Sunday, May 8, 2016

Fellas! Know Who You're Contacting!


"With 88 models currently on my site, I don't know which model you're hitting on, but I'm not her. I'm a male photographer and web master." 




You'll have to pardon me with this month's blog topic if you're not one of the people for who this is aimed. But this has to be said. It has to be said, but it probably won't make a bit of difference anyhow. Still, I have to address it.

Fellas, please know who you're contacting when you send an email, direct and/or public messages. It blows my mind how many times I get a message from a guy who thinks I'm one of my models. To a point, I can understand some confusion, but sometimes, I just scratch my head and say, "What the hell?"

About a week and a half ago I ventured into the inbox on my Instagram account (@SolesofSilk). I know the ability to send private messages was a feature added to Instagram in 2014, but it was something I never bothered with. Well, I finally did. What I found was a ton of messages - a lot of them with dick pictures. Seriously, no words, just a picture of a dick!?!? Even if I was one of the 88 models on my site, what would possess someone to think just simply sending a dick picture would make her want to travel across the country to see it in person? I can only imagine how much worse this is for someone running an Instagram account who is clearly a female. Ladies, I feel sorry for you - I really do!

If the dick pictures weren't bad enough, I also had a bunch of messages asking me if the sender could suck my toes, meet up, or worse. I could have simply ignored these, as I probably should. But no, I have to "teach someone a lesson" and let them know they don't know who the hell they're typing to. Here were some of my replies to these people:

"Sorry, this male photographer isn't into the gay foot fetish scene."
"I'm thinking you're not into male feet, so I don't know why you're asking to suck my toes?"
"With 88 models currently on my site, I don't know which model it is that you think you're hitting on, but I'm not her. I'm a male photographer and web master."

When it came to those people who sent much nicer, and more subtle messages, I replied in kind. If someone where to say, "Hey, I really liked your feet in that last set," I'd thank them, tell them I'm the site photographer, and ask which model they enjoyed. Most of the time those are the people who I'd carry on a conversation with and learn a little about. I've always felt that helps me gauge what my site's fans want to see. It's just those other messages though...

This whole thing is nothing new. Even back in the days of the Soles of Silk MySpace page, this sort of thing was happening. One particular time really stands out. I don't have the exact transcript of this conversation, but I can summarize it pretty closely:

Fan: "Hey. You have nice feet. Want to meet up for dinner? I'd love to rub your feet and suck your toes."

Me: "I don't think you read the profile on this page." (It read in two different places: This site is not run by any of the women who appear on the site, but the male photographer and web master.)

Fan: "No, I did. I want to suck on your toes. Can you send me a picture of them?"

Me: "You clearly didn't read the profile. You don't want to suck on my toes, believe me."

Fan: "I really do. Come on, send me a photo of them."

Me: "Again, you really don't want my feet, or a photo of them."

Fan: "Please, just send me a pic!"

Me: (Sends a picture of my male feet.) Told you.

Fan: "What the fuck? Are you gay?"

Me: "No, you're the one clearly asking me to dinner, to suck my toes, and begging for a picture."

Fan: "Fag."

Me: "Guess you'll start reading the profile of the person you're hitting on next time, especially after you were told twice to do so."

Luckily I haven't had anything quite that bad in recent years, but nonetheless, I'll always cherish that fan's reaction. Some people are just stupid, especially with all their blood rushing to the wrong head. So I beg you fellas, know who you're contacting!