Songdo South Korea
I recall the “getting verified” craze a while back.
I assume this will take off whenever social media heavies wish to drum up sales.
I am not being skeptical. Look closely. Pay attention. From time to time, X, Facebook and LinkedIn invite you to get verified. Incredibly enough, you do the asinine thing of handing them money to be perceived through their eyes to be credible. Paying to play ain’t exactly the most reputable way to gain trust from my perspective at least.
But this is another example of a social media Jedi Mind Trick. Picture the social sites waving their hands as each tells you something it hopes for you to accept as gospel.
Never fall for it.
Or you will pay literally and figuratively.
What Do I Mean by Jedi Mind Trick?
I have spent the past 12 years of my life building Blogging From Paradise Dot Com into a trusted, leading blogging tips resource in the world.
Aspiring to pro bloggers show up here to get credible blogging tips.
My blog posts instill trust in the minds of bloggers who perceive my:
- targeted
- detailed
- in-depth
- practical content
in resonance.
I am credible because I worked patiently to build my blog into a credible resource. I proved my credibility by helping people with valuable, free content not by sending someone money.
This is the end game for bloggers. Consider it the end of the road. Work continues of course because expansion is the call. Yet I am trusted because I busted my tail for 12 years and technically, 6 years prior. I ran another blog before Blogging From Paradise Dot Com.
Social media Jedi Mind Tricks go like this:
“Nobody trusts you here on this social media site. Sorry; no one gives a rat’s ass about your blog, the treasure trove of long form content over there and everything you created through your online real estate to become a trusted leader in your blogging niche. Dem’s de breaks, kiddo. Anyway, if you just pay us money and maybe show some trusted content (or in the former case of X….who cares?…..just pay us and we will label you as being trustworthy!) and we will happily verify your account to be perceived in a trusted light on social media.”
As ridiculous as this already sounds, drilling deeper into the real silliness is important to get my point.
According to LinkedIn, if they say you are verified and trustworthy, you are verified and trustworthy on that network. No one knows their parameters; although money changing hands sure factors in. No one knows the trust recipe over there. It is bullshit. It is nothing. It means nothing. But if you believe bullshit it becomes true to you. Believing it to be true forces you to jump through hoops on these networks.
Meanwhile, your blog earned all the credibility you ever need to:
- drive organic traffic
- earn blogging income
completely independent of:
- X
verification processes.
Who Cares What Social Media Says?
How credible is the verification process on social media if it is NOT organic?
In my case, if twenty highly experienced bloggers who knew the blogging tips niche inside-out worked on the verifying committee for bloggers in my niche on X, Facebook and LinkedIn then yeah this process could be pure because it would be organic. Twenty pros would observe 10 to 20 of my detailed updates on each network and say:
“Verify him. His content proves he knows his blogging tips inside-out.”
That would be an organic, trustworthy process.
But these sites do not follow an organic process. The moment money changes hands it becomes an inorganic, prejudiced process not based exclusively on merit but a bit of the good old payola. Woohoo! Old school record-playing days on the radio!
You pay them money to put everything into motion. Instantly, this step erodes morals, dissolves ethics and makes any alert person say to themselves:
“Why would I care what social media says about a user account if you pay them money to get them to say stuff about a social media account? Anyone can pay money to earn trust. Owning a bank account with some money to send does not make you trustworthy; it merely suggests that you know how to make an online payment.”
Again, my Young Blogging Padawans: this is bullshit. I need to hit the curse word hard to awaken your mind. Look through the illusion. Look beyond the smoke and mirrors.
What Is the Proven Way to Earn Reader Trust?
Publish detailed, long form blog posts for a very long time. I mean that. Far longer than you currently expect.
That is it.
That is the goal.
That earns reader trust.
Publishing detailed content influences readers to perceive you and your blog in a credible light. Even better? Your content proves that you did not:
- pay someone to get a verified badge
- fake it until you make it with lies, deceit and manipulation
- curry favor with pressured, guilty reviewers who dropped dishonest, glowing reviews, comments and endorsements
Much of what you see online – or in the world – is human beings attempting to selfishly use other humans to get what they want.
Guess what?
Reading this blog post proves that I am not selfishly trying to use you to get what I want. I provide you with:
- free of charge
- detailed
- thorough
- in-depth
content to solve blogging problems. I can organically get traffic and money out of the situation because my content inspires bloggers to trust me, follow my blog and buy my stuff. Yet do I ever beg you or even ask you to do it here? I’m not desperate. Take it or leave it.
Hell; you probably were completely unaware of this problem until I covered the topic. Perhaps you chuckled at the idea of getting verified as some trust-building agent on X, Facebook and LinkedIn. But I doubt you broke it down in your mind as I’m doing it today. I get it; you are a busy blogger. Blogging From Paradise is valuable, credible and quite trustworthy because I cover the topics few blogging tips bloggers cover. I do so in great detail. No short and sweet, one line tweets here, folks.
Reading 1000 or 1200 words burrows the idea into your mind. You will not fall for this Jedi Mind Trick garbage on social media after reading a beefy post fleshing out the trick and solution. Or at the very least……you’ve been warned.
But…..
Social Media Is Not the Enemy
Social media a great place to gain exposure before billions of human beings.
That is not a bad thing.
Use X and Facebook to help your targeted reader with:
- detailed content
- videos
- links to your blog posts
I love using social to send blogging tips hungry bloggers to my blog.
But never fall for this mind trick.
