Complaint Review: Wyzant

Dear Community of Professionals,

It's important to know that our own sovereignty is at stake when we use social media and middle man services. We need to speak up when something happens that is what I like to call corporate bullying.

We are all aware of monopolies using google as a tool to fight their way to the top of the searches. I my self don't use google as my main search tool, and there is nothing wrong with that. But often, many would call it a rebel's choice. The truth is, we all have choices, and I choose other search companies. But this is not about google, it's about the fact that companies use google and SEO professionals to fight their way to the top of the list organically. When we sign up for services such as Wyzant, it is simply because they are already at the top of the search list for that profession, and it's a good idea to be fully visible.  I have had a web address longer then google, wyzant, facebook, linked in or any other corporation has existed. I bought my domain back in 1999, and it's done good for my profession, but currently, if you search my personal name which is part of my domain name I am coming up on the 4th, 5th page or even not at all. This is because in our country, America, we have given corporations much more leway then they deserve, and so they can use their money and power to get to the top, even though they don't deserve to be there. It's my name, it's my profession, it's my profile they are looking for.

So about Wyzant, I have had one very nice student from Wyzant. And, to be fair, today I had a student I was cooresponding with that also wanted my services. I was excited to log in to get started with the job. Wyzant is the middle man that finds you the tutors and of course it's a great service. But I was shocked to see that the closed or deactivated my profile.

You see, they read my email correspondance with a state funded university that was wanting to hire me as an adjunct professor. We all pay taxes here in California, and part of that goes to the university. So for Wyzant to shut my account down because this university was trying to find me, (remember that due to corporate power, I am not on the top of the list?) I did the right thing, by calling the university directly. Of course, when I searched for his name linkedin came up, another corporation making money of this person's profile, and of course I could not email directly with that search. I finally found my way to his profile on the university website and called the phone number. I believe it is my right as an individual to be contacted for a job that has nothing to do with wyzant, but has everything to do with who I am as an individual.  The state funded university is not going and never will pay wyzant to pay me. I am sorry, but that is not going to happen, nor does that make any sense. And I was going to tutor someone the right way, through the service anyway, as I did in the past. I also did not respond to this person for three months hoping they would communicate some other way.

And after I got off the phone when this university worker called me, I got a message from him through wyzant providing another email and it was blocked. He had my personal email, but it went into the spam folder. I don't spam people, but because of corporate greed, I am listed as a spammer. You see, our own personal individual rights are being squashed. Since I am not a big corporation, I some how get put in the spam folder. So he didn't get my actual email and felt that speaking through what he thought was another social net work, would be the best way to reach me. He probably could of found me through linkedin, because were three tiers away from eachother, but then he'd have to pay linkedin to communicate with me. This is rediculous. They are acting like the mafia, reading our messages, and telling us when and when not to communicate. Meanwhile, the search pushes me to the 100th page, while all the members get to stay there at the top.

I am not happy with this company, because they can easily see that I was telling the person in my email that wyzant blocked his email, and that he should see my actual email from my email account in his spam folder. For this, I got deactivated. You should all realize that we are giving these corporations the power to make money off of our own individualilty. I am not a commodity that can be bought and sold. I am an individual trying to create my own career for my self. And I completely understand if I was cheating the system and trying to tutor with out giving wyzant the credit, however, this person was wanting to hire me at a state funded unviersity that does not use wyzant to pay it's teachers.

I am very sick of all the social networks out there acting like the mafia. When I search my name, why should linked in or wyzant come up first? Is it not me, and my own website come up first? It's rediculous, and a rip off.