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Forked from svenfuchs/What makes you a Twitter spammer?
Created June 11, 2009 11:20
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Revisions

  1. mislav renamed this gist Feb 21, 2011. 1 changed file with 7 additions and 11 deletions.
    18 changes: 7 additions & 11 deletions What makes you a Twitter spammer? → twitter spammer.md
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    @@ -1,31 +1,29 @@
    Blocky (@blocky_bot, http://blocky.elliottkember.com) is a crowdsourcing
    solution for Twitter spam. Blocky does not define what a "spammer" is,
    so let's discuss.
    [Blocky](http://blocky.elliottkember.com) ([@blocky_bot](http://twitter.com/blocky_bot)) is a crowdsourcing
    solution for Twitter spam. Blocky does not define what a "spammer" is, so let's discuss.

    What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    ---------------------------------

    - You follow me just to make me follow you.
    - **You follow me just to make me follow you.**

    It all comes down to this. Spammers can't spam if nobody follows them.
    Any relatively new account that already follows hundreds or thousands of people
    is a spammer because a human can't do it by hand (it has to be a script).

    - More than 90% of your tweets are links (to a single service or many, seemingly unrelated),
    - **More than 90% of your tweets are links** (to a single service or many, seemingly unrelated),
    retweets and quotes from famous people (often implemented in bots to look more human).

    - The website on your bio is a "social media marketing" company.

    - Many of your tweets contain the same set of hashtags or just rare words by which
    - Many of your tweets contain **the same set of hashtags** or just rare words by which
    you're trying to game the trends system.

    Most likely this account is part of a bot network who are all using the same set of keywords.

    - One or more updates in your timeline are about "making money online".


    Official definition on the Twitter support page
    -----------------------------------------------
    ## Official definition on the Twitter support page

    “Spamming” can describe a variety of different behaviors.
    Here are some common tactics that spam accounts often use:
    @@ -38,6 +36,4 @@ Here are some common tactics that spam accounts often use:
    - Posting links with unrelated tweets
    - Aggressive following behavior (for instance, mass following and un-following in order to gain attention)

    Behaviors that constitute “spamming” will continue to evolve as we respond to
    new tactics by spammers. You can find a more comprehensive list of spam behavior
    in the Twitter Rules <http://help.twitter.com/forums/26257/entries/18311>.
    Behaviors that constitute “spamming” will continue to evolve as we respond to new tactics by spammers. You can find [a more comprehensive list of spam behavior](http://help.twitter.com/forums/26257/entries/18311) in the Twitter Rules.
  2. mislav revised this gist Nov 9, 2009. 1 changed file with 5 additions and 2 deletions.
    7 changes: 5 additions & 2 deletions What makes you a Twitter spammer?
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    @@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    Official definition on the Twitter support page
    -----------------------------------------------

    “Spamming” can describe a variety of different behaviors. Here are some common tactics that spam accounts often use:
    “Spamming” can describe a variety of different behaviors.
    Here are some common tactics that spam accounts often use:

    - Posting harmful links (including links to phishing or malware sites)
    - Abusing the @reply function to post unwanted messages to users
    @@ -37,4 +38,6 @@ Official definition on the Twitter support page
    - Posting links with unrelated tweets
    - Aggressive following behavior (for instance, mass following and un-following in order to gain attention)

    Behaviors that constitute “spamming” will continue to evolve as we respond to new tactics by spammers. You can find a more comprehensive list of spam behavior in the Twitter Rules <http://help.twitter.com/forums/26257/entries/18311>.
    Behaviors that constitute “spamming” will continue to evolve as we respond to
    new tactics by spammers. You can find a more comprehensive list of spam behavior
    in the Twitter Rules <http://help.twitter.com/forums/26257/entries/18311>.
  3. mislav revised this gist Nov 9, 2009. 1 changed file with 16 additions and 0 deletions.
    16 changes: 16 additions & 0 deletions What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ solution for Twitter spam. Blocky does not define what a "spammer" is,
    so let's discuss.

    What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    ---------------------------------

    - You follow me just to make me follow you.

    @@ -22,3 +23,18 @@ What makes you a Twitter spammer?

    - One or more updates in your timeline are about "making money online".


    Official definition on the Twitter support page
    -----------------------------------------------

    “Spamming” can describe a variety of different behaviors. Here are some common tactics that spam accounts often use:

    - Posting harmful links (including links to phishing or malware sites)
    - Abusing the @reply function to post unwanted messages to users
    - Creating lots of accounts or using automated tools to create multiple accounts
    - Spamming trending topics to try to grab attention
    - Repeatedly posting duplicate updates
    - Posting links with unrelated tweets
    - Aggressive following behavior (for instance, mass following and un-following in order to gain attention)

    Behaviors that constitute “spamming” will continue to evolve as we respond to new tactics by spammers. You can find a more comprehensive list of spam behavior in the Twitter Rules <http://help.twitter.com/forums/26257/entries/18311>.
  4. mislav revised this gist Jun 11, 2009. 1 changed file with 1 addition and 1 deletion.
    2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -20,5 +20,5 @@ What makes you a Twitter spammer?

