Facebook gives you the clap: Official
The sharp rise in syphilis cases in Teesside has been partially attributed to social networking sites which incautious locals are trawling in search of casual sex. According to the local Evening Gazette, the number of reported cases jumped to 30 last year, up from less than 10 in 2008. Professor Peter Kelly, executive director …
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Someone had to say it......
This article adds weight to the argument that Facebook is "clap trap".
Title Title
If you were "further fingering facebook" I'd be surprised if you didn't catch far worse than syphilis.
I have always called it Faceaids
More because of the inherent privacy issues than for this reasoning though.
"Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex."
How, damn it? HOW, HOW HOW??? You WILL tell me...
Exactly
And practising "safe sex" will not help you as far as syphilis is concerned. It is the most bogus advice I have heard from a physician for a while. Syphilis can be contracted via any body contact or even using the same towel as the person infected (within a relatively short period as Treponema pallidum dies within minutes outside the body).
So unless "safe" means using biohazard suit...
tut tut.
These deviants. Any excuse to involve a biohazard suit.
Too true.
I believe that the correct colloquialism for Syphilis is "The Pox".
Of course this would mean that Facebook is poxy, but I think we knew that.
Yarr.
This is the same spurious logic that prompted Bobby Henderson (of Flying Spaghetti Monster fame) to write the letter about "decrease in pirates on the high seas linked to increase in global warming" to prove that "correlation does not imply causation", right?
For shame, Telegraph, for shame.
(untitled)
But when did the media (or even half the scientific journals for that matter) ever let the difference between correlation and causation get in the way of a good story?
Not a story
Firstly, 30 or 40 cases a year in a region the size of Teeside could be down to a single promiscuous individual. Secondly, facebook is clearly not to blame, unless you are looking for an IT-related story.
@Code Monkey
"...be careful who you poke?"
I only take a peek.
How come...
...they never had this problem with msn messenger?
“Unprotected sex, especially with casual partners, is the biggest risk for syphilis"
No it isn't, Syphilis loves it when you have unprotected sex with casual partners.
How could you do a story on FB sex
and not get the word "poking" in there?
Self fullfilling prophecy
Syphilis can also cause heightened pleasure and arousal... thus increasing an infected persons desire for sex... which thus increases the chances of passing the infection on to some one else.
If that was the case, then this could be a lot worse than reported... and wouldn't be restricted to just facebook but would in fact be happening in real life. The relatively low numbers being reported could simply be the actions of 1 or 2 untreated individuals.
Shame on the Telegraph for stopping to Daily 'Hate' Mail reporting standards... and a total non story that the Reg should not be spreading unless taking the piss out of such bad reporting standards.
Can't think of a title
That's why I always install anti-virus protection...
Playmobil recreation, by any chance? Lester? Please?
Is Paris Hilton on Facebook?
It's not safe sex, it's *safer* sex
The only safe sex is masturbating by yourself. As soon as another person is involved you're at risk, unless you wear a full body suit and don't kiss.
Syphillis is particularly nasty and easy to catch, but at least it's trivially curable. On the other hand, hepatitis B is freely spread using oral sex, and very difficult to cure. Of course, you can be immunised against it, but the effectiveness depends on your own personal biochemistry and if a UK GUM clinic is prepared to offer it - many aren't as it has a perception of being a 'gay STI'. Other countries (Australia, for one) are more informed and try to immunise people as a matter of course.
Still, look at the stupidity when the HPV vaccine came out..
As PapaDoc and Anonymous Coward indicated,
syphilis is "pox", colloquially. You could have got something out of that in a social networking context.
A bit alarmingly, a thesaurus listed as "synonyms" most of the well-known sexually transmitted infections, including AIDS and crabs.
So it's safer to do it yourself
Hence the Zen koan about the sound of one clapping...
Thumbs up, because, well...
Couldn't possibly be related to the fact that...
...there's fuck all else to do on Teesside?
oh you've done it now
Careful or you'll have Jeff Stelling foaming at the mouth again (search 'jeff stelling rant' on youtube - definitely worth a watch).
I applaud your headline
Furthermore, the phrase "syphilis surge" is really catchy.
Syphilis Surge
Sounds like a great name for a noisy Speedcore band!
Would be interesting...
... to know just how much The Sun paid syphilis for its story about how Facebook passed it from one person to the next
Facebook gives you the clap: Official
Funny.
It only ever gives me the shits !
Re:The only safe sex
Right up until you get RSI. Some countries also give the death penalty for that, thank goodness Britain isn't (currently) one of them. Of course the right wingnuts in the US will probably get there first so that's going to give some advanced warning. That said it'd probably put Kleenex out of business so that's unlikely to happen.
The story has been pulled apart
The tabloids reporting this are a disgrace. They have been shown up as liars once again by the work of Tabloid Watch and Enemies of Reason, who are well worth reading if you've not seen them before. Inject some sanity into your life.
http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/2010/03/sun-syphilis-and-social-networking.html
http://enemiesofreason.co.uk/2010/03/24/telegraph-linked-with-rise-in-fuckwittery/
Steady on there
At least sites like FB give the uneducated huddled masses an excuse to use technology.
Face book Discharge
So the discharge is caused by Facebook. Is it prevelent in either sex. What about contracting it through keyboard and mouse.
Safe wanking for two or more
@Craig28
There are no countries in the world that have a death penalty for either RSI or jerking off. You are lucky that the Telegraph didn't pick up on your comment, or like their last story it would've went viral.
Saying that, I don't believe self-masturbation is the only form of safe sex. Mutual masturbation, when preceded by mutual hand-washing, has killed nobody and is a hell of a lot more pleasurable.
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