It’s become a given: we are all stalkers now. Thanks to Google, Twitter, Facebook and the fact that absolutely nobody seems to have the faintest idea about privacy settings, it is easier to keep track of people on the other side of the world than ever it was to snoop on a village neighbour from behind the safety of a lace curtain. But a strange and sinister new phenomenon has begun to emerge. Call it secondary stalking. Even the stalkers are being stalked now.
This was brought home to me the other night when I was having dinner with one of my closest friends, who I will call Andrew (gay, as it happens, so no romantic implications in what follows). I’d been aware for some time that Andrew is one of my stalkers, totally unnecessarily as I tell him everything anyway, when the subject of an ex came up. ‘He’s propositioning every woman he knows under 30,’ sneered Andrew somewhat maliciously, which is all very well except for one thing. Andrew has never met this ex. So he’s not only stalking me, but my wider acquaintance as well. How far is this going to go? Will he start stalking my ex’s exes as well?
Just what is going on here? Since when has life turned into one giant snoop?
The incidence of secondary stalking is particularly alarming given that those of us who like to maintain a little mystery about our lives are now finding it increasingly difficult to do. It’s also depriving us of the opportunity to spread some seriously good goss. I have another friend who was recently involved in a very nasty divorce, but instead of getting to be the first to break the bad news about what her arse of an ex has done now, everyone I wish to share this with already knows because she’s put it on Facebook.
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