How to Report Spam Twitter Accounts

Geek Tip: Report Shady Twitter Accounts to @spam

August 31, 2009

Isn't it a total disappointment when you net a new Twitter follower, but when you go look at their page to see if they're worth following back, there's just bot-like messages and a creepy profile pic?

Spam followers bum you out, but you don't have to just sit back and do nothing. User Nanimo commented on last week's post about blocking unwanted Twitter followers with a great tip: next time you suspect a Twitter user is a spammer, tweet their handle to @spam, Twitter's spam watcher. @spam checks out the account and removes it if is just a spammer.

Like Nanimo said, just reporting them is "quite satisfying." I have to agree!

9 Comments

Quanni E 3 years 37 weeks

I've been trying to find a way to get rid of those followers. Thanks!

3 years 37 weeks

@spam also sometimes tweets useful security tips. (Though they're not really one to talk with their Google docs fiasco)

3 years 37 weeks

Maybe it's a little bit sad, but I also find it quite satisfying to check back and find all of my spammers have been banned. :P Anyway, yes, I think that a more user friendly way to do it is to add a tickbox to say "this is spam" when you re-confirm that you want to block someone.

candygirl012 3 years 38 weeks

And I also love how the picture above, is the actual image of a spam meat. LOL :D

candygirl012 3 years 38 weeks

I just blocked 2 spammers in my account like 5 minutes ago.

RoaringSilence 3 years 38 weeks

All I can say is WOW. That is horrible usability right there. Who would take the time to copy the spammer's name and tweet it to the spam address? They should have a button that says "spam", just like every other website in the world! The spam on twitter is out of control, and they don't seem like they care too much, or they'd offer a better solution.

falnfenix 3 years 38 weeks

yeah, macgirl, that's the other problem they've been mentioning.

macgirl 3 years 38 weeks

I don't know if that would work any better than blocking them with my situation. I had a problem where the spammers picked up a tweet directed at me and each one of these porn bots would send it out to make it look like they were a legit twitterer. I was getting 10 or more of these same messages every morning. I just kept blocking them after replying to them that I was blocking them in hopes they would remove that tweet from their database. They finally stopped.

falnfenix 3 years 38 weeks

ah, if only this worked reliably. Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, and others have been having significant issues with spammers (to the point of seriously considering discontinuing use of the service), and Twitter doesn't seem to be doing much about them. sure, they'll handle the reported accounts, but they haven't been doing anything noticeable to counter these spambots.

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9 Comments

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