Summer Roberts said her first Facebook fight was about something as silly as a friend’s profile picture. Roberts, an 18-year-old UF Spanish freshman, asked the person what his mother would think of the profile picture.
A lengthy exchange of profanities ensued, in which Roberts learned the friend’s mother died three days earlier. The two weren’t Facebook friends much longer.
“I didn’t feel anything but disbelief,” Roberts said. “I really couldn’t believe something that terrible could happen on Facebook.”
Roberts is just one of many users who find themselves damaging real-life relationships with what they or their friends post, according to a survey from VitalSmarts, a corporate training company. Of the 2,698 users surveyed online, 78 percent reported rude behavior online, and 2 in 5 stopped contacting a friend after an impolite encounter, according to the study.
Steve Johnson, visual coordinator for UF’s College of Journalism and Communications, said social networks are a catalyst for cyber bullying because it’s much easier to type something than to say it. He said social networks allow people to criticize each other instantly.
“If I post a picture and you say, ‘Wow that sucks,’ obviously that’s going to hurt our relationship,” Johnson said.
Gary Edinger, a Gainesville attorney, said any threat of physical harm that could be perceived as real is grounds for a lawsuit. A written, intentional lie meant to cause harm to a person could also result in a defamation lawsuit.
“If I say Betty gave Johnny Chlamydia, that’s defamation,” Edinger said. “It’s causing someone actual harm.”
He said although most posts fall under the protection of the First Amendment, they are still published words. A private message to someone is similar to a one-on-one conversation, but when a third party is witness to what someone says it becomes a legal issue.
