Wednesday May 16, 2012 5:16:20 pm (Pacific)

Why Twitter Spammers Are Stupid

By Tinu Abayomi-Paul

2008-07-08_1058

< sidebar >I love articles that write themselves. Too bad I was too scheduled to do it yesterday as I would have liked.< /sidebar >

For my pals who are new to Twitter and similar services, there are several different types of Twitter spam, but today, I’m addressing/complaining about/making fun of people who create false profiles and follow several thousand people in order to try and get traffic to a link.

Here’s why they’re stupid.

1- Veteran twitterers can spot you easily. You are followed by 2 people, but following 2000. The link on your profile is to bogus crap, and a smart person doesn’t have to click it to find out. It’s called hovering. Even my Mom knows how to hover over a link and look at what shows up in the status bar.

2- Even if you could pull domain mapping or a re-direct to get someone to click the link… hm…. how can I put this delicately….?

No. One. Cares.

And Everyone will remember your obvious attempt to screw them out of the precious seconds of their lives.

3- Let’s see, you’re not getting clicked by most people. Those who do aren’t going to say, “oh wow, the Cash Surprise Viagra Pyramid Scheme! I’ve been Waiting to try it! Thank you Mr. Spammer!” So it’s still a stupid waste of time, even the false logic of “it only takes a few minutes so even if I can get one person to buy it’s worth it”.

And now, I hate you and that company for wasting MY time. Because mine, unlike yours, actually IS money. :)

So, this is a shout-out to anyone who is essentially a good person but in a moment of weakness thought that spamming a social network was a good way to get some fast clicks and make some money.

No.

And to the rest of you, if you think it’s not happening on your favorite social network, think again.

Tinu Abayomi-Paul is the CEO of Leveraged Promotion, a member of the Network Solutions Social Web Advisory Board, and Editor of Women Grow Business. Her website promotion company specializes in reputation management, and building traffic systems for business. You can find her on Google+ and Twitter.
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Posted On July 8, 2008 | Posted in | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Responses

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Tinu Abayomi-Paul

BSA,

That depends on what your definition of "works" is. If a meaningless click out of curiosity that won't result in a sale meets that definition, then sure, it "works". But if effective, targeted traffic is the goal? Then no, it actually doesn't work. My point is that, as Mark Joyner so famously said, all clicks are not created equal.

And if more potential spammers were educated of this before they tried to take the easy money route, they'd stop. Some spammers are, sadly, regular people who have bought some $4000 course written by people who know nothing about the Internet and have been fooled into thinking they can get over on people online to make money. Occassionally, I'm able to intercept those people before they start.

JP,

Sounds like a personal problem. :) You should get that looked at...

Just kidding. Seriously though? The debate over whether Twitter is useful was over in... oh... 2007. Early. 2007. Now whether it's useful for YOU? Another matter entirely. If you want it to be? It can be. If you don't - seems like a waste of time to read -- and then to respond -- to posts about Twitter.

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J P

Using my definition, ALL twitter "tweets" are spam. They might not all be trying to sell something, but they are 1)useless 2)boring 3)unnecessary 4)a complete, total and utter waste of time.

Am I being to harsh on twitter?

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J P

Using my definition, ALL twitter "tweets" are spam. They might not all be trying to sell something, but they are 1)useless 2)boring 3)unnecessary 4)a complete, total and utter waste of time.

Am I being to harsh on twitter?

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BSA

I completely agree. I only wish that everyone was completely aware. The Spammers actually do get clicks, which is what they're after. Sorry , but it works. Until Twitter puts some follow limits in place, this will continue to be a trend.

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BSA

I completely agree. I only wish that everyone was completely aware. The Spammers actually do get clicks, which is what they're after. Sorry , but it works. Until Twitter puts some follow limits in place, this will continue to be a trend.

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Trackbacks

  1. Megan Hopkins says:
    January 7, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    @andysowards This seemed fitting http://tinyurl.com/a5ms3c

  2. Megan Hopkins says:
    January 7, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    @andysowards This seemed fitting http://tinyurl.com/a5ms3c

  3. Tinu Abayomi-Paul says:
    December 18, 2010 at 1:54 am

    REWIND:: Why Twitter Spammers Are Stupid http://su.pr/2PWVsK #smallbiz

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