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People are selling twitter accounts now
Twitter accounts now for sell on ebay? I think a change in the terms of service or SOMETHING is crucial. Things are about to get really bad for Twitter and I really hope that ALL of us can pull together as a community and keep this under control.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...
I’m crying
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people have this problem
I have this problem, too!
Tell me when someone solves it.
The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
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Inappropriate?http://twitter.com/andrewbaron should be banned, as should anyone who tries to sell an account. This is ludicrous and bring shame upon the community.
Edit: Selling accounts like this seems like something that would violate terms of service. I'm not going to spend time looking it up because it doesn't bother me enough to do so . . . but Twitter should be worried about the monetization of its services.
I’m annoyed
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There isnt anything that I see in the TOS that this violated except possible "You must not create or submit unwanted email to any Twitter members ("Spam")." That would only occur depending on who would buy the account because it could be interpreted as unwanted messages from someone that they didnt chose to follow. Sadly, it doesnt look like the TOS includes anything directly prohibiting the sell of an account -- but I think its something that does need to be added. -
I'd probably object strongly to the sale if: (a) he had just squatted on the account using a branded or trademarked name and not really used it; or (b) I had sent him direct msgs that I don't want other people to have access to. Otherwise, I'm not too concerned because I can always unfollow.
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Update: @adelemcalear points out that when you delete a direct msg that you've sent to someone else on Twitter, it's also deleted from the recipient's direct message inbox. I did a quick test and it does seem to be so. 8-)
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I dont think its a matter of what information is obtainable but its an issue of making twitter a breeding ground for commercial spam. Spammers currently spend millions of dollars buying lists of email addresses -- this is taking it one level higher because they arent just buying an address but, rather, they are buying a direct connection to "potential customers"..... sure, you can unfollow.... but in a matter of a few seconds the message has already been sent.
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Inappropriate?The same user is now selling a "two-day guest host slot" on Craigslist for $150 USD: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/com...
The only thing in the Twitter TOS that seems applicable is the Basic Terms #3 & #4 - where you have an obligation to keep your password secure and not impersonate another Twitter user. That's in addition to not spamming ...
I feel pretty strongly that Twitter should amend its Terms of Service to clearly disallow selling or renting one's Twitter account(s) and followers as quickly as possible. Getting an account is free, why would anyone need to sell one or buy one except to exploit relationships between people for financial gain. I'm getting utterly sick of that and would like to see Twitter protected from such behavior. Social experiment be damned. Please put a stop to this, Twitter.
I’m angry about this
1 person says
this solves the problem
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Inappropriate?I really hope that someone from twitter is actually monitoring this and replies to let us know if there are going to be any changes.
I’m confused
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Inappropriate?I also have a problem with this. It cheapens Twitter and makes a mockery of it and its members.
I’m POed
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I'd guess that Andrew Baron thinks this is an insightful and humorous commentary on the increasingly blurred lines between public/private identity and the promotions business. It obviously needs to be nipped in the bud within Twitter's TOS, but it's an interesting perspective nonetheless.
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speaking of mocking, a cell phone with andrewbaron's phone number stored in it may be on the auction block soon: http://twitter.com/Chuckumentary/stat...
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Actually, having reviewed the EBay posting I take it back. He seems to be earnest in wanting to sell his audience to the highest bidder. But...he's a media guy and if it makes perfect sense to sell "subscribers" to your property, then why not Twitter followers? My point isn't that it's fine and dandy, but that this is a natural result of the collision between traditional media and the social web. How Twitter (and the rest of us) handles this may establish an important precedent one way or the other.
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Inappropriate?This is only possible because people are in the (to me, strange) habit of following people they don't know. If people start selling accounts I'd suspect that this habit would change very quickly.
I’m unconcerned
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You want to trust the integrity of twitter to the people that are dumb enough to follow these people?
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It's not only about following someone you don't know. People who follow andrewbaron are also fans of his videos and/or follow his new media writings. many have reason to follow him even without a direct personal connection. barackobama has a lot of followers that don't know him personally. i bet they'd be unhappy if he sold them off to the highest bidder.
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How is this different to signing up for a catalog or magazine with advertising? Presumably Andrew writes good stuff which is why people read his posts. Why can't he make money from this? What is so mystical about Twitter that separates it from email, the postal service, television or any other media channel?
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Inappropriate?Twitter is offered as a free service to those that wish to make the most of their experience on the internet. The fact that this one user has begun to make money using twitter I do not believe is right. Agreed is the fact that twitter seems to be on a spiral down and will soon be out of hand.
I’m frustrated
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It's a bit pessimistic to describe one extreme case as a "spiral down." It's still very early in the evolution of this new communications tool. Issues like this are simply the price of success, and a manageable challenge for Twitter and the community to deal with. Be positive!
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Inappropriate?Im not attempting to be negative but with a bid over $1000 dollars already... I think twitter should be receiving some type of profit or donation from the user. Twitter is a free service, and we should be supporting the service in whatever means we are capable. Selling an account and retaining the funds made? That doesnt seem like the service is being supported.1 Comment Add a comment
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I only agree on a certain level. The problem I have with that is if Twitter takes money resulting from this then it gives the action a thumbs up and doesn't condem it. I think Twitter is funded enough that they don't have to worry about finding income (at least for now) but if if it came down to it I would rather pay $1 a month rather than have the scum of corporate america involved. Look at the disaster that domain names are and how many shady practices are going on simply because of a name.... I don't want to see anything like that on Twitter. The day that that becomes the norm is the day that Twitter becomes a lot less useful for me.
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Inappropriate?To answer that, I'd have to know what you mean by "the integrity of Twitter" - frankly it already seems to contain a lot of commercially inspired content, I don't know if that's being paid for or not. Should we be worried? Twitter users are much better off than email users when it comes to shutting out unsolicited messages, especially if they turn off "new follower" messages.
I’m unconcerned already
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Sure... it seems like that now but there was once a time that email users didn't feel that spam was going to be a problem. Actually, just 6 months ago I remember people saying (for instance, Leo Laporte) that there was absolutely positively no way that Twitter could be used for spam..... and here we are facing issues of how to prevent spam. Things fall apart by people being complacent. The less concerned everyone is about something the bigger the chance is of it becomming a problem.
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Twitter is entirely by it's nature an opt-in system. How can it be used for Spam?
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Inappropriate?Although http://twitter.com/andrewbaron has deleted his ebay auction, I would still appreciate some clarification from Twitter as to whether the sale of Twitter accounts + followers is considered acceptable within the TOS. If this incident clarifies that issue (one way or the other) I will consider it a positive event.
I’m neutral
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Inappropriate?if coporations get involved you dont have to follow them you idiots. you already have news and tv shows involved. just dont follow them. some people may want to follow them so they can get updates. with twitter you can follow and block anyone you want, so why do you care. dummies
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Inappropriate?@prince69 that's not the issue here, we are not talking about corporations having twitter accounts but buying someones account who may have heaps of followers and using that to spam everyone one who was following that person.
I’m sad
