So last week I posted about how I had decided it was time to look for an actual web developer to take over the design and upkeep of my website. (Still interested in any information people have about that, by the way.) I posted the blog to Facebook and didn’t really think much more about it. Just another regular blog post.
Minutes later, I had a random person chime in on the post with a referral for a web developer he knew. And minutes after that, said web developer showed up to post that he’d be happy to help me. And then just a bit after that, yet another stranger showed up in my comments section to say they’d be happy to help.
On the one hand, I get how important it is to get your name out there. Never hurts to ask, I suppose, right? Well . . . not so much. For one thing, I’m far from convinced the first two commenters (the referrer and the referree) weren’t the same person. I suppose there are just people with standing Facebook searches running that ping them any time someone posts about needing a webmaster. And maybe they’re successful with that? No clue. I ended up locking the post down so only my friends and their friends could comment. Because I wasn’t just looking for any webmaster: I wanted information or referrals from people I actually know.
But wait. It gets worse.
That night, I got a text on my phone. “Hey Bryce, how’s it going? Jacob here, a website designer with over a decade of experience. I can help you with all your website needs.”
I responded with a single sentence: “It is beyond creepy that you’re texting me.”
My phone number is on Facebook, locked down for close friends. I ran a web search on myself, and yes, it appears my phone number is also out there for anyone to see, and it’s easy to find, seeing as how I think I’m the only Bryce Cundick in the world. But I’m trying to figure out how this guy thought it was going to go down. Was I supposed to be impressed that he saw the post, searched out my contact info, and then just texted me out of the blue?
Because I wasn’t.
I really (really) want to lock down my text messages so that only people I know can contact me. I know it’s possible to send messages from unknown people into a different folder, but I can’t do that just yet. Why? Because I’m the Stake Executive Secretary for my church, which means I regularly get messages from people not in my contact list, for issues members in the area need me to deal with. So long as I need to do that, I need to put up with the random texts (and alllllll the political texts I still continue to get.)
Spambots I can kind of understand. But individuals out there messaging strangers?
Get a hobby, folks.