Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media websites on Earth, allowing people to connect with and follow each other on-demand.
Like most services created with the intention of making life better, freeloaders try to use it to their advantage.
Spammers Invade Social Media
Twitter is a microblogging service, which means information is shared at lightning speeds. I often learn about news events on Twitter hours before they break on national websites.
Large brands like @Zappos are also on Twitter. I appreciate Zappos because the CEO of the company proactively responds to followers questions, concerns, and comments.
However far too many small business marketers set up accounts with names like ‘Small Business XYZ’ and promptly follow thousands of users for no other purpose than dumping blatant product spam messages.
David Meerman Scott wrote a smart post asking marketers not to abuse Twitter.
Isn’t Twitter About Sharing Information?
I don’t mean to drop the hammer on every business that shares information using social media.
Zappos is a great example of letting users know about their business without trying to shower canned advertising snippets.
If you want to spread the word about your business, think about engaging in conversation with followers. Make it a two way process intended to deepen the relationship you share with customers.
Jeremiah Owyang gets it right with respect to Twitter. The number of followers isn’t nearly as important as the number of times people ‘retweet’ the messages you share.
Word of mouth can be infectious and powerful if you know how to do it right.
Photo credit ogilvyprworldwide
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