Skeptical Twitter accounts

December 29, 2008 / Filed under: Twitter, Spam, Tips

Twitter has introduced itself as a great way to meet like-minded people. But not every follower is a legitimate new "friend." Many Twitter accounts are pure content spam - unsolicited junk that doesn't belong in your Twitter stream.

You'll want to avoid following Twitter users that contain these words as their username or within their bio:

  • marketing
  • savvy
  • innovator
  • PR
  • coach
  • career
  • money
  • success

Also, watch out for these additional warning signs:

  • A URL in the bio field (There is already a URL field)
  • No bio or location listed
  • Very few updates
  • Following thousands, yet is only followed by a hundred or less
  • Using default Twitter avatar
  • Updates that always contain a link

If any of these characteristics match that person that just followed you, it might be wise to block them. They're not going to care - they're only looking to push their messages out to as large an audience as possible as a quick way to drive site-clicks.

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