Twitter is still a bit like the wild west for marketers. Perhaps comparable to the early days of SEO or email marketing. Eventually Twitter Inc, regulators, and the community will have to decide where to draw the lines and deal with abuse. Until then, as twitter usage skyrockets, the volume of spam seems to grow at an even greater rate.
I’ve been particularly annoyed with spam lately and contemplating the most frustrating types of spam. Here is my bottom 5 list. Do you agree? Which twitter spam tactics do you hate the most?
1.) @reply spam. Replies are an important way to elevate content for connections. It is the meat of the communication platform. It is critical for customer service and customer engagement. Unfortunately twitter replies are a top target for spammers.
2.) Trending Topics Spam. Twitter search is becoming an increasingly important part of the platform. The ability to capture topical trends in real-time has great value for consumers and businesses. As people abusively post trending topics, the relevance quickly disappears. Rather than understanding what is happening with H1N1 vaccines, you get to learn about the latest ED pills, porn sites, or “make money online” scams.
3. Direct Message Spam. Repeatedly sending irrelevant direct messages makes #3 on my list. For some time I was automatically following anyone that followed me. This seems like the right social behavior at the time. Early on this didn’t cause problems, but eventually I became exposed to massive DM spam. I’ve stopped blindly following back as a result.
4.) Following and unfollowing repeatedly. This practice generates a flood of email notices from the same person. It has caused me to turn off email notifications, losing a useful touch point with the Twitterverse.
5.) Account Spam. The practice of creating similar accounts in bulk and following the same people. Have you ever received a new batch of followers that looks like this?
