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Perfect Definition of a Social Media Douchebag

10/12/2009 | By Khayyam Wakil
13,46572
Social Media Douchebag

Well hello! How are you doing?! I’m the perfect definition of a social media douchebag, or so I thought. The following views are my opinions and observations and are no way associated to the fine people at Bit Rebels :)

And since I am a douchebag, I can spot one a mile away. I’m not trying to golden rain on anyone’s parade or anything, just feel a need to call out names when they need to be called ;) Ring, ring…

The beautiful thing about Twitter is it is unique for every single person that chooses the platform to spread their message. Now, what I have a problem with is how you use your new found popularity on Twitter to influence and guide people with your wisdom (or lack thereof). However, when the intention is purely for the sole sake of making money, or promoting yourself, the selflessness rides the pine so to speak. Like a 3rd string quarterback.

I came across and interesting tweet once upon a time:

The Golden Rule of Twitter, Life: “Tweet everybody the way U would like to b tweeted.” BLOCK ALL HATERS ON TWITTER.

Now the Golden Rule is fantastic! Karma is a wonderful beast that will either protect you or come back to make your life miserable. Karma and I are quite tight. We fought quite a bit when I was younger and now we get along famously. So famously that Karma gets me to step in once in a while ;)

The issue I have is that the attached commentary after the Golden Rule is that of an obtuse and closed off nature. What this tells me is Twitter, which is a conversational platform where opinions clash and discussions ensue, is that that doesn’t enter this equation here. Aye, there’s the rub: The 3C’s* (Communication, Connection, Conversation). I don’t think the following image speaks to the need or intention to communicate, connect and converse, do you?!

Step One: Tweet | Step Two: Repeat | Step Three: Hope for Retweet

Step One: Tweet | Step Two: Repeat | Step Three: Hope for Retweet

So basically this statement pushes a message that if you don’t like what someone is saying… go ahead and block them. Pretend you’re a college football player and throw up the Heisman?! Does this not seem a little juvenile? I’m just saying.

I’ve taken the liberty to take some screenshots to help you understand what to stay away from as a Twitter user and/or marketer and/or The Golden Rule enthusiast :)

What Not To Wear

What Not To Wear

Let’s go over my definitions, shall we?!

Beggar: Are you serious? Is this the equivalent to the cardboard sign of a homeless person?! Unless you are in need of help, or promoting a non-profit or a cause that betters the world… don’t beg. It’s manipulative and plays upon the emotions of people. Of course people are smart enough to make their decisions, however, when it comes from a trusted source… well… I don’t have to tell you about Hitler now do I?! That was a trusted source to some and look what happened.

Repetitive: FREE?! FREE?! What’s free? Nothing is free. My time is worth a tremendous amount and you’re considering wasting my time?! That’s not free and is a cost I’m not willing to part with. And are you interacting with anyone here?! Really, are you?! Over and over and over again?! That’s called SPAM. Take your Golden Rule and shove it. It was cool the first 26 times. Make like Frogger and #goplayintraffic!

Desperate: Single guy?! That makes me laugh my ass off rolling on floor like a helicopter (LMAOROFLcopter). Not only is this an example of a self serving individual, now Twitter is a way to promote his struggle to find a partner?! Wonder why that’s been an issue?! #justsayin. Take a look at the video below and let me know what kind of “vibrations” you get when you watch. Is he reading the Times out loud? My only point here folks – does this compel trust?

After watching that I’m wondering if there will be a retaliation, or lawyers to come out from the caves from which they dwell?! Well, I would like to set my intentions quite clearly. I’m just speaking my truth. I don’t wish any harm or ill will. The star in the show above is I’m sure very good at what he does. He has a ton of testimonials from happy followers. And well, he does have 46K followers, must be doing some things right. So, I have to believe people are inherently good, however their behavior can be a little tough to digest. Behavior can be changed if we are made aware of it so that we may be able to accept it and change it. First part is the hardest but I digress.

Gaming: Well, what can I say. When I see a near 1:1 ratio (within a 10% margin on either side), it raises suspicions. I suspect them of scripting their followers, 3rd party applications that auto follow on key words and probably auto DM’s. Nothing wrong with that, if you want to strengthen the case of being a social media douchebag. It’s the “Golden” ratio. The best linear growth that anyone could ever want besides being on Twitter’s Suggested User List (SUL) or purchasing followers. These last options would exhibit a spike in growth of a beautifully sloped polynomial; minimum! :) The words between the spaces read loud and clear, “I follow you, you follow me”. The natural reaction to having a person with 50k following you, you follow back. Whether it’s from politeness, whether it’s because maybe his follower count may reflect that you’re important too, I’m not sure… just give it a name. The rationalizations and justifications float around Twitter like mono, the kissing sickness, real easy to get if you’ve got loose morals.

