You know times have changed, when your mental health status is directly linked to your social networking skills. A recent article by Daily Mail focuses on the power of Facebook and its prominence in modern society and its psyche. According to many employers, and even some psychologists, individuals that don’t have a Facebook (News - Alert) profile or are active on any other social networking website tend to be more 'suspicious.'

To elucidate this rather bizarre reasoning, German magazine Der Taggspiegel gives the example of American accused theater shooter, James Holmes and Norwegian mass murder, Anders Behring Breivik. The individuals have two things in common, a) they indulged in horrific crimes and b) both lacked a Facebook profile. Hence, there are no surprises that James Holmes has an insignificant online footprint and was only active on Adult Friend Finder, whereas Breivik only used MySpace (News - Alert).

While a recent report of Forbes.com doesn’t attempt to find a link between mass murderers and their Facebook activity (or lack of it), it does point out the recent trend of HR departments checking out prospective employees on Facebook. According to Forbes, HR departments across the nation are wary of hiring young candidates who lack a Facebook page, since it may be indicative of their behavior, as their accounts may have been deleted because of numerous red flags.

Slate.com tech reporter, Farhad Manjoo has a different, albeit important reasoning and believes, that it may be dangerous to date someone of a certain age who doesn’t have a Facebook profile. “If you’re of a certain age and you meet someone who you are about to go to bed with, and that person doesn’t have a Facebook page, you may be getting a false name. It could be some kind of red flag,” he says.

All the above arguments don’t seek to glorify Facebook, but try to establish a link between abnormal and dysfunctional individuals and their lack of social skills both online and offline. That is why psychologist, Christopher Moeller believes that using Facebook has become a sign of having a healthy social network. "The Internet has become a natural part of life," Moeller told Germany's Der Taggspiegel. "It's possible that you get feelings of positive feedback through online friends."

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