As with all forms of communication there are those who dilute the channel with their junk. Twitter is full of spammers and while Twitter is trying to minimize them, the best defense against spammers is you. I use an app called Tweetbot for my iPhone. With just a few taps I can report someone as a spammer and they’ll be blocked from my timeline immediately. In case you’re ever wondering, “Is this spam?” here are some recent messages from LanieSark2745 and a breakdown of why they’re a perfect example of a lousy, no-good spammer
#1 – No picture – If you see an egg or a picture of an attractive woman in a seductive pose.
#2 – Tweets to followers/following ratio – Good ol’ Lanie has no followers, is following no one but has tweeted 19 times.
Tweet Contents
#1 – Mention – They don’t talk about themselves, they immediately start spreading junk to users.
#2 – Text – Their message is always the same and there is no conversational tone to what they write.
#3 – Shortened link – The link will be “hidden” using a shortener service like bit.ly.
Report spammers my friends, it helps Twitter identify them and it will keep your timeline clean.
Unfollowing means freedom
I also suggest NOT following everyone who follows you unless you want to render the direct message function of Twitter useless. When you follow someone and they follow you that opens up a door to direct message you. I reserve that for specific people because it goes right to the front of the line in my communications work flow. If you want to unfollow a lot of people or learn more about why unfollowing can be a good thing then check out Michael Hyatt’s post called “Why I stopped following you on Twitter” or Chris Brogan’s post called “The Great Twitter Unfollow Experiment of 2011“.
Are you going to unfollow anyone and did you learn anything about Twitter spam?
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They are also doing other common spam tactics now, like sending you a direct message saying they found junk about you online or whatever. It’s really annoying.
@Above Ground Pools Another reason to NOT auto follow people. Good call.
Nah, I’m not going to unfollow anyone at this time. I’ve been fairly selective of who I followed which has kept most of the noise out.
@Joe Lalonde I’ve done the same. There has to be a reason for me to follow anyone. There are a couple of people that I’ve considered dropping because of negativity, but they also offer some good stuff too. I just don’t know what to do about that one.
@Joe Lalonde I’ve done the same. There has to be a reason for me to follow anyone. There are a couple of people that I’ve considered dropping because of negativity, but they also offer some good stuff too. I just don’t know what to do about that one.
@Backyard_Life @Joe Lalonde I understand if you stop following me
Great post. I appreciate the link to Chris Brogan’s post about unfollowing 131,000 people. I am still figuring out my own rules of who I will follow and who I will not. I went through my meager, absolutely tiny list of Twitter followers and tried to weed some out. The ones that are following over 1,000 people, have over 1,000 followers, and few if any posts. Maybe there is money in all that, but is it worth the effort? Can they really be making any money with the Twitter spam???
@AlanReeves Alan, make it simple. Ignore their follower numbers, number of tweets etc. Just look for value. I follow people I WANT to be able to contact so we can DM each other or I just make lists of people the people that have create content. I have three lists and that is enough for me. Simplify…you can always make it more complicated later.
@AlanReeves Alan, make it simple. Ignore their follower numbers, number of tweets etc. Just look for value. I follow people I WANT to be able to contact so we can DM each other or I just make lists of people the people that have create content. I have three lists and that is enough for me. Simplify…you can always make it more complicated later.