Scheduled: Nothing wrong with scheduled tweeting, within reason. Heck, I do it. When I do it, I’m online and ready to respond to the reactions. I don’t do it while I sleep, what fun is that?! Sharing with people, who will in turn share back and then to just ignore that valuable energetic exchange. This is what I find very odd, according to TwitterCounter in the past 7 months there have been ~84,000 tweets. Seems like a lot, ya? Well, that’s roughly 11,000 tweets a month. Still a lot, right? How about an average of 398 tweets a day?! Ya, that’s what I thought.

WTF: I don’t know.. that’s why I say WTF?! Fireworks?! A Dragon?! An art form that was meant for the BBS systems I used to dial up on my 1200 baud modem attached to my Atari 1040ST?! However, @OzSultan brought it to my attention of someone that utilizes them with a better suited use, @LoriMoreno. She bedazzles all of her tweets with the most beautiful intention. And those poetic and artistic waterfalls of ascii heaven come tumbling down with love and light. Whenever you’re depressed, just read her stream for 15 minutes, you’ll be off with a skip in your step. This one, not a lot of love and completely void of goodness.

*The essential keys are the 3C’s as defined by @OzSultan:

Communication, Connection, Conversation

Initiate the communication which in turn brings the connection where you grow an affinity for the person and eventually creates the conversation. You know, like when you’re swapping stories at the campfire making smores?! Yes… now you have that warm, fuzzy feeling and a great story.

These are essential to creating a healthy relationship. That’s a concept called a ROR,  Return on Relationship. There is no ROI, only ROR™ (yes, I did go and claim that one… don’t even try to rip it and bastardize it- I called dibbs! lol)

So in summary let me make you aware of a few things before you crucify me for being the douchebag that I am. I made several attempts to discuss this with the fellow in the mugshot above.

capture-195

And the only communication I received back was the one of the most profound things I’ve seen to date!!

capture-196

I know, right?! And it doesn’t take much to click on the “Show Conversation” to see exactly what I was referring to. Also another indicator of how lazy and uninvolved the intentions are to connect.

And if by any chance there is a sliver of a doubt, let the numbers speak their volumes. Let my good friend Mr. Tweet rule over these proceedings: http://mrtweet.com/chrisvoss

I rest my case.

And leave you with a thought….

Tweet everybody the way U would like to b tweeted. AND PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH!

One more thing… you don’t have to be nice, you just have to stand your ground with integrity. That is the key ingredient. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for just about anything.

I am Khayyam and I’m here all week… try my tweets.


More Articles By Khayyam Wakil

Author: Khayyam Wakil

What's to say?! I'm an opinionated guy with links for days. Hate promoting myself and like to stay in the shadows whenever I can (if that's possible). I do a little bit of this and that and have fun doing it... is there anything else?! Oh ya, and I'm the Creative Director at Esultancy. A wise person once told me that if you can't say it, then get someone else to say it who does it better: “I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.” ~Groucho Marx


72 Comments

Andrea Goulet

October 12th, 2009

Well put! Thanks for this.

[Reply]

Lucretia

October 12th, 2009

Yikes.

SMD loud and clear. Repetitive “feel good” tweet? check. Please watch/read/buy my junk? check. Inability to engage anyone who actually reads his twitterstream critically? check.

But honestly? Don’t waste any more time on it.

As you mentioned in the “nothing is free” part? He’s sucking up your valuable time for no good reason. Block and move on.

[Reply]

Brian McDaniel

October 12th, 2009

Love it. The video is classic (and a great tool to drive your point home.)

Good to see you here at Bit Rebels, Khayyam! I will follow you not just on Twitter but wherever you are because you speak your mind without apology or hesitation, mostly in an effort to benefit society. We need more people in the world like you.

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

Blocking closes off the communication and thereby reinforcing his point to block all haters. Never said anything about BLOCK ALL SPAMMERS though :)

Thanks for the comment and taking the time to read my dribble.

You too Andrea :)

[Reply]

Brian McDaniel

October 12th, 2009

PS: please let me know if I ever get on your bad side. ;)

[Reply]

Bill Lublin

October 12th, 2009

Using the social web to promote a spammy message doesn’t make the message better – it just gives it greater velocity and distance –
Nice post -

[Reply]

Donna Winter

October 12th, 2009

Excellent insight and info.

One of my clients follows Mr. Voss so maybe I’m able to find this funnier than others not subject to his “benevolent” tweets in their stream.

laughing my ass off gliding on roller skates (LMAOGOlollerskates)

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

✭Brian: I’m honored to be given kudos from you mate. You’re a better man than me. Since we are all reflections of one another that just means some of those qualities are reflected somewhere?! :)

You exude a certain ‘truth’ and way about you that I quite admire.

