June 3rd, 2009
On Twitter: Difference between spam and noise
Last week at 140 | Twitter Conference I attended a panel on Twitter strategies and real-world case studies. Overall it was a solid panel with some talented speakers (Jeff Pester, Bryan Rhoads, Warren Whitlock, etc). Unfortunately, amid the good stuff, there was one not-so-little thing that made me twitch: the overuse of the term “spam” on Twitter.
A lot of audience members were asking about “Twitter spam” and the panelists were supporting the very loose use of the word spam. I was sitting with a person who works in social media for a large security company and I leaned in and said, “Is it me or is that not spam?” He agreed. Just because someone or a company is chatty on Twitter doesn’t mean that he or she is a spammer… or spamming you. Sure, companies can often over-market and that’s a huge mistake, but they are not spamming you if you have opted in to follow them.
Let’s start with a visual demonstration. This is spam:
I don’t follow this company. I have no idea what I said to make this person think I wear hats with flowers on them (I look nothing like Mayim Bialuk) but they decided to send me two unsolicited @ messages suggesting ways I can make that happen (never going to happen). I was annoyed. I responded promptly and said “Please stop spamming me.” The message was unsolicited. I have no interest in this company’s business and I don’t follow it. And I am certainly not going to start. I have received similar messages when I have mentioned hotels, airlines, shampoo, make-up, etc. All unsolicited and rarely useful.
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Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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| 06/03/09
