Are your Facebook friends actually your friends?

It is comforting to be able to share your thoughts on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but it can also be dangerous. Not only because people may use the information against you, but also because virtual friends may not be your friends at all. They may ignore your cry for help, or even make fun of you for it.

Simone Back, 42, posted a last message on the social networking site at 10.53pm on Christmas Day saying: "Took all my pills be dead soon bye bye everyone."
Some users of the site even taunted the 42-year-old over her final status update instead of trying to save her, calling her a “liar” and saying the fatal overdose was “her choice”...
While some Facebook friends from out of town begged online for her address and telephone number so they could get help, none of those who lived closer did anything to help.
Several friends taunted the charity shop worker as she lay dying on the floor of her flat. Just minutes after the post a “friend” replied “She ODs all the time and she lies.”

It is yet another reason to be cautious of virtual relationships. And another reason to get out of the house and into a church/synogogue/etc. to find people who really care about you.

What is the incentive for female suicide bommers?

Today 2 women blew themselves up in a suicide attack on a pet market. In this case the women were supposedly mentally disabled, but there seems to have been a rash of female suicide attack recently. This got me to thinking, what is the incentive for women to do this type of thing. The men of course have the glory of Allah, as well as the promise of 70 virgins when they get to heaven. Women can, of course, glorify Allah by doing this sort of thing, but is there an equivalent promise to the 70 virgins for the women? I'm being serious here, no disrespect intended at all. I doubt any of our readers know the answer to this question, but it does seem vexing to me. Thoughts....?

The Dangers of Social Networking for Kids

I have been amazed at my church and work to see the cavalier attitude many parents have toward MySpace and Facebook. The same parents would not allow their children to have an independent e-mail account will often allow them to spend hours unmonitored on social networking sites. You may have heard the stories about predators stalking children on MySpace, but what about stories like this one of stupid adults messing with the mind of an impressionable youth.

"(She) stated in the months leading up Meier's daughter's suicide, she instigated and monitored a 'my space' account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier's daughter.

"(She) said she, with the help of temporary employee named ------ constructed a profile of 'good looking' male on 'my space' in order to 'find out what Megan (Meier's daughter) was saying on-line' about her daughter. (She) explained the communication between the fake male profile and Megan was aimed at gaining Megan's confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people....

"According to (her) 'somehow' other 'my space' users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. (She) stated she knew 'arguments' had broken out between Megan and others on 'my space.' (She) felt this incident contributed to Megan's suicide...

Parents need to be reminded again and again that the internet is NOT a safe place for children. It should not be considered a fenced-in backyard, but a city square or busy mall in which a stranger can easily target your child, whether from malice or stupidity, and do damage that can never be recovered from. This is not a MySpace problem. It is a problem of naive parents.