Twitter Spam update

Here is an update from my adventures described in this post.

Today I got an email from a service I use that tells me when people stop following me on Twitter, called Qwitter.

Here's what it said:

Hi, BrianMegilligan.

Oh! Nuts (OhNuts) stopped following you on Twitter after you posted this tweet:

is studying laundry room ventilation.

Check out OhNuts's profile here:

http://twitter.com/OhNuts

Best,
Qwitter

It's nice when the spammers "unfriend" you.

Twitter Spam

There have been questions by observers for some time now about how on earth Twitter will ever monetize its service. Recent news has added fuel to the speculation, but in the mean time, I have found how quickly and clever business can be in attempting to recruit customers.

Recently, through the power of suggestion via a podcast I was listening to, I developed a hankering for Jelly Beans. So I tweeted:

Within a half an hour I was being followed by Oh! Nuts, evidently a snack company (I haven't given them the satisfaction of actually trying to find out) who probably scouted out the key words "Jelly Bean" on a service like monitter. Later in the day I received the following @reply:

I haven't followed any of their links, but judging by their many @ replies, it appears that someone has a full time job of scouting certain terms on twitter, and turning their tweet into a direct marketing opportunity. I guess we're gonna have to start blocking until the folks at Twitter figure out how to make money off this scheme.

Why I Enjoy Facebook

It has been said that Facebook is for people you knew, Twitter is for people you don't know yet. I think this is true, as I have particularly enjoyed stretching both directions recently with both tools.

Below is a screen shot of a recent "conversation" I had with several old friends. The cool thing about this to me is that I know that if I could get these people in a room together, they'd probably all get along great! Below are comments from Chapel friends, Cedarville friends, high school friends from Kansas City, high school friends from New Jersey, and local friends. It is a lot of fun to be reconnected, even if the thing that reconnects you is trivialities. Ultimately, I see Facebook and Twitter as a ministry tools, but that's fodder for another post.