Facebook is the king of social media, there’s no doubt about that. It’s almost strange if you meet someone who doesn’t have a profile, but then again there are some people who probably shouldn’t be allowed on Facebook because they’re just plain creepy. When you encounter these creepy users, your first instinct might be to simply ignore them, but you never know if someone on your friends list could actually be a threat.
The only way to find out the truth about your creepy Facebook friends is to do a little research, and lucky for you, there are plenty of online resources that provide easy access to public records. One of these sites is InstantCheckmate.com, which provides background reports that include pertinent details about an individual’s criminal history including arrests and prior convictions. Criminals could easily be browsing around your Facebook profile and trying to chat with you, and you definitely do not want that. Check out the list below of four types of Facebook users that deserve an immediate background check!
1. The Lurker
You know those random people who you see on your friends list, yet you’ve never once seen them in your news feed? These are what we like to call “Lurkers” because that’s what they do—they lurk. Most Lurkers don’t have any interest in being active on social media or communicating with other users. They simply create accounts so that they can browse around other users’ profiles and read updates and look at pictures. How creepy is that? If you notice any Lurkers on your friends list, then it’s definitely time to run a background check.
2. The Liker
This one’s pretty self explanatory, and anyone reading this probably has some Likers on their friends list. Likers are the people who, without fail, will “like” all your updates immediately after you make the posts. Sometimes the notification pops up in a matter of seconds, which often makes you wonder if the person is just sitting around stalking your profile and waiting for your next move.
3. The Inappropriate Commenter
Inappropriate comments can come in many forms, but not matter what, they’re usually not welcomed. This is especially true when it comes to random people on your friends list who, for some reason, like to leave strange creepy comments on your timeline or your photos. It’s safe to say that this type of user deserves a background check.
4. The Chatterbox
The Facebook Chatterbox is the person who blows you up on chat ALL THE TIME. Regardless of how many times you’ve ignored them, they just keep at it, and it can get creepy really, really fast. Obviously, if you’re ignoring someone, that means you have no interest in engaging in the conversation, at which point any normal person would take a hint and get lost. If you’ve got a chatterbox on your hands, you should background check them to make sure they’re not actually dangerous, and then probably delete and/or block them from your profile.
Can YOU think of any other social media users that deserve a background check? Let us know in the comments!
This is a guest post by Jennifer Burke, a blogger from Palo Alto, CA who she specializes in writing about the correlation between crime and social media. Thanks Jennifer!