What's the story with Twitter?

twitter, marketing

[richboy]

I use twitter just to build business relationships

I just happened to log in yesterday, 1/30/2009,
and came across the following message on the
account:

"This account is currently suspended and is being investigated
due to strange activity.
If we have suspended your account mistakenly, please let us know.
See Suspended Accounts for more information."

I sent an email to "[e-mail]" and have not received a reply.

I question if this is an abuse of power.

I also question if this is outright contempt for the customer
by displaying what seems to be nasty and despicable behavior.

It looks like someone taking the advantage to try and
aggravate the customer as much as possible by leaving them in a catch 22;
they have not responded to any email and I question if they ever will.

The customer can't change the username (which is first and last name)
on the account while the account is in suspended status.

The customer can delete the account but they will suffer because
they can't use the original username again once it is deleted -
the customer has to change the username before it is deleted if they
want to use that same username again; however, as explained
above, they can't change the username if the account is suspended.

The customer suffers when people look for their name
on twitter and see that account account has been suspended; the
customer also loses out on people following them.

Anyone have any similar experiences?

Any suggestions?

[g1smd]

*** I question if this is an abuse of power. ***

It's their site, so you have to follow their rules. The are quite active in squashing spam accounts, and long may that continue.

[buckworks]

use twitter just to build business relationships

Please say more about that. What are (were) your methods?

[richboy]

I added other business people and they followed me as well.

I also gave away a Craigslist ebook for free - that's about it.

I sent an email to [e-mail]

The response:

"Your account was suspended due to aggressive following. You followed a large number of people in a short time period and as a result your account was flagged as spam and suspended."

Account suspended for adding people?

Something smells fishy here.

I replied - "What can be done to reverse this?"
I have not received a reply.

[Yoshimi]

Were you using any automated agents to follow people, how many were you following and how many were following you, on top of that how many posts were you making per day/week/month and how long had you been on twitter.

Aggressive following is a big problem for twitter, I had someone follow me the other day who had 2 followers, was following 1600+ people and had never made a post.

Even in less extreme examples if you have a far higher number of people you are following than followers it suggests that you are following people who have no real interest in what you are doing, and this is one of the methods people use to spam in Twitter.

If they have suspended you I would recommend that rather then trying to slate them in public forums (and I have located two other forums in which you have made an identical post, I'm sure there are more) you try and look at your own posting habits and see what you should be doing differently to avoid being seen as a spammer in future. The first thing you should look at is how multiple, identical posts on forums you have not contributed to previously are viewed.

[richboy]

I don't have a right to post in a forum?

Isn't there such a thing as freedom of speech?

[g1smd]

Following large numbers of random people just so they see you and follow you back, is treated as spam.

Forums, like many other sites, also have rules about what can be discussed, and the tone of that discussion.

[callivert]

I don't have a right to post in a forum?

let me re-phrase that for you.
"I don't have the right to post whatever I want in any and all online forums that I choose?"
answer: no.

Isn't there such a thing as freedom of speech?

Yes, and there is also freedom to delete/ban/block.

You followed a large number of people in a short time period and as a result your account was flagged as spam and suspended

They gave you an answer. They think you were spamming twitter. Did they make a mistake?

[netmeg]

Isn't there such a thing as freedom of speech?

Not on forums. You play in someone else's backyard, you play by their rules.

If you're referring to the 1st Amendment, I remind you that it begins "Congress shall make no law..."

Doesn't say anything about privately owned/run forums.

I block anyone who follows me who has a better than 2-1 ratio of following vs followers.

It's generally a good idea to sit back and watch how venues such as Twitter and individual forums actually work before jumping in with both feet. Most have their own cultures that need to be respected.

[mack]

There is freedom of speech within forums. but there is also terms of service [webmasterworld.com] :)

You can post pretty much what ever you like, anywhere you like, but forum operators have the right do do what is best, with regards to their own forum systems and its users. For example, but not limited to removing posts that are not suitable for the intended audience, or posts that are spammy.

If you run or operate a website you have control over what goes on within your website, within a forum, the forum operators reserve that very same right.

Getting back on topic...

The only people who can really help you with your Twitter issue are twitter themselves. All you can do is wait for a reply. If that fails contact them again.

Mack.

[Yoshimi]

Richboy, if you look at my post I have tried my hardest to be helpful, however, just as following large numbers of people on Twitter in a short time frame is twitter spam, forums are often spammed by new members posting the same post in multiple forums where they are new members. The spirit of my post was to point out that you are perhaps unaware of how you are perceived in on-line forums, and that there is a form of etiquette on-line that you perhaps need to become more familiar with.

It seems to me that this board is giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are genuine, take it as a good signal and use this opportunity to learn about on-line interaction, rather than assuming that you are right and we, and twitter and on-line communities in general are wrong.