(continued)

AFE #3: The Annoying Coworker
Kim Grey*, 28, New York City

As a producer, Kim shares a tight office space with her coworker. After accepting the coworker's friend request, Kim found her newsfeed completely filled, to the tune of 20 to 25 items per day over the course of two weeks, detailing her coworker's every move, including status updates; photos of her dog, boyfriend, and family; and requests for dozens of applications. It became so prolific that, for several days, Kim's feed was full of items only about her coworker, her other friends having been effectively shut out. So she secretly defriended her.

The coworker has not yet noticed and Kim is not sure what will happen when she does. "I guess I could say it was an accident, but then she might request me again and I might be forced to accept it. I'll worry about it when it happens, but I hope it doesn't."

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AFE #4: The Crazy Ex
Susan Bidwell*, 27, Hartford, CT

Two years later and with zero contact after a bad breakup, Susan was friend-requested by an ex-boyfriend on Facebook. Along with the friend request came an e-mail taking responsibility for all the wrongs he had done her, apologies for not treating her better, and so on. "It was a nice but odd message," says Susan, and it "concluded with his admission of being put on an 'overdose of antidepressants' and his desire to move to New York City."

Susan decided to take his message at face value and be amicable, and replied by thanking him for reaching out and wishing him well on his move to New York. Within 20 minutes, she had a reply, but "it was like another personality had taken over. He told me I was 'vile' and 'worthless' and said for me never to contact him again!"

Susan sent the message to a psychiatrist friend, and they jointly concluded, "He must have mixing his 'overdose of antidepressants' with a little weed or booze or paint thinner."

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The Guy Who Makes It Awkward
James*, 26, New York City

James, a self-anointed "asshole," didn't even want to make up a fake last name for fear that any of the four women who have blocked him from Facebook (as well as Instant Messenger and MySpace) recognize him and seek their revenge for telling his stories to Radar. James says, "I'm pretty much the guy who makes for the awkward encounters," and explains how he has managed to alienate people in cyberspace on several occasions...

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LeeAnn*

LeeAnn was a girl from college with whom James had a weird relationship—specifically, he thought they were dating and she did not. He found out they were definitely not dating when he heard through the grapevine that she hooking up with another guy.

James decided not to hold a grudge. After he graduated and left college, they kept in touch, and LeeAnn and her former hookup entered into a more permanent boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. When the boyfriend moved to Texas for a job at about the same time Hurricane Rita was passing through, James innocuously told Leeann, "I hope your boyfriend dies in the hurricane."

Surprisingly, LeeAnn did not take kindly to this comment, and a few weeks later, when Facebook listed LeeAnn as "No longer in a relationship," James reached out via IM to ask, "Did he die?"

Within minutes, he was blocked on IM and defriended on Facebook.