Cynthia's death raises questions about online friends

Cynthia-Osokogu

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the role played by the social media in the much-publicised death of an Army General's daughter, Cynthia Sokogu.

Twenty-four-year-old Cynthia, who was a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University, was lured to Lagos by a facebook friend, who allegedly raped and killed her in a Festac town hotel room.

But since the arrest and subsequent parade of two alleged killers, Lagos residents have been sharing their thoughts about how much they can trust friends met on the social media.

While some confessed that they have no qualms with online dating and friend-making, some others described it as dangerous, saying caution should be applied in dealing with online acquaintances.

A student, Obibade Obiyemi, said he was open to online dating.

He said that the benefits of the social media far outweighed its disadvantages.

"Dating on the social media is good, and that's why we have a million social networks. I can date someone I met on any social network and even trust the person,"‎ he said.

"That's why we have millions of social chatting sites like 2go, facebook, I-chat, Nimbuzz, Yahoo and others."

Anthonia Ebiai, a student of Afe Babalola University, with 1500 friends on facebook, said she had only met about 900 of them.

She, however, said she could date someone she met on social network but would find it hard to trust the person.

"I feel social network is a way of bringing people together from far and near, making the world a global village and uniting people from different social background, class, ethnic groups and religion," she said.

But in Banji's opinion, "dating on the social network is dumb, in spite of the fact that social networks help people link up".