When I first joined Twitter, I was pretty lost. I figured out the hard way that whenever you mention an iPod, you will be spammed for the next twenty minutes with links to questionable music sites and “free” iPods. Those quotes are there for a reason, people.
I try to avoid spam triggers because of how relentless they can be. Plus it’s not fun to accidentally click on a link and then have your computer lock up while your antivirus software freaks out from an overload of malicious programs. Until Twitter makes it so you can prevent link spamming, you’ll have to do with being careful when using the following words:
1. iPod. As I mentioned, this, iTunes or iPad will bring on a lot of spam links.
2. Computer. Same as above. I tend to write this as comp uter. They’ll never crack that code.
3. Movie. More links, this time involving SHOW TIMES NEAR YOU!!!1!
4. Blog. You usually get offers to earn a living blogging from home. Now I’m not saying this can’t be done. I’m just saying it’s highly suspect when a company pretends to be a person to have a Twitter account and send a link whenever a word is mentioned.
Finally, there are bots that will tweet a quote at you if you mention a certain movie/TV show. Unlike the above, these bots aren’t really malicious. They don’t send out links or even follow anyone. They just quote from their subject, I guess so followers can go “Ah! I remember that episode!” It’s amusing if you like the show but kind of gets tedious after a while.
Overall, these are kind of the Seven Words You Can’t Say On Twitter. Except there isn’t seven. And unlike the list of words you can’t say on television, this list you technically can say (or tweet, rather). It just attracts a lot of offers begging you to AcT NOww or loose This great oportunity.
Have you ever been bothered by spammers? Any words you’ve noticed that attract spam?
I've only just begun with Twitter, so hadn't noticed this yet, but it makes sense. I haven't figured out quite what nets visible tweets from people I don't follow, not entirely, anyway. Thanks for the informative post!
ReplyDeleteI'm a total Twitter noob so these are good tips. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love twitter. It took me a few days to catch on to all the acronyms, but now I fully immersed.
ReplyDeleteI love twitter. I didn't used to understand it but now having a firm grasp on the 140 characters I adore it. I haven't had any spam bots *knocks on wood* but I do try and be watchful of what I'm tweeting. Normally it's insanity so the spam bots stay away.
ReplyDeleteI like your trick of putting a space in the middle of a word. I've seen people use zero instead of an "o" in certain words too.
ReplyDeleteDang spammers. Luckily, I haven't been bothered too much by it.
I like your trick of putting a space in the middle of a word. I've seen people use zero instead of an "o" in certain words too.
ReplyDeleteDang spammers. Luckily, I haven't been bothered too much by it.
I haven't noticed! Except when I was mentioning gluten-free foods, then all of a sudden these GF companies started following. Thanks for the explanation of how THAT happened. I don't mention TV shows and such cuz I don't watch any. (Don't have cable, only watch DVDs) I don't mention/have iPod or iTunes or iPad either. Probably why I haven't noticed. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's like virtual junk mail. Very annoying. I also dislike when you follow someone and then you automatically get a DM with a link to their book/service/website/etc. Not cool.
ReplyDeleteI got recently followed by someone who was only pushing sex cam sites.
ReplyDelete