Don’t accept friend requests from people hiding behind a nickname. Those who use a nickname but do have a name usually identify themselves as, for example “David “The Terminator” McCarthy”. Someone who is just “The Hulk”, or “I’m Fucking Awesome” may be hiding something and you might not want him in your friends list. He’s free to read your posts or follow you, but keep a distance
There has to be some information on the person’s profile in order to be acceptable as a social media contact. Unless you know that person really well, personally, and they use their social media for friends-only, someone who works in “powerlifting” and went to “the University of Life” is raising a big red flag. And will likely NOT hire your coaching service or sponsor you
Look at the person’s common friends with you. No common friends? And you don’t know the person? And he or she is not in the fitness industry? RED FLAG
NEVER, EVER send money to people you know online that you aren’t 100% sure to be reliable. Meaning you know the person, you already did business or someone did. Over 50 BILLION dollars are lost in the USA alone to fraud. Keep that in mind: fraud victims are people like you and me. Do not think you have to be a two digit IQ vulnerable person to be a target to fraud
If it’s a guy and most of his friends are muscular women, reject the request, mark it as spam and you may want to block this person. They can be harmless, meaning they have a fetish for muscular women, or they may be dangerous. And again, they will not hire your coaching service or sponsor you
Watch out for obsessive behavior. When some fan gets too carried away and comments on every update you post, likes every picture and does not belong to the fitness industry, that’s a RED FLAG. One thing is sure: they are digitally stalking you. Many of those who take action and approach you for a personal contact that may go terribly wrong were stalkers you were not aware of. Remember: the more you approach the “public figure” category, the more freaks you attract. Safety first
You don’t have to react to stranger’s reactions to your posts. Are you being paid for that as a teacher? Do you charge per comment? No? Than why bother engaging in some rhetorical unproductive discussion? He’s not your friend, he’s annoying and yes, that’s also a possible stalker
