Internet Bullying on Steroids

It seems most people use one or more forms of Internet social media these days. Internet Social Media (ISM) opens up a whole new field for advertising in the Real Estate market. Smart agents should be able to figure out how to use this as a vital tool to keep in touch with all their friends, so they don’t forget, they have someone they know, and can trust when it comes time to sell their homes, and/or look for a new home.

ISM is not very difficult to use. All the ISM’s I’ve used encourage people to invite all their friends. Some offer a feature that will invite friends for you. They ask for permission to access your address book, and send out form letter invitations. Which is not a very good idea. On the old Internet, I had to send out a personal invitation to people I knew to get them to join the new social media … what would you call them? Clubs, or what?

Today I get maybe 4-8 phone calls a day from people selling me stuff. I mean junk. Their programs to use ISM. That is phone calls. I have no idea how many emails I delete everyday, and how many get sent to the junk folder automatically. Today we have so called experts who can make you rich by flipping a few switches on ISM that will make the money roll in. So what has social media and the term, “friend,” become? What is a friend in ISM? A way to make money? Is that what Real Estate has become? Maybe that’s why I try to avoid ISM. I like the old ways. Let’s talk. A handshake is as good as my word.

I do, or should say, I have used social media. I didn’t invite a whole lot of people. Most of them were via a phone call, or talking to them in the same room, when I told them about the ISM I was using. Is that old fashion or what? After that, I did send out a few invitations, but for the most part, people ran across me, and sent me that form letter friend request.

One of those ISM pages I had centered on a church I was involved with. They always seemed to find things to disagree on. Some discussions were rather heated. I usually tried to avoid getting involved, but you know the feeling, after a while you feel a need to voice your opinion, or maybe two.

I sat back as one group attacked another. I could see the divisions, and as usual with religious matters, people took one sentence, often part of a sentence, and wrote a book about what they thought it means. Eventually I decided to look into what the Bible actually said about the issue. I noticed one side clung onto a handful of what they referred to as proof texts, while some people taking the other side referred to stories in the Bible. Entire stories that made sense.

I know and use about 24 rules to study scripture. There are ways, like using a Concordance to look up the original Hebrew or Greek meaning of words. I found out the people using proof texts didn’t do that. The proof text they used would only stand up when they placed a personal meaning on a few key words. Key words is another method of study I also use. Key words formed links between the stories I studied. I used a series of related stories, to apply the general rule, not to base a belief on 1-2 texts.

By the time I finished writing a series of studies on that subject, I had thousands of followers on that ISM account. The studies used and covered every rule of interpretation in a way, it was almost impossible to argue the point without taking those stories out of the Bible, or insisting they don’t belong in the Bible.

I had no idea so many people put that subject on a life and death level, and some of the higher ranking people in that church took a personal interest in the matter. I guess I ruffled a few feathers. After posting my simple studies, someone rallied a bunch of people and my ISM account was locked out. Later I heard that group spent a huge sum of money, over a million dollars to buy advertising on that ISM platform. Um, that didn’t make sense. A church who had to go to a so called social media expert to make friends. Something sounded rather odd about that.

I didn’t sweat it. I had another ISM account. I just stayed away from controversial religious subjects, I learned my lesson. People with the most money win on social media. That was only the beginning of that lesson.

I just posted a few articles explaining how foolish it is to spend tons of money on the Internet to advertise a business like Real Estate on ISM. I also posted an article on spam emails, which looking back, are largely generated by companies selling programs to turn ISM into a cash making machine. Am I wrong? Think about it. If you are paying a company to find friends, are they really friends? Those friends are supposed to turn into paying customers. Anyone with an ounce of common sense will know, the person who pays a ton of money to make friends will pass that expense onto anyone who becomes a customer. Is that anyway to treat a friend?

After posting a few articles explaining how the rising cost of Internet advertising is leading to an increased cost of doing business, one of my ISM accounts was locked out. I can’t get to it. Is that another case of, the people with money win on social media?

Most people look at Internet bullying as kids writing unkind words about another kid. That is child’s play compared to what I’ve seen. Read something you don’t like, what can you do? You can agree to disagree. If that comments cuts into your business, you can contact the company running the show, and demand that person’s account be canceled. Is that fair, or is that the new generation of Internet bullying?

Not many people appreciate or like spam emails, viruses, spyware, and other things spread all over the Internet designed to collect personal details about people, so some company can make a fortune from selling your personal information. That is the new Internet gossip. Major companies want us to either accept it as a way of life, or learn to ignore it. They disguise Internet gossip under the phrase, “friend,” to make it palatable. And we are supposed to look at that as a necessary evil, the new way of life. If we disagree, we loose our entire friend list, and are not welcome in any social media circle. Is that right?

It’s not very difficult to learn how to use social media for free. I don’t think anyone has any problem with that. But when money is involved, we all of a sudden see a never ending influx of ever changing rules where the rich get richer, and the poor who are smart enough to use the system for free, are not welcome.

I already made up my mind. Call me a rebel, but I am not paying anyone a dime to find me new friends. Friends like that I don’t need. I build friendship the old fashion way, through trust. A rare commodity these days. These days, selling off everything you know about a friend for a nickle is a daily routine to survive, pay for that new car, or take that vacation. People act more like crack attics than real friends, and we are supposed to accept that as the new social media. How much is your friendship worth? Have you put a price on it. When I look at Real Estate and the direction it is going, you maybe should ask the agent you are thinking about working with, how much did you pay for the information you have on me, and how much is that going to cost me? Can we really accept the price social media has placed on friendship?