2011 saw a rise in UK home break-ins. How much of a rise to the previous year? Well, try 14%. Which isn’t a low number in the grand scheme of things. It’s frightening to be quite honest.
Although nothing as frightening as breaking into this man’s home.Land of the free. Home of the insane.
America is just a sack full of crazy. Apparently, 6 million homes each year are burgled. Of course, there are a lot more homes there than here, but still. And it’s not even if people are now stealing things of value, like your 50 inch 3D television or your cat.
No, now they stealing your internet connection so they can update their Facebook status.
Wait. Back up. What?
Yes, it seems social media is so important to people that they are now breaking into homes and using people’s computers.
Like this guy, who logged into Facebook in a house whilst on the run from previous counts of burglary. Or how about this poor woman, who arrived home to find a complete stranger using her laptop to surf social networks. She soon scarpered, after urinating on the couch, because once you’re wanted for B & E then you may as well go the whole hog right. However, police were able to figure out the identity of the mystery girl because, of course, she’d left herself logged onto Facebook.
The online high
Has social media really gotten so addictive that we simply just can’t wait to get back home to check out the latest news? That we have to find the nearest house and break the law to satisfy our own need to be included in a social platform?
I’m interested to see how network science handles the fringe groups who have become so determined to be included in on-line groupings that frankly they don’t care how they access the internet, so long as they get their fix.
Are platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ becoming too addictive? Are you only a few steps towards committing your first felony in the name of access to status updates?
Let me know.
[Image courtesy of personality-spr11.wikispaces.com]