So I was sitting here this morning, enjoying my coffee and scrolling through my status feed on Facebook when I had to do a double-take. An individual on my status stated something similar to "For those of you messaging me for sex through Facebook, the answers will always be no."

This peaked my curiosity. Naturally, I am a curious person, but my mind immediately asked "Now who, in their right mind, would ask a woman for sex through Facebook?" At the risk of being too judgmental, I often wonder where these "degenerates" come from. Of course, they could be joking as well, but would she have said that if it was obviously a joke?

I'm sure my concerns are both personally and professionally biased. Personally because I now have a one year old daughter who probably, within the next ten years, be asking me if they can use the computer to connect to their friends and family. The answer will probably be yes, but I will tell her there will be software installed on it to monitor the activity. Professionally biased because I know the largest age group on Facebook is between the ages of 13 and 17 years old… minors.

At the additional risk of sounding like an old codger who doesn't understand the purpose of Facebook, I wonder if many people realize that they can report people on Facebook for sexual or other harassment… and they probably should.

Everyone has their own personal idea and boundaries of what they consider to be acceptable – in many cases they probably brush these remarks off. But this kind of behavior illustrates an interesting example of the anonymity of online personal networks for social communications and relationships.

People tend to be more open and honest when they are not speaking to another individual face to face. For this reason, they tend to say things they otherwise would never say. This can be both a good and a bad thing. It allows us to open ourselves to new relational opportunities and connections we otherwise would never had made. However, it also opens us to the vulnerabilities of people expressing themselves in ways we would otherwise be uncomfortable.

The internet has always been a delicate balance of privacy – but social networks have made it much more difficult to maintain those boundaries. As I wrote in another forum post, many people make the mistake of not taking common sense steps to protect their personal relationships. People don't realize that the information, photos and addresses they share on a social network can easily be used against them by creeps, employers and drama queens to make life more difficult rather than more rewarding.

So my thoughts on people offering sex to others on Facebook? Well, if you are a minor, I can't really say anything other than the last thing you should be thinking about is sex even though it is always going to be the first thing you think about. Gotta love hormones. If you're an adult, all I can say is stop acting like the teenagers who shouldn't be thinking about sex even though obviously you won't stop either.

What are your thoughts on this issue?