Social Media Spam & Fake Accounts Beware

In the last few years, as technology of communication across the world has become a lot easier with transmitting information instantly across the world with just a single submit, post, or publish button. The world has come a long way with all that and it is incredibly amazing where technology has taken us. Some for the good, and some for the bad. The bad part about social media, e-mails and accounts are spam and fake ones.

I am sure some of us or if not all of us have encountered people saying “If you follow me, you can get instant thousands of followers back”, and then you see these accounts with fake usernames with so many numbers and a name with it like “Joy34342432456” or profile’s with suspicious fake photos, and then they try to add you as a friend, but you don’t even know them. After they send you e-mails saying “Hey, I saw your profile, you look great, and I want to get to know you and some sort of stuff” I am just getting so tired of all these bot’s and fake accounts that are circulating the internet.

I think the most important priority for these social media website creators, and those who work for these social media companies especially the IT, Security and safety teams, should really begin to clean out fake profiles. I know it is easier said than done and sometimes these fake profiles, hackers and everything made it so complicated to tell, but I can tell right away if it is a fake account.

So many things to look at when dealing with a spammer and fake account holder. here is my list:

– They only have 1 photo of themselves or they don’t have a profile photo and they put a picture of a unicorn or something. That becomes suspicious

– When they do not post anything on their profile pages.

– When you hashtag *#* or write about a certain thing on Twitter, an automatic bot will detect people’s status messages and retweet, like and follow you.

– They spam people to look at adult content videos

– They tag you in potential virus content that will mess up the security of your computer that will steal your passwords, and personal information.

– When they say, follow me and you get thousands of followers

– when there are e-mails that are like this “3535serger345gvdrgererwaefqw@swewed34325435fsfsada.com”

and so much more.

You must be so careful on what you add, who you add on your social media accounts.

I am going to begin to set up a petition online for these social media, and e-mail companies to really start cracking down on fake accounts, bots, and spammers to delete, remove and clean up the internet. Instead of focusing on new layouts, exciting new features and updates on these social media outlets, They should really be focusing on and managing security and safety of all the other users, by making it a little harder in the beginning when signing up for an account to ask several questions, to “I’m Not a Robot” or some sort of captcha, number to type down before creating a site, and go through extra steps to ensure safety and security of us all.

We should also be helping out these social media outlets. If you do see something that is not right or if you feel that you are being followed by robots or whatever, tell your social media outlet, report it, send an e-mail or whatever the case maybe, and they will investigate it and deal with it. There are millions and millions of accounts on these social media outlets and Facebook has over 1 billion people worldwide using it, so it can be quite difficult to combat all these accounts, so we as account holders should help them out and report these fake people or IF we can even call them that to them. It is so important.

Do not be discouraged of joining the social media world, just because of these things that are happening. Social Media outlets are awesome and it can be a fun, enjoyable and great place to keep in touch with loved ones, share photos, status messages and everything. I am not deterring anybody from this age in technology, I am just merely suggesting and advising people to really be so careful on who you add, and everything. If you do feel that it is suspicious, please report the account and delete and block it.

Have you been a victim of social media spam? What have you encountered?

Best wishes always, and remember to make wise decisions when Spammers and Bots come to you. best thing to do is to ignore, delete, report and then block. The social media outlet will see that it happened, as everything is on file at their end. Just be safe and enjoy social media.

A Day In The Life in Cuba – The Reality

In life, one of the most incredible experiences is travel. I believe that when you travel to see the world, different lifestyles, realities, different people, places is something that is such a great thing. You become more aware, educated, informed and get in touch with your personal self to get a better understanding than what you hear in the media and pictures, also to change your perspective on things of the way your life is and in your own backyard to appreciate, count our blessings, and to be grateful for everything you have in life where others are less fortunate and do not have much. For example, in Cuba.

I have traveled to Cuba 13 times in my lifetime. I have traveled almost all over the island and have seen cities, and towns along the way. I have spent time with the locals, and met families, and have seen the way people live their day to day lives with the bare minimum. Some people make about $12.00 – $30.00 a month. Maximum 35 if they are lucky. Most people work in the resorts and touristic parts, some who are teachers, doctors, room makers, cleaners, bartenders and more.

A lot of people nowadays are so picky about what they want to eat, some people have a fridge full of food, pantries full, stomachs full, and they still are trying to figure out what to make. I admit, I am one of them, but It is really an eye-opener when you see the world. Not only in pictures, but when you see it with your own eyes. That is a whole new ball game. Well, some people in this world unfortunately do not have that option. Cuban people get a certain amount of food per month or every 2 weeks and that they need to space out how much food to eat during the day, some have to struggle to make their own food.

As I was going through towns from Cayo Santa Maria, back to Santa Clara where the airport is to come back home, I saw some of the most saddest things I had ever seen, there are run down buildings that look like they will collapse any minute, people walking around the streets with heavy bags, people cutting grass with machetes or some sort of cutter, some people going somewhere with horses, busted up cars, and it just made me tear up and think to myself, how can people live like this day in and day out? I teared up and so did the person who was sitting next to me and I overheard 2 ladies behind me saying that, we shouldn’t complain anymore and be choosy about everything we have. This really opened up my eyes one of the ladies said, and the friend of hers or whoever it was said, yes that’s true, you are right.

