If I follow you on twitter, because I found you or you found me first, I don’t need you to direct message me a link to your web site or spam me with details about your product or service! Here is a tip, I know all I need to know about you right now moron!
If someone follows me, I visit their Twitter profile to see who they are. My general rule these days is that if I know them, they are an Aussie, or are relevant to what I do, then I’ll follow them back. As long as the profile, or even their last few tweets, don’t seem to be spam then I’ll likely follow them. That’s a pretty slack set of rules I know, but I do like to continue to be involved in a wider Twitter community.
However, in the last few weeks it has becoming increasingly frustrating on Twitter, because this new form of spam is happening on a daily basis. I’ll follow someone, and get a DM in reply: “Thanks for following! You can also learn more about me at http://Iamanidiot.com and http://Iamlame.com.au.”
So for the idiots that have taken to this practice, here is the rub: it is SPAM! Besides, I’ve already checked your profile, and possibly already checked your site. I don’t need more information right now. How about at some point we have a nice chat, and I can get to know you. This is basic Internet etiquette these days, moron! Grab some common sense.
Let me repeat this one more time, just to keep me happy: it is basic etiquette not to spam me with crap you think is important to me! I’ve been on the Internet long enough to know I can Google for the things I’m interested in. I’m on Twitter to get to know PEOPLE, not your fucking day trader business, or SEO company, or how I can get fit.
For all those people using Twitter, feel free to point morons to this blog post when they DM you to tell you how much you’ll love their site or company. 
wall of spam
Originally uploaded by chotda
14 Comments
I’ve noticed these in the last couple of weeks as well. And they even feel spammy – they don’t feel real. My opinion of anyone doing this ditches immediately.
I’m going to favourite your tweet so I can send it to twitter morons
Thanks Donna.
*writes twitterbot to SPAM @richardgiles*
Well done! You’re gonna get a lot of people pointing to this post now.
I get a few new followers per day, I check their profile, last few tweets and if I don’t like what I see, I don’t follow back. Anyone whose following 10 times more than are being followed are obviously spammers, I don’t even look any further.
The real issue is that auto DM responses to follows is being touted as good twetiquette by some guides and gurus. The spam is just an inevitable follow-on.
Wooot… so totally agree! A weird ‘thanks for following’ message is enuff for me to unfollow often!
I’ve only had 2 of these so far. Then again I am not an internet deity
If it keeps going on I’m not going to unfollow them just yet. Instead I’m going use the twitter API to randomly DM them with tinyurl links back to this post interspersed with some awesome RickRoll action.
Revenge is fun
Well said!
Trouble is: spammers have more greed than common courtesy!
WTF you can get Bacon Spam.. yum, fired bacon spam would be spam-licious
Wouldn’t mind if they where marketing bacon spam..
Just dropping by.Btw, you website have great content!
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And today’s rule is: For gawds sake don’t twitter any question that can be found with simple google search…!
Indeed, a recent twitter account I started up attracted around 300 followers in the first few days and almost all of them came with a ‘thanks for checking me out, blah, blah, blah…’ auto response.
Not all of them pointed to a web address, but any automated response is spam in my book… or should that be sandwich
The topic is quite hot on the Internet right now. What do you pay the most attention to when choosing what to write ?
p.s. Year One is already on the Internet and you can watch it for free.
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[...] Twitter and Futurism Week5 Participation Literacy [Slideshare] – Slides from a great lecture by Trebor Scholz in his Participation Literacy course, looking at twitter and microblogging, giving a solid explanation for it, a rationale, and a pretty good origin story! (And for a less kind reminder about how people, not advertisers, use Twitter, read Richard Giles’ grumpy post Basic Twitter Etiquette.) [...]