Andy Sternberg's Blog - Latest Comments in To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

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Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

afallison — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:53:54 -0000

Twitter is so cool. I love the way disqus mixes the 2 so well Twitter is awesome. ;) moretwittertraffic.com

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

linnix (Jediah) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:22:42 -0000

Cant focus on actual work, reading this instead http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

kylelibra (Kyle Libra) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:03:49 -0000

Leading theory has moved from blaming fake followers to blaming suggested users list, I like this one better: http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

thevizi (Tamas Hevizi) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:38:21 -0000

90,000 followers? Is this really a good idea? Are we that desperate for attention? http://is.gd/kEMv

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

Andy Sternberg — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:08:38 -0000

Brooks, this definitely seems to be the case. What really pointed to bot scripting was the exponential increase in followers to "suggested" account in recent weeks. These accounts were gaining 5-10% increase in followers day over day.

And this is the problem -- Twitter needs to figure out a way to run maintenance more regularly and perhaps more aggressively, which may require a revision in their terms.

The onslaught of spam bots on twitter has always seemed inevitable. The greatest concern is what could happen when the bots release their venom. Can Twitter possibly get ahead of the Hacker curve?

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

brooksbayne — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:52:23 -0000

what keeps getting glossed over is the scripting that *is* occurring. with "services" like tweetergetter ppl are creating scores of bot accounts. this has been documented already in the comments of my blog.

why wouldn't the script include the "suggested users" feature as part of the bot account creation process? it seems like the easiest way for a scripted account to have some follows (for appearance sake, maybe).

hell, even ev said nefarious things *were* occurring.

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

johnkoetsier (John Koetsier) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:05:59 -0000

RT @kgrandia: 90,000 followers in 30 days on twitter http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

johncharrison (johncharrison) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:35:02 -0000

90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days - Nice: http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

kgrandia (kevin grandia) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:39:39 -0000

90,000 followers in 30 days on twitter http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

OwenC (Owen Cutajar) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:11:43 -0000

Sharing: "To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days | netZoo" ( http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl )

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

tobyharnden (Toby Harnden) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:42:35 -0000

90,000 new followers in 30 days? Does Twitter’s “suggested users” feature diminish value of large follower counts? http://tinyurl.com/bnj6cl

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

FerroGate (Martin Ferro-Thomse — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:34:18 -0000

Retweeting @davewiner: This guy's follower count went to 90,000 in 30 days after being on Twitter's recommended list. http://bit.ly/Qdgxg

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

LilianMahoukou (Lilian Mahouko — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:31:33 -0000

RT @huffpost: This guy's follower count went to 90,000 in 30 days after being on Twitter's recommended list. http://bit.ly/Qdgxg -davewiner

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

davewiner (Dave Winer) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:31:00 -0000

This guy's follower count went to 90,000 in 30 days after being on Twitter's recommended list. http://bit.ly/Qdgxg

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

huffpost (HuffingtonPost.com) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:31:00 -0000

This guy's follower count went to 90,000 in 30 days after being on Twitter's recommended list. http://bit.ly/Qdgxg -davewiner

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

Daniel Tunkelang — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:10:21 -0000

Reach and influence matter--and not just to people trying to sell products. Anyone trying to communicate would like to reach his or her target audience as effectively as possible. I don't see a problem with people wanting to measure how effectively they or others do so. Yes, some people are more influential than others, and Twitter, like any communication medium, can't help but reflect that, Conversely, it's valuable for users to be able to understand who is influential, to whom, and why. Respect isn't completely transitive, but it's certainly propagated socially.

What bothers me about the follower count mania is that people aren't trying to maximize real influence, but rather to score points in a game they've confused with gaining real influence. It's a lot like cheating on a standardized test. It might get you into a prestigious school, but it won't make you smarter, and it probably won't make you more successful in the long run. Besides, as soon as everyone learns how to cheat, the only winners will be those who profited from the cottage industry of cheating tools while it lasted.

In short, it doesn't bother me to see influencers and would-be jockey for position. It bothers me when they waste their efforts trying to get the high score in a stupid game--and when they spam the rest of the world while they're at it.

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:44:39 -0000

Great points, Joe. I agree with your unofficial motto and as a long-time Twitter user, don't feel that by thinking it's inherently a good thing, one is necessarily defending Twitter. I'd love to see better use of what Twitter users "favorite," weighted, of course, depending on how many followers one has and frequency of being favorited.

Re: To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days

Daniel Tunkelang — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:18:12 -0000

Wow, Scoble really lost it, but I guess "status" is everything for some of these A-Listers. As a user, I do see a valid question in wondering how the suggestion mechanism is implemented--but not because follower counts have such a great value to be diminished. Follower counts are already a faux social currency: at their best, they reflect a user's celebrity or influence; at their worst, they reflect a user's determination to accumulate higher numbers for its own sake.

I proposed an influence measure - http://thenoisychannel.com/... - that I thought might be a first step towards discouraging this silliness because it at least discourages users following other users solely in the hope of increasing their follower counts through reciprocity. The world can take it or leave it. But I do hope we can stop competing over meaningless numbers. If we have to be competitive, at least let it be over some meaningful measure of influence.