Freindster is the first ever social network of the world. It was the first social network I ever joined, and I am still active on it, although no longer as active as I am with my Multiply and Facebook accounts.
I love social networks and keeping up with my Freindster friends, knowing what they’re up to and all of that. I sometimes also do some lurking, especially when I have a crush and want to know more about a particular guy, well it’s Freindster I hit first. Haha.
I’ve never liked those closed accounts. You know, those profiles that only show the primary picture and nothing else. I’ve always felt those people were kind of snotty, opening up their profiles only to people they deemed deserving to see their photos.
But it turns out maybe they have a point. The spate of kidnappings in Mindanao has rapidly risen. Recently, some Ateneans went to Basilan and were kidnapped for ransom. The survival rate of victims is pretty random. Some fortunate ones are returned to their families, yet some others are murdered.
A friend of mine advised me to close my Freindster account to the public. He says that the kidnappers in Mindanao work by hanging out in malls and observing customers. They pay special attention to those who bring large bills or spend using credit cards. Even people who dress especially well are monitored. And it’s not only done inside a mall. There are also those kidnappers who hang out observing people with nice cars, or nice houses.
When the bad guys (hope they catch mesothelioma or something awful like that) have their eye on an unfortunate target, they monitor him closely, studying his daily routine and scouring Freindster for his profile. They try to find out everything about their target, then send all the information and photos to their contacts in Basilan (one of the most lawless cities in the Philippines, and a place one should never go to without police supervision).
The next step is for the Basilan kidnappers to do their job and kidnap the target, hauling him away to Basilan and then demanding ransom from his poor family.
I have no proof of this affair save for the recounting of survivors. I am not advising anybody to stop hanging out in malls (please, let us not let terrorists terrorize us) or to suddenly stop buying nice stuff for themselves, but as a safety precaution, let us all limit the information we publish on the Internet by closing off our profiles and photos to the public, and make sure that we do not “friend” everybody who asks us on Freindster, but only those who are actually our friends.
Same goes for other social networks such as Multiply, Facebook and, yes, even our blogs.
P.S. I mean “Friendster”. Sorry, it’s a geek thing.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I don’t know how I’ll react. But if this is really true.. then it’s a sad fact that we all need to deal. Hopefully all will be well with Mindanao.. it takes one blog at a time to voice out our opinions and feelings.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
i totally agree. hope all goes well with you guys back there
-tara
December 28th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
hahaha. i was beginning to get bugged about why you spelled it “freindster” all throughout na sana.
shucks scary man se mga kidnappers. poor kids. and then there’s that myspace suicide. were you able to blog about that ya?
December 30th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Uy delikado na pala tayong lahat sa mga kidnappers. Kaya di rinerespeto ng goverment at ng mga tao yung mga morong yan eh kasi masama naman ung ginagawa nila.
December 30th, 2008 at 6:46 am
@Yolynne, there is a saying that sunlight is the best disinfectant of all. If we give light to all the secrets of the MILF / Abu Sayyaf / terrorists then we can conquer them. It brought down the Ku Klux Klan and it stabilizes the market everyday. So, yes, one blog at a time.
@Tara, thank you for your kind thoughts.
@Heidee, well it’s an SEO thing haha. You might be seeing more misspellings. I cringe myself, but it’s a necessary evil hahaha. I read about that MySpace thing. You mean the mom who impersonated a student and bullied a kid into suicide? It was so publicized, though, that I decided not to discuss it any longer.
@Bryan, it’s not the Muslim community but the MILF and Abu Sayyaf who are the criminals here. There are a lot of moderate Muslims in Mindanao fighting together with Christians against these terrorists. So long as we respect one another, we can prevail against evil.
December 30th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
These kidnappers have a lost cause.. Rebels.
Truth is, I have one classmate from highschool who’s also kidnapped by these said criminals. He’s still missing up to this date.
Rebels are supposed to REBEL against a corrupt governtment, etc, etc.. But our rebels here are just pigs whose hunger for money is overflowing..
True, our government is corrupt, but what they’re doing is just wrong..
I hope they rot in hell.
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:15 pm
BAKLA YANG MAYOR NA YAN. WALANG BAYAG. SANA MAKULONG KA RIN. MAG SAMA SAMA NA KAYO MAG AMA.
DALHIN NYO NA RIN MGA BODYGUARDS NYO! SO DISGUSTING! PATI BATA PINATULAN!
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
ALAM KO NA KUNG BAKIT PATI BATA PINATULAN MO. DI MO KASI KAYA MRS. MO. HAHA. UNDER THE SAYA!!!
MAYOR, BUMITIW NA KAYO SA PWESTO. WALA KAYONG KWENTANG MAYOR. MAYORDOMO NA LANG BAKA PWEDE PA.
PWEDE BA? TANONG NI RICHARD GOMEZ SA FAMILY FEUD.
PWEDENG PWEDE! MAYOR ALIS DYAN!!!!PANGIT!!! NIGRO!!!