Gobsmacked

I’ve never really understood the phrase “gobsmacked” until today.

I got that same old spammy direct message on Twitter, saying “Did you see this pic of you. LOL” and a link:

As always, I deleted the email notification, and went to the sender’s timeline.

They are a small local company, with not many followers and a pretty meager twitter feed… so as well as replying on Twitter, I took the unusual step of calling their office to let them know that they had clicked on a bad link, and they needed to change their password.

Nobody was in the office, but I left them a fairly comprehensive message, explaining (in the simplest terms possible) how they could quickly resolve their issue.

About an hour later, I got a call back, asking if I was Bob, and asking me to explain what I was talking about.

Because… you see… they PAY someone to look after their Twitter account for them.  Or, more precisely, to send spam, on their behalf.

The Twitter feed that I took as someone’s sad attempt to break into the world of Social Media… was contracted out to a “professional”… who was tricked by the “Have you seen this picture of you. LOL” tweet.

And, now I understand “gobsmacked.”

I have no issue with someone helping out with Social Media.  Heck, I have a number of businesses and Organizations that I help with that !!!

But I believe in value for money, and if you can’t do something properly and well… say so, and get out of the way.

Apparently not everyone feels that way… and some people are just Social Media vultures… taking advantage of small companies that don’t know any better.

Gobsmacked !!!

FYI… The Free Dictionary defines ‘gobsmacked’ as British slang, meaning astounded or astonished.