…but it’s not quite plastic either.

if you’re like me, you get emails like this on a pretty regular basis:

just a friendly update that JesusBoatMuseum/Sunset_Plaza/AsthmaWatch (not to mention the morally inappropriate accounts) are now ‘following’ you on twitter.

on the one hand, we’ve come a long way from even just the beginning of 2009 where i would still regularly hear people knocking twitter. but, with its popularity it has brought a host of spam/commercial/not-real-people with it.

now, i love twitter. i think it’s a great idea. it’s fun. it’s engaging. it’s even helpful.

i love reading about what my friends are doing, listening to, driving toward and, yes, even eating.

i also enjoy keeping up with various church accounts from different calvary chapels or friends’ churches. it’s fun to see what people are studying on sunday mornings, what events they’re having on thursday nights, how life groups are going and get messages from the pastors.

i even follow a few commercial accounts (IMDb, DreamHost and Colorburned to name a few).

but the spam i could do without.

because they’re not helpful. they’re not personal. they’re not actually participating in the whole point of twitter.

while one could argue that the commercial/celebrity/church/company/correspondence accounts i follow are not overtly personal either, i think there’s a basic difference between information I’M seeking and spamformation that seeks me.

it’s not the real thing.

just like the stuff you buy in the can.

it’s not quite meat, but it’s not quite plastic either.

let’s end with a suggestion and a question:

here’s the suggestion: though it may feel like it doesn’t make a difference, let’s take 5 minutes every now and then to block every spam account that is following us. at very least those with inappropriate content.

yes, they’re automated.

yes, they keep coming.

but we can do our part to clean house.

here’s the question: does twitter spam bother you or does it not make a difference?

lay it on me.

1 Comment

internettings, tweeter | January 13th, 2010