    Most likely this account is part of a bot network who are all using the same set of keywords.

    - A single update in your timeline is about "making money online".
    - One or more updates in your timeline are about "making money online".

  5. mislav revised this gist Jun 11, 2009. 1 changed file with 17 additions and 13 deletions.
    30 changes: 17 additions & 13 deletions What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -5,16 +5,20 @@ so let's discuss.
    What makes you a Twitter spammer?

    - You follow me just to make me follow you.
    There's a good chance this applies when you start following me even though
    you already are following 500+ people.

    - You repeatedly tweet links to your own website(s)/service(s)/... whilst
    rarely tweeting anything personal.
    Of course a sane ratio will be highly subjective. To me maybe tweeting your
    ads more often than 1% makes you a spammer.

    - You're on Twitter for the sole reason that someone told you there's "social
    marketing".
    This definitely applies to anyone who "outsources" tweeting to someone
    else/a service (looking at politicians). It probably also applies to SEO
    people and other folks wanting to artificially raise attention or traffic.

    It all comes down to this. Spammers can't spam if nobody follows them.
    Any relatively new account that already follows hundreds or thousands of people
    is a spammer because a human can't do it by hand (it has to be a script).

    - More than 90% of your tweets are links (to a single service or many, seemingly unrelated),
    retweets and quotes from famous people (often implemented in bots to look more human).

    - The website on your bio is a "social media marketing" company.

    - Many of your tweets contain the same set of hashtags or just rare words by which
    you're trying to game the trends system.

    Most likely this account is part of a bot network who are all using the same set of keywords.

    - A single update in your timeline is about "making money online".

  6. svenfuchs revised this gist Jun 11, 2009. 1 changed file with 5 additions and 1 deletion.
    6 changes: 5 additions & 1 deletion What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
    Blocky (@blocky_bot, http://blocky.elliottkember.com) is a crowdsourcing
    solution for Twitter spam. Blocky does not define what a "spammer" is,
    so let's discuss.

    What makes you a Twitter spammer?

    - You follow me just to make me follow you.
    @@ -13,4 +17,4 @@ What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    marketing".
    This definitely applies to anyone who "outsources" tweeting to someone
    else/a service (looking at politicians). It probably also applies to SEO
    people and other folks wanting to artificially raise attention or traffic.
    people and other folks wanting to artificially raise attention or traffic.
  7. svenfuchs revised this gist Jun 11, 2009. 1 changed file with 11 additions and 6 deletions.
    17 changes: 11 additions & 6 deletions What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
    What makes you a Twitter spammer?

    - You follow me just to make me follow you.
    There's a good chance this applies when you start following me even though you already are following 500+ people.
    There's a good chance this applies when you start following me even though
    you already are following 500+ people.

    - You repeatedly tweet links to your own website(s)/service(s)/... whilest rarely tweeting anything personal.
    Of course a sane ratio will be highly subjective. To me maybe tweeting your ads more often than 1% makes you a spammer.
    - You repeatedly tweet links to your own website(s)/service(s)/... whilst
    rarely tweeting anything personal.
    Of course a sane ratio will be highly subjective. To me maybe tweeting your
    ads more often than 1% makes you a spammer.

    - You're on Twitter for the sole reason that someone told you there's "social marketing".
    This definitely applies to anyone who "outsources" tweeting to someone else/a service (looking at politicians).
    It probably also applies to SEO people and other folks wanting to artificially raise attention or traffic.
    - You're on Twitter for the sole reason that someone told you there's "social
    marketing".
    This definitely applies to anyone who "outsources" tweeting to someone
    else/a service (looking at politicians). It probably also applies to SEO
    people and other folks wanting to artificially raise attention or traffic.
  8. svenfuchs created this gist Jun 11, 2009.
    11 changes: 11 additions & 0 deletions What makes you a Twitter spammer?
    View file
    Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
    @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
    What makes you a Twitter spammer?

    - You follow me just to make me follow you.
    There's a good chance this applies when you start following me even though you already are following 500+ people.

    - You repeatedly tweet links to your own website(s)/service(s)/... whilest rarely tweeting anything personal.
    Of course a sane ratio will be highly subjective. To me maybe tweeting your ads more often than 1% makes you a spammer.

    - You're on Twitter for the sole reason that someone told you there's "social marketing".
    This definitely applies to anyone who "outsources" tweeting to someone else/a service (looking at politicians).
    It probably also applies to SEO people and other folks wanting to artificially raise attention or traffic.