I've started to respond to this thread numerous times but never hit the 'post' button. Each time I thought, who am I to tell these 'kids' anything?
I'd heard my brother tell my niece stuff all the time and I'd laugh when she would roll her eyes at him. In one ear, out the other. I did the same thing as a kid. A lot of you are doing the same thing - rolling your eyes at some of these comments.
My 17 year old niece was very active on Tumbler, Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo Games. TONS of pictures, lots of chat. Last summer a 35 year old guy showed up on my brothers doorstep. He had driven from mid-Ohio, over 300 miles away and was planning on hooking up with her because of her 'flirting with him' in a Yahoo card game lobby/chatroom.
Seeing her car in the driveway alone (he knew it from pics), he assumed she was alone. Luckily, she had borrowed her dad's car that day and my brother was at home alone. When he came to the door and asked for my niece, my brother started asking him questions as to why he wanted to see her. The guy started walking back to his car when my niece pulled in the driveway.
The guy tried engaging her in conversation and finally spit out his Yahoo username thinking it would put her at ease. It didn't, she freaked out. My brothers neighbor, a trooper with the Michigan State Police, from across the street was watching this all unfold and came over. He ended up running the guys license and found him to be a parolee that had been released from jail 2 years earlier after serving time for a couple of rapes in Pennsylvania.
Before sending him back to Ohio on numerous parole violations, the neighbor cop asked him how he tracked my niece down. It was from pictures she had posted online. On the floor in one of the pictures was a sweatshirt with her last name on the back. In another picture she had a picture of her and one of her friends that played football, the team name was on the front of his jersey. The guy had a last name and city, that was all he needed to find her. Just 2 pictures of the hundreds (or thousand) she posted.
Yes, have your fun, 'post, post, post' as Insatible says. Nothing wrong with it. Just be very aware of the information you're divulging. If you're going to post a picture, make sure there is nothing in there that someone can identify you.
- Joe (not my real name)
A rationale minded oldie, well older than most at 47 I'm guessing, but far from being considered a senior Insatible
P.S. Touching a bit more on Insatible's comment...take those cigarette warnings seriously. Those things are killers. Alcohol...drink up, but don't drive.