Margaret's dashboard

A comment on the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

I don't really agree with that. If they're overposting, then just don't follow them. But if they're using Twitter exclusively as an outlet for advertising, then they should be flaggable as spammers. – Timothy McNeil, on October 11, 2008 02:38

gojeffrey replied on October 07, 2008 11:18 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

There's still no SIMPLE way to report spam accounts? Seriously? This discussion has been going on for SIX MONTHS. Ridiculous. And yeah I know about the twitter spam account but really there needs to be a one click option to report an account.

fireman4 replied on October 07, 2008 02:07 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

Over the past 10 hours, I've blocked over 200 spammers. Manually. It never ends. When does it stop? At what point do you just throw in the towel and say "I like Twitter, but this really sucks?" and then delete your account? Every 10 minutes, a few more spammers start following me and if I don't block them, it increases exponentially. Seriously, WTF?

a7 replied on October 06, 2008 11:12 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

"Rachael329 (Rachael329) is now following your updates on Twitter."
yes sure.

mdy replied on October 01, 2008 01:52 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

We can now also report spammers by sending a Direct Message to Twitter's @spam account.

To do this, you'll first need to follow http://twitter.com/spam. You can then send a direct message to @spam either by:

1. Typing a direct message from the "What are you doing?" box
Ex. d spam @spammy1, @spammy2 are spambots!

2. Sending a direct message from your phone
Ex. d spam @spammy3 is yet another spambot

3. Composing a direct message at http://twitter.com/direct_messages

mdy replied on October 01, 2008 01:48 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

We can now also report spammers by sending a Direct Message to Twitter's @spam account.

To do this, you'll first need to follow http://twitter.com/spam. You can then send a direct message to @spam either by:

1. Typing a direct message from the "What are you doing?" box
Ex. d spam @spammy1, @spammy2 are spambots!

2. Sending a direct message from your phone
Ex. d spam @spammy3 is yet another spambot

3. Composing a direct message at http://twitter.com/direct_messages

Adam replied on September 21, 2008 01:05 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

Okay, chill out Tom.

It could be a relative measure, i.e. the percentage of followers who mark as spam.

Adam replied on September 21, 2008 00:54 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

'Report Spam' button. If enough people press it, it should automatically suspend the account.

abaisley replied on September 12, 2008 13:02 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

A button would be great. Also love the idea of just sending a Tweet - @spam @spamusername Optional Message. But the button is good enough.

mdy replied on September 04, 2008 03:45 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

Looks like we can now officially report spammers by sending an @reply to the @spam account on Twitter.

At least, that's what a recent update from Crystal in another thread says.

The recommended syntax seems to be:
@spam @spammerusername OptionalMsg

mdy replied on September 04, 2008 03:44 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

Looks like we can now officially report spammers by sending an @reply to the @spam account on Twitter.

At least, that's what a recent update from Crystal in another thread says.

The recommended syntax seems to be:
@spam @spammerusername OptionalMsg

noman4me replied on September 04, 2008 02:46 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

PLEASE. i have to block about 5 people a day who are following about 2,000 people with no followers, and their only update is "i have a great business opportunity for you!"

annoying.

Just Works replied on September 04, 2008 02:32 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

Yikes! This is a long thread. It is a good one though.

My suggestion is along the lines of many others here, but the details may be different:

Add the "Flag as" link to the profile pages. I suggest a generic "abuse" label, where flagging it would bring the end user to a form asking to select the type of abuse and allowing an explanation/comment. These would be tallied and the results sent to an employee tasked with investigating. The employee would work on the highest tally first and would have the option of clearing the abuse flags, suspending the account, or taking other appropriate action.

dsheets replied on September 04, 2008 00:06 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

I like the @spam method, but it feels that a "Flag as Spam" button would be easier.

amicalmant replied on September 03, 2008 14:29 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

A "Report Spam" button or some equivalent is absolutely necessary. In order to be fair a human check is also necessary. Although we could think of an automated public "flagged as spam" notice on suspected home pages once the number of spam reports reaches a certain point, the process of closing an account should always been taken by a responsible human being.

Nimdae replied on August 24, 2008 23:40 to the idea "Flag as spam button" in Twitter:

Flagging posts would be a better idea, as Margaret mentioned. Also, limiting the ability to mark (such as a usage within time period limit) would cut down on trolls.

Nimdae marked one of Margaret's replies in Twitter as useful. Margaret replied to the idea "Flag as spam button".

mdy replied on August 22, 2008 01:11 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

Also, there's a new Suspended Accounts help page (had not seen that one before today) that lists the various reasons why an account may be suspended, spam being one of them.

---- start of excerpt ----

What is Spam on Twitter?

Commercial or promotional use of Twitter is allowed. There are many companies who create valuable, opt-in relationships with users on Twitter who want to keep up to date with them.

However, if you are following other accounts in order to gain attention to your account or links therein, you may be considered spam.

If you are creating a series of accounts in order to promote the same thing, you may be considered spam.

If you are sending large numbers of @reply messages that are not genuine replies, you may be considered spam.

If you are creating updates in order to show up in search results, you may be considered spam.

If you are disguising links (i.e., writing about one thing but linking to another), you may be considered spam.

If a large number of users have blocked you (relative to those following you), you may be considered spam.

---- end of excerpt ----

mdy replied on August 22, 2008 00:27 to the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

Twitter just posted a new blogpost regarding their efforts to combat spam.

See "Turning up the heat on spam" on the Twitter blog

A comment on the discussion "How would you prefer to report Twitter spam?" in Twitter:

Actually, Kee, in this case it would - because the spam isn't spoofed headers, it's a spam account, created manually with the user signin process. So yes, you could ban the IP - because a) that would stop them from using that IP to sign up accounts, b) if they are using a compromised machine to manually register, the owner of that machine would be blocked unless he/she requested to be unblocked, in which case the answer is "secure your frickin' machine first" and c) the particular folks we're talking about here aren't exactly internet savvy - as they are simply initiating the account the same way time and again manually - if they had automated it or scripted it somehow, they'd be able to generate many more than the 3 dozen a day they manage to come up with.
So yeah, different form of spam and IP banning would impact the situation. – GeekMommy, on August 21, 2008 19:30