I got a friend request the other day on Facebook that came with a very strange note attached.

The friend request appeared to be from a fundamentalist Mormon organization, and the message that went along with the request was as follows:

“Hello Siveya,

Based upon your friends list, we think that you would be very interested in learning about our organization.

Hope to chat soon!”

This totally freaked me out. I had heard that some research institutes had found it possible to do basic profiling on people based upon their friends lists. There was even a study that could purportedly tell your sexual orientation based only on your friends list. But I had no idea that private organizations were using this type of thing already.

Well if there is any humor in the situation, it would be that the system this church is using is obviously deeply flawed. I have no interest in joining a fundamentalist church!

But I must say, I still worry. I mean, what if their system isn’t messed up? What if my friends list really does legitimately suggest I am a Christian Fundamentalist?

Maybe I should befriend this church…