LAST week, I stumbled across a short item at a site called Mashable.com, which described how one of Facebook’s most popular programs allows users to give each other virtual Naughty Gifts.

This raised obvious questions like, what sorts of naughty gifts? I clicked on a link, and on-screen appeared a pair of thigh-high black platform boots along with a statement that the program had 149,421 daily users who send one another digital replicas of foil-wrapped condoms, black thongs and cans of something called Mr. Whipped Cream.

Who were these users whose attraction to furry handcuffs has earned Naughty Gifts a spot among the 50 most popular of the site’s programs? I scrolled down. I saw, under the heading “Friends who have added this application,” photos of three people I knew.

All three were teenagers.

Two were my offspring.

“Oh, my God,” I said, alarming my husband, who was working at home.