A Plea to Spammers

New (and older) Vocal users - let me appeal to your business sense and desire to make money. Spamming people’s stories with your links is not the way to go about it, nor is posting AI only created content. I can only imagine any gain in results, if there are any, are quickly lost. You are only hurting your attempts to create viable business by creating a disrespected reputation instead! If you want to be successful as a creator, it’s a long-term investment of your time and money.

If you subscribe to me on Vocal.media as a fellow creator and appreciator of my work, I will click on your name and check out your profile, seeking out a story or two to read. If, at first glance, your stories seem to be generated mainly by AI, I will leave without looking. If a story appears to be authentic, and I open it and it appears to be AI generated with no acknowledgement of it being so, I may leave a comment indicating my concern, or I may just quickly close the window, as I don’t want my read to go toward generating any amount of income for your lazy ass attempt at a money-grab.

What clues me in that your content is AI?

1. The first thing I look at is when you joined, and how many stories you have published. If your Vocal date of joining the platform is recent, and there are a lot of stories published to your profile, I am immediately skeptical. It takes time to develop authentic content.

2. When I look at stories to read, I look at the first few words disclosed under the image. If the story begins with “Once upon a time …” or “Introduction” or left blank, I don’t even bother to click it open.

3. If I do find a story I feel is worth my time to click on, and the formatting is terrible, I am likely to click off rather than fight my way through an unpleasant reading experience.

Why does it bother me so?

1. Because I work hard to develop my craft and generate income. Your attempts mock my attempts, and when I do get fooled into engaging with your piece, I feel resentful. Do you like to feel fooled, or engage with something disingenuous? I don’t. I would dare to say most people don’t, including yourself.

2. Just because you don’t want to take this art form seriously, that does not give you the right to waste my time.

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It’s okay to be an amateur in this field, and Vocal is a good place to practice and grow your skills, but basically “cheating” the system is no way to make money quickly, and doing so here is going to get you nothing but a bad reputation, as most people here are serious about writing and pay time and money to improve their skills. We don’t like to feel mocked and duped by a bunch of mind-numbing spammers trying to make a quick buck, rather than add anything of value to the community.

I realize the chance of spammers actually reading this article, is slim. It is more likely to gain spammy links, but the rant makes me feel better, and just maybe a tidbit of reality will be gleaned by one or two, making them rethink the way they do business. My plea is that IF YOU’RE DOING THIS or THINKING ABOUT DOING THIS, PLEASE read this article with an open mind and reconsider.

If you’re convinced that AI generated content is the way to go, you may be interested in reading this article and how it is used poorly in another, but closely related, realm of business: