The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by masks98  

Joined: 10 Apr 2008 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 6 Sep 2013
Threads: Total: 27 / Live: 1 / Archived: 26
Posts: Total: 289 / Live: 12 / Archived: 277
Speaks Polish?: no

Displayed posts: 13
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masks98   
6 Sep 2013
Life / Are Poles suspicious of Facebook? [50]

I joined this forum back in 08 when I moved to Poland and contributed productively to this forum since (though I don't come around much these days.). I understand the reaction from some of you that think it's scandalous and sleezy to have fake profiles to do 'marketing' but it's just a fact of internet life, I never thought it was very effective but this latest venture has been great, it's all just advertising.

As for me getting a life...please don't allow your lack of information about what I actually do, make a troll of you.

I'll be honest that I could care less about the terms and conditions when it comes to doing something that hurts no one. The terms and conditions are violated every day by almost every active Facebook user.

People accepting friend requests from strangers is strange to me too, I don't do it myself, but I've come to learn that MANY people do this, especially when it's from a pretty girl (male and female).

Through one profile I've made I've been able to facebook friend influential local politicians, conservative radio pundits with huge social media reach, and have them respond to blog posts on social issues via the fake profile. That's pretty amazing, it wouldn't have happened had I friend requested them from a male account.

Maybe your little experiment (OP) says that Polish people are using facebook properly, unlike you who is playing the system.

You're absolutely right, I wasn't complaining about it, but I was surely surprised by the completely different mentality of polish users. You are also right that I am playing the system, but this is simply one of many 'marketing' tactics used on all of us on a daily basis.
masks98   
5 Sep 2013
Life / Are Poles suspicious of Facebook? [50]

Well...yes it actually is a very interesting job, this Facebook experiment being just one small part of it.

As for my life outside of work - brother you have no idea :)
masks98   
5 Sep 2013
Life / Are Poles suspicious of Facebook? [50]

Obviously one can't generalise since not all Poles are the same

Indeed generalizations can be misleading, but the attitude is so different compared not only to americans, but other western europeans, south americans, etc, that I feel like I've come up against a cultural trait.
masks98   
5 Sep 2013
Life / Are Poles suspicious of Facebook? [50]

This is hilarious. I've lived in Poland (4 years ago) but never realized exactly how private polish people are until a Facebook marketing experiment.

Basically I've made two facebook profiles of hot girls of different political persuasions (one conservative and one liberal) and I've had no problem adding people through them. Guys accept my friend requests because they think they are adding a hot woman, and women accept them because they are flattered by a request from what they think is a hot woman. when I make a political post as either, both get fairly good engagement (likes, comments, shares, etc..) This is part of a proactive blogging experiment where instead of blogging and hoping people get to your page, you build a fan base virally on facebook with political status updates, and only then do you set up a blog for the people who already follow you to read and generate traffic.

I recently tried to make a fake polish profile for another experiment, and the results were disastrous.

I got a very attractive friend to let me use pictures of her to be the "hot polish girl" and tried to add polish women that commented on the facebook pages of polish brands relating to the experiment.

Firstly, whreas women from america, and other parts of the world often had public profiles, or semi-public, most polish profiles are locked up solid. You get their profile picture and facebook name and that's it.

Whereas under my other aliases I had no problem building up a friend's list of over 500 within a week, after three weeks, my polish profile has only had THREE friend requests accepted out of HUNDREDS!!

My friend requests to these people have gotten me reported to facebook and blocked numerous times, I've received messages telling me to f*ck off (even from men!) or just checking if they know me first.

Is there some kind of cultural explanation? Are poles really that private in general, or are they suspicious of facebook in particular? I know from years ago that poles used nasza klasa [sic] instead of facebook but is this really still going on (are poles generally not that into facebook?)

Cheers.
masks98   
8 Aug 2011
Work / Black English Teacher going to Wroclaw [247]

Im a black New Yorker that lived in Warsaw for a year and a half and your experience sounds EXACTLY like mine. I met great people and good friends, I was a hit with my english students, I had to deal with occasional ignorance and constant stares. The only difference might be that I had a polish girlfriend there and I found the reactions on the street unbearable when we walked around holding hands to the point where I decided not to go to bars or clubs with her unless we were in a group. I also had some guys specifically tell me that they liked me because I was American, but that they cant stand africans and other black nationalities...

