Invites To Facebook Groups and Facebook Group Chats
Oh my word do I detest it when people add me to their Facebook groups and to their group chats to market their products! This is one place where I think Facebook falls flat on its face.
Now while I really think that Facebook can do so much to improve this issue such as sending people an invite to a group which they can then ignore without being added... rather than just adding people into groups without their permission and against their will.
The same goes for group chats.... ohhh noooo! Please don't add me to a group chat with loads of other people and then send links to all your offers.
Now you may be wondering why I am posting this blog here wondering what it has to do with WA?
Well when I first joined WA I accepted loads of friendship requests on Facebook from members that looked me up there. I stopped accepting invites a long while back because I got horribly spammed.
However even 2 years down the line some of the WA members I accepted are still adding me left right and center to their groups.
Today I saw a notification that I had a message on Facebook and when I had a look it was another group chat and I could see a whole bunch of other WA members in the chat. I didn't recognize the name of the lady that added me... but the name of the chat was called "Real Friends"... and I saw Kyle had also been added.
Now while Kyle has invited everyone to join him on Facebook I doubt this is what he intended and it is not what I intended either.
Please take note of the training here and remember that you want to market your offers, products and services in the right way, the way that is taught here at Wealthy Affiliate. You want to excite people and you want to generate goodwill towards yourself, towards your business and towards everything you market online.
The way I see it adding people to groups and to group chats on Facebook is as good as spamming them. When I get added like that I can tell you right now that doing that does not generate any goodwill feelings in me.
I just get annoyed and follow the same process:
1) Unfriend the offender
2) Leave the group or the chat
It seems like it is such a common occurrence for people to do this sort of thing. Almost every week I find myself added to some arb Whatsapp group by someone I don't even know and then being spammed all sorts of promotions.
Let's keep it tidy peeps!
And inspired by the comments in this discussion, here's training on how to leave a group so that nobody can add you back in:
How to Leave Facebook Groups for Good
Recent Comments
30
You would think people understand the Etiquette of asking someone to join instead of just adding you to a group. Happen to me many times and I still hate it. Seems people do not accept no for an answer. It is rude when they add you again when you already left. If that happens to me I normally block them. There is no sense in talking to them as they do not know the first rule of Etiquette.
I have just updated this post with a link to training on how to make sure you don't get added back into a group you have left.
I was never using facebook because I believed I was hopeless in social media which I still am but improving.I just started last month to seriously use social media, although time spent there has really helped my site, I find that facebook require too much of my time.
I joined several groups, by the time I finish whatever task in a particular group( I can not do all groups) I find that it takes alot of time away from me and I don't have time to do other things that need doing.
Social media can be a really useful tool but yes it can take up a lot of time and effort. I am moving away from Facebook and using Pinterest more. I never thought that I would be a Pinterest fan, but hey things change!
I hear you and I totally agree! In my opinion, Facebook has a lot of issues, but don't get me started!
Yes, I hate it too. There were situations when I was leaving a group only to find out I was added there again. Sometimes even personal messages do not work.
Don't people understand that it's not the number of people but the quality of things they offer that counts?
When you leave a group tick the option that says not to allow anyone to add you in that group again :) That is what I always do.
Doesn't that just tick you right off? You get added to a group you don't want to be in and that same person just keeps on pulling you back in.... on that note there is also an option to report a group when you leave :)
Yep, thanks. And FB is really cynical about the groups and stuff. Once I was locked out of my account and they, to prove my identity suggested that I should recognise all the groups I am in from the list they were going to provide...
Who can possibly do it? Luckily, there were no issues with my telephone, and I was soon in.:)
It's sad to say Lynne that without question a lot of crap takes place online and especially at the various social media platforms. The world is just littered with unscrupulous people who seemingly exist to hurt others, and later don't give a second's regret as to the damage that they did.
Along with the anonymity that is provided on so many websites having to do with message boards/chat rooms (such as what exists on Facebook) the criminal element is allowed to get away with so many illegal activities often without the slightest fear of their getting caught.
