Paranoid? Maybe - Creepy? Definitely!

Anti-social, backward, rural…these are names my friends – and I love them all – have used to describe my relationship with social media.

I have long conceded that when it comes to technology I am a slow learner. Some of my techno savvy friends have given up on me and there are those who still don’t believe I can be found on any social media space beyond Whats App. Oh, and the more they try to explain why they check in at restaurants, airports and other places, the less sense it makes.

My unease with social media probably stems from my shy character. I have always been a private person believing that my business has to remain just that. So, sharing my personal information with faceless people on the web was never going to appeal to me. Oh, and my boys wouldn’t have it any other way. Apparently I do not belong in that space anyway.

As a small business owner, having a website was a necessary tool for marketing my business. It was not facebook and it was not twitter and oh, it was not about sharing my personal information with faceless people. Well, except whoever visited my website would have to be able to contact me meaning I had to display my contact details. That did not bother me much as I obviously needed to be accessible to my potential clients.

I am writing this because this past Monday, I got a call from a guy whose name I have forgotten but who identified himself as a Zimbabwean based in Johannesburg. The reason for his call was that he got my contact details from someone named Thembi who apparently recommended me for my events management expertise. The caller was actually calling on behalf of some ladies from Zambia who needed an events management company to assist with a conference they were to host in Johannesburg.

The caller did not have a clue what the conference was about, nor did he have an idea of the dates thereof. Those nameless ladies were the ones with information and he was just facilitating things this side for them. What he needed was an urgent meeting with me so we could discuss some basic requirements for the conference which he did not have any details of.

I asked him to send me more information to give me an idea of what the conference was about before I wasted his and my time on something I would probably not be willing to be part of. He tried to conceal his disappointed and promised to get the information and forward it. He did not ask for my e-mail address but maybe the kind Thembi had provided him with that. As you would guess, he hasn’t contacted me yet.

This is not really about social media but about how easily accessible technology has made us to be. And since we often provide so much information and we even check in at some places, what are the odds that a person like this guy could follow you to where you have checked in? We have heard of stories of women being lured by people who promised them jobs etc. only to end up as victims of rape, even murder with some ending up as drug mules. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the new modus operandi for these sick people. Times are tough and we small business owners are most of the time desperate for any type of contract. And some serial rapist or killer may just have found soft targets in us. I may be paranoid but I must say I found that creepy.