My Last Connection
I remember having only one connection with someone; emotionally speaking. Infatuation cannot be considered a connection, as it is an individual feeling that we feel for someone or something. It is not reciprocal, it is something particular to each person.
Clarifying this, I want to talk about my digital connection, in which I met a person who generated great expectations but in the end, they were shattered.
In my teenage years, messenger services and dating chat sites were very popular. 'Messenger', 'MySpace', 'Fotoblog', 'Habbo' and later 'Facebook' were widely used by the youth of my time; especially Messenger, where one would spend hours and hours sitting around chatting with friends and strangers from all over the world.
The vice was so big, that people would add other users without knowing who they were; just to have a longer list of friends on Messenger and have more contacts to chat with. I also fell into that game once, and I started to expand my list of contacts that I started acquiring from a social network called 'Metroflog'.
Metroflog was a photo social network, where people would upload pictures of themselves or other things, leave a text explaining the picture, or just not do it, and other users would come and comment on their posts. On this page, I found many people with the same tastes in fashion and music, so I did several things to make myself popular there and make more friends.
I customized my profile to a more 'Dark' look since it was my favorite style. I became familiar with people in this same field and even created a circle with a lot of people. On Metroflog you could become very popular very quickly if you knew your way around. I made more and more connections until I finally reached her.
She was a Venezuelan girl like me, who lived in the east of the country in a city called 'Puerto Ordaz'. We met on Metroflog and I was intrigued by her profile. He liked the same things as me like anime, horror movies, heavy heavy metal music, and dark style.
She liked basketball; another thing we had in common, although she played it professionally. She was an interesting girl since in her blog she always talked about her basketball games; she even said that she had been in international games, even traveling to countries like USA, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina, and others.
I wanted to become friends with her and establish a connection, so every time she posted, I was always one of the first to comment on her. I made jokes, and even talked about songs of her favorite bands to make her like me more, and that's how we quickly became friends.
We added each other on Messenger, I even remember we exchanged phone numbers. She called me on several occasions and we would talk for hours only about our aforementioned preferences. I was going to consider her a true friend, but suddenly, I started to feel that things were not as I thought they were.
One day, I received a message on my Messenger from a person who was also on Metroflog. I don't remember exactly her username as it was very complicated, but this person started to tell me important things about my friend.
The guy told me that supposedly my friend had scammed him, with a fake profile where she pretended to have a life that wasn't real. He believed all her supposed lies, even gave her money to finance some thposts she claimed to have.
As he saw that she and I were always talking to each other on Metroflog and that we happened to have each other added on Messenger, he wrote me to show me the proof of the things he claimed, and when I saw them, I almost fell backwards.
The guy showed me authentic profiles of my friend, in which she was the opposite of what she claimed to be. I was shocked. I could not believe that this person was really her. I couldn't stay with this stuck doubt any longer and confronted her with everything and proof. She denied everything of course. I don't know how many hours we spent arguing that day, until I finally got tired of so many lies and decided to close the Messenger.
For several days I was in shock, because the only person with whom I had established a link in social networks was just a disguise. I moved away from Metroflog and started using Facebook. Everything was going nneedal, until I received a friend request from that girl I no longer considered my friend.
I was stunned, I didn't know whether to accept it or not, but in the end I ended up doing it. After a few minutes, she wrote me a message and started to confess the whole truth. That it was true that she had created a false identity on social networks and that she had indeed cheated several people and had taken money from them.
As I read her confession, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, as she was just a young girl who created an interesting life just to get attention and have friends. I forgave her for not being honest with me, but we were no longer as close friends as before.
The connection had been broken, however I did not hold a grudge. She continued with the authentic profile of her life for a while, but then I noticed that she had created another Facebook account with Photoshopped selfies of herself, modifying her face and body. I wasn't really surprised, I just thought, "Some people really don't change."
THE END
Interesting experience that fortunately does not seem to have left but learning. Social networks came into my life when I was already grown up and I think I was quite cautious in handling them, I mean Facebook, specifically, because in others I barely manage.
I have a very positive experience of a long-distance relationship with whomever I call, my unknown friend, with whom I maintained a relationship until the day of his death. He supported me in the process of quitting smoking and since he dedicated all his time to that work through Facebook, I dedicated myself to supporting him in his work.
Unfortunately, COPD disease took him early.
Social networks can be a very useful tool to connect with other people, but you can also find people who are not authentic.
It's good that you were able to find a friendship that benefited you a lot, helping you to quit your bad habit. I'm also sorry that he left like this.
As in face-to-face contacts, we must be cautious when placing our trust. And not let ourselves be dazzled by a fake or ill-intentioned shine.
{Success and until another time.
You are right, trust is not to be taken lightly.
Been in a similar situation and it broke my heart when I read this, to see people try to be something they're not just to pull the attention of people.
It is more common than it seems, especially among young people. Fortunately nothing fateful and unfortunate happened. Thank you for reading.
Everybody can actually change, but some people just don't have enough will to do so and stay so.. I don't think it was wise letting her in again, but I guess everyone deserves a second chance
After what happened we didn't talk to each other again, we only have each other added on Facebook. I always wished good luck in life and not to make those kinds of mistakes.
What an unpleasant experience to have spent so much time with a person who wasn't really the one you thought, @universemissing. You put your hope for true friendship in her and the result was disappointment. Thanks for bringing this Creative Nonfiction story.
That's right, it was one of the biggest disappointments of my life, and since then I haven't trusted social media again.
Thanks to you for the support!
Your story is very interesting, social networks are a niche where many people create a life totally different from their reality, they do it for many reasons, it has happened to me too And it's something to be careful with.
Excellent to read you here again.
Thanks for sharing.
Good day.
That's right, you have to be careful, you don't know what kind of sick mind touches you there.
Thanks for stopping by and reading.
It's understandable that you felt a sense of betrayal and disappointment when you discovered the truth about your online friend. It might be difficult to accurately judge someone's sincerity and intentions while connecting and making acquaintances online. It's crucial to proceed cautiously when entering into online interactions and to remember that people aren't always what they seem to be.
As in everything in life, in any field in which we operate, we will always find fakes and scammers. You always have to be alert.
Or they are simply sick.
Your story is very interesting. Social networks are a weapon of ... I do not know how many edges hahaha
Ha ha ha. Luckily it's from a distance, because if it were in person, I think things would be worse.
That's really ugly, and worse, the person didn't change anything about their way of being but continued lying and scamming. Well, it's a good thing the issue didn't continue, and you knew how to distance yourself.
Yes, besides that I was already bored. The good thing is that he didn't continue talking to me anymore and we stayed as if nothing had happened 😁
Except this platform user, I don't take anyone seriously. Because in my opinion social media is a place for the entertainment purpose and there is nothing to be serious.
At last, you figured out that she was an scammer.
Yeah, and maybe she was using that fake identity for entertainment, but unfortunately she went too far.
Thank you for reading.
This is so true. It is because of this fact that one need to be vigilant after giving another person a second change stemming from bad experience. People that deceive others with false identities, I don't really know where they get such courage.
It is something that you have to be careful about because evil exists, as well as indifference and lack of respect towards others, so you have to be vigilant.
The dark side of social media, these tendencies of making false impressions is what irritates me the most. Once I was like you used to fill my friend list with strangers, a few thousand. Now it's less than 500 and all of them are people I know personally, not even a single stranger.
It was really an unpleasant experience you had. never faced anything like that as everyone on my list is only the persons I know so I can clearly sense who is being fake or showing their true colors, kinda fun.