Not on Facebook? You’re Probably A Mass Murderer
Source: thespec.com
If you’re a Facebook holdout, or have chosen to abandon the social media hangout for any number of reasons, be prepared to be labeled a misfit — or worse.
The net has been abuzz this week about a story attributed to a German newsmagazine in which a psychologist concluded that accused killers Norwegian Anders Breivik and Colorado theatre gunman James Holmes’s slim social media presences were suspicious.
“Not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer,” is how tech news site slashdot summed up Der Taggspiegel’s story.
With a global population of seven billion and about 955 million registered Facebook user — technological and economic barriers notwithstanding — that’s a scary proposition.
However, an immediate concern may be the weight placed on the social network by employers.
While the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services have backed off earlier demands for the Facebook passwords of workers to check their profiles for troubling behaviour, it’s still seen as a tool to vet potential employees.
“Anecdotally, I’ve heard both job seekers and employers wonder aloud about what it means if a job candidate doesn’t have a Facebook account. Does it mean they deactivated it because it was full of red flags? Are they hiding something?” asked a Forbes.com writer.
And the dating game tells a similar story.
Slate advice columnist Emily Yoffe told one woman: “I’m fine with people not having a Facebook page if they don’t want one. However…. If you’re of a certain age and you meet someone who you are about to go to bed with, and that person doesn’t have a Facebook page, you may be getting a false name. It could be some kind of red flag.”
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Read the full article at: thespec.com
Ed Comment:
What a ridiculous and insidious idea - using fear mongering, shame, and bully tactics in order to get more people to sign up for social media. If you don’t conform, you’re not to be trusted? When have we heard that black and white intolerance before?
"You’re either with us, or against us."
With what has been revealed about Facebook and other social networking sites in regards to personal information, privacy, safety and security, how on earth could it be wrong to keep a safe distance from these ’services’?
Further, it is irresponsible and detestable to infer that introverted individuals or people who simply choose against having an online ’presence’ are somehow mentally ill, deranged, or a THREAT to society.
In reaction to the article, some people have noted that Luka Magnotta, accused of a gruesome killing and dismembering in June of 2012, had, and continues to have an enormous online presence, thus voiding psychological conclusions as published by Der Taggspiegel .
In the end, this unnerving call for allegiance or conformity to societal ’norms’, or in this case a CORPORATION, is a destructive and divisive concept, and the alleged ’observations’ used to make this theory should be laughed out the door.
By Elizabeth Leafloor, RedIceCreations.com
