"(Name) has sent you a new friend request."
"(Name) followed you."
It is always great to meet new people on social media. Well, most of the time. Someone may seem completely innocent until this suspected "friend" may troll you or link you to something shady. Someone who may seem completely innocent may simply be a bunch of sexy pictures that probably isn't even that exact person. If you are trying to meet new people or gain new fans/followers, you have to be careful who you encounter. So this blog post discusses one of the pitfalls of social media- dealing with spam profiles. Let's get into it!
BEFORE I BEGIN...
Some of what I am about to discuss pertains to personal experiences of mine and intimate thoughts regarding meeting such suspicious profiles. While I may not cite specific individuals, I will make mention to certain individuals I've encountered.
Suspicious Profiles
I created this blog post almost as a chance to vent from a rash of fake profiles I have dealt with for months on end.
Social media is all about connecting with individuals close and far through cyberspace. While I have had the pleasure of meeting many people the world over through social media, I also had to deal with my fair share of fake profiles and spammers. It can be tough to fully trust some people sometimes. You may be fortunate enough to meet some complete stranger who actually does enjoy your work and does not just follow your profile(s) for the sake of following your profile(s). If that describes you, be happy! On the other hand, you may encounter someone who does mostly want to latch onto you and innundate you with spam or provide a number of shady links. If this describes you, be concerned.
A lot of social media allows you to control who you meet and who you can connect to. You do not have to accept just anyone if that is what is happening with you online. I will be discussing a few matters on certain social media platforms now. I will not mention every one, but I will make mention to some of the more popular ones.
Suspicious Profiles: Facebook.
Facebook has risen to become the biggest social media giant online. Previously, it was Myspace who was king. You now can access Myspace... through your Facebook account! Facebook has mostly been different in being more personal whom you meet and whom you connect with. While I do like to meet old friends on Facebook, some either don't remember me too well or want nothing to do with me anymore. It is a sad thing to admit, but it happens. I do feel that some people I thought would be lifelong friends and supporters ultimately want nothing to do with me anymore for whatever reason. I also may not feel I am truly a friend of someone. In some of these cases, I feel Facebook has rather DESTROYED some of my friendships rather than maintain them.
On the front of managing a Facebook Fan Page (here is mine:
John Marine and JohnMarineDesigns), I am aware I may not have as much fan support as I would like. One thing I always like to say, though, is that I would rather have 50 loyal Facebook fans than 500 fake Facebook fans. I believe in being real and connecting with those who actually care. That even comes down to my fans of my Facebook fan page. I don't ever try to buy success or buy popularity.
Facebook can be a breeding ground for scammers. In my experiences, I may receive replies to Fan Pages along the lines of simply "hello" to "you seem like a great person, can you please request me?". This all sounds good on the surface. Everyone who I get requests from are those who I actually check to be genuine. A lot of the profiles I check mostly have maybe one or two pictures of normal to suspicious nature followed by maybe some quirky quote. Some profiles mostly are living advertisements to some suspicious adult-only website or some other kind of shady website. I make attempts to try to connect with most of my social media friends and family on a regular basis.
The reality of some of these people I have encountered on Facebook wait for a certain opportunity to connect with you and then hit you with shady material. Like, some people will pick a moment to connect with you and then make you fall for whatever scheme they have set up. One person I encountered basically feigned having some real ailment and tried to link me to some shady website. I IMMEDIATELY blocked (and maybe reported) this person. One other person who I thought was genuine years ago mostly wanted me to Become a Fan of (nowadays "Like") certain fan pages of suspicious pages. I felt this other person was suspicious, and I ultimately decided to drop this other person from my friends list. There were a few people who I added because I thought they were genuine... until I saw they had a bunch of profile pictures that are NOT of that person. For example, someone pretending to be someone else with genuine pictures, but then have a bunch of fake pictures for filler. As with other phonies, I blocked that profile and unfriended.
---Dealing with Suspicious Facebook Profiles---
What I ultimately did was limit any further friend requests to those I am already friends with. This is a measure that is good for cutting down on suspicious profiles on Facebook. It means only friends of friends can request you to be friends of yours. It does not guarantee friends of friends will all be genuine, but at least you will no longer get the random friend request of some suspicious individual. If you simply do not want to meet anyone new on Facebook, simply disallow any and all future friend requests.
I take an extra measure by looking at profiles that Follow my main profile. If I see a certain individual is Following my feed but not friends with me, I check to make sure a certain profile isn't suspicious in any such way. Someone who doesn't seem genuine a person I block- even if I don't have that person as a friend. You can allow or disallow people to follow your Facebook feed. Such people may not be your Facebook friends if they just Follow you, but at least you won't have to worry about getting scammed at some random moment from someone who you feel is genuine when you encountered that person on Facebook.
