Are online prank videos funny or harmful?

Harmful

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by Rosa Lee

Today, someone sent me a FunWall post on Facebook. Because they were my friend and always send me funny or inspirational posts, I trusted them.

This one was a different. It was one of those gags videos that put the sound low so you have to crank the volume and make the writing small and blurry you have to put your face close to screen. And then - joy of joys - a big demonic face comes bursting out of the message at you ... getting bigger and bigger ... screaming and screaming ...

Unfortunately, my Facebook friend wasn't aware that I was held captive and tortured for 5 weeks. I was so crippled with Post Traumatic Stress that I could not be alone, even to use the washroom. I've worked very hard over the past 3 years to become 'normal' again; where I can go out in public without every moment being a terror, and even sit in a crowded restaurant ... to make friends, let other people stand near me, and (wow!) even touch me once in a while ... to be outside after dark, sleep with the lights off ... you know, 'normal' stuff.

So now, visualize me leaned up close to my computer screen with my volume cranked, eagerly waiting to see what inspirational message my buddy sent me today ... Now, visualize a giant demonic face nose-to-nose with me, screaming so loud that my eardrums feel like they're being pierced. ... Now, visualize me, frozen in terror as those 5 weeks of torture all come flashing back to me at once ... and I'm screaming and screaming and screaming because even when I can finally move to put my hands over my ears and push away from the computer with my eyes squeezed tightly shut, I can't get away from the screaming demon in my mind ...

Now, visualize my neighbors; they know that the monster who did this to me has promised to hunt me down and finish what he started (after killing my brother and his children, of course). Can you imagine their fear as they hear me screaming in terror and they come running to my rescue? Or their reaction when they find out that it was just an "innocent prank" someone pulled on me?

Funny, huh?

Three years of therapy, and right now, I'm scared to be alone in my own apartment (again), I'm scared to go into the bathroom alone (again), I'm sick to my stomach, and six hours after the incident, I still can't stop shaking. I will have to have someone come stay with me until I can undo the severe damage that this one prank has caused. (Yay, more therapy.) If I'm lucky, I'll be able to leave the house to go to work come Monday. If not, I will have to explain to my boss how a Facebook FunWall message is responsible for me not being able to function anymore ...

I am writing to remind everyone that you don't know what your Facebook/online "friends" have been through in their lives. You don't know what kind of horrors they've been through, especially if they have military background, been abusived, or been assaulted. And of course, you probably do not know these things about them to start with ...

If you receive one of these prank messages, delete it at once. PLEASE DO NOT send this garbage on to people or leave it posted on your wall for some unsuspecting person to discover. Please, encourage your friends to delete them if they get these videos. You don't know what kind of mental trauma it can trigger in a person you care about.

Thank you.

Learn more about this author, Rosa Lee.
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