I also thought Masakra was hilarious as well as exclaiming "cholera!" when bad things happen.
masks98   
13 May 2010
History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]

I have many times explained that the focus was mainly on Jews due to the fact that right after WW2 Poland disappeared behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War.

i think i have a better theory which is that the US and the UK (with tge rest if the west following suit) found it convenient to spotlight the crimes against the european jews as a way to build sympathy for israel. Much of what israel has done and still does today against the arabs is said to be in self-defense against the potential for anoter holocaust. The single statement which the iranian president has made about israel meeding to be wiped off the map has been used repeatedly o build support for anti-iranian measures.

Of course i cant prove that that is the precise reason why jews have been victimized above all others but doing so does serve the above-specified end.
masks98   
12 May 2010
History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]

I also said earlier on that Poles and Jews are kinda like the same. They both suffered tremendously and they both cannot stop whinging and whining about it.

i dont agree because israel has used the holocaust to justify every action in the middle east "we can't let another holocaust happen again" and blah blah blah meanwhile you dont see poland using its terrible history of repeated partitions mass murder and soviet domination to act like a pitbull on steroids across eastern europe. There have been no well known movies documenting the mass murder of poles by the nazis. I and most americans have simply neger heard about the mass murder of poles. Even the year and a half i spent in poland i heard very little about it. Had i never seen "katyn" i would have never inquired.

That the jews had it worse is arguable but silly to say anyway.

That racism resulted in the mass murder of certain groups of people into the MILLIONS is unprecedented and both the fate of the Jews AND the Poles should serve as warnings about where racism can lead.

The nazis wanted to exterminate all jews, to that end 6million jews died half of which were polish jews. The nazis wanted to destroy poland and all poles to that end 5 million poles died a little more than half of whom were jews. Does the extra million jews hat peroshed warrant people forgetting the pligh of the poles?
masks98   
9 Oct 2008
Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

So you take these peoples word for it, and think you wouldn't want to live there? You're playing right into their filthy hands...

Jesus Filios what's wrong with you man? Let it slide...

3 things I hate about Poland:

1. Line skipping, people skip in line like it's in the constitution, I've been in situations where a person would suddenly appear next to me in the middle of the line, with the clear intention of 'racing' me to the register..

2. people staring without any shame.

3. people who stare at me while attempting to skip me in line.

Other than that I've gotten over my initial misgivings, Poland's good.
masks98   
8 Sep 2008
Love / Polish Women Versus Your Local Women ? [289]

I'm from New York and the women there come in all shapes and sizes, are plentiful, and super flirty, easy, especially on the nightlife scene it's ridiculous. So most guys there think they're set and don't need to go foreign since NY is basically the UN. same thing during my time in Geneva...

But then there I was one night at this club called room service, bumped in to this Polish girl - now I'm in Poland!
masks98   
19 Jul 2008
Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

the modeling community isnt packed with polish models, they're mostly ukrainian, czech, etc.. Poland can claim Anja Rubik and Daria Werbowy, though the latter was born in Krakow of Ukrainian parents. Swiss Model/actress Julie Ordon is of

Polish descent, her last name is actually Skwarczynski
masks98   
6 Jul 2008
Love / Polish girls vs Ukrainian girls: Who do you think is hotter? [152]

when aI first got here I had the feeling that there were a higher percentage of big breasted girls in Poland, but as time goes by i'm not so sure. One thing is for sure though, polish women are very fit across the board. this is a generalization of course, but it strikes the eye for someone coming from New York.
masks98   
16 Jun 2008
Life / Poles are not racist [873]

This is why we need a strong leader in every sovereign country - because if we are ruled by democracy, we are ruled by idiots. And thus I name myself Soldier!

The whole "we are a democracy" thing is a sham anyway, you have your strong leaders in the business interests running the country, and every western democracy for that matter.

PolskiZolnierz, I see what you mean by the whole globalization thing, but it's already well underway here. And anyway, the process you described was first homegrown, then exported. So could you successfully keep transnational companies from coming here, you would still have those factories paying low wages to workers, it's just that they would be polish.