Are You Sure You're Not Sketchy? - Media Meditation #1

Unfortunately, this Thanksgiving, while I was thankful for my loving family and my good health, many not so great things happened which I was not at all thankful for. A few weeks ago I put my apartment on the market to try and find a renter to take over the rest of my lease. I had finally found a new tenant and was very excited. I began selling my furniture and I moved about 1/2 of my stuff back home. Two weeks after this new renter decided she wanted the place, she called me, on Thanksgiving day, to tell me that a friend of hers showed her another apartment that was $200 less than mine and she was going to go with that one. Seriously?!

After much frustration of losing 2 weeks and having to start the search all over again, I listed the apartment on Craig's List and on my Facebook. Shortly after posting on both I had already received a few emails. There was one scammer email which I deleted and another one that seemed a little sketchy. It said:

"Hi,
I am very interested in your 1 bedroom available.
From what I can see in the photos, and based on your description, I could sign a lease as soon as possible.
Can I take a look at it in person?

Thanks so much,
dS"

He didn't even sign with his name! The name listed with the email address was Deke Smith. What kind of name is Deke?! I pushed the email aside since it seemed a little sketchy and decided that I would only respond if I started getting desperate. My Media and Society text tells me that "socialization is the process whereby we learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture and, in so doing, develop a sense of self" (pg. 13). Through socialization, I have come to expect certain norms, for example, signing your name at the end of an email, especially to a stranger.

Within an hour I received a text from my friend, Pat. He said he had a friend would who was interested in my apartment and would love to see it when I got back in town. Great! I was hoping the Facebook posting would lead to a friend or a friend of a friend renting the place, to void out as much sketchiness as possible. I set up a time through Pat with his friend to see the place. I think at the last minute to ask what their name is so I know who to expect at our set time, he says Deke.

Ding, ding, ding!

I put two and two together and realized this was the same Deke who had emailed me. Apparently my assumption that Pat had seen my Facebook posting and thought of his friend in need was completely wrong. Rather, Deke saw my Craig's List posting with the link to more photos on Facebook. On Facebook he looked to see what friends we had in common and there was Pat. He then contacted Pat to get in touch with me to get him a faster in than Craig's List would have. Boy, was he right!

This is an excellent example of the personal shift -- from mass to personal. My Craig's List posting was meant for the world to see. It was just a worm tossed out in the ocean hoping to catch a fish, not targeted (besides that it was listed in Burlington, Vermont). My Facebook posting was just for friends to see, except for the photo album which I linked to the Craig's list posting. However, unless you are my Facebook friend, you can't see any of my other information. This stranger, Deke, was able to use what little information he had about me tossed out into the internet ocean to find a mutual friend, Pat. That's where the shift to personal occurred, Deke then targeted Pat to target me.

It absolutely worked. At first I thought Deke's email came off as a little sketchy. With what I know now, I have a friend vouching for him and he's got the first appointment for an apartment showing out of the other 30 something Craig's List responses I received.

And, to top it off, I also found out from Facebook that he's a Champlain graduate. So I know he's definitely good stuff.