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A friend of mine back in college was what one would call a social media butterfly. she came out of her cocoon when it came to facebook, myspace, msn messenger, AOL, you name it. During this time however, social media was still young, and crawling with people with ill intent.
One night while working on a project together in the ceramic lab, my friends phone rang. she did not answer it. When confronted about her decision she told me it was some guy that wouldn't leave her alone. Knowing this I was prompted to ask, who is he, where did you meet, and is he dangerous? She told me that they had met over facebook and shared similar interests, which lead to her giving him her number. After that he would send her inappropriate photos and messages, despite her adamant disapproval. It was clear that she was shaken by this guy who she hadn't even met, who kept sending her lewd texts.
We approached the admins of the site, a school consoler, and a trusted professor at that time and all three came up with the same answer, "maybe it was something you did?". That mentality has haunted me ever since. Like the comment box on a youtube video does not say "write the nastiest thing you can". Someone being nice to you and attempting to be friends does not mean they want anything further, especially if you have never met.
Eventually we got the guy blocked on all of the social media my friend had "friended" him on and she changed her phone number. It was a hassle, and all because that guy didn't understand the impact of his digital presence.
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