There are all kinds of social media spamming and for a variety of reasons. For this blog, I want to focus on any purpose other than the intent to communicate and connect.
Example: Post a blog about a technical how-to and you receive a comment such as:
“Oh, so gald to see your views about acai berry,I’m also looking for acai supplements. I found a lots of websites online.
and i have read some other idea about :acai berry,extreme acai berry,acai berry product,acai berry supplement,
acai pills,extreme acai berry,acai berry diet.
There are also some review sites about acai berry diet, are they true or not?
Anyway, I’ll try acai soon.”
Or post a general blog about social networking and receive this comment:
“How I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Days Without Diet Thanks for posting about this, I would like to read more about this topic.” Of course, a url for the weight loss site is included.
I am not going to get into the all the technical detail such as trackback submitter and rel=nofollow. You can read about those at numerous sites and blogs.
Obviously spam is not new just relatively new to social networking sites and provides new opportunities in the Socialsphere.
I put spammers into two categories: the professionals (whether they are good at it or not) and the amateurs.
Let’s stick with the amateurs because those we can deal with ourselves.
With blogs (WordPress specifically) I have the opportunity to: Approve Spam Delete Edit or Reply with each individual comment. I receive an email alert and I am in control (somewhat).
Content spamming originated in guest books. I had a 63 year old client that manufactured fishing lures. He would find guest books on fishing web sites. He would sign in with “Great site! Looks like you love fishing like I do. If you want to catch more fish, you should try my lure. [url address here]. I explained what was wrong with this idea, but he got results and there was no stopping him.
LinkedIn has it own amateur spammers. I joined a group about pets with less than 50 members. Of the eleven discussion comments in the group, seven are from the same member (read company) selling Social Media Marketing services. What is up with that?
Connecting is one thing, but blatant promotion is another. What would you or have you done in situations like this? Please comment.
Update: The owner of the group deleted the non-relevant comments and posted a reminder to the members regarding the focus of the group. Excellent.
Twitter has its own issues. The spammers don’t try to see what users might be interested in and don’t reach out to create a relationship. They often start with a Thank You for following me message with a link to their scheme. The site owner’s challenge is to sort out the voices they want to hear, from the clamoring spammers. I will take this one step further. As a twitter site owner, you have a responsibility to check out who is following you and weed out the spammers. If we are all diligent, there will be fewer places on twitter for these spammers to go. Let’s not make it easy. You can receive an email alert and check out each follower and direct message.
Facebook has its own set of rules for its members to follow. Facebook Fan Pages require the site administrator to be proactive in regularly checking the page. It is a difficult line to walk. You want the conversations and connections but not the junk. There are no email alerts or updates sent to you. As the site administrator, it is incumbent on you to manage the comments and posts.
Digg flat out states it is not for commercial use. Using Digg for selling or promoting may cause your account to be terminated.
YouTube guidelines center on creating misleading descriptions, tags, titles or thumbnails in order to increase views. They also discourage untargeted, unwanted or repetitive content.
Spamming can be different things to different people. My fishing lure manufacturer actually believed he was doing a good deed by sharing how great his lure was with others.
What you consider news or marketing may be considered spamming to others. The two comment examples above are obviously content spam. Ask yourself this question when commenting or in a discussion group – Is it germane to the original content? It is all about you or your company. If so then you may be spamming too.
@social_dynamics
Social Media Content Spamming
Monday, September 21st, 2009There are all kinds of social media spamming and for a variety of reasons. For this blog, I want to focus on any purpose other than the intent to communicate and connect.
Example: Post a blog about a technical how-to and you receive a comment such as:
“Oh, so gald to see your views about acai berry,I’m also looking for acai supplements. I found a lots of websites online.
and i have read some other idea about :acai berry,extreme acai berry,acai berry product,acai berry supplement,
acai pills,extreme acai berry,acai berry diet.
There are also some review sites about acai berry diet, are they true or not?
Anyway, I’ll try acai soon.”
Or post a general blog about social networking and receive this comment:
“How I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Days Without Diet Thanks for posting about this, I would like to read more about this topic.” Of course, a url for the weight loss site is included.
I am not going to get into the all the technical detail such as trackback submitter and rel=nofollow. You can read about those at numerous sites and blogs.
Obviously spam is not new just relatively new to social networking sites and provides new opportunities in the Socialsphere.
I put spammers into two categories: the professionals (whether they are good at it or not) and the amateurs.
Let’s stick with the amateurs because those we can deal with ourselves.
With blogs (WordPress specifically) I have the opportunity to: Approve Spam Delete Edit or Reply with each individual comment. I receive an email alert and I am in control (somewhat).
Content spamming originated in guest books. I had a 63 year old client that manufactured fishing lures. He would find guest books on fishing web sites. He would sign in with “Great site! Looks like you love fishing like I do. If you want to catch more fish, you should try my lure. [url address here]. I explained what was wrong with this idea, but he got results and there was no stopping him.
LinkedIn has it own amateur spammers. I joined a group about pets with less than 50 members. Of the eleven discussion comments in the group, seven are from the same member (read company) selling Social Media Marketing services. What is up with that?
Connecting is one thing, but blatant promotion is another. What would you or have you done in situations like this? Please comment.
Update: The owner of the group deleted the non-relevant comments and posted a reminder to the members regarding the focus of the group. Excellent.
Twitter has its own issues. The spammers don’t try to see what users might be interested in and don’t reach out to create a relationship. They often start with a Thank You for following me message with a link to their scheme. The site owner’s challenge is to sort out the voices they want to hear, from the clamoring spammers. I will take this one step further. As a twitter site owner, you have a responsibility to check out who is following you and weed out the spammers. If we are all diligent, there will be fewer places on twitter for these spammers to go. Let’s not make it easy. You can receive an email alert and check out each follower and direct message.
Facebook has its own set of rules for its members to follow. Facebook Fan Pages require the site administrator to be proactive in regularly checking the page. It is a difficult line to walk. You want the conversations and connections but not the junk. There are no email alerts or updates sent to you. As the site administrator, it is incumbent on you to manage the comments and posts.
Digg flat out states it is not for commercial use. Using Digg for selling or promoting may cause your account to be terminated.
YouTube guidelines center on creating misleading descriptions, tags, titles or thumbnails in order to increase views. They also discourage untargeted, unwanted or repetitive content.
Spamming can be different things to different people. My fishing lure manufacturer actually believed he was doing a good deed by sharing how great his lure was with others.
What you consider news or marketing may be considered spamming to others. The two comment examples above are obviously content spam. Ask yourself this question when commenting or in a discussion group – Is it germane to the original content? It is all about you or your company. If so then you may be spamming too.
@social_dynamics
Tags: comment spam, social media, social media comments, spam, spam posts, spamming
Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Video | No Comments »