Be afraid! Be very afraid! New brute force tactics being used to promote businesses..

There seems to be a new way to get the word out about your business in SL, but I do not believe that the following two examples are acceptable by any means! I do not understand why people resort to such tactics, but I fear this will now become the norm, instead of the exception...

I logged into SL a few moments ago to find a notecard given to me by an individual I did not recognize. The notecard was an equilivant to one of those flyers someone places on your windshield of your car while you were busy shopping in the mall. It was nothing more than what I would equate to SPAM!

I contacted the person in IM and asked them why I recieved this notecard from them. They stated that they dropped this notecard on everyone in their calling card folder to get the word out. I informed them that I would be removing their calling card from my list, and warned them that this could be against the TOS...

Then not less than 2 minutes pass, I recieve an IM from an entirely different individual using the same promotional tactics, except they did this in IM with their entire calling card directory. I also informed them that this may be agains the TOS, and promptly removed their calling card from my directory.

Is this the norm now, instead of the exception?

sounds like the new teleport spam. let the negs pile up along with a few abuse reports and it will die out.

I didn't teleport anywhere though... I was standing on my private island minding my own business.

Considering that a neg rate costs 25L, I fear this will begin to become more popular...

I know... Maybe a do not contact list is in order? It seems to have stopped the telemarketers dead in their tracks

i already let the answering machine screen my calls at home because two-thirds of them are sales pitches. if i have to isolate myself inworld for the same reason, i might as well call it a day and go back to building alone in bryce and maya.

sorry Prong i meant the equivalent of the old teleport spam people used to send to try to get dwell. this is like a new spam method.

come on is L$25 really that much money? anyway abuse reports are free. spam is definitely frowned on by the Lindens, at least that was the deal when the teleport spam started up.

I agree 25L isn't that much money, but I have already noticed a severe drop in rates since the new charges were implemented. It may not seem like alot to you or me, but for some folks, that is enough of a charge to "think twice" before you rate, positive or negative

Maybe you shouldnt have requested or accepted their calling card in the first place?

Yes, nothing is worse than being right in the middle of postioning a prim just precisely right, zoomed in tight, and have a notecard pop up in the middle of your screen.

Whether it's to promote your own bussiness or step on a competitor's by advertising a boycot *cough* it's entitely overbearing and annoying.

Seriously! You never had an issue like this Donnie? Thats like saying its my fault that all those telemarketers call because I have a telephone! You just made me spit pop all over my screen... LOL

Maybe get Ulrika on the case, word on the street is she'll boycott anything.

Standing policy for me is to echo TOS article 5.1 vii, make a note in the profile of the spammer that they've been warned, I get a second one, I file AR now (used to be 3 strikes until it got worse) It's honestly more lenient than telemarketers deserve.

Additionally I noted I didn't want spam, and thus note this to them. A lot of them really should read the profiles of those they spam, I drop calling cards of people who spam me in most cases.

This is all really good feedback....

Lets hope that this business practice doesn't become a trend

Hey, maybe she'll boycott Sallie Mae Educational Services for me. I'd love it if they went out of business, but they'd probably just pass my student loan onto someone else anyway

I agree Nolan, that would be great. But they probably would just pass the student loan over to some other company. Got to be some way to beat the system....

Hmm..... with regular spammers or telemarketers I'll pull tricks to take them out of service. But I can't do that here. Abuse Report the second you get a peice of spam. Then IM the person and tell them you filed and don't want to be spammed again.

Keep notes of names and later we will compile them into a hitlist. We will visit each of them in their homes and beat them over the heads with their keyboard and steal their lunch money.

Prong,

Donnie does have a point. In the old days, everyone used to accept every calling card offer due to it being attached to the bonus stipends (or at least this was a common belief).
This is no longer true.

The purpose of calling cards is to keep in touch with people you want to hear from. If you have someone on your cc list that you don't know, then it may be best to delete the card.

Personally, if someone has accepted my calling card, I would think that any message I send would not be considered SPAM. And if it was considered SPAM, then that person should just delete my card. I get items all the time from people on my cc list (Thanks, Kim Anubis!) and I appreciate them.

I disagree... My calling card list was created prior to the recent changes made to the rateings and stipend system. Never once did I experience this issue before those changes. Not once. That tells me something...

It tells me that some people will adapt and overcome any obstacles to fit their business agenda. It tells me that for every action there will be a similar reaction. I believe that the reaction to the recent changes are already manafesting before our very eyes.

The profound effect will be a community of players who refuse to swap calling cards with each other. This effect cannot be good for any online community.

I have a silly question to ask...

If this is to become the acceptable way to promote a business, then why do we even bother with creating groups in the first place? Isn't a group supposed to be used for such activities? Doesn't a group benefit from such activities? The answer is yes...

I created a specific group for SimCast Residents which I use as my promotional vehicle. Players who join that group know that any updates or changes to SimCast will be broadcast to that group only...

Just because someone has my calling card in a general list doesn't give them the right to turn that list into a propaganda machine...

Uh but Khamon I cant shoot you in Bryce dammit..LOL yes I still love my bryce and Maya..

If your CC list is indiscriminate, then yes, you will probably get your share of messages you don't want to read. But you accepted their card! It is an opt in to any contact they want to have with you. Is there a better way to promote a business than popping notecards on your CC list? Sure, the group method you use is perfect for that.

But my contention is still that the people on your CC list are people you either invited or accepted. There has been an acknowledgment that you wish to have future contact with that person. Reasonably, that will include product and event announcements. Since you have agreed to the contact, I think it is overkill to abuse report. IM'ing the person and letting them know you think what they did was rude or removing their card should be sufficient. If they continue to contact you, then it is abuse.

I only have about a dozen CC's and as I said earlier, I have only had good things given to me out of the blue. Someone in your position probably has a lot more. And with the recent changes, you are probably correct that this is the beginning of some more agressive network marketing.