Spam drives me nuts. Sometimes, when I go into my spam folder to clean it out, I scan through the subject lines to see just what kind of spam I’m getting. It’s ridiculous, and at times pretty funny. Like the ones with my name in the subject, advertising for a product I don’t even have the parts for and couldn’t possibly need. And it shocks me at how much I get. Right now, my spam folder is holding 468 messages. I am so grateful for that folder, and the person who invented spam detection. But spam isn’t restricted to just email. With each new platform, if there’s a way to spam it, someone will do it.

I got an @Stacey_Alex tweet today asking me and 3 others to retweet a link that bit.ly says is suspicious. I realize this kind of spamming is not new. I put out a question on Twitter asking others about it, and they let me know that it’s just a usual spam deal. I later looked up articles on this sort of spamming and learned just how quickly this kind of thing can spread. And the fastest car is those who blindly retweet. Blind retweeting is just retweeting a link without actually clicking on the link. You may know the person you’re retweeting, and know that they post relevant, interesting content. But the danger is that they were scammed by the spam, or that their account got hijacked. If you don’t click on the link, you honestly have no idea what you’re supporting in your retweet.

Two pieces of advice to avoid being a spam supporter. 1) If you don’t know the originator, don’t touch it. (Advice given to me by @craigsheppard) 2) Don’t blind retweet. Not only will this keep you from retweeting spam, but it will assure you that what you’re sending out is relevant to your audience. Plus, you might learn something from actually visiting the site attached to the link.

What are your thoughts on blind retweeting? Do you do it? Any other Twitter spam driving you nuts?

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