When I wrote here recently about the strange phenomenon of Facebook’s popularity with the self-absorbed (Why Narcissists Love Facebook), not even I could have guessed the apparent scope of the eye-popping stupidity and utter lack of judgement that some Facebook users are actually capable of openly demonstrating.

During several hours of the shocking Stanley Cup riots in downtown Vancouver, for example, a signature feature of the live television news coverage was the sea of bystanders with arms raised capturing countless images of violence, arson and looting via their cell phone cameras. And when the Vancouver Police Department asked the next morning for help in identifying the thugs who had terrorized their beautiful city, the response from outraged Vancouverites was immediate.

Here’s the unbelievable part, however: not only did bystanders send in their cell phone photos of rioters at work, many of the rioters themselves posted incriminating evidence on their own Facebook pages. Continue reading →