You were on the friends’ list of Chris, the webinar was related to online branding, and you blog about social media, so how come the invite was a spam? I am sorry Tom you it wrong here. If you were writing on UFOs and you got the invite for this webinar, yes it was a spam but in the present circumstances it is not.

In any case this particular post has given me excellent material for a case study which I will take up with Dave Evans whose workshop on social media marketing I am going to attend this month in India. Considering the fact that he is an expert, his insights should give throw some interesting facts.

Reading: “Funny #FaceBook spam!” ( [link to post] )

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Funny FaceBook spam! [link to post]

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Forget about all opt-ins or double opt-ins…Facebook doesn’t work like that…it’s a network of people with whom you can share. If you don’t like sharing your stuff or their stuff then more caution should be exercised while accepting friends.

By bringing it to your blog – What point were you trying to make? This do not affect any individual’s reputation (if you thought so). People out there understand what’s SPAM and what’s not.

Though everyone is entitled to their opinion and according to my opinion this way of throwing it in public doesn’t solve your objective.

Published now.

I agree it is harsh to call someone out if undeserved but what makes you think my complaint isn’t substantial or that I didn’t do basic research?

Stevie, you are absolutely correct to say that:
“Getting someone to understand HOW to protect their brand is hugely important”
- I think Chris and Jay should be more protective of their brands by not spamming people on FaceBook

@TomRaftery called me a dirty Facebook Spammer — I have 3,915 friends, can’t I invite them all? [link to post] http://friendfeed.com/e/0220d79e-4dff-4e11-a494-3b99ee42a55f

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“An electronic message is ’spam’ IF: (1) the recipient’s personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND (2) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent.” –Spamhaus http://www.spamhaus.org/definition.html

Facebook is an opt-in messaging system with an explicit opt-in and easy method of revoking that opt-in. Spam isn’t spam just because someone says so, “spam” is a clearly defined term.

I am always happy to receive email from you and blog posts. I have almost 4,000 friends on Facebook, so inviting my friends to my events doesn’t seem like spam at all to me. In Facebook, you cannot actually invite anyone who is not explicitly connected to you. So, this month, I am offering a series of 3 free webinars — for free, mind you — that I would love my friends to attend. Am I being aggressive? Well, yes; however, over 340 folks registered to attend my last Twitter for Business webinar, so I don’t think it is much of a problem. I am sorry to have lost you as a friend, but I am happy to be blogged about, even in this situation, because I know for a fact that when you’re connected via Facebook, it is surely a double-opt-in situation where I am surely allowed to message my Facebook friends, especially if it is to invite them to something for free that could actually save them a lot of money and a lot of trouble. Thanks for emailing me and giving me a heads-up for this article — I appreciate it!

I totally understand your feeling of spamming but if I had something going on that I was providing 411 for FREE in terms of a seminar and the person didn’t have to leave their desk, I would be all for it.

I am not saying you aren’t entitled to your opinion– just that there are a number of people on Chris Abraham’s list who would and do want to hear this stuff . Getting someone to understand HOW to protect their brand is hugely important and a relevant one based on one of my current clients

I’ve foolishly added random friends and then received messages selling me books and web marketing kits. Some of them constantly send me invites to the weekend club parties happening. I consider those examples far closer to spam AND far more deserving of being called out than I would Chris’ webinar.

Calling someone out in the ‘blogosphere’ is awesome when warranted, but it’s the crier’s black eye when the complaint isn’t substantial or fleshed out with even basic research. It’s a harsher than spam to call someone out personally in an unsolicited and bulk manner, is it not?

(And as Tom points out the invite is for “look after your online reputation” which is exactly what the invite has corrupted; Chris Abraham’s online reputation.)

@TomRaftery called me a dirty Facebook Spammer — I have 3,915 friends, can’t I invite them all? [link to post]

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