As a reporter, one of the most important parts of my job is communicating with people. I really enjoy being able to meet new faces every day out in the field. But beyond the eight hours I spend at work, I'm always trying to meet new people and get more familiar with Abilene.
One of the ways I go about that is through Facebook. It's especially useful for finding people who may be affected by certain issues I'm covering. So the other day I was doing just that - reaching out to people who attended a particular school I was doing a story on that day. I found an alumni group from the school and sent messages to several people asking if they'd like to share their junior high memories. Now I know junior high was an awkward time for pretty much everyone...but harmless, right?
As I'm clicking the send button on one of the last ones, this little message comes up: "Block! You are engaging in behavior that may be considered annoying or abusive by other users."
Block??? Don't tell me what to do, Facebook! I clicked again, but no luck. Tried sending a few more times with no success. "Anywhere from a few hours to a few days?" I felt like I was getting grounded! Isn't connecting with people the point of Facebook?
I didn't know what to do! I started worrying about how I'd write the story and whether sending the messages was a bad idea. Fortunately, some of the people I sent messages to before I got punished responded a few minutes later and I was able to get in touch with them in other ways.
My message-sending privileges have since been restored, (thanks Facebook) but from now on I'll be sure to "proceed with caution."
