There has been a lot of concern about privacy on Facebook lately. And a recent story won't make users of that site feel any more secure about it.

A media artist and a media critic scraped 250,000 profiles form the giant social networking site and used them to create a fake "dating site". They say that it's a kind of experiment to expose the perils of joining such a site.

That sounds dubious. It seems much more like a calculated ploy to lift their respective profiles, then avoid punishment by pleading "artistic" motivations.

It's interesting that the fake project was a "dating site". It could easily have been another social networking site. But that wouldn't have been quite so attention-grabbing. So they spiced up the stunt a little. That ploy seems to have worked.
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Here's another sad case of a dating scam that resulted in a woman being financially and emotionally devastated. It's yet more evidence that these lowlifes have responded to people's greater caution about the threat and are making their deceptions more involved and seductive.

In this latest case, a British woman called Kate Roberts was deceived into thinking she was being wooed by a handsome and charming American soldier. The ruse was very involved. It went on for quite some time and involved the use of many photos of the man, which clearly made it all the more convincing.

The fact that it was so effective reveals the powerful influence that sexual archetypes have in people's hearts and minds. There's that cliche about women loving men in uniform, after all.
As much as we like to think otherwise, these beliefs still have great emotional power. Ruthless people know this very well, which is why they keep using them in their scams.
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For a long time people have been campaigning against the institution of marriage on various grounds - for example that it's inherently oppressive to women. Yet despite all the bad press about it, people just keep tying the knot!

It seems that most people still believe that marriage holds the key to happiness. Cynics would argue that it's a fasle dream. But one thing seems certain: it can confer many powerful health benefits.
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There's a widely held belief in our society that a man doesn't have to be young and handsome to win the heart of a beautiful young woman; he can do it if he's older, rich and powerful. A lot of people don't like this idea, since it puts a big hole in their theories about equality between the sexes.

Still, there does seem to be a lot of evidence for the belief - the latest being the engagement of Aussie celebrity Sophie Monk to the much older French millionaire Jimmy Esebag. While she describes him as being her soul mate, and there seems to be clear and genuine affection between them, it's fair to say that his substantial wealth and influence probably had more than a little to do with her attraction to him!
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Many of the social changes that have occurred in Western society over the last few decades have been initiated in the belief that men and women are pretty much the same psychologically and that any seeming differences are mainly due to socialization. Women have been encouraged to value work outside the home as much as men do, and there have been many affirmative action policies put in place to ensure equality of outcome in this area.

So now we have a situation in which most women have to work whether they like it or not. Yet there's more and more evidence to show that most of them don't like it. It's all quite ironic when you think about it.

Turning back the clock on four decades of feminism, a study has found nearly two-thirds of women would love to find a husband with a bigger pay packet than theirs so they can care for their children full-time.
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A man called Andrew John Harper, who is originally from Victoria, is wanted for allegedly repeatedly fleecing women from several countries out of large amounts of money.

This isn't the first story of its kind. And it definitely won't be the last, unfortunately. Still, it's one of the more extreme stories of its kind. It's almost incredible that someone would even dream up the elaborate scams that he's accused of, let alone go through with them. But it just goes to show that there really are some totally ruthless people out there. Also, if you want to believe something, then it's not very difficult for someone to make you do so - then take advantage of it.

From the manipulation tactics described in this article - and if he's guilty of what he's accused of - he seems to have very good insights into female psychology. Which is why it's so disturbing and sad that he's allegedly been using them in such a callous way. One can only wonder at what sort of issues are driving this behaviour.

In any case it's yet another reason for women to be careful when meeting men outside of their social circle. If a woman hasn't known someone for a while, and through other contacts, it's difficult to tell what kind of hidden agendas he might have. (It's even difficult to know after years of living with someone in some cases!) That's why women in particular should be cautious and skeptical, remembering that if something sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is!
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We've had decades of feminism, with many women now earning as much as men. So you would think that going Dutch on a first date would be the standard approach.

A recent online poll has shown that this is what most people think is best. However, there still does seem to be some anxiety and confusion about who should pay for a date, and what is a reasonable amount.
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Kerry Katona is the latest celebrity to use an online dating site. And it appears that she has had success with it.

It's quite interesting that so many famous people (particularly women) are doing this now. You would think that they would be overwhelmed with interest from members of the opposite sex anyway and wouldn't need to.

But the world of celebrity is full of hangers on, weirdos, wannabes and people with hidden agendas. Perhaps the rationale for using dating sites is that you can be so much more selective about who you make contact with (which is ironically why many normal, everyday people use them, too).

Still, even if they're meeting people online, their fame could constitute a barrier to finding successful relationships. Anyone getting involved with a famous person - regardless of the means - is highly likely to have his or her privacy invaded as well. I'd imagine that would be a big disincentive to a lot of people.
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It may have turned out that the phenomenon of countless cougars prowling for cubs was actually a bit of a myth. But the oft-reported trend of increasing numbers of Aussies over 50 using online dating certainly isn't, as tonight's episode of the 7PM Project attests.
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There have been many stories in the media about how people have been using Facebook to meet other single people, almost as if it's a free online dating site. But the other big social networking site, Twitter, hasn't seemed to be part of that trend.

But that may be changing, if this article is any guide.
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