Social media is an awesome tool. It’s not only a key for an authors brand, but a new way to make true friends. The world has changed with the advent of programs like Twitter and Facebook, but for all their wonderful benefits, the social networking sites have a negative side. They are wonderful tools for stalkers.

Ashleigh Hall and Peter Chapman

In October of 2009, the body of seventeen-year-old Ashleigh Hall was found in a ditch in close to a restaurant on the outskirts of Durham County, England.

A loving older sister, well-liked by her peers and looking forward to a career as a child care professional, Ashleigh was active online. Like most teenagers (and plenty of adults), her smart phone and Internet relationships were an important part of her life.

According to prosecutors, Ashleigh suffered from low self-esteem and was an easy victim for someone like Chapman.

According to her mother, on the night of her murder, Ashleigh had spent the evening chatting via MSN.

She asked if she could sleep at a friend’s house. It was a bit last-minute but I said ‘Yes, okay, as long as you are home by 10.30 the next morning. She threw some clothes in a bag and went downstairs. I was upstairs putting the young ones to bed. Ashleigh opened the door and shouted: ‘See you tomorrow mum’. I shouted to her to make sure she was home by 10.30. She said ‘I will’ and that was it. I never saw her again.
–Andrea Hall (source)

Chapman sent Ashleigh a text message saying his father would pick her up, and then again when he’d arrived.

Once he got her in the car, he attacked. He bound her and taped her mouth shut, and then raped her. Ashleigh suffocated to death.

When she didn’t come home the next day, Ashleigh’s mother began questioning friends and found out a boy she’d been talking to on Facebook.

Andrea Hall said her daughter was brought up never to talk to strangers and that included the Internet. Ashleigh had about 400 friends on Facebook, but her mother insisted she knew every one and couldn’t understand how she got to be friends with someone she didn’t know. Over 30 phone calls to her daughter went unanswered until Ashleigh’s phone was answered by a police officer around 8p.m. Her daughter’s body had been found.

Chapman was a registered sex offender and arrested by chance when an alert for his car was issued after he’d failed to comply with requirements of his sex registration. He eventually confessed to the murder.

I killed someone last night. I need to tell somebody from CID where the body is. It hasn’t been reported yet. –Peter Chapman

A history of sexual abuse

Peter Chapman was brought up by his grandparents. His history of sex offenses started when he was fifteen. Four years later, in 1996, Chapman was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping two prostitues at knifepoint. He was released in 2001.

In 2002, he was questioned over the rape and kidnapping of another prostitute, but the case was eventually dropped.

Chapman’s meek and mild manner were a mask for an extremely cunning individual.

The truth is he is anything but meek and mild. He is a devious and dangerous individual and could well be responsible for other, similar offenses.
–Detective Inspector Mick Callan, Durham Major Crime Squad

In the fall of 2009, Chapman used a picture of a bare-chested teenaged boy to create the Facebook identity of Peter Cartwright. He soon had nearly 3,000 friends, and most were females between the ages of 13 and 31. According to investigators, Chapman then attempted to redirect the female friends to private chatrooms. He also created a questionnaire to eek the more intimate details from his new friends. Sixteen girls replied and some even sent him provocative photographs.

When he was arrested for Ashleigh’s murder, Chapman had profiles on at least nine different sites and two other identities: a fifteen-year-old student from Liverpool and a nineteen-year-old. He trolled for sex on all the sites and had many girls expressing interest and sending pictures and suggestive messages. He described himself as tall, slim, and physically fit.

In reality, Peter Chapman was skinny, had a shaved head, and was missing several teeth.

He was sentenced to life for the rape and murder of Ashleigh Hall and must serve a minimum of 35 years before he’s considered for early release.

Andrea Hall implored for stronger regulations on social networking sites like Facebook.

After Chapman’s sentencing, Facebook issued a statement urging users not to meet anyone they’d been communicating with online unless they knew who they were, “as there are unscrupulous people in the world with malevolent agendas”. (source)

Shortly after her daughter’s murder in 2009, Andrea Hall issued the following statement:

Pictures and Source
Source

If you use Facebook, chances are you’ve wished for a ‘dislike’ button. Probably several times a day. But you know what would be even better? A dislike button for people.

Come on. You’d use it. A lot, probably.

