Stemming Annoying Twitter Trends
December 5, 2009 § 2 Comments
Spammers are nothing if not creative. And the ways they invent to invade social media tools like Twitter threaten to ruin the party for those of us who are trying organically to build community there. Over the last few weeks, I have noticed a trend among spammers that I find particularly disconcerting: unsolicited @ replies.
I have received a several of these in the last week. Sure, I can block them, and that will prevent me from seeing their replies in my reply feed. But if this becomes a trend among spammers, I can see blocking becoming unsustainable. I’m afraid I will be forced at some point to protect my tweets, which is something I’d rather not do.
I don’t know what the solution is. I assume that people wouldn’t spam if it didn’t pay off in some way, so it seems that they get enough of a positive response that they keep on doing it. What worries me now is that people might start spamming malware with @ replies. The trend of accounts getting hacked and by proliferating malware through direct tweets is bad enough.
I know that Twitter is trying to proactively deal with spammers, but spammers are elusive and slippery. While I hope that Twitter can lock it down more, I hope that more end users get smart about protecting themselves and their friends. I mean seriously, I never cease to be amazed when I receive a direct tweet with a phishing link to an IQ test from someone who should know better.
There are resources, folks. Educate yourselves and be a good Twittizen.
Walking the Walk
December 3, 2009 § 1 Comment
In a recent blog post, Seth Godin challenged nonprofit professionals to put their money where their mouth is. If you work for a charitable organization, if you don’t give, why are you in that line of work?
Whether it’s a charitable gift or a volunteer shift, those of us who work in nonprofits, especially those of us who have more administrative duties keeping us away from the front lines, should get in the trenches on occasion. It is a matter of responsibility, as well as staying in touch with why we do the work that we do.
NaBloPoMo
December 1, 2009 § 1 Comment
It is December 1, and though this promises to be a busy month, I am going to attempt to write one blog post per day. In December, the theme for NaBloPoMo is Mitzvah. While one doesn’t have to use the theme in order to participate, I like to think that this blog is about Mitzvah, or doing good deeds. Seems to be a good fit for me.
Let’s see if I will actually have the time, and more importantly, the discipline, to write at least one post every day.
InFomentation 