If you stop being the wonderful being you are… you might get a little “taste”

#roffles

————-
✭Bill: Thank you for your comment! I remember a saying something like “It’s quality not quantity”. Think I learned that in fifth grade and stuck with me.

[Reply]

Kathie Martin

October 12th, 2009

I love the ROI/ROR thing! I’m the Marketing and Public Affairs Officer for a town and have been building my case to get us on Twitter and Facebook. That’s a great way to make the point. (I promise I’ll give you credit!)

Oh, and I’m here because that pile of newspapers sent me.

[Reply]

Diana Adams

October 12th, 2009

Hey, I’m with Brian. I hope I never get on your bad side. LOL Nice post.

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

UPDATE: Chris Voss has contacted me by phone and has threatened me with a lawsuit. He said that I couldn’t inform the public of the telephone conversation. So, he wants to seek out his revenge by causing me thousands of dollars in legal fees. Simply for the reason to seek revenge.

I gave him an analogy of if he committed murder. His face would be plastered on all the newspapers, television and all over the interwebs. I’m not saying he committed murder, but there is a substantial amount of data to support the borderline spam. It might not be murder, but it’s slowly killing me.

Who am I to throw a badge on and present this to the masses?! A concerned citizen of the planet looking out for the innocent and those that might not recognize this type of beast.

He is a speaker/blogger himself and comes under praise and criticism. Now it’s my turn and I’m in his boots. The one thing he should have is empathy. The only energy that vibrates through the telephone waves was anger and hate.

He’s a bully.

He crossed a line with me and it sparked me to ask him for his attorney and his response was that he was his own legal representation. So then I began getting legal counsel and he immediately back peddled from the conversation, not before he said that he doesn’t go around breaking peoples legs, he just sues them and makes their lives miserable

So I’m off to research on how to become a lawyer on the internet for $29.95.

In the conversation he mentioned that this happens a lot with him and he sues everyone he gets a chance to. The fact that this happens more than once lends to a pattern and convergence of people saying things that are on the not-so-positive side.

The more he engages me with these threats, the more he proves my case.

I’ll keep you posted. I’ll have my lawyers tweet your lawyers…. in the mean time, he’s gathering every last bit of material to attack me with.

A wise person once told me to always give them enough rope to hang themselves.

[Reply]

Manal Assaad Reply:

There should be a law to prevent people from suing too much. I mean no one is so unlucky to have misfortune come upon him/her so many times that he/she would have to sue. It just means that he/she is a troublemaker and is abusing the system!

[Reply]

Andrea Goulet

October 12th, 2009

Holy cannoli! For serious? Totally agree with you when you say “The more he engages me with these threats, the more he proves my case.” Good luck, Khayyam.

[Reply]

Marko Randjelovic

October 12th, 2009

Please, do keep us posted. Unbelievable…

[Reply]

Pam R

October 12th, 2009

Hey Khayyam,
Wow! Biggest drama on Twitter so far I think! Stay real my friend…something tells me you don’t even have to spend the $30, you have what it takes already :-)

Mr. Voss has may have a lot of rope but he just bought himself a shovel to dig himself a big hole too.

Cheers,
Pam

[Reply]

David

October 12th, 2009

Wow. Threatening to sue someone after all they’ve done is presented facts is pretty childish and very sad imho.

[Reply]

Ritesh

October 12th, 2009

Dude…keep it up..will start a help sue Chris Voss fund if that helps…and perhaps we should set up some sort of hashtag for this. Unbelievable !!!!!

[Reply]

Tim Wood

October 12th, 2009

There are facts and there are characterizations of facts. Probably would have been safer to fuzz his picture and username, and leave it to interested readers to search on content and uncover your poster boy.

IANAL but I am pretty sure in the US:
- Truth is an absolute defense to a libel or slander charge;
- Satire (obviously untrue or absurd statements about a person made for humorous purposes) has broad protection;
- You are free to disclose private conversations, but you may not *record* them in most states without the other parties’ consent;
- If an action over this ridiculous situation ever actually gets filed, considering asking in discovery for everything he’s ever publicly said or written to support your truth defense.

Good luck, we’ll be watching!

[Reply]

thewayofmoney.com

October 12th, 2009

Well said Khayyam – hey, I’ll teach you how to become a lawyer, trust me I think I know how.

P.S. I think this Voss is full of ….. false promises. Taken to court for something like this? Puh-leese <

[Reply]

Andrew Mueller

October 12th, 2009

Perhaps it’s time to designate an unfollow ChrisVoss day. Please RT

[Reply]

CHRIS VOSS

October 12th, 2009

I hope all of these people are aware of your published anti-US pro Pakistan views. Your You Tube videos and other works on the internet that we found of you traveling Pakistan grabbed the interests of a friend I have at Homeland Security. You’re wandering the Country, living in boats and no address didnt look good to him. Way to get a file in the US.

