My normal morning procedure as boring as it might be is to check Facebook, now to justify why I check Facebook so regularly is because I am one of those unique individuals that has more friends on Facebook that I do in life. And to justify that, I know everyone on Facebook however most of them are not here in Perth as I have lived in so many other countries. So I check it to keep up to date with my international friends and reply to any messages, much like you would email.
This morning when I checked I noticed one particular post of a friend of mine "Just won 5 grand on scratchcard! Drinks on me". At first I though okay my friend does seem the lucky one, yeah this could be true. But as I read on and note peoples posts on the post someone had said "I have it on good authority that this is a particularly lame instance of facebook rape". It made sense as I really didn't think my friend would be the one to shout drinks, he'd keep this one quiet for sure. But it got me thinking.
Facebook rape otherwise known on the street as 'frape'. It doesn't sound fun by any means but it could have the potential to be really harmful. For those of you who don't know what Facebook rape is, let me explain. And firstly I must mention it has absolutely nothing to do with rape of the sexual nature, I don't condone that behaviour at all. If we talk just about the word rape other than being grated cheese in French. It simple means violation or to be taken such as land or in this case Facebook pages being hijacked. It is also the bulb of a European plant from the mustard family, but that is for anther article.
So the way it works is you leave your Facebook page signed in and leave the computer. This then leaves endless opportunities to the violator to take control. Now while my friends was to be fare a 'lame' raping, there are other consequences of more serious rapes. I know of people where they have openly 'come out' on Facebook, had their profile picture changed, my favourite is being joined to groups you really didn't want to be apart of - these can take some time to figure out. I did some research to find out how far people have gone to rape someone and you would be surprised how many dedicated sites there are to this topic.
Though scanning the many 'frape's' most about having a small penis and now loving men, women confessing to enjoy a little too much sexual activity and an interesting one was something along the lines of thanks for a great night sorry I forgot to shave...", but there was one I came across of an instance where a, what I assume was a friend, was boasting about a great 'frape' on her friend. "I can't believe it. I gave this really hot girl free drinks all night and then she got off with some one else :(" This guy was fired from this 'frape' post.
Facebook rape is a serious matter and even though Facebook are forever under scrutiny about their security procedures there is little they can do. But if people are having to forever confirm they are not actually gay, and didn't actually get genital herpes and worse, have their boss happen to read over their post and loose a job. We as law abiding citizens have to do our part to help those innocent victims, do out part to ensure a bit of harmless fun doesn't turn out to be life altering mix up's.
So this has led me to take action, in two ways. Firstly, make every effort to always sign out and never leave my personal computer logged in, just in case. And secondly if I ever 'frape', and let's be honest I most likely will, I will endeavour to put a positive spin on it in hope it will create a new wave of 'frape'. Now what I mean by that is this... "I snuck in to the old people's home and pruned their roses." Okay a little sucky but it might encourage the Generation Yers to help out the elderly - doubt. Then I thought of this, for every 'frape' I commit I will challenge fellow 'frapers' to step up their post. "Thanks to Nicorette I have stopped smoking, why don't you try". Funnier if the person doesn't smoke.
This new wave of 'frape' can be a great way to help those who believe the 'frape' they are reading is true. Maybe it can be to help someone come off of drugs, by posting actual information about centres. But then let's be honest, there really is no fun in this new wave of 'frape'. So alternatively you can just make them really, really good posts. "How do you tell your boss, as much as you enjoy the 'late meeting's' you really can't keep it up. There is only so far you can work to get to the top". Boss wont say anything out of embarrassment and maybe a little confused and it gives some great goss around the office.
