The Social Networking Game

I scanned the new messages on my inbox. One had the title : "Check out my Profile at _____!"

Christ, not another invitation to some social networking site.

I'm not one of those people who hate social networking sites. I actually find them somewhat useful... One of the things that I can call guilty pleasures. It’s just that a lot of them have been sprouting here and there, and they all have the same purpose. Most don’t have enough variety to separate them from the others. Presently, I have active accounts on three social networking sites.

Friendster- because it was the first social networking site that I signed up for. That was sometime in 2003. Back then, I thought the whole six degrees of separation was cool. And I got to regain contact with long lost friends. I seldom log in these days. It has become so ubiquitous that even my past patients have accounts there! My friends list has reached more than four hundred--- and most of those people aren’t really people I can call friends. Most are acquaintances. A lot I’ve just met randomly once or twice. In fact, if you want to search for someone, just type their name in the search box and chances are you’ll see their Friendster profile. Whether the account is active or not is another matter. I’ve contemplated on deleting the account… but I changed my mind because of sentimental reasons. Some of the testimonials from my friends are really heart warming. And it’s a convenient way to reach a number of people without much effort, sometimes even more convenient than email.

Multiply- This site I find the most useful. I use it as some sort of online storage device since I can upload pictures, videos, and mp3 files in their full size. There’s also a blog feature, but I barely use that. Most of my blog entries aren’t for mass audiences, so I prefer keeping an anonymous blog here in blogger. LOL. Again, my contacts aren’t confined to people I’m close to anymore as the site is gaining popularity, so posting blog entries there isn’t really a good idea.

Facebook- This one I just signed up recently... Due to peer pressure! But I have to admit I find some sort of pleasure each time I log in. Unlike other social networking sites, this one had applications or mini programs. A lot of those programs are trash, but some are quite fun to play around with. Some are even useful. Also, the site asks you to input your exact relationships with your contacts, providing some sort of intimacy, avoiding people who just randomly add contacts. It just gets annoying when many people keep inviting you to install this and that application. The Starbucks application, for instance--- what the heck would I get by installing that? It doesn’t even reflect my personality. I seldom go to Starbucks, and I’m not a coffee person to begin with.

I also have an account on Myspace, an account I haven’t checked for months. I don’t get it how people say it’s the best, when its features are basically the same as the others. I also don’t get why the site seems to promote adding as many people as you can to your friends list, even people you don’t know, for the sake of having your profile viewed by more and more people. It would probably make sense if I was an aspiring singer or part of a band who wants to promote their music. I don’t see the logic in promoting yourself when you have nothing to promote except your personal information.

Oh yeah, I have an account on Orkut and Yahoo 360, simply because you’ll already have an account ready when you have a Google and Yahoo ID, you just have to activate them. But after activating them, I never opened them again.

As for the rest, I just ignored them. What’s the use of making accounts in all these sites, just to build the same network of friends from scratch?

A lot of people also don’t use these sites solely for good clean fun. Child molesters and sexual predators are rampant on these sites, especially on those sites with limited privacy settings. Some even use these sites for promoting pornographic material. These sites are also ideal places to stalk someone.

We’ve all had our fair share of “stalkers”. Thankfully, I’ve never had one of those “Fatal Attraction” types of stalkers. Some are pretty harmless---those who keep checking your profile at some social networking site, leaving anonymous letters, leaving voice messages proclaiming their adoration, anonymous text messages containing sweet nothings, anonymous calls from people who just listen to your voice… some can be bold enough and take your picture without you knowing. Some are bold enough to ask you out anonymously through text messages and email and they’ll keep on pestering you. Some are really brave enough to ask you out personally, and they can’t seem to understand the meaning of the word NO.

Two years ago, I received a message in my inbox at one of those social networking sites, from some girl I didn’t know. She said she really liked what she saw in my profile, and she asked me if I wanted to meet up and have fun. I replied with:

“It depends. What kind of fun? :)”

she was forward enough. “Silly boy. What else? The beneath the sheets kind of fun of course!”

I admit I got excited. I checked out her profile. A couple of beach picture with her wearing a bikini, one was a bedroom shot with her wearing a black bra. I liked what I saw, but I had a girlfriend at that time so I was hesitant. I replied:

“As much as I’d love to, I’m committed to someone at this time. If I was single, I would meet up with you in an instant. :)”

She said: “don’t worry about her. She’ll never know.”

I was about to agree with meeting her, when my girlfriend called that night. She asked “So who’s this girl Rachel?”

I couldn’t say a word. I was speechless with shock. When it was clear that I was not going to speak a word anytime soon, she said some girl named Rachel called her saying I met up with her.

“That’s a lie. I never met with anyone named Rachel.”

“She described the clothes you were wearing that day, and I know for a fact that those are clothes you’re fond of wearing.”

WTF?! How can this girl know my clothes if I haven’t seen her yet? Was she stalking me?!

“She even knows your usual haunts. Where you usually hang out. It seems like you’re so close already, she already knows a lot about you.”

Crap. This Rachel chick was a stalker. Not an ordinary stalker--- she's one whose bent on destroying my relationship. I was being grilled and the tone of her voice was accusing. So I confessed. I told her about this girl who’s sending me messages. Of course I sanitized the story a bit. I told her I wasn’t entertaining her. After a lot of sweet talking, I finally convinced her. And as if being guided by the hand of fate, I saw a picture of the girl who called herself “Rachel” in a magazine. Fully clothed, modeling some clothes--- but it was clearly the same girl... And her name wasn’t Rachel! Some bitch was probably using her picture and playing games!

When I got home and logged in, there was another message.

“what’s taking you so long to reply?”

I replied “No way am I meeting with you. I can’t trust you! She’ll never know you said? You actually called her and told her some fabricated story! Plus the fact that you’re using some other person’s pictures betrays your real intentions!”

She replied that she only did that so that she can be with me without strings attached. And she swore the pictures on her profile was really her. She sent more messages, I ignored each one. Then she called my girlfriend again, and nasty words were exchanged. I never got to know the exact words said, all my girlfriend said was that she’ll never go down without a fight. Needless to say, she assured me the girl would never bother us again.

All was quiet in the stalker front for awhile… she would still occasionally add me as a friend, and I rejected all her friend requests. She greeted me on my birthday and on Christmas, but no more messages of the past sort. It’s been a year since her last friend request. But when I checked my email earlier today:

New Friend Request from Rachel.

Christ, I’ll never understand the psychotic mind. Some people just never let up.