It’s Not Spam, It’s Marketing On Twitter
Apr 10 2008 
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There’s been a recent spike in the number of spam on Twitter. However, let me explain that spam on Twitter might not be what you think it is. Spam on Twitter consists of the most random…things…following you on Twitter. They may not necessarily be people and all they do is promote their site. It’s quite annoying really.
One of the key features to identifying who might be spam is to take a look at their followers. If only a handful are following back, then it’s most likely spam (though it could be a newb). However, don’t go clicking the [X] button just yet.
I’m noticing that quite a few new web services and web apps are using the same tactic to promote their product! In fact, this is how I found out about memetracking web service Techsted!
Let me elaborate: If someone decides to follow me on Twitter, I check to see if they’ve provided a website and I check out their website before making a decision on whether or not to add them. This led me to Techsted’s blog, which led me to the actual product. It wasn’t the first time it’s happened. It’s also how I found out about Kyolo, a web service that allows you to create speech bubbles on photos. It’s comical tagline is speech bubble for dummies.
While Kyolo didn’t quite make it on SheGeeks, Techsted did and even a cranky old fart is keeping an eye on it! I also discovered WPZoom, a WordPress theme showcase with a side of tips and hacks, through this same tactic! I now subscribe to WPZoom.
So, instead of blocking or ignoring these people, you might want to take a closer look to see just why they might be following you. Who knows, it could be your next blog post.
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You are right… maybe I'm a little spammer… but this an eficient way to promote my WPZoom…
Not sure I understand, how is it spam if they follow you and you don't follow them? You can choose not to receive their updates which is how they are pushing out their messages. ~ Lee
It's spam because it's an inaccurate analysis of who's following me.
At the same time, I manually go through my list of followers every now
and then in case I'm not following someone that I should be. The
amount of spammers following me makes that a pretty tedious process.
Also, some of these spam followers can use your messages to find new
content and sites to scrape.
It's spam because it's an inaccurate analysis of who's following me.
At the same time, I manually go through my list of followers every now
and then in case I'm not following someone that I should be. The
amount of spammers following me makes that a pretty tedious process.
Also, some of these spam followers can use your messages to find new
content and sites to scrape.
Not sure I understand, how is it spam if they follow you and you don't follow them? You can choose not to receive their updates which is how they are pushing out their messages. ~ Lee
It's spam because it's an inaccurate analysis of who's following me.
At the same time, I manually go through my list of followers every now
and then in case I'm not following someone that I should be. The
amount of spammers following me makes that a pretty tedious process.
Also, some of these spam followers can use your messages to find new
content and sites to scrape.