Is not joining Facebook a sign you're a psychopath?

[Gonzo]

Article at the Daily Mail postulates:
Is not joining Facebook a sign you're a psychopath? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184658/Is-joining-Facebook-sign-youre-psychopath-Some-employers-psychologists-say-suspicious.html#ixzz22sBQVMzw)

Facebook has become such a pervasive force in modern society that increasing numbers of employers, and even some psychologists, believe people who aren't on social networking sites are 'suspicious.'

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.

Facebook has become such a pervasive force in modern society that increasing numbers of employers, and even some psychologists, believe people who aren't on social networking sites are 'suspicious.'

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.

'If you’re of a certain age and you meet someone 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 red flag,' he says.

Manjoo points out that these judgements don't apply to older people who were already productive adults before social media became widespread.

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

It points out that Holmes, who is accused of killing 12 people and an unborn child and wounding 58 others at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and Breivik, who murdered 77 people with a car bomb and mass shooting, did not use Facebook and had small online footprints.

Breivik used MySpace and Holmes was reportedly on the hookup site Adult Friend Finder.

Psychologist Christopher Moeller told the magazine that using Facebook has become a sign of having a healthy social network.

Psychologists have noted that Holmes, along with 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 among young adults, is a sign that you're abnormal and dysfunctional, or even dangerous, ways.

Welcome to Topsy Turvy world, where not involving yourself in the craziness of Facebook could identify you as crazy.

Gonzo

 

[Jones]

what a load of meadow mayonnaise!!

There are hundreds of reasons that the article hasn't looked at why people may not be on fb.

 

[ROEL]

Article at the Daily Mail postulates:
Is not joining Facebook a sign you're a psychopath? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'

One of the reasons for joining could very well be a feeling of loneliness, which I see as one of the typical reactions to our present-day state of affairs throughout the world. The need for attention in a deeply uncaring world. There may also be a component of "showing off", though.

At the same time, I do not advocate joining FB. I, for one, will never join. Electronic interaction will never be a substitute for face to face. Not even close. I may sound contradictory, because I am here sharing with the Forum community. What happens is that the Forum is "closed" compared to FB, and the purpose of the Forum can never be satisfied by the likes of FB.

But I insist, face to face is the real thing. I wish I could visit in France with the Core Team. NOTHING could replace this way of interacting.

 

[whitecoast]

Beware!

It took some effort to read all the way through this puerile article. The opinions of an authoritarian follower on what constitutes pathological or deviant behaviour is worth less than nothing to me.

 

[Seppo Ilmarinen]

Heh, and i thought that facebook would've been quite good place for psychopath to stalk people and get information.

 

[Chu]

At the same time, I do not advocate joining FB. I, for one, will never join. Electronic interaction will never be a substitute for face to face. Not even close. I may sound contradictory, because I am here sharing with the Forum community. What happens is that the Forum is "closed" compared to FB, and the purpose of the Forum can never be satisfied by the likes of FB.

But it depends on why you join FB. Sure, if it is for "real interactions", you have little chances. However, we have been using it to spread information, and it is shown to be a very good tool for that! When a lot of us share an article, it gets "normalized", in the sense that your friends see a bunch of people "like" what you posted, so they join them too. There are a lot of people coming to SOTT this way. Then, we are not playing stupid games, so it is also a possibility to show that you can share valuable information instead of emptiness. We stand up for the truth without invading other people's pages. It is your own space, and those who like it visit it, those who don't, don't.

So, there's that to consider. The reason why you do it. There is good and evil, and the specific circumstances. :)

 

[Gonzo]

Yeah, I don't see FB as evil. It actually affords many people opportunities to stay in communication with people they may otherwise not be able to do. Sure, it's not ideal, but for some, "ideal" isn't possible.

Unfortunately, there are many who use it in ways that seem to erode their ability to build fact to face relations and it is often used for dark purposes, like humiliating or bullying others.

It can be useful for serving others and, as Ailén mentioned, to get the word out to broader audiences.

Gonzo

 

[Laura]

Geeze, we really opened a can of worms by bringing out the psychopathy problem. But then, we knew that the psychopaths would take it up and beat it to death in the most ridiculous ways.

 

[Gonzo]

What I can't figure out is if "they" are getting more obvious and transparent in their efforts to thwart the exposure or is my awareness and resulting discernment just getting better. Really, this is just silly. Do they actually think they can get sufficient critical mass to buy into this to turn the tide against them?

Gonzo

 

[Gimpy]

Article at the Daily Mail postulates:
Is not joining Facebook a sign you're a psychopath? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'

PTB use it like a tracking device. They've built all those fancy snooping buildings in Utah, and want to make sure as many folks as possible will 'contribute' to the sweep. Its also a way of spotting people who 'stray from the herd', which all predators instinctively do.

Most folks I know who are not on Facebook can't even afford internet access at home, which is about poverty, not anti-social behavior. Its just another way of sorting people into neat categories that mean essentially nothing.

Interpretation and attitude count with articles like this, osit. I'm of Ailen's thinking on it, it matters why you're on FB in the first place and what's important to you as to how its going to impact your life.

 

[Search]

I'm not on а facebook, neither on vkontakte (the same as FB, but Russian speaking ), neither anything else. I just have skype. The reason why I'm not there, it is, first of all, I don't want to belong to some sort of database. Also I don't want that people who I know, friends to see what I'm doing, don't really want to speak with them. I can say it is because my world view is really different from their's. I don't really what to speak on such subject as, 'where one's go today' 'how we relaxing' and so on.
It is a good place to spread information, like sott one. But I don't want to loin it right now or somewhere soon, but maybe I'll change my opinion.
And it is interesting that they post such article, it looks like they really need this an 'easy' database.

 

[SoCurious]

This puts young people into a catch 22 situation. "If you don't join FB you don't get a job". Sounds like a ploy someone like Zuckkerberg would use. Equally so any PTB that wants an easy way to keep tabs on you.

 

[cubbex]

What I've noticed is that people that do not use facebook tend to be less narcissistic, not interested on how much other people think about them. But, it can't be in any form, a way to spot a psychopath just because they do not use it.

 

[melatonin]

They made a big deal about the Batman killer not being on Facebook, so its probably no coincidence that this article has come out now.

 

[lwu02eb]

To say that this is ridiculous is a gross understatement. It is actually a very concerning sign that the PTB are closing the net on people who think for themselves. They are mobilising the psychology of the authoritarian types (majority) against people who are 'different' (minority). This has all happened before and we are now witnessing the beginning of the end of the successful integration of totalitarianism in society. The most frightening aspect is that this will be very successful because the wilfully ignorant masses simply appear to be incapable of even basic cognition and do not honour emotional or intellectual freedom.