Facebook, Fatalities, & Friends

Facebook & Fatalities: The events of this week give us an opportunity to address at least one issue that no one likes to think about, but nevertheless should. We've all been teenagers and said (and done) things just to get attention. The past few years we've seen at least four young men who have lost their lives unexpectedly. We've looked at their Facebook pages and all have had entries that most adults would find objectionable. We can understand these young people never considered they would not be around to later edit or delete any remarks.

Any parent might wish to talk to his/her child about their Facebook entries. We have an idea that many kids refer to themselves as homosexual or bisexual just for the the shock effect. We also know that referring to an ex-girlfriend as a dog in heat might seem like cool revenge, but do you or your child really want that as an epitaph should the worst happen?

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Friends: The word friend usually has great connotations. What do your "friends" say about you? We've seen some friends this past week, and family, who haven't made a good impression on any of us here at Shoalanda.

Earlier in the week, we were sent links to two Facebook pages of individuals involved in a tragic car crash. We were also sent photos by someone who does some work for us. Until a friend contacted us we had barely heard of the accident at the Tennessee state line that look the life of Brittany Underwood. Some time after we published, we received a message from a close friend of ours who asked us to look again at the photo we used with the blog.

If we had looked at our inbox first, we might have deleted the photo at a very early date, but we didn't. By that time we had already received demands to take the photo down. Some of these demands used language not used in polite society. FYI, if you ever need a favor, you might try asking politely before you demand.

We know that when people die tragically, many who hardly knew the individuals become their best friends; however, considering the language and threats made by people claiming to be friends of Clark Burns and Brittany Underwood, it would make anyone take a second look at their character.

Most of these remarks were simply negative, yet some surprised us. One man who made a negative remark has had numerous relatives contact us regularly asking for help in prosecuting those they hold responsible for this man's nephew's death. If there were any way we could help, we would, but sadly there's not.

Others, one who claims to be a member of Miss Underwood's family, has made crude remarks about four people who don't even work with us here. Three women were called "b*****s" and one man was called an "sob." These four (or maybe five--two women have the same first name) had absolutely nothing to do with what was published here. Do you really think a cabal of local citizens got together and decided to hurt a grieving family?

Please think before you speak/write such cruel and vulgar words. Is that what your friend/relative Brittany would have done? We here don't know her and can only judge her now by your actions.



Shoalanda