Facebook Happiness Index Extends Outside of the United States

Last year, Facebook researchers started the “Gross National Happiness Index,” an index for measuring the happiness of English speakers in the United States based on Facebook status updates. Recently, Facebook began studying the happiness of English speakers in the UK, Australia, and Canada as well. Unsurprisingly, the results were more or less the same. People are happier on Sundays than on Mondays, and we all seem to like holidays.

Facebook Linked to Rise in Syphilis?

Could the rise of Facebook be linked to a rise in syphilis? Well that’s what a recent article in the Telegraph has posited, citing a study that shows a connection between the popular social networking website and an increase in casual sex in the UK. While the connection sounds spurious at best, in an analysis from ReadWriteWeb, Mike Melanson argues that it might not be that far-fetched. I suppose for a company with as dominant a cultural force as Facebook (over 400 million users and counting), any social phenomena could be linked to it.

If a Facebook “Friend” Robs You, Are They Really Your Friend?

Proving that sharing your whereabouts online isn’t always a good thing, a married couple in New Albany, Indiana is wondering whether one of their Facebook “friends” robbed their house while they were at a concert.

From the CBS News report:

“Keri McMullen and Kurt Pendleton left a status update on Facebook Saturday night that said they wouldn’t be home because they were going to a concert in nearby Louisville at 8 p.m.

At 8:42 p.m., two burglars entered their house, using a screwdriver to force open a back door. However, luckily for McMullen and Pendleton, they had recently installed a surveillance system in their home. The cameras caught the entire episode on tape.

The video shows the two men going through McMullen’s purse, stealing electronics — more than $10,000 worth — including a plasma television right off the wall. The burglars are then seen driving away with a laundry basket filled with the stolen goods.

After posting images of the suspects on Facebook, McMullen realized one of them had “friended” her about six months ago. She says he grew up across the street from her and hasn’t seen him in more than 20 years.”

Justin Bieber’s Manager Arrested for Not Tweeting

Back in November, 28-year-old Scooter Braun, the manager of popular teen singer Justin Bieber, was arrested for, get this, NOT TWEETING. When a Bieber concert at a mall got unruly, law enforcement officials decided to charge Braun for reckless endangerment because he didn’t turn to his Twitter account to tell the fans that the concert was canceled until an hour and a half after police requested him to. Braun’s lawyers claim he sent a tweet seven minutes after the police request. Does anyone else think it will be weird to see #FreeScooter become a trending topic on Twitter when it’s not referring to former White House advisor Scooter Libby.

Police Investigate Cyberbullying in Suicide of 17-Year-Old

Suffolk County police are investigating insensitive and disturbing messages sent to a Facebook page for 17-year-old Alexis Pilkington, who killed herself this past Sunday. The police are seeking to learn when the messages were first sent to Pilkington’s account, and if they had any connection to her suicide.

Alexis’ suicide, and the subsequent defacement of a memorial page in her honor, are but one more example that cyberbullying online is a serious problem among teens that needs to be addressed by parents and school administrators. Pilkington’s suicide comes after a number of other high-profile cases including the suicides of 13-year-old Megan Meier, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, and 13-year-old Hope Witsell.