I have been through towns and cities in Cuba, and some of the conditions of the homes the Cuban people live are terribly sad. It breaks my heart. They don’t have proper windows, the roofs of some of the houses are coming apart, a lot of the houses are the size of a 14 to 17 foot place and some of the houses are even smaller than that. Can you imagine a family of 5 living there? Well, I met this family of 5 and they live in such a small house and they have to go outside of the home to use the toilet and to shower they have buckets inside the house and there is running water outside, so they have to go out to get running water then come back to wash up inside where there is just a drain.

In Cienfuegos, Cuba when I went. I had met an entertainer and then he invited my family and I over to his house, so the next day we took the taxi over to his place. We met his family and I remember how hospitable they were with us and so friendly. So, we took them a few items we do not need anymore and they were so happy. So the mother of the entertainer made us a whole table full of food, and started preparing the day before when the entertainer told them we are coming over. The dinner we had was so delicious and it was probably their months worth of food for us for that night. It was done without our knowledge or else we would have refused and if we did, they would get offended, so we ended up eating all of it as we were hungry. They then served us coffee and then we went back to the hotel.

They were so incredibly friendly and we got to see how they lived the whole day. They struggle so much with the deplorable conditions they live in. Some places though are really nice. It depends on the monthly salary as well. Again, I came to my resort and I just thank my lucky stars. I showed a few Cubans my pictures from my Camera, and they have never even seen an airplane in their lives, they have never even seen a camera, let alone the type of clothing I was wearing. It absolutely broke my heart to pieces.

I will continue to visit Cuba. I really like the people there and they are so friendly, witty and energetic, but for some people you can see the sadness and depression in their faces and you can tell some of them don’t have much, and some show they are happy, but they are not. The desperation can be seen. They love it when you give them shoes, clothing and anything else. For these people I will donate and give them the shirt off my back. Put yourself in their shoes and see what its like, but some people don’t realize.

I see them working so hard at the resorts, non-stop and they have to travel long ways to make a Buck which is a Peso there. There are people who come to these resorts who travel there, and I see how rude the guests can be to them and waste so much food on their plates, demand things from them. I mean at the end of the day, they are human beings just like us and deserve to be treated with respect and to have patience. Those Cubans see it and they said, I wish I had this much food at my home and I can see the frustration and sadness in their eyes. I am very observant when I travel. Some of these tourists don’t realize that, however I do and I am compassionate and patient with them. I put myself in their shoes and I go from there.

Moral of the story is that you should always be thankful for what you have. You never know what someone else is going through and people in this world do not have anything, so we must stop begging for more, being desperate for buying the next newest and latest smartphones, or super expensive things that really suit no purpose in life. Some people are so spoiled to the fullest extent. It is unbelievable. We should always count our lucky stars because people in this world aren’t so lucky.

Have you been to Cuba or anywhere else and have seen the way people live?

Do you travel to other destinations to see other peoples reality and what it is like?

Would love to hear from you.

Words to Always Live By

In life, when a rainy day comes by, some people struggle in work, school, relationships, sudden sickness or other things and a lot of times people look for inspiration, positive re-enforcement, happy thoughts, encouragement, support, and comfort. It is so important to reach out to others who are having difficulty with those challenges in life. Whether it be a family member, friend, neighbor, colleague, school-mate or whoever else it maybe. It is always a good idea to remind them, to be there for them, to give positive vibes, friendly, a great gesture, and beautiful inspiring words to uplift them during the good times and the bad. People never get tired of hearing and listening to happy and good vibes sent to them in communicating and letting them know how you feel and what you contribute to their lives, Not in material ways, but in an emotional way. Trust in me as I say to you, They will appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Interviewing Myself About My Social Media Journey

A few people have been asking me questions lately about my Social Media journey, and what empowered me to start being active in this whole new way of communicating to the world instantly. Well, here are questions that I am going to be interviewing myself with:

1. How many years have you been active in Social Media?

In May of 2000, I joined AsianAvenue.com, Black Planet, Migente all around that time. Which is about 15 years and almost 2 months, that I have been active, then couple of years later, I joined Myspace.

2. How did you educate yourself in Social Media?

When I began to be educated on what Social Media really is. I began writing, changing my layout of my pages in Asian Avenue, Migente, Black Planet and Myspace. I had hours of fun changing pictures, writing short stories, shout-outs to people, putting avatars, symbols HTML, Style CSS codes. That is when I began to really enjoy myself, and then that is where I launched myself into the Internet world.

3. What was your very first Blog Site to write in? (+ Other sites)

LiveJournal was my first website that I started to write in, then I went to Blogger from Google. Now in present day, I have been on WordPress the longest.

