Guard against real traps in virtual world

The huge price society has paid for a fabricated story that went viral during the just-concluded Spring Festival, which sparked heated debates online and offline, highlights the need to reflect on how we should use cyberspace.

In the story that was first posted on a local online forum, a 28-year-old woman, who claimed to be from a well-off family in Shanghai, split up with her boyfriend after being served dinner on the eve of Spring Festival at his family home in a small village in Central China's Jiangxi province because she abhorred their poverty. The woman also posted a photograph of her boyfriend's home which showed the humble dwelling, chopsticks of uneven length lying on an old, moldy wooden table, and meat and fish preparations in old steel plates. Such dishes were served the same way by poor families to "honored" guests in the years gone by.

Given that the woman chose to split up with her boyfriend on a special occasion and venue - during Spring Festival at her boyfriend's home - seems to confirm an old Chinese saying that marriages should be based on two families' social and economic status. The story instantly tickled public nerves and caused many to circulate it via social media without questioning its authenticity.