Time to Quit?

Much has happened over the last 10 years since I began this blog. Although there’s a fair portion that hasn’t been shared…

So this is an alternative update to share some of my perspectives, whilst explaining the choices I make today. I’ll keep it as concise and clear as possible as I feel I owe it to readers who wouldn’t understand without this explanation.

WARNING:

When I started this blog and the social media accounts that point toward it, the internet was a very different place to now. Sure, people had conflicting views and argued their cases, but things were done differently. The blog started as a place to document my thoughts, life and experiences with Betfair trading. If you look at older posts there were long discussions in the comments section about said topics. Readers didn’t always agree, and that was absolutely fine. However, the experience was somewhat pure.

Now, fast-forward 10 years and all the chatter has moved to social media. I find that many motives and tones are questionable (daily).

Impersonation is rife and fake accounts are ten-a-penny. Accounts that claim to be me and ask you to contact them via DM, Whatsapp or any other means should be checked thoroughly. Obviously, I report these accounts when seen, although it just results in the creation of more.

It’s not just social media profiles that are a problem either. I’m fully aware there are scam websites, courses and social media groups too. My advice would be to always do your due diligence and link a real-world face or registered company number to a product or social media account before you consider getting your wallet out.

Ask yourself; if somebody isn’t willing to show such things, why is that?

The answer is obvious; they aren’t who they say they are, and they don’t want to be recognised.

GAME OVER…

The aforementioned behaviours and problems are a drain on time and energy. It’s a very different landscape and proposition to when I created this blog and so I’ll be making some rather drastic changes. Here is why and what you can expect on a specific level:

Tweet Tweet

As EURO2020 has taught us, Twitter is awash with fake profiles and political agendas. Just last week I saw the same video quoted in 3 different ways, all with alternate messages. One was that England fans were attacking Italian fans after losing, the next was a racist attack on an Asian man, and the third was that ticketless fans were breaking into the stadium. All were the same video.

My point being; Twitter is a twisted mess and I really can’t be arsed with it.

These same problems that affect politics are happening in the world of sports trading too. It’s just a bit harder to see until you have 35,000 followers and a business. I’ve lost count of the number of fake profiles with an agenda trying to cause trouble for me. Sometimes it’s snide insinuations, other times its blatant abuse, but nearly always it’s a fake or faceless account.

So for those reasons; it’s pretty much goodbye to Twitter from me. I’ll pop on to post any new content or product updates, but aside from this, you should contact me on this blog or via the community forum. I’m done, goodbye twatter.

Not-Your-Face Book

It was a great place to connect with your friends, wasn’t it?

Creating a public profile and providing valuable content to keep fans coming back rewarded both the creators and Facebook by keeping the eyeballs on Facebook. I even used to have a Facebook widget on the sidebar of this blog so that you guys could follow along.

Fast forward 10 years; now, organic posts reach about 10% of the audience sent to the Facebook page. They want the creator to provide quality content and then pay to advertise it!

Also, similarly to Twitter, there are stacks of fake profiles and agenda’s going on. There are even groups set up to ‘help’ one another that are owned by companies posting under multiple fake accounts.

“has anybody tried XYZ” says Dave.

“I’ve done a bit of matched betting and thinking about it buying that is it any good?” replies Jimmy.

“you need to buy XYZ it’s made me loads of money for no effort at all” Bob chips in.

Dave and Bob are of course the same person. Neither of them are actually called Dave or Bob in the real world.

Poor little Jimmy, hunting in pairs as I have heard others call it!

Just be careful you don’t say something genuine or favouring another product, it’ll likely get deleted. Several have messaged me in the past to say their posts mentioning me have had this treatment. Supposedly a well-known student group even banned one chap for mentioning profit rush was free!

So once more; if you want to reach out to me, try the blog comments or community forum. I’m not paying Mark Zuckerberg so I can create content for him!

Alternate Forums

It’s boring, so I’ll keep this one brief. The same things that are mentioned above also happen on alternate forums from time to time. The same profiles (that aren’t on social media miraculously), fakery and snide pops are pioneered by competing brands. Yes, I’ve been told that positive comments about me are deleted and the fire is stoked when it’s the other way around, it’s old news that’s been happening for a long time. It’s one of the few things said pioneers were actually first to do (although don’t claim it).

I take it as quite a compliment that I’m so focused for them, even more so when they copy me!

YouTube

You may have noticed we’ve put a bit more effort in here lately. The reason is simple; it’s the only platform that I see is actually filtering out such bile. Occasionally the fake profiles asking to Whatsapp them slips through, although it’s not very often (just ignore it). I’ll keep this one going for a video once or twice a week. I do my best to respond to the comments on YouTube although there are so many. People seem to behave a lot better there…

This Blog

Many of you enjoyed the EURO’s updates over the last month so I’ll see about updating the blog weekly. It doesn’t take long to whip out a few thoughts at all so we’ll stick with it, alternatively, as I said above – catch me on the community forum or YouTube comments.

Why Make These Decisions?

It’s probably obvious in most cases already, but social media has become toxic and unuseful.

I’m not disappearing although I just don’t see the point in using it. I went full-time trading on Betfair because I wanted the freedom of being my own boss. Not to please social media companies, and spend my days questioning fake accounts or watching people bicker under false aliases. It’s utterly unproductive and doesn’t make anyone happy.

I look forward to reading your comments and replying here on this blog, via the community forum and YouTube channel.

Cheers,
Caan