Automated Twitter App Spam Solution
As my previous post describes, I get irritated by any sort of Twitter automation. Well, I concede that there are some robots that are helpful, like IMDB’s cool movie update bot. But you have to follow them to get the automated Tweets. And some apps are helpful, like ones that allow you to set up future Tweets. But they’re just regular Tweets, delayed, not automated Tweets. What I get upset about are auto-DMs and those robotic systems that do fake follow fridays and fake “check this out” Tweets with 4 Twitter names added on the end. That’s the spam that I want to eliminate from my Twitter stream and DM box.
I think I have a good solution that Twitter could implement with a simple new addition to their Terms of Service. And now’s a good time, since they’re in Terms of Service change-mode.
My suggestion is to implement a Terms of Service addition that says that all automated systems that Tweet and/or auto-DM to Twitter users must have an opt-out option. Any system that does not provide an opt-out, or makes opting out difficult, will be blocked from the system.
Of course, there will be apps that don’t comply or use tricks to get around the rules. There always are. But this could cut down on so much I think it would be worth it.
If you agree, please Tweet “RT @chucklasker @Twitter Plz implement automated Tweet mandatory opt-out suggestion at http://bit.ly/13B1BM #AutomatedOptOut”. (use hashtag #AutomatedOptOut for this issue)
8:09 pm on September 15th, 2009
Nice idea. However, rather than put the onus on users to actively opt out, why not simply make it a bannable offense to auto-DM users who do not opt in? I’m sure that it’s not hard to run an internal search to find accounts with a high volume of similar DMs and trace those to the source of the problem.
8:37 pm on September 15th, 2009
I thought of that but since writing about auto-DMs I’ve gotten people telling me they like them, for some bizarre reason. I think forcing an opt-in for every automated system out there would simply kill them. Maybe a Twitter-based opt-in set in our Twitter settings? That might work. I’d just like to see Twitter deal with the issue somehow before spam kills Twitter completely.