Bloody Mosquitoes

My social media experiment!

About two weeks ago I posted on three different social media platforms (Neighbourly, Linkedin and Facebook) the mission was to get engagement and build some new online relationships. I needed something current, some sort of sympathetic content that people would feel pity with a need to help out so this is what I came up with…

“Am I the only person, or is everybody on the menu for the mosquitos that troll the neighbourhood for a delicious feast while everyone else is sleeping?
It’s been extremely hot and I’m sleeping in my birthday suit with the windows wide open, so I’m pretty much asking to be eaten alive in all the wrong places.
Is it just because I live by a creek or is everyone under the same attack? Any tips to fighting these kamikaze blood suckers would be much appreciated.”

So yeah sure I was getting bitten and they were itchy as hell!! However to take my mind of the itching was the engagement, I got heaps more than other post like the ones we all do to plug our product or service! People say to me they don’t know what to post on social media I always say it doesn’t matter post something you are passionate about they never seem to do this ;-(

In short post something that is trending, topical or interesting when you read something that is funny, factual or controversial it gets people’s attention (the media have been doing it for years) I don’t know about you but the first thing I normally do is check out the author, if you have your social media profile completely completed this is where they will link back to your business they will checkout who the hell wrote “I’m sleeping in my birthday suit” and your get the advertisement you’re looking for, subtle advertising is how social media works.
So are you really concerned about mosquitoes? How to stop the bites, relieve the itchiness or keep them away from your home? I will be honest, I don’t care I just wanted the post engagement for my social media experiment!

For those lovely people who do really care below is the findings and suggestions I received from three different social media platforms from people who felt pity and sympathy for Danny de Hek the owner of Elite6 Business Networking.

Neighbourly (29 replies, 11 Likes and 2 Thanks)

• Place a used dry teabag on the bite.
• Rub Raw Honey on the bite.
• Apple Cider Vinegar, use a cotton ball and apply to the bite.
• Baking Soda, this is the cheapest and being a dry powder can be stored in your pantry for years. Take a small amount and add a little water to make a paste and apply the paste to the bite.
• Take the skin of a Banana and rub the inside part of the banana peel on the bite.
• Take a leaf off of an Aloe Vera plant and rub the bite with the leaf of the plant.
• Use an insect bite zapper.
• Mosquito Nets or Net Curtains.
• If you can’t get hold of window/bed netting, try a fan going pointed out of the window: it may discourage insect entrance, and as a bonus actively pulls air through your house.
• They don’t usually travel very far from water, so make sure all buckets, pots with saucers, old tired etc are turned upside down to get any water out.
• White clouds are little fish you can get on trade me that eat the larvae.  I use these fish to control them on my property and they live with Gold fish, that don’t eat the mosquito larvae.
• Bunnings have buckets of repellent. spread it around areas you want free of mosses. lasts for ages.
• Try Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) tablets – takes about 10 days to become fully effective, but after that no more broken sleep or itchy bites with just one tablet a day. Stops all of the bitey creatures, they just don’t fancy the taste of your skin anymore!
• Try a fan going pointed out of the window it may discourage insect entrance.
• Keep it as dark as you can inside.
• Grab the hair drier and point it at the bite as close and as long as can stand the pain, it overwhelms the nerves for a while and stops it itching.
  
• Buy a Parakito band.
• Good old fashioned Calamine lotion is brillantly for the itch and one application lasts for days.

Linkedin (I have 2,218 Followers, post got 2 comments and only 3 likes)

• I would say its partly the creek Dan – they’re likely breeding down there or also, check around for any pools of water sitting stagnant in containers etc. When I spent time in the Philippines, it was a fan oscillating across the bed (blowing across me top to toe) that kept me from being eaten alive – proven one evening when the 38degree+ humidity didnt seem so bad so I turned off the fan. I lost count at 65 bites… Kamikaze indeed!! Citronella burners and candles can work but not sure how effective. GOod luck!
• If you have eucalyptus incense or scented candles will do the trick. Just burn before going to bed. Used this during my army days in Singapore.

Facebook (31 comments, 9 Likes and 2 Shares)

• Sleep with windows closed and fly spray room 30 mins before bed.
• Sleep in the bath with a snorkel.
• Have plenty of Vegimite.
• Used a mossy net.
• Put in one of the automatic insect sprayers in the room leave the door closed.
• Get mozzie screens that go over your window.
• Vitamin b is the trick.
• Burn a citronella candle.
• Being in your birthday suit would have been a deterrant.
• Beer.
• I spray round the window with citronella also found deep heat before bed deters the lil bastards.
• Try sleeping with a fan directed at you, they can’t hover in wind.
• Johnsons Aloe Vera cream keep them away.

So in short you are better off posting interesting content than just trying to plug your product or service as you will get more engagement and more followers but make sure they can identify who you are by your profile. Post the same content on different platforms each has a different strength and a different audience. Everybody that I talk to about this “Bloody Mosquitoes” post had told me they had seen it, however only a few active people spend the time to engage and post a comment, if you want social media to work for you have a voice and give value and leave comments on other people post.

P.S. If you like this article, please click “like” or provide comment, as that will motivate me to publish more. Share and inspire. Thank you.