I'm not sure the best way to address this
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 I am guessing these are people who don't have any kind of prior relationship with you on here. Unfortunately, the online world isn't as easy to navigate - there are too many people who take advantage of anonymity.
I offer a prayer for their well being and then block them.
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@secretsloth
I don't mind the mutual aid requests in my feed but don't like the private messages. It looks like I can make some changes to help.@NorcalGma2 yeah. Hopefully more servers are becoming aware of the behavior, so the accounts will be taken down faster as well, or at least blocked by the well moderated servers.
a lot of them just use @'s now since so many folks have turned off dm's. Next time someone tells me Mastodon is empty I will tell them we are worth scammers' time so we can't be THAT empty.

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@NorcalGma2 the private messages tend to be scams, you're fine blocking those. There are plenty of verified Gaza accounts and mutual aid posts, if you do feel like donating, but you do a lot already in your community. Mutual aid really is "if you can," so don't worry. I boost posts or sometimes make one for a friend, so if you don't want to see those, feel free to block the # mutualAid hashtag and that should make sure you don't see them.
you definitely have enough on your plate.@secretsloth @NorcalGma2 agreed. The private messages always feel weird and gross to me. It's inappropriate even if it is legit. It's definitely a block from me when I get those.
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@HarriettMB
Thank you! I will see if I can restrict to mutuals.@NorcalGma2 @HarriettMB looks useful. But I cannot find how to do this ...
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 Social media is not the place to decide where to spend your charitable donations. I would just block, move on and not give their scammy messages another thought.
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 Mutual aid posts are fine; sending people private messages like this is not OK. On sfba.com, we'll suspend any such account reported to us (including the private message in the report helps) so they don't bother anyone else on our instance, either.
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@NorcalGma2 Mutual aid posts are fine; sending people private messages like this is not OK. On sfba.com, we'll suspend any such account reported to us (including the private message in the report helps) so they don't bother anyone else on our instance, either.
@jeridansky
I will start reporting them. Thanks! -
@NorcalGma2 Mutual aid posts are fine; sending people private messages like this is not OK. On sfba.com, we'll suspend any such account reported to us (including the private message in the report helps) so they don't bother anyone else on our instance, either.
@jeridansky @NorcalGma2 I block any account that requests a follow when the only apparent purpose for the account is asking for money.
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@NorcalGma2 I am guessing these are people who don't have any kind of prior relationship with you on here. Unfortunately, the online world isn't as easy to navigate - there are too many people who take advantage of anonymity.
I offer a prayer for their well being and then block them.
@CuriousMagpie @NorcalGma2 That's actually nice of you. I usually just block, but maybe I will start blocking with a good wish.
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2
First, big hug! 🫂
You're not alone with this. There are people on here I interact with everyday I would love to help but I just don't have the extra funds. (And the Canadian exchange rate is a killer.) Then there's the fraudsters and 'others' I simple block. I don't feel bad because we all do what we can, when we can.
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 I try to vet ppl I follow by looking for some of the signs they likely only hit "follow" so they cld beg for money but if somebody gets through my vetting and asks, I block 'em.
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.I turned off notifications a long time ago. I'm happy without it. To each his own!
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 I have noted a big uptick in this recently. I have no way of knowing if they are legit or not. So I just don't, and I donate to places that help others, but I know I can trust, even though they may not always be the most efficiently run. Plus we have a list of IRL people we assist.
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I turned off notifications a long time ago. I'm happy without it. To each his own!
Hello
¿A study finds not indifference but ‘feelings conflicting’ #NeverAgainIsNow | #WhatToDoWhatToDo -
I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I am glad that you've been given some good advice.
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.@NorcalGma2 I'm glad to see that your instance admin(?) replied! Private messaging you out of the blue for money is a big red flag and not okay.
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I'm not sure the best way to address this.
Maybe there isn't a good way.
I get lots of private messages asking for money.
I would help everyone if I could but I can't and I don't.
If I restrict the private messages I will miss connections I don't want to miss so maybe it is just a consequence of being here.I figure anyone who asks you (or me) for money has no idea who we are, so I am in the block and report party
Any person who has read a few of your posts can see that you are not wealthy
You are very generous and giving, but that's different
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@NorcalGma2 Those people are terrible people and may not even need money. If they were really interested in your posts they would see that you make do with what you have and that you have an ill husband. You could block each one of them. I certainly wouldn’t reply to any.
@j258853 @NorcalGma2 There are genuine people from Gaza trying to survive. Not everybody asking for help is terrible, some are put under terrible conditions making them beg. The PMs I've gotten from people asking for money are all from Gaza. There is a possibility some of them are fake, but the genuine ones are not terrible people. They often engage after a post of them is liked or boosted. They don't always catch the individual circumstances of somebody having an ill husband.
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@j258853 @NorcalGma2 There are genuine people from Gaza trying to survive. Not everybody asking for help is terrible, some are put under terrible conditions making them beg. The PMs I've gotten from people asking for money are all from Gaza. There is a possibility some of them are fake, but the genuine ones are not terrible people. They often engage after a post of them is liked or boosted. They don't always catch the individual circumstances of somebody having an ill husband.
@Parker51 @j258853
I'm not implying that anyone is terrible. I'm just saying that sending me a private message asking for money doesn't work. If asking for money is the sole reason they are soliciting me it is best that I block them to take me off their list. Requests for mutual aid show up in my timeline regularly and I have no problem with that.
I also have learned to block other unsolicited private message requests for things of a more personal nature.
Navigating social media is difficult sometimes. -
@Parker51 @j258853
I'm not implying that anyone is terrible. I'm just saying that sending me a private message asking for money doesn't work. If asking for money is the sole reason they are soliciting me it is best that I block them to take me off their list. Requests for mutual aid show up in my timeline regularly and I have no problem with that.
I also have learned to block other unsolicited private message requests for things of a more personal nature.
Navigating social media is difficult sometimes.@NorcalGma2 @j258853 My comment was directed to JJ. My app automatically puts everybody else in there too. Don't get me wrong, it's fine to block those requests, genuine or not. But to call everybody asking for help terrible, really rubs me the wrong way. His comment was the first I saw. I was abhorred that so many other commenters had the same sentiment.