I’m curious what your experience is with Instagram. Here, check this out:

In general, I don’t spend much time on social media. For starters, I’m just too busy – between Everyone Loves Guitar podcast, business projects, going to the gym, playing guitar, and spending time with my wife and our kids… who has time (or the stomach) to read through social media posts?

I realize these things are kind of old fashioned nowadays, but I’m totally “OK” being looked at as “old fashioned.”

Also, and most important… I just don’t find the time I would otherwise be investing in social media, to offer me the kind of return on that investment that makes this a worthwhile transaction. Ever.

But the few minutes a day I do spend on social media, I tend to skew towards Instagram. People are a lot less offensive there, and I get to see a lot of heartwarming and motivational clips on there about cats, animals in general, fitness, and music.

BUT… there’s also s dark side to Instagram. And that is, there are lots of phishing scams going on. Most commonly is followers approaching you under the guise of fake sexual attraction, but who are ultimately looking to sucker you for money.

What I find amazing is that 20 – 25% of all my followers are these fake phishing profiles. Seriously, I kid you not!

Literally 1 out of every four to five new people who follow me are fake women profiles who ultimately reach out and try to engage me in conversations.

For instance, the photo attached to the top of today’s post was from a follower of mine called “debbymercy6.” And the profile for “debbiymercy6’s” photo is the typical bio that many of these followers have. For some reason, the guys behind the phishing scams seem to feel that being “A God-Fearing woman” is attractive to desperate men.

Now I’m in marketing but I’ve never studied this market – so I have no clue if being a God-fearing woman is a quality that men most likely to respond to phishing scams, are looking for. But who knows, right?

Frankly, I’m puzzled about all of this:

1. It’s sad there are so many lonely people out there, that any half-dressed young woman who reaches out and says “Hi” can wind up liquidating a significant amount of your finances…
2. Second, if you’re running ads on Instagram, you need to make sure you’re getting 20-25% off the going rate, since at LEAST this many of the “people” who see your ads… really aren’t “people” at all…
3. And lastly, I guess I’m officially “old” now that some algorithm has apparently lumped me into this category of men most likely to respond to these scams. What, is it my bald head? My age? Do I look lonely? Desperate? Homely? Horny? (What does horny look like, by the way…?)

And this brings up SO many unanswered questions:

• Don’t they look at the occasional photo of me with my wife? (Who’s definitely much better looking than I deserve.)
• Don’t they realize I spend almost NO time on social media?
• Do people really fall in love (or lust) with someone who’s younger than their children?
• Can you find love and money in the same relationship – and can you find it on Instagram?
• Isn’t there a more effective way of qualifying your prospects?
• Do men who fall for scantily clad women ultimately start showing scantily clad photos of themselves? I mean, we always take on some of our partner’s traits, right?
• For all the time it takes to set up a scam like this… aren’t there MUCH easier ways of making money legitimately?
• Am I oozing “loneliness”?
• And if so, which therapist do I need to see, to figure out why I’m oozing loneliness?
• Am I really, in fact, a lonely person? And, MOST Important…
• How can I rebuild my self-esteem and recover from all this?

Has Instagram damaged your self-esteem?

How do YOU recover from things like this?

Can I ever have the self-esteem I used to have?

Have I been missing out on some creative money-making opportunities?

And… how does this story end?

If you have any comments or suggestions, or if you have had a similar existential experience from your Instagram followers, please Comment below.

And if there’s a way to only get followers who like music and who like to watch animals bring joy to people, please let me know. THIS is something that would make me happy.