This is a PSA.
A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT… Let us educate ourselves, join forces and together, let us STOP Facebook event invite abuse.
You know what it looks like because we have all been victims of it.
Chances are, we are even guilty of it ourselves.
It’s OK, all is forgiven. But in order to move forward, to make the Facebook event invite tool a safer one, we must not only make sure we are using this beneficial tool correctly…we must also SPREAD THE WORD.
Too many people are inviting too many people.
2500 invitees + 10 rsvps = an event no one wants to go to.
The Facebook event invite feature is not powered by the “ALL THE THINGS!” mentality.
No.
Just because you don’t have to spend money on the stamp doesn’t mean you’re not spending. When a person sends invites without restraint, there is a cost too.
Reputation.
Old college pals living and inviting us to events 2,000 miles away are crossing a line when they repeatedly invite us to gigs at small neighborhood venues.
I can’t even make it to my son’s last track meet of the year!
I love that people are doing fun things, even impressive things. I will TOTALLY like the status update that says, “Hey! I’m hosting a open house at Yadda Yadda – hope to see you there!” However, I (and many people like me) do NOT love the monthly invite to the small 2 hour event from a long-lost acquaintance that requires airfare and a hotel stay. Interacting with an update and being invited to a ill-fitting event are two very different things.
I can either “like a status update or write on the event wall, “Um. I live in Washington, not Idaho… but thanks?”
When someone invites a person in a scenario as described above, the Inviter is say to the Invitee, “I don’t actually care about you. No only do I not know where you live, I don’t CARE where you live. You are a number to me.”
I’ve invited friends who live states away to important events before. To friends we knew couldn’t come. I knew they couldn’t come, they knew… But sometimes there are friends who get the invite because they are in that “first line” of friends. You don’t have to say, “I know you can’t come.” You know. They know. But you can’t not because of hope and some amazing kind-of co-dependence that is shared on both side… These are the “I’ll help you move the body.” kind-of friends. The exception to the rule.
For the rest – we invite people we think might enjoy the event. We invite people who live a reasonable distance away, or have a good reason to believe this event would work for them. We invite people we actually occasionally or frequently connect with online or IRL outside of the invite feature. We may invite a new friend with the hope to connect face to face, and not just in Facebook land… THAT’S A GOOD WAY TO USE EVENT INVITES! THREE CHEERS FOR CONNECTING WITH NEW FRIENDS IRL!!!
I know technology can make lines gray. Having access to multitudes of people can be tempting and can cloud our thinking/scheming. I know many have succumbed to the temptation… IIIIIII have committed the crime of Facebook event invite abuse. That promise of GREAT REACH can be so tempting when one is weak.
To be clear, I’m not saying we cannot invite LOTS of people. I am just saying… think before you invite. You may not be spending money on stamps, but you could be spending your hard earned reputation.
**An aside: I always get a few comments from friends after posts like these… those worried they’ve offended, or worse… I will not be invited to things. Please know it’s not personal. And I want to be invited. I just want the general public to think about it. Just a little thinking can go a long way.
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