Imagine. You’re in line at Wal-Mart. A mother with three bored, loud kids is ahead of you, arguing with the checker over a ten cent discrepancy. Every third word out of her mouth is a curse, and she angrily tells her fussing toddler to be quiet while she continues to argue over a dime. And no, I didn’t make that up. How awesome would it be to slam a big, red DISLIKE sticker right on her forehead? Of course, it’s no ordinary sticker. It’s loaded with super glue. She’ll be stuck with that baby for several hours.

Or what about the mom who parks EVERY DAMNED DAY in the carpool lane at school, blocking the line, while she walks her kid inside? Of course, there are parking spots twenty feet away, but she’s special enough she gets to slow everyone else down for the day. Bam! Red sticker for you, lady.

The two-faced coworker. Everyone of us has dealt with them. They’re your best friend until your back is turned, and then they spend an hour badmouthing your outfit, desk, your work ethics, whatever makes them feel better about themselves. Smack! Right on the mouth.

And the jackass who sits directly in front of you at the theater–although it’s mostly empty-and texts during the entire movie so that the glow of his cell phone completely distracts you? Here’s your sticker.

Then there are inconsiderate parkers.

These people are a special kind of jerk, and they’re everywhere. No regard whatsoever for the rest of the population. Two stickers for them–one for their vehicle and one right between the eyes. Nothing like superglue on the eyebrows to teach a person a lesson.

And then there’s my personal favorite: the hubby who knows every damned button to push. You’ve spent an hour cleaning the house. It’s almost perfect, but you haven’t gotten to the refrigerator yet because you know something’s growing in there and you’re afraid to find out what. So he comes home, doesn’t notice the gleaming countertop or fresh-smelling house, and goes straight to the fridge. First words? “Jesus. When are you going to clean this thing out?”

Foot up his ass, sticker for his forehead. With double super-glue.

Who else deserves a big, red DISLIKE sticker glued to their forehead? It’s Monday, so there have to be multiple offenders out there.

We all know social media is vital for today’s writers. We’ve been told by various social media experts that we must have a brand, a network, a footprint. I’m working on it, but most days it feels like a big muddy smear.

We need to reach out and be active on Twitter, Facebook, etc. It’s about connecting, not promoting. And I get that. That’s the easy part. I can jump onto Twitter and visit various #hashtags (#wewrite, #amwriting #row80 #pubwrite, #mywana) to find new and interesting authors to meet at any given time.

But the social media mountain is still slippery for me. Facebook, for instance. I have a Facebook page that combines friends/family/writing stuff. I’m slowly building my friend count and trying to connect. But then I was told to have the author page as well. So I have it. Out of 300-something friends, only 37 follow the author page. And really, what’s the difference between the two? Is it really necessary to have both? What are the benefits? And how do I get more people to “like” the author page, other than just asking? I HATE asking, unless it’s someone I know well.

And Goodreads. It’s a great place to connect with readers. Have lots of friends on there, too. But again, how do I use it effectively? I belong to some groups, but most of the discussions are the daily “how are you” type thing. Those are great, but we’re all pressed for writing time. There’s got to be a better way to socialize on Goodreads. I suppose I just haven’t found the right group yet–or haven’t paid enough attention.

Google+…haven’t even tried it. Worth the time? With a presence on Twitter, FB, and the blog, do I need to continue to stretch myself?

I’d also like to find a way to reach READERS. You know, people who aren’t writers but read the genre I write. Is Goodreads the only place for that? Are there other online groups dedicated to suspense novels? I confess, I haven’t looked for those yet. I’m still stuck on trying to figure out everything else.

Finally, there’s the blog. It’s doing well, and I’m grateful for all the great feedback I receive. And yet, I need to find a way to really put Thriller Thursday out there, to draw in more readers outside our blogosphere. I know the way to do that most likely lies with Goodreads and the outside groups I just rambled about, but I’m not sure of the best way to reach out, so to speak.

How do we promote without PROMOTING? You know, constantly telling people to read this and comment? The only way I know how is to join groups and just chat, connect, as Kristen Lamb says. But I still feel I’m not doing enough. I’m just not sure what the other ingredients are.

What do you guys think? For those of you already published, self 0r traditional, what have been your best strategies for effective social media?