Why many women bloggers don't put up contact info...

Hey Zig...this one is for you.

Robert Scoble often talks about why bloggers should make themselves accessible to their readers. (He has his phone number and email address on his blog.) This post is an example of why many women bloggers don’t.

I use Trillian to aggregate my IM accounts. One of the great things about the product is that it logs every IM interaction. So I went through my logs and I pulled out all the unsolicited IMs. Now I don’t mind work related questions from strangers. But unsolicited messages to just talk are not welcome. All of these came from Yahoo and I suspect it’s because Yahoo let’s people search for people. In particular the member page contains a dating type option and men may just assume that if they can find you...that you are interested.

I’m not.

Now some of these guys are probably just looking for some harmless conversation, so for those that still have an account, please don’t spam them. I’m just putting this up here as an example of what women have to put up with. I find it intrusive and sometimes down right offensive.

These are in chronological order. I've added comments to a few and you'll see the comments as bolded.

-------------

11/8/06 [15:09] windsurf510: good afternoon
11/8/06 [15:13] kgreenlee11: Do I know you?
11/8/06 [15:13] windsurf510: nope, just looking for a chat
11/8/06 [15:14] kgreenlee11: Okay, I'm working so good luck with that.
11/8/06 [15:14] windsurf510: bye

-------------

11/12/05 [21:15] mrniceguyinbayarea: hi there how are you

-------------

12/9/05 [09:42] aaron_the_baron12: Hey there I was looking at yahoo and i saw your page. anyway, you seem interesting ;)

I am.

-------------

12/12/05 [17:58] sweet_water33: hi there minor league baseball player in ca from seattle looking to meet or chat interested?

12/23/05 [18:50] sweet_water33: hi there minor league baseball player looking to meet up or chat interested?

1/21/06 [19:39] sweet_water33: hi there minor leauge baseball player from seattle in ca looking to meet up or chat interested?

This guy kept coming back. I wonder if he realized he was using the same line?

-------------

12/20/05 [11:02] dirty_daddy_2005: Hello there, miss

Hmmm, would I really want to talk to someone calling himself Dirty Daddy? I don’t think so.

-------------

12/24/05 [10:32] mast_high: hi kim [Offline Message (Fri Dec 23 23:04:52 2005)]
12/24/05 [10:32] mast_high: what is an evangelist? [Offline Message (Fri Dec 23 23:05:14 2005)]
12/24/05 [10:39] kgreenlee11: A technical evangelist spreads the message about a new technology. The idea of a technical evangelist was started at Apple and worked very well. Since then many companies have incorporated evangelists into their marketing program. Within a company evangelists bridge the knowledge gap between marketing and engineering and externally the evangelist teaches people about the new technology. One of the biggest barriers to adoption of new technology is helping people understand how the new technology will help them.

2/12/06 [13:28] mast_high: you have a lovely smile, kim

This guy started out strong and then blew it in a later session. My smile is lovely because my picture is from a $500 headshot with professional touchups. You get what you pay for.

-------------

1/8/06 [21:50] vampire9797: hey miss kim

Again...what is a name?

-------------

2/1/06 [17:11] clifford_clermont01: Hello my name is Clifford.. actually i was checking through members online at yahoo members people search. and i saw yours anyway i hope am not disturbing you..anyway how are u doing?

At least he was polite.

-------------

3/12/06 [14:30] sfsailboy510: hi there

-------------

3/19/06 [23:16] michael_co192: Hi I was checking out yahoo , i saw your ad.. anyway, you look interesting :P
3/19/06 [23:16] michael_co192: would you like to check out my picture and profile?

Thanks for the invitation but...no.

-------------

4/6/06 [21:26] cutypie103: hi there...i'm Alex, a 26 y.o. guy from San Fran...i was looking for profiles of women and found you...i've always fantasized about being a houseboy for a woman...my fantasy is to do house chores for you naked or jus be naked for your viewing pleasure...would you enjoy something like that?

This has to be the most offensive thing I’ve ever seen. Zig, this is the one I was telling you about.

-------------

4/17/06 [21:37] hellcruiser79: hi

-------------

4/21/06 [15:40] smith_kenneth5222: hi
4/21/06 [15:40] smith_kenneth5222: how are you doing ?
4/21/06 [15:40] smith_kenneth5222: how was your day
4/21/06 [15:40] smith_kenneth5222: are you there ?

-------------

4/27/2006 [14:20] gd4lifepapi61282: are you ablack women? Do you have a sister or famliy member name china

-------------

4/28/2006 [21:00] dadplusstwo: hi Kim
4/28/2006 [21:00] dadplusstwo: im Mark

-------------

5/10/06 [15:12] rohan4special1: hiii Kim
5/10/06 [15:12] rohan4special1: how are you

-----------------------------------------------

Okay guys, fess up. Does this happen to you?