Internet Creepers
When I first got facebook, I went on a friend adding frenzy. I added a lot of people I had never met, and a lot of random people added me too. I guess we all wanted to make friends before we started school and were excited about using facebook - perhaps it was the new myspace. I was still very intent on collecting facebook friends throughout my first year (and probably in my 2nd year) at UCLA. I practically added every single person I ever met, even if I had just met them once. I added people I met in the elevator, people from class, people on my floor that I barely talked to, etc etc. After all, no one wants a low facebook friend count, right?! Or at least I didn't at the time.
It was funny during first year. During the first couple weeks of school and at orientation, there were quite a few people who came up to me and said something along the lines of "Are you Eve? I think we're facebook friends." I also recognized a lot of people that I had seen on facebook. While this may have been creepy to some people, I think I was more flattered than creeped out. Kind of like "yay someone knows me! I'm so popular!!"... okay, not really. Haha.
After awhile, I think I got over the facebook phenomenon of accumulating facebook friends. I guess the novelty had worn off after I realized that it doesn't really matter how many facebook friends you have. It's probably more important how many REAL friends you have. So I started deleting the people I didn't know, which led to some awkward moments later, when I re-met someone I had deleted. It went something like this:
Me: "Hi I'm Eve"
Other Person: "Yea, I think we're facebook friends... or we were?"
Me: "Oh, haha yea...I guess you might have gotten deleted somehow..."
Me: *goes home and re-adds the person again*
I guess people don't forget their facebook friends that easily, even if they just ignore you normally if you cross paths. Sometimes the person you're ignoring because you think they don't know or remember you, is doing the exact same thing to you because they're not sure if you remember them either! Or sometimes you both know OF each other, but have never officially met, so no one says anything, but you know that the person knows you. Maybe they know that you know that they know. Or maybe you know that they know that you know. =O *dramatic music plays*
So why doesn't anyone say anything? Are we all afraid to take the dive to be the first one to acknowledge the presence of an acquaintance or facebook friend? Perhaps we are just all too afraid of rejection. Afraid we'll wave or say hello, and have that other person look at us with a "who the eff are you" expression. Yes, it has happened before. I too, have felt humbled and ashamed at my rejected hello.
Anyways, I am getting a bit off topic. I have considered myself a good facebook stalker for awhile. My college roommate, Stephanie seems to think I'm quite creepy with my facebooking skills and all. Does that mean I'm a creeper? Doesn't everyone use facebook to find out more information about other people? Even so, I find myself afraid of OTHER internet creepers - of people who might creep and peer at my profile (which is now on private from non-facebook friends). This may have been caused by a recent finding I made on facebook.
I was randomly looking at someone's profile because they had popped up on my newsfeed (an invitation to stalk someone), and noticed one of the people on their friend list looked oddly familiar...kind of like me. I took a closer look, and realized, it WAS me. Or at least the profile photo used was of me. This person was using a picture of me from high school that I had used as my profile picture when I first signed up for facebook. Creepy much?! Someone had been creeping on MY profile?! And stealing MY pictures? What. The. Eff.
I messaged this picture/identity stealer and asked where they got their photo from. No answer. I asked the one mutual friend we had about it. The mutual friend (who I don't know very well) looked on her profile and informed me that there was a whole photo album titled "Me" with pictures of...well... ME (not her or him or... it?). Later when I sent this person another message asking why she/he/it was stealing my photos, the person deleted our mutual friend as her facebook friend and changed her profile picture to a picture of a girl standing, facing away from the camera. Figures huh. Not showing her true face. Maybe the girl in the picture isn't even her! It could be another stolen picture. But the question still remains: Why is she stealing and using someone else's (a non-celebrity's) pictures? Creepy. Very creepy.
This summer, I have gotten a couple of facebook friend requests from people that I don't seem to know. It makes me wary now to accept random friend requests from people I don't recognize. "Is it another creeper?" "Why are they trying to add me?" are questions that cross my mind now. Is this karma? Have I creeped on so many people that people are now creeping on me??
It's a scary cyber world out there after all.
Still wondering who these people are,
Eve
It was funny during first year. During the first couple weeks of school and at orientation, there were quite a few people who came up to me and said something along the lines of "Are you Eve? I think we're facebook friends." I also recognized a lot of people that I had seen on facebook. While this may have been creepy to some people, I think I was more flattered than creeped out. Kind of like "yay someone knows me! I'm so popular!!"... okay, not really. Haha.
After awhile, I think I got over the facebook phenomenon of accumulating facebook friends. I guess the novelty had worn off after I realized that it doesn't really matter how many facebook friends you have. It's probably more important how many REAL friends you have. So I started deleting the people I didn't know, which led to some awkward moments later, when I re-met someone I had deleted. It went something like this:
Me: "Hi I'm Eve"
Other Person: "Yea, I think we're facebook friends... or we were?"
Me: "Oh, haha yea...I guess you might have gotten deleted somehow..."
Me: *goes home and re-adds the person again*
I guess people don't forget their facebook friends that easily, even if they just ignore you normally if you cross paths. Sometimes the person you're ignoring because you think they don't know or remember you, is doing the exact same thing to you because they're not sure if you remember them either! Or sometimes you both know OF each other, but have never officially met, so no one says anything, but you know that the person knows you. Maybe they know that you know that they know. Or maybe you know that they know that you know. =O *dramatic music plays*
So why doesn't anyone say anything? Are we all afraid to take the dive to be the first one to acknowledge the presence of an acquaintance or facebook friend? Perhaps we are just all too afraid of rejection. Afraid we'll wave or say hello, and have that other person look at us with a "who the eff are you" expression. Yes, it has happened before. I too, have felt humbled and ashamed at my rejected hello.
Anyways, I am getting a bit off topic. I have considered myself a good facebook stalker for awhile. My college roommate, Stephanie seems to think I'm quite creepy with my facebooking skills and all. Does that mean I'm a creeper? Doesn't everyone use facebook to find out more information about other people? Even so, I find myself afraid of OTHER internet creepers - of people who might creep and peer at my profile (which is now on private from non-facebook friends). This may have been caused by a recent finding I made on facebook.
I was randomly looking at someone's profile because they had popped up on my newsfeed (an invitation to stalk someone), and noticed one of the people on their friend list looked oddly familiar...kind of like me. I took a closer look, and realized, it WAS me. Or at least the profile photo used was of me. This person was using a picture of me from high school that I had used as my profile picture when I first signed up for facebook. Creepy much?! Someone had been creeping on MY profile?! And stealing MY pictures? What. The. Eff.
I messaged this picture/identity stealer and asked where they got their photo from. No answer. I asked the one mutual friend we had about it. The mutual friend (who I don't know very well) looked on her profile and informed me that there was a whole photo album titled "Me" with pictures of...well... ME (not her or him or... it?). Later when I sent this person another message asking why she/he/it was stealing my photos, the person deleted our mutual friend as her facebook friend and changed her profile picture to a picture of a girl standing, facing away from the camera. Figures huh. Not showing her true face. Maybe the girl in the picture isn't even her! It could be another stolen picture. But the question still remains: Why is she stealing and using someone else's (a non-celebrity's) pictures? Creepy. Very creepy.
This summer, I have gotten a couple of facebook friend requests from people that I don't seem to know. It makes me wary now to accept random friend requests from people I don't recognize. "Is it another creeper?" "Why are they trying to add me?" are questions that cross my mind now. Is this karma? Have I creeped on so many people that people are now creeping on me??
It's a scary cyber world out there after all.
Still wondering who these people are,
Eve