Shortly after I accepted her
friendship request she suggested the two of us get a house and move in
together. Gadzooks we were both STRANGERS!
I tried distancing myself. But nearly every day she sent
long, rambling messages in private about her past, things she experienced and
her philosophies, relationship with God, etc. -- I didn't know what to say, so
I'd just give a thumb's up and left it at that.
She angrily complained that I was rudely dismissing her!
I told her that I didn't understand how she could be lonely
with her mother around for company. She berated me for focusing on that and
nothing else. Then added that she could tell I didn't have many friends and I
liked it that way! -- She hit the nail on the head there! This is true!
Now I'd had it! I told her that I found her draining and it
was past time we went our separate ways. I blocked her immediately afterward!
And I've blocked plenty of men who were clearly romantic
scammers. Facebook extends invitations that I never would! I don't understand
why they encourage messaging in private from total strangers!
These days I am more selective than ever and quick to block.
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