10 Ways to Spot a Spammer on Twitter

Mar
26
2010

Spammers and catfish have a lot in common. They are both bottom feeders and are negatively buoyant, which means they usually sink rather than float. They are also resilient. They adapt to new environments when threatened. When spammers were blocked by email filters, they discovered a new ocean in Twitter.

And like catfish, they grow bigger and smarter.

Need tens of thousands of followers on Twitter? No problem. Just trick people into following you back.

Need a good profile? Download a stock photo of another person.

Need a trusting Twitter bio? Use words like "Loving Dad" and "Soccer Mom".

On Twitter, there are essentially two types of Catfish: Bot Spammers and Accidental Spammers. Bot Spammers are either actual computer ro(bots) generating API feeds by the minute. Or they are people with the personality of a Bot. Accidental Spammers are generally hard working business owners and authors who are misguided in how to use Twitter.

So how do you spot a Catfish on Twitter? And how do you prevent yourself from accidently becoming one?

Here are 10 Ways to Spot a Spammer on Twitter:

1. If someone has thousands of followers and recognized on less than 100 lists...

2. If you receive an Auto Direct Message (DM) when followed...

3. If he uses a url shortener for his Twitter profile (what exactly is he hiding?!)

4. If you see a broken record on her first page of tweets...

5. If every one of the person's tweets link to this website...

6. If you see an entire week's worth of tweets without a reference or connection to another twitter user ...

7. If someone asks a question or has a general comment on Twitter and you provide an appropriate response, and there is never an acknowledgement back.

To be honest, I've learned more about the true character of authors (positive and negative) through Twitter than through any of their books. Stated simply, if you don't want to talk to people on Twitter, don't walk into the room. I go out of my way to promote authors and consultants who show appreciation for others. I have stopped referring other people who seem to be driven by their own egos.

8. If you see the words "Make" and "Money" appear together in any of the person's tweets...

9. If her twitter page looks looks like a commercial break on TV....

10. And finally, if his tweets are always working an angle...

Are there other secrets of twitter spammers you look out for?

Thanks for sharing!

Brent

9 Comments

Meg said on Mar 26,2010 at 9:14:49 PM

Good tips. I think #6 could be possible from some of those inspirational quote people who mostly just post inspirational quotes but point taken.

I tell you what's driving me crazy is all the thanking for retweeting...I mean, I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it because I like the content. I know they appreciate it but it makes me feel like I'm part of a pyramid scheme to be thanked along with 12 other people. Give it a rest, RT thankers!

Johnny Frisk said on Mar 28,2010 at 6:33:17 PM

Personally, I liked #7 the best. Learning the true character of the semi-famous is a good barometer of whether their message is legit. To me, the reason for doing things is just as important as the outcome. Some people feed off the ego boost; some people are always humble and gracious about their gifts or talents. I respect the second group a lot more.

Another big tip off, but not 100% accurate, is that they do not follow anyone back. Some famous personalities also do this, so it is not accurate for spam, but accurate for engagement.

What tips me off is when they follow a disproportionate amount of people to the ones following them back. When you look at who they're following, there seems to be pattern to it geographically or connectively. And if you see your face far down in the follow list, and it's only been an hour since they followed you, that's also a very huge red flag.

Melissa said on Mar 30,2010 at 9:15:51 AM

These are great tips, Brent! I agree with Johnny on #7 -- definitely my favorite.

I have to respectfully disagree with Meg about thanking the RTers. It's been one of the ways that have helped me build a sense of community within Twitter. The RTing and subsequent appreciation has brought about further conversations in some instances, and I am very grateful for that.

Jon Jacobs said on Apr 1,2010 at 8:04:07 AM

Excellent post, one of the most useful I've seen about Twitter since I began tweeting in earnest about 2 months ago.

Question: When a spammer (either type) follows you - do you block them???

This has emerged as a point of dispute with my boss. I block most followers who appear illegitimate (before reading the above post, I'd already intuited my way to a definition of "illegitimate" that encompasses most of Brent's 10 points). My boss doesn't agree; he feels on Twitter one should be more "live and let live."

What do you think?

I've also run into people with lots of followers - mostly niche "celebrities" (in my field, finance, also related ones like financial journalism) rather than mass celebrities - who don't follow back. One famous author example: Nassim Nicholas Taleb follows 0, but has thousands of followers (he tweets often, and more or less usefully).

About "thanks for the RT": Yeah it's boring to see those long lists. But I've found that when getting started with building an initial following, it helps to know who's been retweeting others as well as who thanks for RTs. Both being thanked and being retweeted bring your own Twitter handle in front of people beyond your own current following -- and therefore are valuable aids to increase one's followership.

Brent Peterson said on Apr 10,2010 at 6:36:58 PM

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your kind comment.

To answer your question, I don't typically Block spammers unless the profile is clearly inappropriate. In that regard, it is kind of funny when I look at the vast number of followers "celebrities" have and speculate that at least 50% of their followers may indeed be spammers.

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