4. What have you been through to get this far to Social Media today?

Well, as a lot of people in Social Media and blogging begin to think in the beginning, ask a lot of questions and inquire on How are people going to engage into my postings? How Can I get out there to be noticed? What do I need to do to be successful? Well, I went through so much to get to where I am today. I began to do extensive research online about how to attract readers, and amongst how to get through the challenging aspects of it all. I then began to learn to tag my posts, so it can be seen by so many people, then I began asking questions and getting feedback from others who are in the same boat as me and who have gone through it all. Soon after I began to get comfortable with it all, I was in a whole new world of communication. It was not easy. For months I did not receive any comments, readers, and those who were engaging into my site. So I put it into action and began to make friends all over the internet, and then my journey officially began.

5. What would you say was the most struggling aspect of your Social Media Journey. Does it still apply to you in present day?

Well, the most struggling aspect of social media, is that right now there is just so many bloggers, so many people in social media and they all want practically the same thing. To be noticed, for people to engage, share, like, and comment on posts. I must say the getting noticed part is the most difficult aspect of it all and which audience you want your content to be available to.

6. Does your family and friends support you in your journey through Social Media?

Yes, definitely. Without the support, foundation from my family and friends, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I wouldn’t be here conducting this interview for myself. I thank them very much for standing behind in what I love to do, what I am pursuing in all of this, and as well as inspiring the world with my writings, talents and so much more.

7. What do you like to write about?

I like to write about various things such as travel, tips, advice, inspiring stories, stories that have happened to me, promoting others, recipes, causes, and much more.

8. Did you ever have writers block?

Yes, several times. Sometimes as a writer, My mind freezes up and do not have anymore capacity in my brain to come up with new topics, and what to do next. Then after a few days go by, things start coming back to me, and begin to write again.

9. What advice do you have for aspiring and up and coming social media activists?

Just to take your time with social media. Do not rush into getting so much viewership, and engaged readers. It takes time to establish yourself. Well, not all the time. Also to always make sure your site is searchable, to add keywords, tag posts and engage in other peoples social media journey as well.

 

 

Why Do Good Soft Hearted People Always Get Knocked Down?

Recently, in life there have been some unpleasant things going on in general that I am not liking whatsoever. For example, when you are so great with what you do, and who you are as a person in your job like, and when so many people who are fans and supporters of that actor/actress on a TV show or Soap Opera, people high up always tend to ruin a good thing and they do not even realize that many fans and supporters hearts will be broken from a good hearted and soft hearted person getting let go from the excellent work that they do. It really is terrible knowing that you are just a number and can be replaced like your nothing when your time is up or not. They need to realize that, messing with fans emotions and feelings and taking fans for a ride is not a laughing and joking matter. It is quite serious and that is losing and betraying the trust of all of us who are/were supporters. These people controlling and making decisions seem like they do not even care. Its very sad and disgusting.

Its like ordinary people in daily general life. In the world people take advantage of you, and do not even care about you and your feelings and the outcome of it all, because they know that they can keep asking you, and counting on you to do things and you never say no and they know that they can get anything from that person, they know they can run and walk all over you because they know how to get things done, and they do not care who gets hurt from it all.

Its something that I cannot make sense of at all and I just need to ask why Good and Soft-Hearted people are often the ones who get knocked down, get mistreated and shafted when not needed anymore? It is so unfair, life is so unfair, especially to the good people, Easily being replaced or looking for another person to do the same thing to. I just cannot understand it at all, and I am trying to look for answers, that I cannot even look for.

In this life, sometimes being a soft-hearted, good hearted, person does not work in some cases. Learning to speak up,  being tough, putting your foot down, standing up for yourself and your rights and saying no once in a while does not  hurt, it just puts others to the ultimate test to see if they are real and good friends to you and to see if those people are walking all over you. Sometimes there are people who take others for a ride all if not most of the time and the Soft and Good hearted person does not see it and will do anything and everything for other people, but when it comes to that individual, and when you ask the same from others its always a struggle to get things in return. I know some do things all the time from people without asking anything in return, but its nice to be acknowledged once in a while and having others do nice things for you.

Some realize that what they are doing is wrong, and they still do it because they do not even have an ounce of decency in them and they do not care who they hurt in the process, unfortunately they always run to the good and soft people because they know that they can play with that persons heart, and emotions. It is sickening. I am just so frustrated because I have been there, I have been through so much with always saying yes, I have been naive, I have been blinded by being used, with people always putting me to the side when not needed anymore, and a lot of fake people are around and this society has become that. Fake people hurt others like crazy, and It puts a scar in your life, because no matter what you do, its like Damn if you do, Damn if you don’t. Now, from your perspective, what do you think of this? What do you do when this issue arises?

In the meantime, Do not worry, keep up being great, soft-hearted people in this world, they are great traits, keep it up, As for those fake people, and those who take others for a ride, someday, I hope that they will realize and sit down and think long and hard and say what I am doing is wrong, and I should stop it, apologize to people and make better choices in society with socializing with others. It will make the world a better, friendlier and nicer place. I hope that I will see that day.

Have you learned to be more tough in this life? How have you handled it? Would like to hear from you.