The wait is over.
According to a police report posted by The Smoking Gun, the first Facebook-related violence of 2011 occurred at approximately 11:03 p.m. Jan 2, in Indianapolis. Maurice Davenport, 22, refused to show live-in girlfriend Shemicka McVey, 21, his profile on the social network. One thing led to another, and the cops arrived to find Davenport with a laceration on his left bicep.
McVey told Officer Jason Thalheimer that she followed Davenport downstairs, where the couple continued to argue over Davenport’s Facebook page (the couple’s two-year-old child was in an upstairs bedroom). It was during this ongoing dispute, McVey said, that she accidentally slashed Davenport with a knife she had retrieved from the kitchen.
McVey said that Davenport punched her in the head during the 11 PM argument and that each combatant pushed the other. But neither Davenport, who suffered a minor wound to his arm, nor McVey was charged in connection with the domestic dispute.
I'm going out on a limb here and speculate that this particular couple would've had issues even if social networking never existed. The world's all-consuming social network is the target of a lot of criticism, much of it warranted. Not in this case.
Despite misleading reports, Facebook doesn't cause divorce, spouses do. Facebook doesn't get people fired. People who post content they wouldn't show to their boss or co-workers on an open Facebook profile get themselves fired. And unfortunately, domestic violence occurred long before the Internet.
As 2011 begins, I suggest we take a deep breath, stop blaming the InterWebs for bad behavior, and agree that the social contract exists whether or not Facebook is involved.
At least the story has a happyish ending. As of this morning, McVey and Davenport remain Facebook friends.
Helen A.S. Popkin is always going "blah blah blah" about online privacy, then she asks you to follow her on Facebook and/or Twitter … because that's how she rolls.
