Twitter admits it has a spam problem

Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, has acknowledged in a blog post that the site has a spam problem.

The good news is that the spam problem on Web 2.0 sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is tiny compared to email. But it’s growing. And one of the reasons why it is growing is that spammers are looking for new ways to spread their messages, and get them in front of their potential audience and victims. In a way, you could argue that life is getting harder for the email spammers because the anti-spam companies are stopping most of the spam.

Another interesting aspect to consider when discussing Web 2.0 spam, is that people are used to receiving spam in their email inbox. You almost blank it out as you automatically stretch over to the ‘delete’ button.

But when you get a spam on a Web 2.0 site, a site which is all about ‘community’ and bringing people together – do you delete it as hastily? …

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.