Enjoy being a “person of interest” and being stopped at the border when you try to enter my country or from what Im told Canada too.

I hope these people find what I’ve seen of your pro-Pakistan activities.

Chris Voss

[Reply]

Frogman Reply:

Way to reinforce that “douche” rating.

BTW, Pakistan is currently an ALLY of the US in the war on terror. And I refuse to take seriously the word of a man who doesn’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”.
You either wanted to say “Your wandering the country…” (little ‘c’), or “You’re wandering the country… and have no address. That didn’t (with an apostrophe) look good to him.”

Just, you know, a little bit of unsolicited advice. I know I’d appreciate being “tweeted” that way if I was trying to present myself as a professional, because its hard to take folks with lots of spelling errors seriously.

[Reply]

andrea goulet

October 12th, 2009

Chris,

As an objective 3rd party, you have not helped your case with that last comment. Way overboard. Enjoy the backlash.

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

Wow.

My father passed away. I went to Pakistan to bury my father. I met my relatives there. I went home to Canada. Then I went back a couple months later. Stayed for a month. Then went to India. Bought a motorcycle and drove to Nepal. Then back down to India and then sailed the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Islands. Where I was investigated by the CID (the equivalent of your CIA) and then again when I was leaving India to go back to Pakistan to attend to my aunts funeral.

Throughout my travels I took around 6000 pictures and a few dozen dozen videos. I was born and raised in Canada and am what you refer to as a “coconut” (brown on the outside and white on the inside). My experience overseas was a once in a lifetime experience to understand something greater than myself and to be humbled by all that I saw. We are very fortunate to even have running water! If only you could channel your hate into a passion to do some good in the world… you’d be the most amazing change maker!

I’ve been investigated by a handful of government agencies. The files on me are already open my friend, you’re not beating anyone to the punch. You see, I’m as transparent and honest as I possibly can be with the intentions only to spread smiles and love. Ask anyone… anyone. The fact that you are willing to take up the time of your goverment agents to waste taxpayers money, not to mention putting your friend’s career at risk by opening him up to the most embarrassing investigation. You think he wants his buddies to find out how badly he was pointed in my direction?! Nice one. Very inconsiderate on your part, risking your friend’s livelihood.

Your sleuthing efforts are formidable. Oh, here’s something else, I went to Saudi Arabia to escort my mother to perform Hajj. Do you know what that is. It’s what those Moooslims do once in their lifetime. I’m not a practicing Muslim since I do not believe in nomenclature to define my beliefs. I’m all religions and I’m no religions. Those differences are what makes us all the same, just wish other people could have that lens to view life through.

Oh ya, investigated then too ;)

Perhaps you would like the names of the investigating officers who conducted all of these?! Just let me know who your lawyer is and I’ll have mine draft up a letter.

Thank you for continuing to prove what you’re made of. All my everything is out in the open and posted for all to see. I’m not hiding anything mate. I’m a happy go lucky character who is now being blackballed by the likes of you. A for effort, D for nice try. You’re a bit late on that one mate. The stack of files is already thick and been cleared with every single one because there’s nothing to find uncover… it’s all out in the open.

I’m not even going to touch the PRO anything comments. I’m PRO love and you’re a PRO hater. Another thing I was made aware of is those that point the finger are often guilty of exactly that which they are pushing.

What else would you like to know, I’d gladly let you know.

I’ll let this marinate with you for a while.

And of course I have a permanent address, where else do you think I get my Redneck Chronicles subscriptions?!

Hee ha!

I wish peace upon you and within you.

In love and light hoping you see some soon.

Infinitely…
Khayyam Wakil

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

Whoops… forgot the links

http://flickr.com/iamkhayyam
http://youtube.com/iamkhayyam

Enjoy…

[Reply]

Lanny S

October 12th, 2009

What a sour looser this Voss-man.
He just strip himself naked for the whole world to see who he really is …
Get a life Mr. Voss.

[Reply]

Oz Sultan

October 12th, 2009

Oy vey.

@chrisvoss. This is Oz Sultan. I found your response highly offensive and a bit bigoted bordering on offensive.

The facts:
Khayyam went to Pakistan following his father’s death in 2006. He’s a Canadian National who prefers the “Don Johnson” lifestyle of living on a houseboat. If he were not of Pakistani extract, I wonder if you’d consider him an adventurer rather than implying he was a “foreign sympathizer”.