As a computer professor told a class course that I was involved with several years ago having to do with I.T., the Internet in his opinion is the "Wild, Wild West". A lot of lawlessness and criminal activities taking place online which normally would cause the guilty parties to get a long stretch in prison if later convicted. Which rarely, if ever happens!
Sadly, there are so many people who are on the Internet daily with the sole purpose of attempting to do as much damage as possible to other innocent individuals.
Your advice on what to do when receiving invites to social media groups who you did not sign up for and have no idea who the other members are, is something that everyone needs to be aware of and implement into their online activities.
As I noted in an article that I wrote about Facebook on my website after conducting research, daily on that particular social media platform around 160,000, (yes you read that correctly) scams are successfully pulled off by con artists worldwide. Again, that's on Facebook alone. It averages out to 1.85 scams pulled off per second daily. As I got this info from the very reputable NY Times, it led me to conclude that that statistic was fact.
It's also scary if you think about it!
Jeff
Oh I believe those numbers for sure Jeff, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if it was loads more than that on Facebook. I am incredibly wary and don't usually respond to messages that strangers send me. I constantly get messages from people I don't know and so often they just say "hi" and if you respond they ask where you live! Like wtf?
It is scary to know that people are so relaxed online, I just had to message a very close friend of mine - she posted a first aid certificate she just received - with her identity number clearly showing! OMG crazy stuff - so dangerous. Talk about giving it to identity thieves on a platter - your full name and identity number!
Hi, Lynne. Actually I should have stated that the 160,000 figure are scams that are successfully pulled off against innocent people. This does not include the unsuccessful ones.
There probably are so many scams that fall short of ensnaring an individual, due to the fact that the potential victim kept his/her wits about him knowing that that offer extended to him/her was bogus.
Yes, the Internet and social media do in fact have positive attributes - especially when used educationally, scientifically and in medicine with great doctors sharing their findings with others. The problem is all of the negative things that take place on the Internet - all because human beings are flawed animals.
Lynne, I should also add in the fact that unfortunately not every member here at WA does things legally and ethically noticing the stuff that has happened to you.
Yes, there is the Open Education Project here at WA, having to do with what should NOT take place regarding members who spam others while trying to promote their online businesses.
I've said it before and in fact posted it in past articles as part of my comments:
#1). All new members should be made fully aware of the Open Education Project article, written by Kyle back several years ago when they join. I was unaware of it back in Feb. of 2015 when I joined.
It should be required that all members read and then sign off on some sort of document soon after they first joined WA. This would serve as some sort of acknowledgement that the individual is aware of these rules and how he/she would conduct him/herself here at WA.
#2). Wanting to protect the integrity of WA as a training program, Kyle and Carson should have a zero tolerance policy for members who violate the rules of the Open Education Project - and that includes what takes place on various social media platforms.
If a member violates any rules listed on the Open Education project once, he/she gets a stiff warning as well as temporary loss of certain writing privileges.
If it happens a second time that person would get his/her membership terminated - permanently! Case closed. No questions asked, that person is shown out the door!!
It should be the goal of WA that any illegal activities just are not tolerated coming from any member.
What do you think, Lynne?
Yes of your choice... but how about I added you to a group for women's beauty products and tagged you in every post? Then it becomes a different story... and it is obvious that I didn't take any care in adding you even, showing no respect to you and your time.
I am also part of a number of groups that I found, that I joined and that I take part in regularly. That is not the same as loads of people adding me to groups that do not interest me at all.
Great post and I totally agree. I'm surprised people even both with this type of thing. While they are chasing their tail, the smart ones silently glide up the google rankings. ;)
All the best,
Tommy.
Exactly, it is complete desperation and their time could be much better spent working on their websites, growing their organic traffic and legitimately building their lists!
See more comments
SOOOOO agree with you!!! I don't accept a lot of people and scroll a lot.
Oh I used to scroll, now as I scroll I click on most people's profiles (except my close very close friends and family) and unfollow them! It's nice, I am finding my feed is getting more and more relevant to being the things I want to see!
I've done the same to many.