Who’s Who In the Adult World

I was mooching around on MySpace and as I confirmed a friend’s request I thought to myself. Who the hell are these people I’m “friends” with?

Conversely who the hell do they think I am?

Aside from Suze I’ve met none of them and have one thing in common with them that I can count on, i.e. the Internet/blogging. That doesn’t mean to say that I value these friends any less, just that a social network friend is very different from a physical world friend.

Then I thought, no, some of the people on MySpace and other social networking sites are actually published authors, they have a provenance outside the electronic. However while that’s true for most there are a number of exceptions. You see some celebs have been My-Jackedâ„¢ (I think I just invented a new term) i.e. hijacked on MySpace by impostors pretending to be them.

One is Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, he claims not to have a MySpace account but the one posted as his and befriended by many is allegedly a fraud.

Even genuine social networking site accounts tend (for very good reasons of privacy and safety) to be heavily edited. That makes sense and is good practice to avoid some of the more unsavoury elements out there.

There’s always the temptation to put a little spin on your profile, work experience or relationships with your online friends. Facebook is a prime example as when your links with someone are as tenuous as giving them a hand with their web site development it’s difficult to know how to describe it. I often leave this section blank to avoid confusion, but it’s so easy to overstate the interaction you have with someone.

The adult corner of the web is more cagey that the rest of the web when its users are asked to reveal details about themselves. They are more susceptible and attractive to the weird elements out there.

I think the sensible line to draw is be truthful, but economical with the truth. That way you’ll not get burnt.

Tags: MySpace, social networking, facebook, Scott Mills, Radio 1, My-Jacking, My-Jack, My-Jacked, privacy, online privacy, stalking, online stalking