Schemes…How are they to be understood in the age of social media?

I didn’t get lost, but I had to take a break from my “Understanding” quest to work on other matters, starting with the allergy wheezing that I had going on for weeks. Like Forrest Gump, I got a shot in the buttocks. All better now. I also was submerged in editing my manuscripts for two upcoming publications: a short story, “Harmonious Variation”, (included in the Symphony Amore Anthology) and a novel, Life’s Roux: Wrong Doors, (Red Sage Publishing). Additional, writing projects also are on the horizon that I’ll discuss as they become closer to being finalized.

In the past weeks, I’ve been trying to understand a lot such as why a retro radio station only plays about ten songs before repeating them when there is a decade of songs to choose from. Or why doctors don’t automatically write parents a prescription for anti-anxiety happy pills. I’ve wondered why politics seem to enter every discussion from what toilet paper is the softest to pee-wee T-ball. But mostly, I’ve been trying to understand modern online Ponzi schemes.

I bumped into something that seemed suspiciously close to one. It was posed as an annual “contest”. It didn’t require the constants paying any money to participate (although, contestants could choose to pay for a critique that wasn’t guaranteed make the contestant win but might improve odds). The contest promoters made a big deal that paying for a critique wouldn’t guarantee anything. But without paying for a critique most likely would put contestants at a disadvantage. Okay, so, somewhere in that there’s a distinction.

For months, this contest is highly promoted, and that seems “normal”. I mean, who wouldn’t promote an event? And here’s where it gets slippery. Contestants, of course, promote the event to others. Others ask questions about the event. The promoters advise the best way to learn about the contest and what it takes to win is to look at the past contests. To look at the past contests, contestants must pay. So, it’s killing two birds with one stone, right? Promoting and collecting funds.

However, looking at the contest winners, one can’t help noticing a repeat of names. The same people keep winning. Now, is that unusual? Maybe not. After all, look at Super Bowls and how many teams are repeat winners. But when the same team wins repeatedly, soon, fans become suspicious and begin to question if the team is just that good or is there something hokey afoot. And so, it is to ponder are contests like these social media Ponzi schemes?

What’s even more puzzling is that in asking a simple question such as does such social media Ponzi schemes exist, the level of paranoia to contest promoters increase. “Is that an accusation?” “Is the comment/question aimed towards my contest?” Well, the police always say innocent people don’t run. If a contest is legit, why would a promoter think the finger is being pointed at his/her contest? If a contest is legit, why would a promoter be alarmed by questions? With so many cons in the world, why would a legit contest promoter be offended by a constant investigating the legitimacy of a contest? An innocent person wouldn’t give two thoughts to any statements until someone calls them by name and make a direct accusation. It’s nothing to get anyone’s panties in a wad.

Now, all that being said, there are thousands of contests on social media. Some legit and some not so much. It’s not fair to lump all of them together. That would be a gross bias and hugely unfair. The task comes in determining which is what, and that may not be simple. That’s where the understanding is key. Contestants must understand what they are involving and all aspects of the contest, not just what is presented on the surface. A good question for a contestant to ask is if he/she doesn’t win, is he/she out of anything (other than time). Another question a contestant could ask is if any investments made worth the possible outcome of losing. But the biggest question to ask would be how does the contest truly work.

One last thought. Even if a contest is a scheme, if the investment isn’t too much and the contestant has fun, what harm does it do anyone? Have fun. Just understand what you’re doing.