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So...Do You Know Who is Paying a Social Call on Your Blog Today?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate

I've had a series of world travelers visit my blog today.  This one was all the way from Namibia...

Good evening. Make love, not war. Help me! There is an urgent need for sites: Radiologists bachelor degree programs ms. I found only this - bachelor degree Australia. Tips to earn an accredited online bachelor degree. A typical statement by a court is that pencil designers of ordinary skill as of January had a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering and years of work experience designing pencils. With respect :confused:, Cadence from Namibia. 

*Link underlined and disabled

These anonymous commentators look for old posts and leave their spam link hoping that you won't notice and they can trade off your traffic.  After all, that's probably how they found you in the first place. Unattended blogs and social media sites are a magnet for spammers!

          Gone fishin'

 

Do You Know Who's Paying a Social Call on Your Site Today?

Recently, social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and even Active Rain have faced an increased onslaught of Spam from nefarious individuals and organizations using abbreviated URL's to get you to click on dubious links.  There has also been an increase in pornographic sites which view this as a new potential source of traffic for their trade.

So, it's becoming increasingly important to Pay Attention!  Here are a few ideas which may be useful.

 

1.  Recognize that it's your job to maintain Control

 

One of the more daunting aspects of setting up profiles everywhere online, is there may be a tendency to forget just where you left parts of yourself.  This is not wise.  It's important to check up on your profiles from time to time OR if they no longer serve any useful purpose...DELETE them.  Use the Preference and Settings Tools on the sites which you choose to continue to set up appropriate notifications and to monitor who has access to you.

 

2.  Look before you Click.

 

Don't just automatically accept everyone.  Make a habit of doing some form of preliminary investigation...take a look at their website, their comment stream etc.  Keep in mind that giving access is not just a click, it's an invitation to co-mingle data, ideas and contacts.  It's a mistake to think that access has no value...it does and should be treated accordingly.

 

3.  Organize your Virtual Bookshelf...

 

As your associations increase, the potential for expanding your relationships grows.  This can be a very good thing. But, it can also leave you somewhat fragmented as you wonder WHO all these people are who you are 'connected' to.  One of the best ways to handle this is to Organize your contacts.

For instance, on Facebook, this can be done very easily by simply setting up 'List Groups' on your home page.  This allow you to categorize HOW you are connected to different individuals.  Doing this on a regular basis when you add contacts/friends/tweeps will greatly aid in avoiding the tendency to simply collect names on your account and compel you to evaluate who this individual is and how you desire to relate to them.  

It also provides a very easy way to keep up with people who form different aspects of your life.  For instance, I can easily find out what my school buddies are up to by clicking on their list.  Using Facebook in this way has been a wonderful aid in deepening friendships.

 

And Why is this Important?

 

And...in the final analysis, this is ultimately where social media will serve it's highest potential.  It will not be in the race to advertise that you got 400 followers today or to send out a barrage of self serving messages to promote yourself.  Rather, the real gold mine is the opportunity to share and connect in ways that increase and create value in new and meaningful ways.  After all the chaff and fluff are blown away, this is the true grit that will remain and endure.

 

Copyright 2009  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Comments(12)

Carol Smith
Casmi Photography - Mebane, NC

There has been a rash of these drive-by weenies on AR in the last couple of days.  If I could catch one of them I'd show them what a Mudd Shoe looks like!  LOL  Of course, they would have to twist around to see where I put it.

Jul 16, 2009 06:45 AM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!

Carol...there were 3 in my inbox this morning.  

Jul 16, 2009 06:59 AM
Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Lola, spammers are so annoying and they cause the authors to disable comments from Non-members. Hopefully the powers that be can stop them. It just makes no sense. What a waste of everyone's time.

Jul 16, 2009 07:33 AM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

It takes me loads of time to keep up with everything....a great reminder to go to some sites I haven't perused in a couple weeks, months. :)

Jul 16, 2009 07:52 AM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!

Gary, it is annoying.  But on a professional basis, some of the spam which is popping up now is more than annoying, it can be damaging.  Think...viruses and pictures of naked ladies who claim to be your friend.  Not pleasant...

Jul 16, 2009 07:57 AM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!

Sally, it easy to forget about sites that we no longer visit.  That can be a vulnerability.  One thing I like about the Google Chrome browser is that it visually reminds me of where my attention is being directed.  In a sense, it might be wise to review...if the last time you've been there was a year ago, well perhaps, it's no longer serving a useful purpose.  JMHO.

Jul 16, 2009 07:59 AM
Terry & Bonnie Westbrook
Westbrook Realty Broker-Owner - Grand Rapids, MI
Westbrook Realty - Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Re

I have seen them increase recently I must have deleted 10 today. Hopefully Active Rain can identify and remove them.

Jul 16, 2009 09:34 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Lola I guess I should go back through my old blogs and see if they are leaving this kind of garbage on them as well.  Thanks for the heads up on this.

Jul 16, 2009 12:10 PM
Lola Audu
Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate - Grand Rapids, MI
Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI ~Welcome Home!

George & Terry, Bob Stewart wrote a post about this today.  Active Rain is working hard to identify the IP addresses of these individuals...yes, these are human beings who are being hired to post this stuff all over the place and create link traffic.  You should also disable the ability to have consumers post on your blog on your settings page until further notice according to Bob's post.

Jul 16, 2009 12:43 PM
Rebecca Gaujot, Realtor®
Lewisburg, WV
Lewisburg WV, the go to agent for all real estate

Lola- I have been getting spam comments, and have taken your suggestion and disabled "not allow non members to comment" on my blog for a while.

Jul 17, 2009 04:43 AM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Lola I've had a bunch of these lately.  I did what Bob suggested and won't allow outside comments (which I don't seem to get anyway).  Should I go back and delete all of them? I am thinking that might be a good idea.

Jul 17, 2009 07:37 AM
Ed Vogt
Midwest Properties of Michigan - Grandville, MI
Grandville, MI Midwest Properties

I had this happen to me recently, but since I have auto notification of new comments, it came to me in an e-mail and it was on a much older post.  It somehow got deleted before I saw it on my blog. 

Aug 10, 2009 02:50 AM