As some readers may have noticed, I seem to have a little trend going on in my posts. Have you noticed?
Well I didn't but John Lai did and simply put, I seem to talk about all the Social Media faux pas that we've all, at one point or another come across recently or will in the near future.
So for that reason, I'll continue in this direction - till I run out of things to talk about, which I highly doubt. We recently sent out to Twitter asking our readers to link us to Social Media Fail moments, so if you come across one or two (or even more) let us know and I may write about it.
This post, falls under social media fail moments between friends - I will also cover social media etiquette fail (between friends) as @jesscann suggested, but for today's post I'll stick to this lovely concept of those online scams.
I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about, the ones where you get an email or an @ reply by some random person who said "Do you want to make a quick buck?" "Whiten your teeth" "Find singles" etc. And of course, there are the ones which hack your Twitter account and start sending direct messages to all your friends about the same thing - I've had that happen to me as well. I'm sure at some point so have you - I'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't received those random messages.
But what happens when someone you know takes it seriously? And one of your friends actually believes it - and bombards everybody they know about this "great" pyramid scheme that they've found and that if you join too, you'll all end up marvelously rich and happy that you don't need anything else. (sorry but for me that spot is taken on Twitter by Shelly Ryan - cute girl, but she didn't look like she knew how to make money except by looking pretty).
Well it does happen...
This was sent through a Facebook account - although its is not impossible to hack one or create a fake one for these reasons,you can send a message to one person, its hard to send a mass one if you're not friends unless you are an administrator of a fan or group page. So "Barb" in this photo actually sent this out to acquintances - tell me something Barb how is it that I have nothing to lose from joining your scheme? Especially since you claim is "free" - as far as I know, you have to spend money to make money? (unless you win the lotto or someone gives it to you). What I want to know is if she really did believe that the scheme actually works or that people will actually join her profiting from this 'free' money.
This concept really reminds me of the book "How to lose friends and make enemies" - only that book was about climbing the corporate ladder. Scams like these are bad enough if it comes from fake bots and spam messages - but when its your friends, how do you stay friends with someone like that? What a way to kill the "social" part of social media.
Have you ever had that friend in real life who says "oooh I know how to make a quick dollar... If you will lend it to me?" - do you trust them? The same thing applies on social media, if you ask me for money, or tell me how to make money online - I'm not going to trust anything you say
But wait, there is a bright side to this post. Just when you thought all hope was lost, someone reaches out to give that person another chance...
Oh Chase - you stole the words from my mouth. "What ever happened to getting to know the person first?" Social Media #101 if you don't know the person, getting to know them first is pinnacle in showing that you listen, you're real, genuine and you care about what they have to say too. Its all about the conversation, its not one way - its two way (heck even more than that sometimes!). So if you ever come across someone you know who sends you one of them, let them know - its not real and they're just being played for a fool. (Talk about an awkward confrontation right there!)
I know that at times Social Media can be scary - I mean you're talking to random people, you're putting yourself (the real you) out there for everyone to get to know - don't break the ice with a mass message especially about something that is fake. That is what some people say is... setting yourself up for failure.
Till next time!
Courtney
Be on the lookout for a current spate of phishing tactics spreading on Facebook via the chat feature.
