Facebook has been a big talker lately. In fact, social networking sites in general. It seems every week I cover a story or two that has to do with a social networking site.
Attorneys are now using Facebook and other social networking sites like Twitter and Myspace to present evidence in nasty divorce battles. One spouse claims he can’t make his child support payments for one reason or other, while his profile has pictures of a new car, an extravagant trip, etc.
A woman from Cleveland, who says she was married to her husband and has two sons with him, recently found pictures on Facebook of him and another woman. They weren’t typical photos highlighting an affair. These were wedding pictures. To catch your spouse married to someone else?!?!
We’ve heard the bad and the ugly when it comes to these social networking sights, but what about the good? The good these sites can do was brought to everyone’s attention when Facebook was instrumental in helping to find a missing teenage boy with special needs.
The teen’s family and close friends thought he may have wandered into the mountains behind their Layton home, or maybe into a neighboring subdivision. It turned out the teen had spent 24 hours at the mall. He got there on a bicycle.
Authorities would have never thought to look at the mall were it not for some of the teen’s school mates. One person posted that he was missing on their page. Other school friends commented. Before long a forum had started with several saying they may have seen the missing teen at the mall.
Sure enough, that’s where he was found. The teen is back home and safe. Despite the bad rap, I think this was a good example of how some of these social networking sites can be used for good, and when used properly, be a powerful tool.
