Our social media agony aunt answers your questions
Dear Cybersorter,
One of my friends is always instant-messaging me.
She starts with, “Hi, how are you?” and before I have time to answer another message pings, “HELLOO,” she yells, “are you going to answer me???!”
All this is sent in short bursts so my gmail alert is pinging constantly. She has gone as far as to chase me onto Facebook – where she tries to instant message me again there.
I don’t want to block her as she’s a good friend; she just doesn’t seem to understand I’m not always available to chat.
KL
Dear KL,
One can be sociable without constantly socialising, (though introducing her to Twitter could alleviate your instant messaging response spade work).
Perhaps you should make yourself unavailable for chatting. Go to the left hand side of your gmail page. Next to the “Set Status Here” line is a drop-down arrow. Click on it and click “busy”, “invisible” or “sign out of chat”.
Go to Facebook chat on the bottom right of your Facebook homepage. Click “Friends Lists,” type in “Block List”. Click on her name and drag her into the block list. Hover over the little green switch and set to “Go Offline”. Then go to the book shop and purchase a copy of Little Miss Chatterbox from the Mr Men series. This tale of woe for the overly verbose describes how our anti-heroine keeps getting fired for blathering on at people. Go to the post office, purchase a stamp, address it to your friend and post it.
Dear Cybersorter,
Recently, I was a guest on a TV show talking about my area of expertise.
I was a bit unsettled when I got home and found an invitation to “Join my network on LinkedIn” from someone I’ve never met. Thinking that perhaps it was a business opportunity I read down further where it said. “Saw you on TV last night. Thought you were extremely hot and decided to find out more about you!”
Needless to say, I did not accept the offer to link up but my husband and I did research this person further. He is the managing director of a company with offices throughout the country. Surely this is not an appropriate use of LinkedIn . . . or is it some new trend?
MR
Dear MR,
On reflection it’s not surprising that some businessmen are going to use the professional network LinkedIn as a bespoke professional dating service.
Be patient. Only in the past two years have many businessmen come blinking into the daylight of social media after a long spell in the cave of internet pornography.
You are right; this is an inappropriate use of the platform. However, on the surface there seems little harm in one professional soliciting the attentions of another, especially as he was clear why.
It would have been more sinister to lure you into connecting with him on false pretences, got a meeting and then chased you round the boardroom with his trousers round his ankles.
If you are creeped out, pay a visit to your privacy settings. You can’t block someone on LinkedIn but you can make your profile or your connections private.
