I spend a lot of time on the Web. It is necessary for what I do – marketing. But lately, there are more and more things that are irritating me as I cruise the Net. So, I decided to see if these are things that also bug you. Feel free to comment and add to this list.
So, in no particular order, are some of the things that really frost me:
- Facebook allowing people to add me to groups without my permission. If I want to join the Tulips for Tippy group I will make the decision. When I get added against my will, I leave the group, block and report it as a spammer
- Along those lines, people who invite me to join a group or site to which I already belong. I have belonged to Twitter for six years, Facebook for four or five, Linked since shortly after it was founded and a host of other groups also. I am not that hard to find. So look before you invite.
- The increasing number of social media sites that are just copies of existing sites. For every Pinterest that comes along, there are 10 Facebook or LinkedIn copies. Why would I join something that is just like a site to which I already belong?
- “Social Media marketers” who aren’t. Sending me an invite for a social media app or webinar followed by “you only have 30 seconds to sign up” is not social media marketing. The very premise of social media marketing is not to try to pressure someone into making a quick decision.
- Online surveys that start out with something like “this will only take five minutes.” Twenty minutes and a hundred questions in, I simply stop and delete it. Most people don’t have that kind of time.
- LinkedIn contacts that ask me to fill out a survey saying out how great they are. I have a very firm rule of only endorsing people I know and have worked with. Anything else wouldn’t be accurate.
- Webinars that claim to be informational, but turn out to be sales tools. What particularly bothers me about this tactic is how the presenter will leave a key piece of information. The only way to get that information is to buy whatever is being sold.
- This last one is not really a complaint – it is more a puzzle to me. I am active on Four Square and Yelp. Frankly, I like the discounts and the chance to meet with up friends. But what I don’t understand is why people from London or Mumbai or Tokyo want to be my friends on either site? Are they coming to Milwaukee? Are my tips that interesting? I don’t get it.
These are some of my top complaints. If you have any of your own, post them in the comment section. If I receive enough, I will do another blog listing all of yours.
The post PR 101 Weekly Rant #76 These Things Really Irritate Me appeared first on JJCC.
