‘At first I tried to be polite, not to hurt his feelings’: how a regular ‘liker’ on social media became my stalker

‘I lived in a community small enough for me to stand out, and I realised that Peter could find me quite easily.’ Illustration: Shonagh Rae/The Guardian

It is hard to remember when it began. Years ago now. At first he was an inveterate “liker” on Twitter, and soon this gathered into comments. After a while came a request to follow him back; there was a work-related matter he needed to discuss.

I’m going to call him Peter. It is not his name. In those early days, I could tell very little about Peter from his profile, but he seemed harmless enough; just another of the familiar strangers I had often encountered on social media over the years.