Anti-Social Media Cafe too

I decided to create a separate blog entry for another interesting aspect about the Manchester Social Media Cafe which I unearthed while researching this piece here.

It seems their Members group has been infiltrated by a spamming mad person.  But I think the way the members have reacted (or rather not reacted) says a lot about they way they see the group and in at least one instance draws attention to their own naiveté.

This is the Member page of someone calling themselves "Sharon Davids".  You will notice they began entering a website address then stopped and then typed a single letter as their response to the question 'What are you interested in learning about?'  On May 9th they sent the following message to (as far as I could tell) all Members of Manchester's Social Media Cafe:

Hello,
My name is sharon i saw your profile today at and i love it also  became intrested in you,i will also like to know you more,and i want you to send an email directely to my email address so  that i can reply your mail and also give you my picture for you to know whom i am.Here is my email address(sharondavids52@yahoo.com) i believe we can move from here.my love distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life.i am waiting to recive your
lovely reply soon,

Yours in Love sharon

So far so mad, but surely this would have been reported and the user blocked immediately?  Well, unbelievably this is not the case and incredibly a member whose profile describes themselves as a:

Specialist in the recruitment of Marketing, PR, Advertising, Digital and Social media professionals. Looking to network with like minded people whom I may be able to assist in their next career move.

Responded to the spam like this:

Hi Sharon
Thanks for your comment, I find it a little strange I must admit. But thank you all the same.

...which has now appeared on 'Sharon's comment wall.

This exposes the hypocrisy that permeates so much of Social Media,  because it turns out the Member who responded is simply a recruitment agency cynically using the SMC as a way of touting for clients.  As such, they seem either to have a) wilfully decided to reply to the spam as a joke, or b) not known what on earth they are doing.

As for the failure of the group's organisers to respond to this spamming in any way and the collective apathy shown by the other members - well, as I say, it reflects badly on them all.