Anyone in the business of marketing and advertising knows that internet social apps are key for connecting with your target audience and market and maintaining a relationship with your customers/buyers/fans. Unfortunately, the problem that occurs after signing up for these various social network sites is that they now require a mobile number to activate your account. When you submit your personal information such as your private phone number, it then becomes available to all those whom you allow to befriend you.
It doesn't seem as if this would be such a problem, however let me break it down so that you can understand where the problem begins. You register your phone number, and then it becomes available on your profile. You reach 5000 friends on 1 site, 5000 on another and before you know it 10 networks = 50,000 people with access to your phone number.
Out of those people, it's only natural for some to become curious when they see the number (that the star is obviously UNAWARE is publicly available) and begin to call and text. These people that are fans, etc are ALL over the world in different time zones and some that don't even speak the same language. You can imagine a call at 4am (My time) from someone who doesn't speak english can be quite an awkward moment.
I know that the caller doesn't have "ill" intentions, but a) it's 4am b) you don't speak my language c) it's MY private number and I don't know you. So if I respond in a mean way, I am considered a bitch. If I am nice, I give the caller the impression it's OK to call/text.
I have recently had to change my phone number due to an increasing number of incidents where I was randomly being texted by various fans who would get upset when I didn't know who they were, and when I wasn't welcoming about receiving texts from them. I try to be accommodating and friendly, but there comes a time when you have to respect someone's privacy and not EXPECT anything when you attempt to contact them. Failure to respond isn't a sign of being rude, it's sometimes a sign that you may have over stepped your boundaries and perhaps take it with a grain of salt.
Understand, as entertainers we LOVE our fans. However, there comes a time when we want to disconnect from our entertainment identity and when contacted randomly without any kind of invitation, it forces us to have to reconnect.
It doesn't seem as if this would be such a problem, however let me break it down so that you can understand where the problem begins. You register your phone number, and then it becomes available on your profile. You reach 5000 friends on 1 site, 5000 on another and before you know it 10 networks = 50,000 people with access to your phone number.
Out of those people, it's only natural for some to become curious when they see the number (that the star is obviously UNAWARE is publicly available) and begin to call and text. These people that are fans, etc are ALL over the world in different time zones and some that don't even speak the same language. You can imagine a call at 4am (My time) from someone who doesn't speak english can be quite an awkward moment.
I know that the caller doesn't have "ill" intentions, but a) it's 4am b) you don't speak my language c) it's MY private number and I don't know you. So if I respond in a mean way, I am considered a bitch. If I am nice, I give the caller the impression it's OK to call/text.
I have recently had to change my phone number due to an increasing number of incidents where I was randomly being texted by various fans who would get upset when I didn't know who they were, and when I wasn't welcoming about receiving texts from them. I try to be accommodating and friendly, but there comes a time when you have to respect someone's privacy and not EXPECT anything when you attempt to contact them. Failure to respond isn't a sign of being rude, it's sometimes a sign that you may have over stepped your boundaries and perhaps take it with a grain of salt.
Understand, as entertainers we LOVE our fans. However, there comes a time when we want to disconnect from our entertainment identity and when contacted randomly without any kind of invitation, it forces us to have to reconnect.
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