I read this article this am, and believe it addresses two core issues: 1) A degree of trust and engagement that are necessary to have a meaningful online engagement within the realm of social media 2) How trust and transparency should be taken into context. @Chrisvoss – could you address either of these rather than spewing bile?

[Reply]

Milko Melian

October 12th, 2009

i love this, keep coming

[Reply]

Joshua

October 12th, 2009

Sounds like a guy who’s into wasting the court’s time with frivolous lawsuits.

I vote STFU @ChrisVoss, your advice has been taken ;)

[Reply]

Kieran Hawe

October 12th, 2009

I seriously hope that was not the real Chris Voss commenting – I am going to make the assumption it wasn’t…

[Reply]

loripop326

October 12th, 2009

I’m not sure that I have ever felt so offended at reading words on my monitor as I was reading those of the comment made by Chris Voss.

One does not have to know Khayyam to feel the positivity, love and light that he projects into the world through his various works online.

Anyone that has read through his journals and perused his photographs, and has experienced beautiful and incredibly moving story of his life so far would not even begin to think the things that you have thought, let alone put those vile thoughts out there for public consumption.

Fortunatley for us, Khayyam’s light will continue to shine ever brightly, blocking out the shadow that is displayed so clearly by those who insist on trying to make the world into a darker place.

[Reply]

Angie Bowen

October 12th, 2009

I just unfollowed this guy a few days ago and now I’m so glad I did. His little images in his tweets always kind of bugged me but then I actually visited his site and saw that not only is he one of those self proclaimed social media experts, but he’s the self proclaimed social media expert that other experts come to to learn from *eye roll*

I didn’t expect the racist comment from him here though or the fairly lame legal threat.

[Reply]

Saud Khan

October 12th, 2009

@ChrisVoss

Maybe you forgot that even Barak Obama spent a vacation in Pakistan.

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King

[Reply]

Bob Michelson

October 12th, 2009

You guys are both silly and over blowing this but I found this disturbing about you:

“I’ve been investigated by a handful of government agencies.” – YOU SAID THAT!

Ok I’m unfollowing you now, I dont need to be part of a government watch list. Obviously, there was a reason they felt to investigate you and probably are right now from the way you said it. Plus its creepy your ATTACKING someone whose most likely never been investigated and is Chris a US Citizen? 9-11 creepy. You scared the crap out of me with that comment. The dangerous people are the ones with silver tongues.

Running Away. I dont know this guy BTW.

[Reply]

Frogman Reply:

Yup. They always have a good reason. I have a “file” because when I was a stupid teenager I went parking with a girl at a dam and blocked an exit gate with my car before school one morning. Dams are on waterways, and overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers, so I was technically trespassing on government land (even if it also had a public picnic area) and the FBI came to my high school to scare me.

So yeah, that’s how easy it is to get a file. Add brown skin to that and you go right to the top of the list.
Shoot, I’m paler than pale, and I still got the “special” card with the washer laminated into it to set off the metal detector when I was trying to fly from Texas to Kentucky for my grandmother’s funeral. The other lucky recipient was an old lady with a walker. (She was black.) Even though the screener could see I was holding onto the special card meant to set the detector off (and I even said “hey, won’t this washer laminated in here set off the detector?” before walking through), the screener gruffly ordered us both to “STEP OVER HERE NOW!” while he did his little wand.

So yeah…

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

Hey Bob!

Real good reason. Post 9-11 and I had brown skin.

That reason enough?!

By the way… I don’t know you either :)

#roffles!

[Reply]

Sara

October 12th, 2009

WOW, who do you think you are? Your a sick individual attacking Mr Voss. I have followed him for months and he has personally helped me with Twitter over the phone. There is not racism there. You are obviously jealous of him and disturbed.

You said you were investigated by the CIA and other types of agencies? There is something sneaky about you buddy. Theres a reason they are watching you evidently. If it smells bad it is bad.

I was in New York at 9-11. You stay away from my country and quit hating on Americans with your filthy lies and slander!

Sara

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 12th, 2009

My reaction was just that, a reaction. Let me now respond.

Anyone of our extract who has travelled overseas to any of these countries (in my case for funerals) is going to be subject of some sort of interest, a “person of interest” I believe the term is.

This has happened in the past to many people during the course of the past few decades, think Ireland, think Iran. Heck, I’ve had this happen to older Irish and Persian friends.

Often photographers and journalists have been subjected to this kind of reassurance.

I look at this as a curious thing. It lets me know that I am safe in any country that I go to or live in knowing that many stops are pulled out. It means that the powers that be are doing their job. That makes me feel good. It sometimes comes as a annoyance, but an annoyance I am willing to endure. I think most Canadians and Americans would concur with this sentiment.

If we don’t address our ancestry during these conflicts there is no possibility to understand and engage where others make absent observations.

