Social media is terrifying.

         Social media can be a really good source to have. You can keep track of the people around you, get current events, and talk to people that you might not otherwise get to talk to. One day I was going through Facebook and decided I would try to catch up with an old friend. I got their number and we started texting but as we were texting I started noticing some red flags popping up. We used to work together at the same place back at home for a good time so he definitely knew I worked with him but I remember he asked me where we worked together. Which I thought was really strange since obviously he knew me. Before he had asked this question we held a conversation through text for about fifteen minutes or so and something just didn't feel right. So, I got suspicious and started questioning him. He wasn't who I thought I was talking to at all. It turns out that the person I thought I was talking to got a new phone number and didn't tell me. So, I asked the person who I was texting at the time what his name was and he told me, so I looked the name up on Facebook and nothing came back so I googled it. When I saw numerous results come back with his name I panicked because he was a registered sex offender. I just sat and stared at my screen for a minute and immediately blocked the number, deleted my Facebook and Twitter. I probably cried for a good hour.    I don't think I started engaging back in social media for a week or more. That was the most terrifying experience of my life. This creep had my phone number and he was one of the higher ranked sex offenders as well. He shouldn't have even had a phone to begin with.
       I'm not writing this as a sob story or expose myself and show a part of my naiveness at the time, but to show you guys that having a huge number of followers or friends on social media is not a good thing. You never know who could be hiding behind your five hundred friends. Once I got my Facebook back I only added my close friends, some college coaches, and followed a couple of big pages. This happened to me about two years ago and I still only have around 90-100 friends on Facebook and even that freaks me out sometimes but I no longer talk to friends on Facebook unless its like my boyfriend or someone from my main friends group. On twitter I only follow about fifty people and have fifty followers.  All of my settings are so strict you would probably think I'm partly crazy, however, I would rather be safe than sorry.