What about those Fan Pages where I get random people pretending to love my commentary? I report Spam. Afterwards, I have my tag removed from those comments, block that individual, and then hide any other comments from that person. You have to disallow suspicious material as best as you can.
Suspicious Profiles: Twitter.
Twitter can be a hot mess. It can sometimes be the most negative and toxic social media platforms online; and if you're not careful, you can be drawn into this downward spiral of a social media platform. It has been a place where I have encountered the most traffic from negative-minded individuals and also being followed by shady individuals. It also is a platform where people share news of people dying that haven't officially died (i.e., "RIP (somebody who hasn't actually died). It can be brutal on Twitter.
People can say whatever they want about Twitter of late being bought by a certain very rich person, but my real complaint has been in trying to defeat suspicious profiles. What am I talking about? I am talking about when you get mostly spam follows from what appears to be sexy women. They'll either link to their Only Fans (or some other adult website) or have absolutely nothing on their page but a lot of Followers and some picture.
---Dealing with Suspicious Twitter Profiles---
It used to be that you could report any sort of spam profile. Now, reporting is only done with more serious violations or conditions on the service. So all you can do with suspicious profiles is block them. It is a solution, but not a permanent solution. That (sadly) means you will have to continually block any and every suspicious Twitter profile so that person can keep making spam profiles and constantly annoying you.
Someone who may be friends with you may have their accounts hacked and deliver some spam E-Mails or spam messages. If someone you Follow has been hacked, don't fall for their hacked messages. It may also help to delete certain message discussions from someone hacked.
Suspicious Profiles: Instagram.
I surely have no regrets leaving Instagram. I had one too many bad experiences to where I felt the best thing I could do is leave. Sure, I lost my biggest outlet of sharing pictures, but at least I don't have to deal with some of the toxicity of comments as well as times where I got locked out of my account there. I thought about returning to Instagram as a business profile, but I still am away from Instagram and proud of it. Never again.
---Dealing with Suspicious Instagram Profiles---
What if you are dealing with supicious profiles on Instagram? Simply block whomever you find suspicious. Report anyone who is harassing you.
Suspicous Profiles: YouTube.
YouTube is the premier medium for sharing videos. In the past, I have had my fair share of haters and trolls on YouTube. Most of the spam and hate have been cleaned up.
---Dealing with Suspicious YouTube Profiles---
Should you see suspicious channels, block or report them. If you get certain suspicious channels in your Recommended videos, click on the three dots and select "Don't Recommend Channel."
Suspicious Profiles: TikTok.
I personally can not tolerate TikTok. However, I am on there to view various TikToks. A lot of people do find a good laugh out of short videos complimented with either lip syncing or some dancing or acting. Spam profiles may follow your work either sending you spam TikToks or are profiles laden with spam content.
---Dealing with Suspicious TikTok Profiles---
Report any suspicious profiles offering spam TikToks. Block any suspicious profiles as well.
Suspicious Profiles: Certain Services.
Examples of this section relate to certain services that are not social media platforms but certain services. Examples of this include: blog comments, media services, online marketplaces, etc. You may, for example, pick up a spam comment in your blog from a spam profile. You may get some Follow from a suspicious follower on a media-sharing website claiming to be a legitimate person who could try to promote your music.
---Dealing with Suspicious Non-Social Media Profiles---
Whatever resources there are to block and/or report suspicious individuals, use those resources to help protect yourself and your work. If there are individuals wanting to work with you to promote your content, be careful who you trust. Someone who may be genuine may be trying to cash in on your success or scam you. So make sure you can trust some people who come around to interact with your work.
A few final thoughts are coming up.
Suspicious Profiles: Final Thoughts
Social media can be a great way to meet new people and connect with those you know. Social media also, however, be an exercise in patience dealing with suspicious profiles. The best thing you can do is shun off people online who are suspicious in nature. Any combination of blocking and/or reporting fake profiles will go a long way in making the social media experience a happy one for you and others.
Social media may have a bunch of fake profiles, but there are actual genuine people who are worth connecting with. Do not entirely give up on meeting others and connecting with others if it is a goal of yours. You can still promote your work to others while also try to meet new people. Just make sure you know who are dealing with and always be vigilant.
I hope all of you on social media will be able to deal with these people as best as possible online. If you enjoy my work, please Subscribe/Follow my blog(s) in any capacity if you love my work and want to support me any way you can. Share my blog post(s) with others if you enjoy my work. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
