How to Eliminate Spam from Other Members

Sta.rtUp.biz offers you full control of everything that could be considered spam. Here is a quick tutorial of what to do if you feel like you are getting spammed.

Changing Your Settings

1) Change to Approve Comments Before they Appear on your Wall
http://sta.rtup.biz/profiles/profile/privacySettings

a) Find this question: Do you want to approve comments before they appear on your blog?
b) Change to: Yes – Let me approve comments first
c) Click "Save"

2) Change to Receive Only "Messages sent to the whole network"
http://sta.rtup.biz/profiles/profile/emailSettings

Unclick everything except the fourth one. This will eliminate all the emails except the ones that are coming directly from Sta.rtUp.biz and are approved for the $1000 giveaway. Essentially, this means one approved message a day M-F.

Stopping Invitations to Other Networks Completely

One step will stop this forever.

Log onto ning.com with your user id and password and go to this page:
http://www.ning.com/settings/emailnotifications

1) Under "Email Notifications on Ning" locate "Invitations to Join Social Networks."
2) Change to "No"
3) Click Save

Friend Management

Making a Friend Request

1) Do not make blind friend requests.
This means do not just go from profile to profile clicking "Add Friend" 100 times in a row.

2) Make friend requests to people that are active on the site.
Look for the other members that are making comments on blogs and are actively posting.

3) Visit the member's website before making a friend request.
This will allow you to add a targeted comment in the friend request.

Receiving a Friend Request

1) Never accept any friend request blindly.
Send a message asking them a general question about their business or Sta.rtUp.biz. If they answer, then accept their request. If not, then reject their request.

2) Be wary of accepting requests from people who do not have a picture.
People that do not post a picture are more likely not going to be around, and they are more likely to send you spam.

Managing Existing Friends

1) Immediately remove any friend that sends you a message that you consider spam.
At the top of every message you receive in your inbox on Sta.rtUp.biz there is a link that reads "Block Messages." After you click the "Block Messages" button, then click on their profile link and click the "Remove as Friend" button on the left side under their profile image.

2) Immediately remove any friend that sends you more that one invite to another site in a week.
If you notice that you are getting 15 invitations to all kinds of social networks, then you have a friend or two that you need to eliminate. Each invitation will have the person's picture and name. Just go find them in your friends and unfriend them to stop these invites.

3) You must spend a few minutes a day removing friends that are sending you spam and excessive invites.
If you do not, then things will quickly get out of control. 5-10 bad friends can turn your email inbox into a nightmare. Some of these people will invite you to 10 sites a day. Spending a few minutes a day on removing these bad apples will save you time in the long run.

Share This Page

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mashal Hill on April 1, 2009 at 8:52pm: This was a great post- thanks for the tips!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Charlene L. Ragsdale on April 1, 2009 at 11:04pm

Great List!

I hope it helps, and empowers others to know they have control over their Profile Page and InBox. It's an unfortunate ill of social networking, but just like real housework - it needs to be done often, or it piles up.

Your Leadership is appreciated.

~Charlene L. Ragsdale

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sandra (Sandy) naultsmithson on April 2, 2009 at 12:50pm: Thank you for the info.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JD Lewis on April 3, 2009 at 2:18am: Great tips.
Thank you.

JD; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Theresa J. Thurmond Morris on April 3, 2009 at 12:36pm: Being that I love people and love to social network, the points made here were needed. Thank you. TJ MORRIS; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bonnie on April 3, 2009 at 5:14pm: Ahh! More great information. Great analogy, Charlene.

Thank you for the tips.

Sincerely,
Bonnie
Polished Professional Image
Feel free to view my profile and invit me to view yours!
Be sure to visit online at www.polishedprofessionalimage.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Necole Brown on April 4, 2009 at 2:44pm

Brandon -

Thank you for posting this for those people who are frustrated and needed to know this information. I personally love receiving messages from those that I don't know for two (2) reasons.

#1. It makes me aware of a product or service that I may not have known about, but have an interest in learning about.

#2. It opens the door for me to get to know a person and form a lasting relationship with them.

So, everyone please keep the messages coming to me. I have no problem ignoring them if they're of no interest to me.

Necole

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Icela B Castro on April 6, 2009 at 12:26pm: thank you for the info, it was pretty overwhelming to received many messages the next day when you first join. This guide clearly opens our eyes and guides us!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Charlene L. Ragsdale on April 6, 2009 at 8:28pm: UPDATE:

When I accept a Friend Request, I kindly remind them to review my Profile page about posting on My Comment Wall (no links, no spam, etc).

Here is a cut and paste of a Comment left on my wall by a newly approved Friend:

"Hi Charlene. Where is your Comment Wall. I don't see it? Anyways, here is my link.....please send it everyone you know. I am new to this"

Again, this is left on My Comment Wall. (of course, I moderate my posts, so I didn't permit it to be posted)

I once use to link receiving a ton of emails - until it got out of control and I was truly wasting my time with people who didn't want to connect with me or would not respect my time.

If their motive isn't pure in establishing a relationship, then we won't work well together anyways.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kenneth Farmer on April 6, 2009 at 9:42pm: How do I get rid of comments that were posted on my site while I was building it?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Charlene L. Ragsdale on April 7, 2009 at 11:07am: First,

Moderate all your posts.

Second,

there is a little "x" in the upper right hand corner of each post. Click that - it deletes the post.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Necole Brown on April 7, 2009 at 6:09am: Tristan -

I loved your post. Thank you for breaking it down in real world terms, since the world is where we live. I only wish that I had thought of those examples.

I also wanted to mention that we have the capabilty to delete all comments on our pages as well.

Necole; ▶ Reply to This