Is Twitter Promotion Another Version Of Spam?
The word ‘spam’ gets bandied about a lot. But what is it?
If we got spam in our e-mail inbox we’d all know what it is. It’s unsolicited, unwanted commercial come-ons from people we don’t know, right? There is even a tremendous amount of search engine optimization spam…
Those are distinctions worth analyzing:
- Unsolicited – Hey, I didn’t ask you for it!
- Unwanted – I did not desire to receive this message.
- Commercial - You’re trying to sell me something.
- Come-on – It’s a cheap ploy.
- People I don’t know – In other words, if my cousin Bob sends me an e-mail out of the blue one day and asks me to buy his lawn mower because he just bought a new one and doesn’t need the three-year-old used one any more, well, that’s not spam. Why? I know Bob. We have a relationship. I didn’t ask Bob to send me the message, I’m not interested in his lawn mower, he wants me to buy it, he’s offered up this cheap ploy to get me to buy it (and since Bob has always been a really cocky bastard anyway, he laid the guilt trip on thick), but it’s still not spam.
So how does this relate to Twitter? Well, some famous search engine optimization experts, who I won’t name, have taken to calling a famous book author a spammer. Why? Because he sends out self-promotional come-ons through his Twitter stream. Is that spam?
I don’t think so and here’s why: Twitter is an opt-in service. If I send you an e-mail newsletter because you opted in to receiving it, that’s not spam. If you receive a Twitter message from me because you opted in to receive it, that’s not spam either. You can opt out. It doesn’t really matter if I know you or not. In other words, Twitter doesn’t meet the five point test for spam messages. So why do these well-seasoned SEOs insist it’s spam?
11 Responses to “Is Twitter Promotion Another Version Of Spam?”
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Journal is Written by SEO Expert:
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You are absolutely right. I’m tired of people whining on Twitter about “spam” when there is really no such thing- at least, the tweets of people they CHOSE to follow cannot possibly be spam.
It’s quite simple- if someone doesn’t like what someone else writes on Twitter, just stop following them. But please spare the rest of us the whining!
I don’t know who the famous author is, but I would EXPECT such a person to make some self-promotional tweets. Isn’t that why he would be on Twitter? This is like complaining about NBC running ads for their shows on their network.
Just goes to show that most SEO “experts” don’t know what they are talking about.
Whew! And I thought I was a Twitter spammer for sharing articles from my site. Thanks for clearing things up.
Thanks!!! I agree 100%!!!!! If you don’t like what I have to say, then don’t follow me or elect to unfollow me. Period. End of discussion.
Mignon
I absolutely agree! In other words, however—those people who might not want to hear what I have to say chose to follow me, not the other way around. And I read their messages, blogs, ads, pleas, and funny and witty–and in this case, informational article. It doesn’t hurt me one bit to read this article, it’s a matter of courtesy to at least try to pay attention to the posts of those you follow! If you really don’t like what is being said (in the case of the woman who posts every bathroom break and a play by play of every meal she eats, what is consumed, and how it settled–well, I just had to un-follow that one.
Thanks for the eye-opener for many people!
It’funny because some of these SE0′s are the worst offenders at what they’re calling twitter spam. They hardly ever “converse,” they mainly post updates about their blogs or something they have done that they want you to see. As soon as I start to feel like someone is only interested in promoting themselves I unfollow. Twitter is a wonderfull place to self-promote but it has to be balanced with interacting with the rest of us to be truly successful.
And your point is? On Twitter I choose who to Follow but when I get a Follow request from a marketer it’s spam, end of story.
Thanks everyone for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Where I might choose to differ on the concept of spam on Twitter is when a user apparently attempts to monetize their stream. When I choose to follow someone based on their bio/profile and perhaps current tweets, and THEN, said user begins tweeting Magpie or other commercials having nothing to do with their profile/bio or purported reason for being on Twitter, I feel “spammed.” I did not opt in for that.
Accordingly, I also can choose to opt out.
@ Flowersbyfarha – Yes, I tend to agree as well, I would also consider this Twitter spam as well…
I agree with the post 100%. And by the way, visit my blog! http://www.seoserviceprovider.com/seoblog.
Hmmm, is it spam when I do that on a blog rather than on twitter?
By asking that question, I’m advertising my blog too.
@Chris McElroy – Thanks for the comment and nice blog!