Perhaps if this man had written Oprah a letter and then showed up at her offices and home, she might have handled the situation more delicately.

The founder of the notorious stalker site, Facebook, has taken swift legal action against a man who awkwardly and persistently asked for advice and money:

Zuckerberg has obtained a restraining order against 31-year-old Pradeep Manukonda — after Mark filed legal papers claiming the guy has tried to “follow, surveil and contact Mr. Zuckerberg using language threatening his personal safety” … and the safety of his girlfriend and his sister.

Law enforcement sources tell us Pradeep had gone to several Facebook offices in Palo Alto attempting to contact Mark to ask for money for his financially-strapped family.

I read the letters and was unable to find “language threatening his personal safety”, but maybe not all the letters are available yet.

It looked like scam language or even just annoyance, so the heavy-handed response to a low risk situation may end up tarnishing Zuckerberg’s recent PR campaign to make himself appear less paranoid and more charitable.

It also shows how Zuckerberg himself turns quickly to government institutions for help and protection from his own users. Perhaps his public services approach to personal safety will help him see how to improve relations with federal regulators concerned with privacy.