My 60yr old friend fell in love with a guy she met on FB.
The guy told her he was a contractor that lived in SoCal ,but was working in London.
I right away said :fishy story,you are going to be hit up for money for a lost passport ,as he cannot get back home.
She talked about getting married all within a span of 2wks.
I said he was some Nigerian sitting in a basement cracking up at your love for him.
Well,she gave him her number and he called.Guess what?
His accent was so thick she couldn’t understand him.
Yeah ,he was African.
She didn’t learn. A week later she was contacted by a guy in Miami that was wealthy contractor etc....She called to tell me she wasn’t going to have to work any more blah,blah ,blah .
After a month,same scenario as above,but he told her she was a fool and he was 19 yrs old and in Nigeria having a laugh at her expense.
I told her to get off FB, you’re too damn gullible.
First of all, this thread is about how an international social media site that has over 1 billion users is using double-standards in how users identify themselves based upon ideology and social norms. Facebook is also very strict about criticism of Islam, but has no such strictures concerning criticizing or blaspheming Christianity.
But to entertain your point -
Your friend was a victim of a Romance Scam, which is more likely going to be on a dating site, rather than Facebook. They target people who are middle-aged, lonely and seem like they might have money. You can advise people to stay off of dating sites and social media — and blame them if they get scammed. But these sites can be of use, but you have to be canny that there are scammers out there:
http://www.romancescam.com/
Forums such as Facebook are in the end what you put into it and whether what you expect is realistic. It is not a substitute for actual face-to-face interaction and should not be used as such. It is not a place to determine your self-worth based upon the assessment of others you may not have ever met.
It is, however, a place wherein you can connect with people with similar interests and to re-connect with those from the past. One thing nice about social media is if someone annoys you, it is possible to eliminate that person from your life with a few clicks. You cannot do that on Free Republic w/o getting Admin/Mods involved.
And for me, social media is a platform to post my inflammatory rhetoric.