We think we know the people in our lives pretty well, but when it comes to Facebook, how well can you really say you know 200 of your closest "friends?" A free app called Friend Verifier makes it easier to get to know your friends...and find out whether they're actually registered sex offenders.
Here's how it works: you download the app. It instantly scans your friend list. If a friend's name matches one on the registered sex offender list, it pops up highlighted in yellow. If both a name and location match, it appears to you in orange. And if his or her name, location, and birthday match, it pops up in an alarming shade of red.
And then what do you do? Um, awkward. Do you simply store this info in the back of your mind? Do you automatically un-friend the person?
Since it launched in May 2012, the company says more than 2 million people have scanned it. It has proven so popular that it plans to expand its services to Twitter this summer. Just imagine how different it will be when you're scanning several hundreds or even thousands of Twitter followers, most of whom you really don't know from Adam.
Like so many technological advancements, this one seems like it could be used for good or evil. Trust me, I understand that sex offenders have served their time and don't deserve to be ostracized in society, but I can picture many parents running this app on their teen's social media site and then ordering them to delete the accounts of anyone deemed "suspicious."
On the other hand, what if this app just makes it easier for unhinged and violent people, like Jeremy and Christine Moody, to find and assault sex offenders because they harbor a great hatred for and resentment toward them?
Regardless of the possibilities, this app exists. Here's more info about it and how it works:
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Would you use Friend Verifier to find out if anyone you or your child knows on Facebook is a registered sex offender?
Image via YouTube