If you were lucky enough to escape the Twitter Axe last weekend, do not think that you are safe. Twitter has changed its Terms of Service (TOS) without sending a notification to its users in order to crack down on the growing spam problem. If you haven’t read the TOS, I suggest you back up your account immediately with Tweet Scan Backup or Tweetake. Then comb through your posts and remove any that Twitter might consider spam.
*Spam: You may not use the Twitter service for the purpose of spamming anyone. What constitutes “spamming” will evolve as we respond to new tricks and tactics by spammers. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be spamming are:
* If you have followed a large amount of users in a short amount of time;
* If you have followed and unfollowed people in a short time period, particularly by automated means (aggressive follower churn);
* If you repeatedly follow and unfollow people, whether to build followers or to garner more attention for your profile;
* If you have a small number of followers compared to the amount of people you are following;
* If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates;
* If a large number of people are blocking you;
* The number of spam complaints that have been filed against you;
* If you post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account
* If you post multiple unrelated updates to a topic using #
* If you post multiple unrelated updates to a trending or popular topic
* If you send large numbers of duplicate @replies
* If you send large numbers of unsolicited @replies in an attempt to spam a service or link
* If you repost other user’s content without attribution.
* If you have attempted to “sell” followers, particularly through tactics considered aggressive following or follower churn.Your account may be suspended for Terms of Service violations if any of the above is true; accounts created to replace suspended accounts will be permanently suspended.
After reading this list, I found myself shaking my head at their overkill tactics. The spammers that are plaguing Twitter are the obvious ones that try to plague our blogs and our email accounts everyday, not the people who provide quality content on a consistent basis.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve only just rejoined Twitter after a very long break. I’m not sure if I’ll stay with them or not, I’m “testing” the service to see if it’s of use to me. If my account is suspended for whatever reason, I don’t think I’d care in the slightest really. I suppose it would be embarrassing if I was suspended within days of joining though.
Karen Lee Field´s last blog ..New Theme Called “Post-It”
Twitter is great for researching topics that you might be interested in, as well as collecting information about them. That, and the networking are what I use the service for. But last night, after writing this post, I began to think that I rely on Twitter too much to market my writing and my services.
I think your account looks fine. You have more personal updates, which Twitter seems to love.
Wow, some of those things are things I’d quite normally do. Linking is the currency of Twitter IMO and it would be a shame for that to drop off.
Benjamin Solah´s last blog ..365: Day 14
Totally agree. This new policy is hurting everyone.
I think I might be missing something, because I don’t understand how that would be done. Can you please give me a clue?
Karen Lee Field´s last blog ..Book Review: Shadows
I’ve found a ton of resources for Photoshop tutorials. Also, when I was stuck on getting a feed reader app for my iTouch, I posted a question. I was pleasantly surprised when several people replied with helpful suggestions.
Things are getting weird, huh?
What’s up with that?
Spammers going to screw this up too?
Christ in a sidecar . . .
~m
michaelm´s last blog ..Helter-Skelter
Most definitely. As with my old account, I’m getting an average of 5 new followers who turn out to be spammers. Lately, I’ve been receiving replies from people who aren’t on my follower list trying to sell me their affiliate crap. If there is anything admirable about a spammer, it’s their persistence in learning how to get around the system.