Thank you for sharing your views and beliefs. It is appreciated and taken with a grain of salt.

[Reply]

gofukurself@google.com

October 12th, 2009

all your pakistan buds posted crap about him, guess it will be easier to find your terror cell now. Your a hypocrite he posts stuff on twitter and you are wanted and investigated internationally as a potential criminal or terrorist evidently by your admission. im not stupid if the fbi and cia investigated you your trouble. those otheres are right people like you hating on people like chriss are the things that caused people from your countries to attack us. thanks for showing your true hater colors. go back to your lame country.

[Reply]

Angie Bowen

October 12th, 2009

Wow, so much hatred and bigotry suddenly coming out from lots of brave people hiding behind anonymity. So sad.

[Reply]

Rob Barrett

October 12th, 2009

I’m not going to touch the original subject of this post — mostly because I don’t know this Voss guy, and I’d simply have voted with my ‘Block’ button if I’d have come across him — but the anger in the last few posts is ridiculous.

I don’t know of many guys who come across as more peaceable and caring as Khayyam. The admission of investigations, to me, is exactly what he claims it is — him laying his cards on the table with nothing to hide.

I have been questioned and searched under an Anti-Terrorism Act here in the UK. Why? I was hanging around a major London train station for the best part of rush-hour, unshaven, wearing sunglasses and a hat, carrying around a backpack. I had legitimate reasons for that — I’d just returned from a backpacking holiday and was waiting to meet a late-running friend — but my point is that the police were justified in their questioning me. I’m sure I did look a little suspicious, and I’m glad that potential trouble is watched for.

There are reasonable reasons for people to be “of interest” to law agencies which don’t mean said person is guilty, or even suspected, of a crime, and frankly, I’d be a little surprised if extended travel in countries where anti-terrorism military operations are in effect didn’t raise a potential red flag.

[Reply]

Tim Wood

October 12th, 2009

KW,

At this point, it looks safe for you (and the rest of the world) to ignore Chris Voss.

TW

[Reply]

thewayofmoney.com

October 12th, 2009

Khayyam should be able to afford that lawyer now, anyway.

[Reply]

Jack Yan

October 12th, 2009

So, Khayyam, you are being threatened with a lawsuit because you had a dialogue with someone?! I mean, that’s all it boils down tom right? ‘I don’t like the way I was spoken to. I know, I’ll sue him!’ OK, maybe if I were in your shoes I would have blanked out Mr Voss’s face and hidden his identity, but in your defence, his Tweets were public.

As to the xenophobic comments that were raised here, I think some of the responses are better than what I would have written. They do make me worry about how ignorant some folks are, however. Do they not have friends of a different ethnicity?

[Reply]

Dennis Jernberg

October 13th, 2009

After reading this article and the comments — first yours about Voss’ threat to sue, and then Voss’ xenophobic little rant (followed by some conveniently anonymous #tcot lunacy) — I decided to quietly unfollow Chris Voss. He was already beginning to bore me, and his relentlessly repetitive tweets are starting to turn into noise in my brain. He seems half bot. Oh, and he’s THE Social Media Expert/Guru. I won’t miss him.

[Reply]

Brian McDaniel

October 13th, 2009

I decided to check back in today to see what the latest was on this. I kind of wish I hadn’t. I’m nauseous now thanks to the stupidity and ignorance of those conveniently anonymous racists who apparently have never been out of “their” country (really? You own it?) since 9/11. A few years ago some friends and I took a trip to Israel and were stopped at customs so they could take our Latin-American friend into a closed room and interrogate him. He was the only non-white person in the group. Apparently because he had brown skin and a beard he was suspicious-looking enough to “open an investigation” about and threaten. Of course, this incident took place in a foreign country so perhaps I should take that into account and somehow hold fast to the apparently ridiculous belief that “my” country has grown beyond such judgmental racial stereotyping and treats everyone equally regardless of their race, creed or color.

gofukurself@google.com (how clever), Sara, Bob Michelson, and Chris Voss (if it’s really you) have succeeded in embarrassing “your” country and adding to my own personal disappointment in people who share my skin color. Fortunately, many people of Caucasian descent, myself included, have a bit more education and wisdom than you have displayed so I can still maintain my faith in human beings who look at a person rather than their skin to determine who they are.

Good luck living in this “brave new world” of diversity and equality.

Khayyam: you, sir, rock. ‘Nuff said.

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Fascinating. I don’t know what to say. It’s like watching trains crash. Admittedly, you took quite the swing at Voss, but then, it’s amazing how he came back.

Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.

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David

October 14th, 2009

Maybe this is Chris Voss using a slam blog to get more attention?

