Don't compromise your Twitter account by sending same message to multiple people publicly

This past week, I reported and blocked 3 personal Twitter accounts for sending me a spam message. This is when "replies" are used to send the same message to multiple people via Twitter.

twitter_spam, originally uploaded by ecblogger.

I don't mind receiving plugs once in awhile. However, if I open the sender's Twitter feed and all I see is the same message sent to multiple folks, I perceive that as spamming.

Here's what I suggest to avoid getting your Twitter account or you tagged as a spammer:

1. Use direct message.

If the person you are sending a message to is also a follower, best to send them a direct message.

Then add a follow-up message that you are doing it as a one-time plug and disclose if needed (like you are joining a contest or hired to send such one-time message).

By personalizing it, the person can even do you a favor of sharing (or re-tweeting) your message, among others. You might even get a prospective client referral.

Klout should not use Instagram as a scoring input

{EAV_BLOG_VER:0ec93487873de04b} Klout recently announced the inclusion of more online services as input to its scoring system namely YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr, Blogger, Last.FM, and Instagram. I guess this is good news so that one's influence score will not be based on vanity metrics such as following but look further into two-way interaction.

However, I am not in favor for Instagram to be included as a Klout scoring input signal. Simply because, you need an iPhone to be able to use Instagram and not all has one. An influence scoring system should get data from applications that anyone can have access to.

Anyway, that is just my take. :)

Buy & sell Twitter post through 3rd party: Magpie

Last year, I made a blog post about an April Fool's Joke - PayPerTweet. Its possibility as a service was inevitable. Today, Magpie offers an opportunity for Twitter users to monetize their accounts by allowing the site to post an ad tweet.


Advertisers can sign up with Magpie and do the following:

• can create a conversational-tone campaign that gets twitted (in an automated manner) by Twitter users who are part of the network.
  
  
• based on keywords used by the advertiser, the system automatically matches the twitter users who also post based on those keyword topics.
  
  
• set a budget. By default, campaigns on a per view basis although other arrangements can be made like per sale, per lead, among others.
  

Twitter users can either automatically approve all ads or manually approve them. Fees are earned through per view, per click, per sale, per lead, among others. In my case, I prefer per view.

Once your earned fees reached 50 euros, this can now be transferred to your Paypal account. Another option is to re-purpose the credits and place ads.

When joining this service, I kept the following as setting:

• Ads only appear after the 10th post. Since I don't twit extensively, I avoid the scenario where my account displays an ad on a daily basis.
  
  
• Don't remove the prefix declaring the twit as an advertisement.
  
  
• Be relevant in one's twitter post and interact with others. Otherwise your twitter account will lose value and may even lose followers.
  

Filipino version of text in Twitter

With so many versions of Twitter clients coming out in the market, I think it will be a great idea if it can have a Filipino version of it too. However, I'm tinkering on what would be the appropriate Filipino word for some of it. Your suggestion for the right Filipino word shall be greatly appreciated. (I know that some of them are funny!)

1. What are you doing? - Ano ang ginagawa mo?
   
2. Loading... - Inilalagay
3. Licence: GNU GPL v2 - Lisensiya: GNU GPL v2
4. Enter your message here.. - Ilagay ang iyong gustong sabihin dito...
5. Enter your direct message here... - Ilagay ang iyong personal na sasabihin dito
6. Parameters - ??
7. Location - Lugar
8. Web site - ??
9. Show friends - Ipakita ang listahan ng kaibigan
10. Hide friends - Itago ang listahan ng kaibigan
11. Switch Timeline - ??
12. Refresh - ??
13. Current Time Unknown - Kasalukuyang Oras Hindi Alam
14. Timeline - Pangyayari
15. Cancel - Huwag ituloy
16. Update now - Ilagay ang pinakabago
17. A new Twitter release is available. You should upgrade now! - Pinakabagong labas ng Twitter ay narito na. Kunin ito ngayon!
18. Click here to create a free Twitter account - ??
19. User - ??
20. Password - ??
21. Lines - Linya
22. Apply - Gamitin
23. Theme - Tema
24. Language - Wika
25. Direct message - Personal na mensahe
26. Send - Ipadala
27. Following - Sinusubaybayan
28. Followers - Sumusubaybay
29. character(s) left - titik na natitira
30. about a second ago - isang segundo ang lumipas
31. about x seconds ago - mga x segundo ang lumipas
32. about a minute ago - isang minuto ang lumipas
33. about x minutes ago - mga x minuto ang lumipas
34. about an hour ago - isang oras ang lumipas
35. about x hours ago - mga x oras ang lumipas
36. about a day ago - kahapon
37. about x days ago - mga x araw ang lumipas