Today I stumbled upon a video on CNN regarding technology. In the video they spoke with Mashable’s Ben Parr. Ben shared some tips and tricks regarding how to avoid spammers on Twitter. Here’s a short list of the sites they discussed, and links so you can check them out and protect yourself.
1. Powertwitter- Expands links before you click them. I just downloaded the service, and I’m sold. If there’s a link to a video or an image you don’t have to click the link (exposing yourself to spam or mal-wear), you can actually see the image before clicking and decide if you’d like to click the link. A service like this is invaluable; exposing links that have been shorted by services like Bit.ly and allowing you some optics into the actual link – HUGE. Download it today.
2. TweetBlocker; type in your username or someone elses – and it will tell you if that person is a spammer or not – wow, that’s very VERY cool.
3. Tweetgrade: - tells if you if a person is a valuable tweeter or not by giving that person a grade based on the content of their Tweets (just like school from F to A) – all you have to do is enter the person’s or your own Twitter handle and there you go! Here’s my grade.
4. Twitter.com/spam - you can send a direct message to Twitter with names of anyone you believe may be a spammer. Hugely helpful. However I wonder how much band-width they really have to fulfill direct requests to investigate potential Spammers as Twitter continues to grow.
Additionally, if you’re new to Twitter, and you have no idea what Twitter is all about; I highly recommend digging around Mashable’s tutorials. Here’s a great resource for the top 7 Twitter Tutorials on Youtube.com by Ben Parr