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Khayyam Wakil

October 14th, 2009

Thanks Chris “New York Times Bestselling Douchebag” Brogan for your comment.

You’re right, I swung hard and hit a homerun, albeit sloppy.

The behaviour completely changed after that, both mine and his. And not to defend the man, but when you get angry… you tend to say some mean and hurtful things in the moment. It happens, trust me, I know :) I’m hoping that this was the case.

If Mr. Voss is listening… I’m hoping he can see my white flag up, waving and smiling at him. I’d like to concentrate my energies on something more positive that will benefit others… cool?!

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Sasha

October 14th, 2009

Just to repeat what Brian said, “Khayyam: you, sir, rock. ‘Nuff said.”

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Anthony Verna

October 14th, 2009

As an attorney (you can find me @avernalaw), I’m just surprised of the behavior here.

What you do on Twitter (or on any public blog like this) is all public. It is no different from what you say to your friends on the street or at a restaurant. Even on the phone, I would wonder about the privacy of a phone call.

If you defame someone on Twitter, it is no different than defmaing someone in public. Frankly, I would never say anyhting specific about anyone on Twitter or another blog, just so my rear end would be covered.

The golden rule is what I’d follow – always.

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James NomadRip

October 14th, 2009

Wow, this went well. Brogan’s tweet sent me here. I would say a bunch of stuff, but Brian McDaniel said it better than I could in his last comment.

My faith in humanity meter just dropped a smidge reading some of these comments, but good luck to you Khayyam in dealing with the storm of stupid you stirred up here.

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Christian

October 14th, 2009

Brogan, I don’t know whether I’m happy you clued me in to this post or not. Lol :) I’m amazed. That’s all I know to say! Is this social media at it’s finest, or it’s worst? I think it’s somehow both; I have to agree with you train crash analogy.

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Mark Evans

October 14th, 2009

Well done! Unfortunately, as usual the conversation devolves into a tiresome and seemingly endless back and forth. He scored some major points. A little odd that he put so much effort into the post, but it was largely spot on. Time to move on… I will not be checking the “Notify me” box. Thanks!

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Gabriella

October 15th, 2009

Interesting to say the least… so the update is forthcoming? I am still not clear on how anyone can throw their weight around and sue you for saying defamatory remarks.

Let me explain… Last time I went to see an attorney (nothing to do with defamatory) I was asked for a $10K retainer which turned into $36K by the time the law suit was done. Ohh I was supposed to win $3million lolol needless to say the lawyer won and all I got was $9K after paying for court fees, additional fees. etc.

My point being anytime you start involving lawyers you better have a truck load of cash to keep the hungry beast fed. You better have tons of paper work defending your position and you better not have a life since it eats up most of it (in my case close to three years)

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Christian

October 15th, 2009

Gariella – no doubt you’ve been through it before! I’ve been threatened with lawsuits more times than I can count. One actually followed through and eventually it was dropped but not before it cost both of us many thousands of dollars. what a damn waste. The vast majority of the time when someone says “lawsuit”, they’re bluffing. It’s a stupid bluff too, unless you intend to follow through, and ironically it’s usually even stupider to follow through :)

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Gabriella Reply:

I am surprised this is still an ongoing discussion, I saw it passing by my Twitter feed. Christian, Amen… But, when someone does follow through that’s when the fun begins, yes? ;) Happy holidays to you all

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Glenn Hilto

October 16th, 2009

Dude, be careful. Don’t you know who you’re messing with? This is CHRIS… VOSS!! I had the privilege of following him recently on Twitter and I was lucky enough to get an auto-DM back from CHRIS VOSS with this message:

CHRISVOSS: As one of the Top non-celebs on Twitter, I’m doing Live Webinar EXPERT Training on Social Media ¨°º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤º° http://bit.ly/F9lHY How to be successful on Twitter and Social Media and maximaize your ability to make money or succeed. RETWEET THIS and Register NOW

Did you catch that. He’s one of the “Top non-celebs on Twitter”. Like he’s not on the level of Obama or Oprah or anything, he’s like one rung lower. You know like Evan Williams, Kevin Rose, Pete Cashmore… and CHRIS VOSS. Most likely he’s pretty tight with all those “Top non-celeb” types too, so you don’t want to get in their bad books or you might get dropped from wefollow or have diagrams made up of your tweets in Mashable. So I’d definitely watch what you say as it sounds like he has a lot of clout. Anyways, hope it all goes ok for you Khayyam. ;)

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the_IRF

October 17th, 2009

The video guy seems genuine to me. I can’t tell if I am supposed to understand from your commentary if he is to be badmouthed and denigrated or not. It seems you don’t like him. Why? Why all the mean boned feeling to all this? I don’t get it. Why are we supposed to be angry at this guy? Did he do something to you? I am lost. Of course, then too, I am so much a newbie to this internet thing I don’t even know that Chris Voss is someone important.

