I realized, suddenly, that household history was repeating itself. Covid-19 was roaring back, and the three of us were a

Fourth, all the websites were identical, low-quality, and very spammy. The main purpose of all of them was to gain “affiliates,” not make sales. Even the shoddy website design was alarmingly similar. Many of the blurbs invited readers to learn more, but did not include links to do so. Their content blogs were full of outdated Covid-19 information.

The greatest concessions I’ve asked of roommates are nothing compared to “don’t go to the gym all winter” or “stop having sex until the R0 is below 1.0.” You can’t ask roommates to make those sacrifices, even if you should. Because in America, having roommates means getting to choose between hanging out with the built-in community sharing your living room and spending no-questions-asked time to yourself in whatever space you’re afforded.

The three accounts’ responses to my questions were all similar, too. When I asked how they found me, they all cited “scouting teams,” and always pressed that I should visit their website to receive my 50% off code.

But looking at Brute Impact’s posts, each only received between 300 and 600 likes. This is an extremely low engagement rate (0.13%-0.26%). For comparison, I get about 100–120 likes on each of my posts, with 1,200 followers (an 8%-10% engagement rate).

The second, third, fourth, and umpteenth time it happened, I was annoyed. Then, I got irritated. And finally, after blocking, banning, and reporting what felt like dozens of these, only to have new iterations continue commenting on my posts, I landed on inquisitive.

What did these spam brands actually want? Surely it wasn’t actually to collaborate. Why did they often comment and ask me to DM a second, bigger account? I wasn’t sure. And how on earth were they finding me and my content? What was their strategy?

Secondly, the accounts that ask me to DM to collab almost exclusively ask me to message not the account leaving the comment, but the bigger account they tag in the comment. To me, that suggests that even if they get reported for spam comments, the main “mother” account, if you will, remains safe.

I checked other photos posted around the same time mine were, also geotagged in Atlanta, and found the same spam brands had left the same types of comments on several of those photos. There were a few exceptions that let me build a picture of how the brands targeted accounts.

When we talk about “living with roommates,” what we’re really talking about is sharing a space with other people out of fiscal necessity or expediency. Friendship is a welcome perk, too, but a secondary one. To live with a partner or parent is to share life itself. This involves sometimes making sacrifices that can actually change your respective lifestyles: spending less money on alcohol, for instance, or spending more time at home. Having roommates you enjoy — the dream that many of us borrowed from shows like Seinfeld and Friends — offers toasty camaraderie without the backbone of real sacrifice.

My main goal, as anyone who checks out my account would be able to see in an instant, is to have a nice place to post selfies and share a bit more of my real life. It’s not to sell anything — I don’t have a single sponsored or branded post on my feed.

So how did they find me? Almost immediately, I had realized hashtags were part of the answer. But when I stripped those out and continued receiving comments, I twigged location was being used, too.

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/Video-ZSC-Lions-HC-Ambri-Piotta-v-en-gb-mgf-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/Video-ZSC-Lions-HC-Ambri-Piotta-v-en-gb-kwy30122020-.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/videos-ZSC-Lions-HC-Ambri-Piotta-v-en-gb-lzq-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/videos-ZSC-Lions-HC-Ambri-Piotta-v-en-gb-yzr-.php

http://go.acaps.cat/npt/Video-dusseldorfer-v-iserlohn-roosters-v-de-de-1kqg-19.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/Video-SC-Bern-HC-Davos-v-en-gb-xcw-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/v-ideos-SC-Bern-HC-Davos-v-en-gb-hwh-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/video-SC-Bern-HC-Davos-v-en-gb-umh-.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/videos-SC-Bern-HC-Davos-v-en-gb-jyb-.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/video-SC-Bern-HC-Davos-v-en-gb-xpz-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/video-SC-Bern-HC-Davos-v-en-gb-okz-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/Video-HC-Lugano-Geneve-Servette-HC-v-en-gb-zpx-.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/Video-HC-Lugano-Geneve-Servette-HC-v-en-gb-ypo-.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/videos-HC-Lugano-Geneve-Servette-HC-v-en-gb-bpd-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/videos-HC-Lugano-Geneve-Servette-HC-v-en-gb-azs-.php

http://go.acaps.cat/npt/video-lettonia-v-italia-v-it-it-1lsg2-23.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/video-HC-Lugano-Geneve-Servette-HC-v-en-gb-jum-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/videos-HC-Lugano-Geneve-Servette-HC-v-en-gb-dfd-.php

https://assifonte.org/media/hvc/video-Maccabi-Tel-Aviv-Alba-Berlin-v-en-gb-vui30122020-.php

http://main.dentisalut.com/zwo/Video-Maccabi-Tel-Aviv-Alba-Berlin-v-en-gb-mbi30122020-.php

ion is a conversation. I learn so much from conversations with other people, and more often than not, they lead me to the next step. If you don’t know what action to take next, schedule a few Zoom calls. Choose people to talk with who already have achieved what you’re trying to achieve — or are close.

They all have upwards of 100,000 followers, which might incentivize people like me to want to work with them. When I first checked out one account that had messaged me a request to collab, called Brute Impact, they claimed to have 223,000 followers, so if I were featured on their page for wearing their clothes, I would have hoped to get a couple hundred followers.

So, just like back in March, I left again, this time for a friend’s granny flat in New Hampshire. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here for. I can’t afford to pay rent for multiple apartments at once. I also don’t want desperation to be my catalyst for moving altogether. And I’m kind of embarrassed. Running from your shared apartment seems kind of nuts and overdramatic, even in a pandemic. For me, it’s short-term protectionism and a sad realization that my roommates and I were not as close as I thought we were despite the chummy relations we sustained.

Fifth, and most damningly, in my opinion, there had been changes to usernames. Instagram, to “help keep their community authentic,” lets you see the history of an account’s username over time on accounts that reach a lot of people or advertise on Instagram. I checked these on a hunch, because these accounts didn’t feel authentic, and I wasn’t surprised to see that two of the three brands I looked at had changed their usernames. Not small tweaks either, but total shifts. This means they could have purchased accounts that already had large followings. Most legitimate brands have their own handles that they have no reason to change so drastically.