Not on Facebook could be a sign that you're abnormal and dysfunctional, or even dangerous

I came across what I perceive to be a ridiculous news article in The Daily Mail today. It claims that Facebook has become such a pervasive force inmodern society that increasing numbers of employers, and even somepsychologists, believe people who aren't on social networking sites are 'suspicious.' I totally disagree with this. How can conflating coincidence and cause be a crime?

The German magazine Der Taggspiegel went so far as to point out that accused theater shooter James Holmes and Norwegian mass murder Anders Behring Breivik have common ground in their lack of Facebook profiles. On a more tangible level, Forbes.com reports that human resources departments across the country are becoming more wary of young job candidates who don't use the site.

The common concern among bosses is that a lack of Facebook could mean the applicant's account could be so full of red flags that it had to be deleted.
Slate.com tech reporter Farhad Manjoo wrote in an advice column that young people shouldn't date anyone who isn't on Facebook.

'If you’re of a certain age and you meetsomeone who you are about to go to bed with, and that person doesn’t have a Facebook page, you may be getting a false name. It could be some kind of redflag,' he says.

Manjoo points out that these judgements don'tapply to older people who were already productive adults before social mediabecame widespread.

The tech news site Slashdot summed upDer Taggspiegel's story about social networking as 'not having a Facebookaccount could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer.'

It points out that Holmes, who is accused ofkilling 12 people and an unborn child and wounding 58 others at a movie theaterin Aurora, Colorado, and Breivik, who murdered77 people with a car bomband mass shooting, did not use Facebook and had small online footprints. Breivik used MySpace and Holmes wasreportedly on the hookup site Adult Friend Finder.

Psychologist Christopher Moeller told themagazine that using Facebook has become a sign of having a healthy socialnetwork.

Psychologists have noted that Holmes, alongwith several noted mass murderers, have lacked any real friends.

And this is what the argument boils down to:It's the suspicion that not being on Facebook, which has become so normal amongyoung adults, is a sign that you're abnormal and dysfunctional, or evendangerous, ways.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184658/Facebook-Some-employers-psychologists-say-avoiding-social-media-suspicious.html#ixzz22qQxTX16