I enjoy many social networks and find value from them in various ways. But there are too many out there, and I have no interest in joining most of them.
But don’t tell that to somebody who I will call Lisa S.
I first got to know her when she invited me to be her friend at Multiply earlier this year. I searched my brain and Google Desktop and nothing turned up for this stranger.
Soon after, she invited me to join her on bebo. This time she invited me with two different e-mails that I use.
A few days passed and she invited me to PerfSpot.com. Again with both e-mails – this would be a trend that carried on from there.
And then there was friendster. This time there was a breakthrough – her Hotmail address was in the invite, rather than just a corporate no-reply e-mail.
I sent a note asking her to stop with the invitations. No response. No let up with the invites.
Next up was a request to join her at radiusIM, followed by a request from me for her to please go away.
By now, the reminders from the previous invites were kicking in (friendster sends a lot of them!).
Then it was quiet for a couple of days. False hope, my inbox was then graced with a Kaboodle invite. I did a little digging and found some information on her – she apparently belonged to every social network I ever heard of, as well as 7,283 others.
I managed to find her Skype account and sent a message asking her to stop the madness. She responded the only way she knew how – she invited me to Melcrum’s Communicators’ Network.
That was today and I’m completely fed up – she never even invites me to private betas or anything. Just clown stuff that anybody can join.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m into friending folks I don’t know, but who have like interests, mutual colleagues, etc. But this serial social networking – it’s a tragic waste of human spirit.
I was unfazed by the controversial 2 girls 1 cup video, but these constant spamvites make my stomach turn.
For anybody out there that has even a little Lisa S. in them – turn off your computer tomorrow and get some sun. Stop the madness, if just for one day.