Just like any neighbourhood, the social media ‘hood has some bad apples. Predators stalk the room pretending to be youthful teens when in fact they’re middle-age men (rarely women - usually men).  It’s unusual to find a parent today who hasn’t installed an Internet monitoring system to guard their children against suspect sites.

 Yet children aren’t the only ones being assaulted on social media sites.  This week I lost a Facebook friend due to ongoing harassment. Antonio is in his late twenties and lives in Monaco. He found the ongoing litany of insulting messages too much to handle. On the weekend he sent a farewell message and disabled his account. He’d said our conversations (to help me practice my French) were the only sane ones he’d had on Facebook.

Recent media reports suggest up to 50% of all social media users post too many personal details on-line, making them susceptible to identity theft. Yet the growth of indecent messaging makes a walk through Facebook feel like a jaunt through 1980s Times Square. Before Disney cleaned up that neighbourhood it was all Beast and no Beauty.

The prevalence of n’aer-do-wells will be the biggest inhibitor of social media’s rise. And where bad things happen lawyers usually follow. It will be interesting to see how courts one day determine the liability of Facebook and MySpace should a virtual assault turn physical.