I have set my FB privacy to ‘only friends of my friends can send me FB invite’ and few months ago this dude whom I met in 1988 during a med conference sent me an FB invite. He is from a different med college and we had no common friends and he added a classmate of mine, so he could send me an invite.
I ignored it. I didn’t decline the request, if you decline then he can send invite again and again till you block him. So I thought I would just ignore the invite.
I didn’t hear from the dude for a while and I thought all will be well and all of a sudden he started sending me messages to me( it goes to the ‘other’ folder) and I still ignored it. I contemplated many times if I should block him, but I felt if I blocked, he is only going to be more persistent.
Then he send me photos of his boobs.
I am not sure what exactly was the thought process behind someone sending me the photos of his boobs? That his boobs are god’s gift to mankind and that it should somehow turn me on? The first thought that came to my mind when I saw the boobs was ” gynecomastia” (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gynecomastia/basics/definition/con-20028710) I showed the photos to my partner and he too agreed this was a serious case of gynecomastia and together we felt the best thing to do is to block this guy. Which I did.
Ever since I have received 7 friend requests from 7 fake accounts. I block one, he creates another one..It is pretty easy to spot fake accounts. Date they started the account, the type of photos that clearly shows it has been lifted from google images..
But what is really disheartening is the only reason I get FB request from this guy is because one of my classmates will accept him as a friend..
Why do people accept FB requests from people whom they don’t even know?
I am pretty annoyed.
Hi Sarah long time silent reader speaking :), I think you may have to post his gynaecomastia in your facebook!! so that your friends understand not to friend anybody who sends a friend request. Take care. I am a big fan of you. Whenever I’ve faced difficulties, your blog has helped me to face it with gusto. Keep writing!!
Smitha: I did contact my friends and let them know each time this guy created a fake account asking if they know this guy? They just don’t care
FB is a great thing to get updates peers/acquaintances/people you don’t really see or connect with anymore, but in some sense it’s highly overrated IMO and is getting quite ridiculous. But to answer your question why people befriend people they hardly know, I’m sure it is because they want to raise their “friend count” up. You see young teens have like 50,000 friends, more than half they barely know or never met. Probably because they want to have the “popularity” niche. Also there were a lot of problems that people had where conflict occurs with other people and creates tension. It’s also quite an addiction, and too many people are updating their status like freaking 100x a day that really I don’t think people will be interested in and is very much meaningless (oh my baby spit up again !, I ate a twinkie for lunch ! (X_X)). They also expose alot of information about themselves (birthdate, address and location) that can put them at risk for predators.
I used to be fond of FB but got tired of it, and after thinking about all the consequences it can have, stopped using it. I think I will just stick with Instagram and Twitter, more simple and convenient and it’s more interesting.
J1206: I am 44 years old. Most of my friends are my age or older and 90% are doctors. So this notion of having lots of FB friends as an extension of ego is not something that motivates people in my friend’s list to add unknown friends..They just don’t care.