I don’t normally post on Thursdays, but I began to notice a new Deadly Communication Sin of Advertising the other day that was confirmed for me just yesterday.  Since this one is new, it’s not part of my article, “The 12 Deadly Communication Sins of Advertising,” BUT you should be aware of it.  Here’s how it works:

You receive an email notifying you that you have a new comment to a Facebook post.  It says you should check out this link for special deals on XYZ. You click on the link to see why someone would have posted this as a response and you find that their comment ISN’T THERE!  Since your post was about how you needed prayer for your mom, you assume that it must have been a mistake.

Three days later you receive another email comment to another Facebook post from this same new “friend.”  It, too, is a link they want you to visit and it, too, is no longer showing.  Again, you notice that your post has nothing whatsoever to do with their links and that the posts they are commenting on happen to have lots of responses from your friends.

The next day, you find another one and suddenly you see a “deadly communication sin of advertising.”  Posting a link as a comment makes it clickable and sends it to every single friend who replied to your Facebook post.  Since it’s no longer there, most think it was a simple mistake, but some might actually click on the link out of curiosity and perhaps purchase from this spammer.

The problem with this technique is that the spammer will eventually frustrate her friends and their friends and, as the old Breck commercial used to say, “and so on and so on and so on…”

I’ve seen a similar advertising trick on Twitter.  You receive an email that you have a reply to your Twitter comment.  It directs you to their website only you realize that you and he aren’t following each other on Twitter.  He doesn’t have to.  To send a direct message, a Twitterer must both be following you and have YOU following him.  To send you an @ reply, a Twitterer doesn’t even need to be following YOU!

Fortunately, you can block a Twitter Twit or Facebook Fool who is spamming you, but beware of their tricks.  Sometimes these links are viruses.  Sometimes they take over your account.  I had one recent Facebook link that I clicked on because a good friend had it posted on her wall.  When I clicked on it, I found that it not only automatically made me a member of their fan page, but it posted the same thing on MY wall as was on my friend’s wall in order to entice others to click on it.  I was able to remove the post on my wall, but I am unable to UNlike their fan page.  And each time I tried, I found another post on my wall that I had to delete.

Remember JoJoism#27:  “Technology’s a wonderful thing…until it isn’t!”

x

*SUBSCRIBE HERE*: for More Communication Fun, FREE Gifts and Exclusive Offers!

x

Share this: