Do you assume everyone who follows you on Twitter is a "friend" who is interested in finding out more about your fascinating life?Well, think again.
If you've been on Twitter for any length of time, you'll notice that you often get followed Twitter users who don't seem to care about anything but pushing their products or services, sometimes relentlessly.
I follow and am followed by a number of people who sell products who I do not consider spammers. They are actual people that genuinely interact not only about what they're selling, but about personal topics as well. They reply and retweet. They contribute far more than a sales pitch.
Spammers are what I call "hit and run" tweeters. They leave their propaganda in your Twitter feed -- repeatedly, but then take off. They don't interact. Their one and only purpose is to bombard you with advertising.
Why is this troublesome? For a few reasons:
1.) It's annoying.
2.) If you follow back (and many Twitter users do this automatically), it clutters up your Twitter feed, making it more difficult to hone in on the tweets you really do want to read.
3.) It junks up your Followers list. And we all want to attract a quality audience with which we can have truly interesting and meaningful interaction.
TwitBlock to the rescue!
This is an awesome way to weed out spammers. And very easy to use! Simply sign in using your Twitter account when you go to the TwitBlock site. Then you have two options to choose from:
1.) Fan or Spam? This option scans your followers for spammers. It then gives you a list of possible spammers. This does not mean that they are, however, they are considered suspicious. To find out more information about a particular Twitter user on the list, click "analyse." It will then give you more detailed facts, such as the percentage of people who follow this person back and if this user gets blocked alot. You can then determine if you want to block them.
2.) Bot or Not? By typing in any Twitter username, you can get information about the probability that the user is a spammer.
I've found this tool to be very useful and time-saving. Because sometimes being followed -- on Twitter and in real life -- is not a good thing.
Okay, now on to Tweet Me Tuesday...
• Tweet this post! Then visit Kristen at Hands, House, Heart Full. She is my wonderful co-host in this Blog Hop!
• Link up a post you’d like Tweeted using Linky Tools below. It can either be your most recent post or an older, favorite post you'd like to share with a new audience.
• Follow me and Kristen on Twitter! (if you’re not already)
• Visit the links below and Tweet as many posts as you'd like (linked below).
• Follow as many of these bloggers as you’d like on Twitter. (You can follow their blogs, too.)
• When you Tweet a blogger’s post, leave a comment telling them you tweeted it as part of Tweet Me Tuesday.
If you tweet at us/about us/for Tweet Me Tuesday please use the hashtag #TMT. It makes it easier for us to find your tweets! Not sure about hashtags? See Kristen's post.
Finally, please remember that Tweet Me Tuesday is about Linky Love! Please don't just leave you link and fly off! Visit as many of the others listed as you can. The more you interact with others, the more benefit to everyone.
Alright -- get to tweeting!
I agree...it's disappointing to just receive tweets pushing posts and products and such. I'm there for the conversation. (Although not lately...I'm buried in house projects at the moment, lol!)
ReplyDeleteLOVE this tool!
ReplyDeleteI tried it out this morning and am please to report that I had ZERO suspicious followers!
Thanks so much for this great tip!!
(You may want to check your link, though. I had to google it in order to get to the right site.)
spam is an issue but so is the porn. I have had more than one suggestive follower that I immediately block. Good post today and I did tweet it, even while on vacation!!
ReplyDeleteOooh. Another tool I hadn't heard of lol. Awesome post Melinda! Looks like I have a few people "worth checking out" from what it tells me!
ReplyDeleteah...where did my comment go? I left a nice long comment and don't see it!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Also have some ideas re: your post yesterday. My fb friends are all over it!
To everyone linking up today, I'll visit and tweet about you this afternoon! Heading out!
I'm with you on being cautious about followers. I go through the news ones and look at their Twitter page and their website, in part to avoid the porn like Jean points out as well as heavy spammers. That does take extra time and I'm so busy right now, I usually don't get to that more than 1-2 times a month. Fortunately the interesting followers are usually patient :) This sounds like a great tool to help. Thanks for the heads up about it. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I must be the last person on earth not on Twitter. :-) But this is good to know...since I feel my delve into tweeting is in the near future.
ReplyDeleteFound you through a link on Martini Mama's page. Like your stuff! :-) New follower!