Targeted Following

~ beetleypete

All of us know that we get followers who are not really followers. They are trying to sell stuff.

This is getting worse, at least as far as my blog is concerned. Here are a few examples. I have not included links to their blogs, as I refuse to give them any publicity.

1) I write a post about acne in old age. It was a reblog from years ago, and I don’t have it any longer.

Next thing I know, I have two new followers. Neither of the blog names suggest anything remotely concerning selling, so I check them out.
One is selling ‘remedies’ for acne, and the other selling miracle cures for any skin complaint. These are 21st century snake oil salesmen.

2) I write a post about my wife having tests to see if she has breast cancer. I get an email from a new follower urging me to check out his site. It concerns the sale of some magical formula made from something like mushrooms. You can bet I spammed the blog comment they tried to leave too.

3) In my alphabet series, I wrote about how much I am disgusted by most forms of hunting, especially trophy hunting.
Tonight, I get a new ‘follower’ whose site is advertising the latest in telescopic sights for hunting rifles, slings to carry them with, and cases to keep them in.

This is the bad side of blogging, and I really don’t like it.

I won’t put ‘Followers’ on my list of things I don’t like though, as most of you are wonderful of course!

57 thoughts on “Targeted Following”

  1. You’ve reminded me I should check my spam folder. I used to have plenty of Chinese messages and financial stuff and plenty of gobblediguck… I also get e-mails of people asking me to write guest posts for the old blog I no longer use… I’m not a fan either, Pete. Very annoying.

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  3. As blog writers, we want to be able to reach readers. To entertain them, to inform them, or to provide a daily/weekly insight into the mind of a writer. I’m sure there are programs that search blog posts in order to market.

    It’s an annoyance, true, but if we can reach one real reader with a post, it’s tolerable.

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    1. Thanks, Leon. It is indeed tolerable, if it is something worth reading. But selling Bitcoin or dubious medical remedies doesn’t count. At least as far as I am concerned.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. One of the prices we have to pay for still having a relatively free internet, I guess Pete. Notwithstanding the subtitle of your other blog, on balance I’d rather accommodate irritations like this than live in an authoritarian world in which I had no choice about what I was ‘allowed’ to like or enjoy. I know Britain isn’t perfect by a long stretch, but from what I’ve seen of places like Iran and North Korea, I know where I’m better off! Cheers, Jon.

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  7. I am getting lots of them and like you don’t send my normal thanks and now some seem to think it is alright not to comment but just leave a link to their blog and we won’t go into the spam folder which bulges but I have to check as sometimes I find regular commenters to my blog in spam….sigh

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  10. I have very few commercial hits. Indeed, while deartedandjody, according to W-P, has 279 followers,. I only ever get likes and comments from you and five others. when I do get an unfamiliar like or comment, I do go and check them out. I have added a few folks to the ones I check in on now and again, but very few commercial links, aka spam. Hang in there. Warmest regards, Theo

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    1. As I see the number of my blog followers (including email only and Twitter) approaching 7,000, I often wonder what happened to the 6,400 who never like a post, or comment on my blog. đŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  12. (1) Snake oil is a great remedy for acne. Apply generously.
    (2) Magic mushrooms don’t cure cancer, but they do take your mind on a wonderful hallucinogenic journey.
    (3) To capture a trophy elephant, you’ll need tweezers, a jar, a punch, a nail, a hammer, a pair of binoculars, and a sign that says “NO ELEHANTS ALLOWED.” Proceed as follows;
    -With the hammer and punch, create holes in the lid of the jar.
    -Then use the hammer to nail the sign to a tree.
    -With the binoculars, watch for an elephant to show up.
    -Elephants are intrigued by the stupidity of humans who can’t spell e-l-e-p-h-a-n-t correctly.
    -While the elephant laughs at the sign, view it with the wrong end of the binoculars.
    -Grasp the elephant with the tweezers, pop it into the jar, and close the lid.
    -Display proudly on a shelf.
    -Don’t forget to chop up the peanuts.

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  13. I agree with you, Pete. I can’t prove it, but I have the distinct impression that that kind of followers has increased a lot over the last year or two. Sometimes I think it’s done by bots a I suddenly get spurts of new followers and especially of likes: up to ten or fifteen at a time for quite old posts. But I must admit, I don’t care.

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    1. I ignore the fake ‘likes’ and Spam comments, Pit. But ‘followers’ with innocent blog names do annoy me. They should call their blog ‘Selling Stuff’, and be honest. đŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  14. I think we can usually tell the genuineness of people through their comments or lack thereof. The ones that seem to come after me a lot are those selling vitamins. Perhaps this is a commentary on my age. Let’s target the segment of the population known as “old farts.”

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  15. As you can imagine, since posting my cancer diaries I’ve had a few ‘followers’ who just want to sell their miracle cures or cancer busting diet plans. However, there have been some lovely new followers who are genuinely supportive and make up for the spammers.

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  16. Those spammy comments have dwindled some for me, Pete. Maybe because my blogging has been less of late. I usually investigate new followers once a week or so. Do you block said followers or let them be?

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  21. Same here…I have so many weird people that occasionally end up giving me a follow that I’m wondering how they found out about my blog in the first place. I’m creeping up on about 2000 followers now, but at the same time I know that a lot of these aren’t even real followers. Oh well…I don’t let it bother me too much….but yeah at times it is annoying. Especially in the examples that you’ve gave here PeteđŸ˜”

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    1. Sometimes they can be very insensitive. When I posted about the anniversary of my mum’s death, I got a new follower offering bargain undertaker’s services in Melbourne, Australia.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I always go to the site of new followers and thank them for following. If they have a selling site, I don’t bother to comment. If they also leave a comment on my post, I Spam it then delete it. đŸ™‚
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  25. THere has been a massive uptick on IST as well….but most are about dick drugs and drugs in general…..I seldom write about those subjects but yet I have been singled out…I don’t like it either….chuq

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