The Problem with Facebook

I meet a lot of lovely people as a result of writing two books, and I meet them via email, online, on social networking sites.

Recently on FB, I decided to restrict who I friended to people I’d met, people who I knew pretty well, people I’d worked with, went to school with, taught… you get the idea.

Some people have been upset that I de-friended them, & I’m very sorry they are.

Mostly I was tyring to protect my friend & family who often got friend requests from total strangers who “collect” friend on FB – usually for the sake of marketing something. Then someone told me about this ACLU quiz about FB’s Privacy Policy – or lack thereof – which everyone who uses FB should take.

I did make a point of asking people to move to my more public page on FB so that I could cut down on the spam, but left messaging available to anyone & everyone.

Honestly, I was about *this close* to eliminating my personal page altogether but decided to try out this compromise first. Sadly, I offended people who I didn’t mean to offend even for a second.

Apologies: navigating private & public is no easy task and surely requires someone far more graceful than me.

Brooklyn, Oct 7: Trans Hate Crimes Forum

Special Event – Transgender Hate Crimes: Victims, Their Families & Advocates Speak Out

Transgender people face pervasive discrimination, harassment and violence. Leslie Mora and Carmella Etienne—victims of hate crimes in two separate incidents in Queens—are witnesses to the violence that is perpetrated against people because of their gender identity or expression. In its most extreme form, such violence can turn deadly, as it did in the case of Lateisha Green, a young African American woman who was shot and killed, and whose death lead to New York State’s first hate crime trial and conviction stemming from the death of a transgender person. Continue reading “Brooklyn, Oct 7: Trans Hate Crimes Forum”