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SaltyDroid

October 17th, 2009

Khayyam :: Great job.

Don’t back down from this fat turd. I did go to law school {unfortunately it cost me substantially more than you plan to spend} and I can say without a doubt :: this idiot has no idea what he is talking about. I know for a fact this is not the first time he’s made disgusting threats and comments to someone over a more than reasonable blog post. He won’t actually sue … he’s just a cowardly wind bag. You wanna sue someone you colossal redneck hack :: I volunteer. Call me.

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the_IRF

October 18th, 2009

You guys may enjoy this “comment” that http://thechrisvossshow.com/ gave me trouble posting because it seemed too “spamy”. Oh, the irony! I hope you will let it through. Nope, not happening. So, I will have to do the same with you as with his site: try multiple segments.

Respectfully yours,
the IRF

Psychic Blogs and Nuking NYC, LA or Chicago

Pay attention to the very last one.
Respectfully yours,
The IRF

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the IRF

October 18th, 2009

continued:
Dear Mr. Chris Voss:
You seem to be a genuine person trying to be helpful and caring about problems that haunt our Internet world now.
I defended you on a blog that had issues with you and some video you made about lawsuit issues. The video seemed informative to me. I couldn’t figure out what the “bitch” was anchored to that the other guy had with you.
However, I found myself feeling overwhelmed with all you Tweets that showed up on my Twitter page. Some of the stuff is good, but there was just too much for me. I feel the intensity you bring to bear and the urgency of your presence. That is all good, but just too much for me. The abundant presence of your Tweets seems to block out anything anyone else has to say, much less me.
So, even though I feel bad, because I do register that you approach things from genuinely honest and well meaning place, and that you do not intended to be mean-boned about anything, I have found myself needed to unfollow you.
Good luck with your purpose.
I Bet you don’t need this, http://www.irreverentreluctantfuturist.com/id94.php, but in case you thing others could benefit from it, please RT it for me.
Also, you may find this site interesting for you information:
Psychic Blogs and Nuking NYC, LA or Chicago
The very last one, “… Nuking NYC, LA or Chicago” may be of interest to you as well.
There, apparently, is a reason why energy is supporting the vision Alexey Fud, the Russian Clarivoyant, had:

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the IRF

October 18th, 2009

continued:

Psychic Blogs and Nuking NYC, LA or Chicago

Pay attention to the end of the blog of this very last one.

Respectfully yours,
The IRF

[Reply]

the IRF

October 18th, 2009

continued:

There, apparently, is a reason why energy is supporting the vision Alexey Fud, the Russian Clarivoyant, had:

[Reply]

the IRF

October 18th, 2009

There, apparently, is a reason why energy is supporting the vision Alexey Fud, the Russian Clarivoyant, had:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlOHE_gYBhE

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the IRF

October 18th, 2009

continued:
See:

Psychic Blogs and Nuking NYC, LA or Chicago
http://eductivefuturegroup.com/?cat=126
Pay attention to the very end of this last one.

Sorry for being so newbie about getting stuff through.

Respectfully yours,
The IRF

[Reply]

Khayyam Wakil

October 19th, 2009

the IRF,

You could have just emailed me :)

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Dave Cook

October 19th, 2009

Khayyam,

Way to go. I am disgusted by this idiot Chris Voss and his obvious apologist hacks. It took a lot of guts for you to publish your history and stand up to this dirtbag. Please stay the course.

Voss – I second Salty Droid – you want to threaten someone? Come after me, if you’ve got the guts to leave your redneck hovel and come to Afghanistan.

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Debbie supporter

October 22nd, 2009

This girl is being harassed because she roleplays a total bitch and everyone knows it but this one player who cant’ seem to see the difference between reality and roleplaying. Even when the person who plays Debbie apologized profusely, outed herself to do so, and continued to take the high road they have started a hate campaign against her out of character. I want to stick up for Debbie but I don’t want to be on the receiving end of this Victor guy. http://post.ly/99oh

I’ve b

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The Dude Dean

October 27th, 2009

I joined in on the fun. Feel free to show Mr Voss some social media love:

http://digg.com/d318Ijo?T
http://t.mixx.com/Bb7L
http://su.pr/1xYKMl

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pentupentropy

October 28th, 2009

Is there anyway to find anymore ppl that Mr Voss has “threatened with legal actions”? I only know of you and one other

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@Nongling

December 20th, 2009

My dearest Khayyam,
You always know how to make me smile. Additionally, you’re the last person in this whole world I would consider a douche. In fact, you’re a stellar gem; and, I respect you with all of my heart.

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