It's really no secret that I can be found surfing the web probably 12 hours out of any given day, and at least one third of that time is spent on Facebook.  I like to keep up with my friends and family members that I may not be able to talk to or see on a regular basis.

This morning, I woke up much earlier than usual. Once I completed my normal tasks, I decided to check Facebook. Yesterday, I saw where one lady from Tuscaloosa had posted about her son in a group entitled "Stop discrimination against special needs."  Her post garnered thousands of "Likes" and people encourage her and said they'd be praying for her.

However, this morning, there was a new post, created by a young woman (and she'd tagged some of her family members) saying that another picture that appeared on the site was a picture of her cousin, the picture was stolen, and that the poster claiming to be the young man's sister was not related to them.  Not only is the "sister" said to be unrelated but also someone that none of them know.

 

Even actors and recording artists David and Tamela Mann say that someone has created Facebook pages, claiming to be them. They say that their imposter is posting pictures, too.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a rather common occurrence.  Not long ago, there was a warning circulating, saying that people are stealing pictures and recreating Facebook accounts, sending out friend requests to the authentic person's friends, and so on.  It's sad to think that a person's life is so empty that he'd feel the need to take on another person's life, but it's a totally different creature to steal the picture of a disabled person, conjure up a story about his everyday life, and post it.  If what this family is saying is true, the poster has surpassed the point of being sad and has moved into deranged. However, again, that could just be a case of mistaken identity. 

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Yet, there are people who bask in a sense of accomplishment from being "Liked."  When I log onto Facebook, the text box at the top says, "What's on your mind?"  It doesn't say, "What will you say to make people like you today," "Prove your popularity," or "Post something that will give you more "Likes" than you've ever gotten."  I simply share my thoughts and experiences.  That doesn't mean that I'm going to share EVERY thought, experience, or emotion.  That's the glorious thing about Facebook.  You're able to display whatever aspect of yourself you'd like.  It's kind of depressing to think that a person can't think of ONE thing they'd like to share about themselves, and they feel forced to take on another person's identity.

 

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