Hoosier Twitosphere

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Comment by Patrick Sullivan on July 21, 2009 at 9:44am

Betty- Blocking means that the person blocked isn't going to be able to send you anything, including more requests to follow. It's like blocking an email address with your spam filter; it sets up a "blacklist". My complaint about that on Twitter is that the "Block" command is right under the "Accept" command, so you have to be really careful. I've ended up blocking about 90% of the follow requests I've received (behavioral marketing companies, a cult and mostly porn). My second big complaint is that there is apparently no easy way to suggest to Twitter that they redesign the options box to put the "Block" button below the "Deny" button.

You're going to see a lot of spam and other security issues- and part of the problem is that because Twitter (and Facebook, SI, etc) makes so much of the user's life public, it's easier to do things like guess passwords and answers to security questions (see any of the recent articles on the hacking of Twitter employee's g-mail and the Twitter Google Docs accounts with sensitive corporate data stored). We've also seen a few malware attacks specific to Twitter- like the kid who wrote and released a virus through Twitter because he was bored.

I've put some links and stuff regarding social media security issues in the SI Information Security Exchange Group-

Comment by Betty Byrnes on July 21, 2009 at 9:10am

Thanks Jane, my inclination was to "block" some of the marketers, but I'm not sure if that's what you mean by "dump" them. The interesting thing is that the "expert" has some good info - but I am tempted to unfollow him.

Can you or someone else clarify what "blocking" actually means and its impact. I have blocked a couple that were strictly porn.

Comment by Jane Goodwin on July 21, 2009 at 12:54am

Betty, delete any Twitter followers you aren't interested in! Many people are there only for marketing purposes, and their very telemarketing style is ruining the experience for everyone. Twitter is for conversation, not selling. And yet, a business CAN sell if it Twitters correctly! It's a skill, and if the marketer doesn't have that skill, I say dump the jerk. Remember, too, that we "judge" people on Twitter not by their followers, but by who they follow.

Comment by Tim Piazza on July 20, 2009 at 11:27pm

@IndyCacher, we should talk. I'm big into acoustic folk and trad. I hosted 72 concerts in my living room over a 6 year period and I play at sessions in Vincennes and Evansville--tenor banjo, OM, and fiddle, mostly. @TimPiazza

Comment by Tim Piazza on July 20, 2009 at 11:25pm

@BettyByrnes You'll find that there's a land grab on Twitter to get as many people to follow you as possible by following as many people as possible. This works because the twittersphere is growing at an insane pace. And it seems to be effective. My blog gets posted to Twitter, Facebook, and other places, and I get a greater share of traffic from Twitter even though the audience is the same size as other outlets.

Comment by Betty Byrnes on July 20, 2009 at 9:41pm

A novice twitter - @BettyByrnes I made the mistake of following a self-proclaimed twitter "expert" and now it seems he shared my handle with the world! Fify+ new followers within 24 hours! (It's not as if I have any great posts or thoughts either.) The majority are promoting their products or those of the "expert". It's almost like spamming. Is there such a thing in Twitter?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Comment by Tom Jennings on July 14, 2009 at 10:15am

Have been doing some occasional twittering, but starting to do more of it. I own a personal training company in Carmel. I tweet @ofit mostly about health & fitness topics.

Comment by Dick Davis on July 13, 2009 at 9:16pm

I "run" the Great Hoosier Burger Quest group and we're making each event a Tweetup too. Join the group and connect with me at @davisr66 to get the latest info about when and where.

Comment by Linda S Fitzgerald on July 13, 2009 at 9:01pm

My twitter handle is @lindaAWI. I follow folks from varied backgrounds & interests, but look especially for women in business or women who network. I love following folks from other countries, especially the UK. I believe Twitter is about building a brand and that one can do it by being consistent and getting known for a specific type of tweet - not all the time, but enough that one is identified by that particular type of tweet.

Not an expert tweeter. . .but working on it!

Comment by Rebecca Hession on July 13, 2009 at 7:30pm

My twitter is @rebeccahession - love the perspective of so many different people - have people from 10 different countries reading my blog! - How cool is that! www.lessonsfromtherecession.blogspot.com --

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