Creeps on Facebook & other Social Media?

[sɴøʙʟᴏᴅ]

a man i barely know says he has fallen in love with me just by looking at my facebook pictures, he's double my age and personally i think he's being pathetic but i'm trying to handle the situation politely - normally i ignore all messages like that however this man is a family friend and it would be tremendously rude to ignore it unfortunately

anyway, i figure he's just saying whatever to me hoping i'll fall endlessly in love with him, be his girlfriend or have sex etc - but i've had this kind of creepy attention before and i really have to wonder, is it that easy for you to fall in love? because men i've been in relationships with and guys my age seem to not be so easily swayed... i have no problem with age gaps whatsoever, i've dated a man 11 years my senior - i just mean in general these kind of men i get messages from are usually a lot older than me. men my own age seem rather confident, slightly cocky when approaching girls but i prefer it a lot more compared to pining.

women reading this, do you often get harassed on social media? how do you deal with it politely? and men reading this - do you get harrassed also, by men/women/or both? how do you handle it? what advice can anyone give me?

disclaimer: if you are going to tell me i am abusing my "privilege" as a woman by creep shaming then i really don't want to hear it, such comments are unwelcome here and are not valid answers to my question. thank you!

[?]

I am pretty sure he is not in love with you, he probably just feels lust. This man sounds really OTT and you should start ignoring the messages if he won't stop, whether or not he's a family friend.
I wouldn't say I have been harrassed, but certainly I get messages on facebook that make me uncomfortable. They are usually boys who look at my photos and ask to meet up and they always want to talk. I thank them for their compliments but no more than that.

[?]

When guys twice your age cantact you telling you they love you they are basically calling you stupid gullible and easy. If this happens alot to you that should be a bit of a wake up call as to what you are putting on your facebook and how low your security setting are, if you have any reveeling pictures that show any cleavage ar any type of skin that isnt your face and arms you will keep getting creepy old men trying to give you gge old in-n-out I would reccomend setting only certan pictures to show to people tgat are not starred as your closest friends.

[azzk1kr]

he's either a normal person lying about being in love with you, or someone who has something wrong with them. Either way it's not good.

[corncrake]

No, but the fact you actually know this guy makes it rather creepy because it's not uncommon for some guys to hassle women via facebook because they saw their picture and decided to "woo" her in order for a reason (there used to be a page on creepy foreign profile stalker guys) but this well, awkward doesn't cover it.

A) unfriend him after reading this, ratchet up your privacy settings and hide your profile in case he tries again. Hide your number and pray he takes the hint. That would cool the ardour of most but this has a creepy dimension to it in that he's probably spent hours pouring over those photos (EUU!!) fixating, fantasising and that's dangerous because a rebuff could turn violent. Be safe.

B) Talk to your parents that this guy has bothered you or someone who you'll know will get though to him and get him to back off.