Today, I’m taking a different angle with the article. Believe me, I’d much rather be here talking about how I finally watched Trap and Oddity, but I’ve become increasingly alarmed by aspects of my socials. I’m more afraid of the people online than I am the clown I’m with in the picture. The general interaction with people isn’t the issue; it is how personal and angry they get with you if you don’t give them the attention or business they want from you.

In the past few months, I’ve started the whole “Brent’s Crossroads” project. This site focuses on my writing and other horror-themed content, and the other site focuses on my love of travel and Disney. The Crossroads site has connected presences on YouTube, Threads, Instagram, and TikTok. This has increased the number of people I interact with on social media.

And they can be scary.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met a lot of good people who share the same joys in travel and Disney I do.

But some people have creeped me out.

The worst has been TikTok. One aspect of the app’s interaction is communication through DMs. The app will track the interaction and give you awards and streaks for continuing conversations through DMs with a follower. I don’t mind this if we’re trading waving hand memes or something, but some take a sinister turn. A few have wanted pictures (which are easy to find if you Google me), money to feed their starving family, or wanting to know what hours I sleep. When I try to explain to them the reasons why I’m not going to answer or send anything, they can get scary.

So far, I’m pretty sure I’ve been cursed for not sending cash to feed a family in Africa, cursed for not sharing my sleep schedule, and told off because I told someone I’m a public figure and Google can be your friend. The tone freaks me out at times, but in the world of self-promotion today, you have to shove the scary stuff aside and focus on my positive interactions with followers.

I won’t lie; the sleep time one did unsettle me. What goes through a person’s mind when they want to know that level of detail about my personal life? I probably don’t want to know. On Instagram, I’ve had folks get highly pissed at me for not taking them up on their business schemes and sales pitches. I get it, but these people come off as angry and unhinged if you rebuff them. I was even polite, which was hard for me.

Be careful out there on the socials, my friends. If I could try to grow my presence without using multiple socials and leaving myself open to the possible horrors on the web, I wouldn’t. In today’s world, I can’t do it that way. So, I’ll have to try to be the final person and hope I don’t end up with an axe in my skull.

Take care, and I hope you’ll be safe out there on the web!

Brent