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Never judge a Facebook by its cover

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 20 Nov 2014

You have a friend request from: John Wayne Gacy. Self-employed at: Pogo the Clown. Past founder of PDM Contractors, served on the Norwood Park Township street lighting committee. Born 17 March 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. Studied at Northwestern Business College, class of 1963. Married to Carole Hoff. Likes local politics, painting, and voluntary community work.

A textbook Facebook friend request - why wouldn't you accept it?

What may seem like a perfectly normal - even admirable - Facebook profile above, would be truer (and more disturbing) if it had to list "psychological gratification through the senseless slaying of innocent teenage boys and men" as a profile entry.

Except it doesn't - with good reason. You would not accept it. Probably a pretty good rule of thumb to have for yourself, regardless of who sits behind the profile asking you to share your online life with them, is: if you don't know them and don't have a burning desire to keep in touch in the cloud, don't click 'add friend'. And it's not just about the eerie thought of a stranger being privy to your intimate thoughts and life events - it could be worse. Way worse.

This month, researchers at Birmingham City University released research categorising no less than six types of murderers that use Facebook to carry out their dirty deeds. Elizabeth Yardley and David Wilson examined 1 000 instances of "Facebook murders" around the world, based on media reports of convictions for felonies including manslaughter, murder and culpable homicide. They used a sample of 48 different cases between 2008 and 2013.

While Yardley and Wilson said in their paper the term "Facebook murder" was not exactly meaningful enough to coin for Interpol's homicide files, you have to ask yourself what prompted a dedicated analysis of the notion. And, if it really is that far removed from reality, how could they have come up with six different types of Facebook killers?

Killer categories

The most frequent type of Facebook fiend (27%) the academics list is the "reactor" - the ones that react to information or posts on Facebook by attacking the victim offline.

For example, Wayne Forrester - who, in 2008, killed his wife after reading Facebook posts that they had separated and that she wanted to date other men - is a reactor.

Then there is the "informer", which constitutes 22.9% of the Facebook murders examined. This type uses Facebook to make public their homicidal intentions or "advertise" a murder they committed.

Last year, Colorado-based Merrick McKoy took his two-year-old daughter from his ex-partner and posted disturbing photographs and messages on Facebook, among others: "I told u I can't live without u lol u thought I was joking now me n Mia out this bitch." McKoy subsequently shot his daughter, then himself.

Third in line, with 16.7% of the pie chart, is the "antagonist" - the one who takes a hostile online interaction into real life and acts on his anger outside of the comment box. Interestingly, groups in which violence goes hand-in-hand with masculinity may be particularly prone to let their online and offline activities overlap, the researchers say.

About five years ago, two Birmingham teenagers demonstrated this when 16-year-old Daniel Ekemba stabbed 15-year-old Hassan Mahmood to death in a local park.

Fourth is the "fantasist". This imaginative bunch make up 12.5% of the whole and use Facebook to indulge their fantasies, at the same time super-blurring the line between what is real and what is not.

You must have heard of the Dexter killer. Aspirant filmmaker Mark Twitchell was convicted of first degree murder in 2011 after he killed Johnny Altinger. Inspired by series fans' favourite serial killer Dexter Morgan, Twitchell created a "kill room" in a garage he rented. He set up a Facebook account that masqueraded as the TV character and described his preparations for a murder before killing a man in his "kill room".

Then there is the "predator" - also making up a 12.5% part of the Facebook murder wheel. These social media marauders create phony profiles to gain the trust of a victim before luring them to a place where they are vulnerable.

I would have expected this group to be bigger, but Yardley and Wilson said: "The small number of these predator perpetrators is not surprising, given the lack of traditional anonymity in social networks and the difficulties in maintaining wholly fictitious profiles." This shouldn't detract from the serious nature of predators, though, the couple noted.

Remember 17-year-old animal lover Ashleigh Hall? She was murdered in 2010 by 32-year-old drifter Peter Chapman, after he lured her out to a remote nature reserve using Facebook. She thought she was going to meet a cute 16-year-old boy she'd friended on Facebook. Hall's mom immediately spoke out, warning other parents of the dangers of social networking sites.

If you don't know them and don't have a burning desire to keep in touch in the cloud, don't click 'add friend'.

Finally, the "imposter" makes up the last 8.3%. This group of no-gooders impersonates someone else on Facebook. This can be their intended victim - to maintain the illusion that they're alive - or someone else, to get an 'in' to the victim's Facebook profile.

In 2010, imposter Andrew Lindo killed his partner Marie Stewart and then proceeded to send messages from her Facebook profile, claiming she was alive and well in the Canary Islands.

So, if any of the nouns "honesty", "sincerity" or "reality" spring to mind when you look at someone's Facebook profile ahead of adding them to yours, you are probably more gullible than you would like to believe.

I must say, this research has caused me to think about my own rubber arm when it comes to adding friends. Whether I have a friend request from Ed Gein or His Holiness the Pope, my cursor's on the "Not now" button.

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